A Trip to Guelph

Guelph, Ontario is home of the University of Guelph (and other things) and happens to be an adorable little city about 45 minutes away from where I live.

It had been awhile since I made a visit to this place since becoming acquainted with it only a little over a year ago (a story involving a Guelphian ex-boyfriend) but I became quite attached to it quickly and have been looking for a reason to make a visit.

On Saturday, I found one!  My friends Rovena and Dave of Handmades by Rovena were doing a craft show in the beautiful Old Quebec Mall so my mom and I took a trip out to see them and check things out!
Here they are at Rovena's beautiful table of cards and other paper goodies.



It is the least "mall-like" mall I have ever seen - which is a good thing! Ah, Guelph, you charm me so.

It was lovely to see them, pick up a card and chat a bit.  Then my daytrip partner (my moms) and I set off on a little walk around the downtown so I could take some pictures and oogle at things in cute shops. I almost bought some shoes and then an owl wearing a monocle but decided against both and continued phototaking and window shopping. Regretting both decisions only slightly.





Spent a good amount of time in Mocando Books - an amazingly charming used book shop packed with books that I've visited before but this time found a couple hidden owls. As if the sheer amount of books wasn't a big enough sell. I may have ended up a toy maker but I am an English major booknerd at heart forever. When books are stacked so high I can hardly get at them, I know I'm in the right place.








I may have gone a little crazy with book pictures. But don't you feel like you've been there now! I had to document it. 



It was a perfect sunny but chilly day! I really do love Guelph. I won't stay away so long next time.

And here's my outfit of the day:

                    

Lots of old favourites.  All in all, a really nice day! I hope you had one too!

In the Workroom Recap : Week 234

Another week over! I couldn't believe it was time for another workroom recap!

But it is and so it was.

This week was a busy one and being now that my first show of the year is a week from today, I'm looking at another busy one ahead!

I started the week out with another doodle.



A lot more plans have been developing in my head for these silly things but in the meantime I've been having fun picking up my pencil whenever something pops in there.

The plan was to drop off a batch of goodies at our new retailer, Little Bird in Hamilton, on Thursday so I had to keep working away on a batch of Owl Mamas.  But I did take a little break from them to ship out a couple Little Owlings to a customer in Norway. I wish I could take the trip with them! Except in some sort of seat or chair rather than inside an envelope. They don't seem to mind though.





After I finished that up and then finished stuffing all my Owl Mamas, I started work on a little batch of Little Robots to bring down to the new shop!



While I try to keep my work area pretty neat and professional. I will admit that sometimes I find a comfier chair, put my feet up, and sew in my pjs. Just think of all the personal handmade care that goes in to sewing all these little faces... Those big box toy stores don't have anything on Needlings. Right? Right!



Back to the worktable and no more worse for the wear!



Better, in fact.

OK! So I brought all these down to Little Bird as you may have seen in my last post and after some excitement and conversation, I worked on a few kitties to add to their stock when someone asked if they could get one there. 




So now they're there! (their)

                                        
                                              
Then a whale and a fancy fox doodle for good measure. I like a whale and a fox. And a capelet.

So that's it for this week! I am staring at my worktable starting to figure out my schedule for what to make next in order for me to have a full table at my first craft show of the year on the 5th. Lots to do!

I hope to see some of you there!

          

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Mid-Week Update with OotD

Hello friends!

I thought I would stop in today to let you know some of the goings on around here before the usual workroom recap!

First off, I am excited to announce Needlings will be carried in our 15th retail location, a great locally owned Hamilton shop, Little Bird.  I stopped in today to drop off some Owl Mamas and Little Robots and meet the owner, Jodi, and her cute little bird* too!

*actually a human baby boy.


(Photo courtesy of Little Bird)

I'll have to stop by again soon to get some photos of everything in action. I'm very excited to have Needlings in a great little Hamilton store!

I also received news that some other lovely shopowners, Stephen and Melanie, of Dots & Loops in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, are featured in the Nova Scotia Tourism "Doers and Dreamers" Guide. And they're holding a Needlings Owl Mama! Needless to say, I popped on over to the Nova Scotia tourism website to get myself a copy.

I'm so happy for them that their store of under one year old is being recognized for how amazing it is! They do a great job! (Plus, aren't they cute?) 


(Photo courtesy of Dots & Loops)

And for good measure, here's a mid-week Outfit of the Day of what I wore today on this rainy chilly Spring day!


                    

Sweater: Thrifted Handmade Wool
Top: Old Navy
(My favourite) Skirt: Asos
Shoes: Rocketdog

See you soon!  ♥

In the Workroom Recap : Week 233

Before work in the workroom started the week, I started with a trip to Chapters in Ancaster to check on my stock and see my new flipped around spot after the store reorganizing after Easter.

They're already almost in need of some more littles!  I had a few other restocks to finish before I get going on more for Chapters but I plan on stopping in this weekend to check in again. I'm excited they are doing well in such a big store surrounded by a bunch of manufactured plush. Go handmade!

Then, doodling...



I had a few more ideas for doodles this week and wanted to find a way to make use of them. The robot I made to use on my gift wrapping for a robot sale in the shop! I have some more ideas for printed items and tags floating around in my brain.





I'm really enjoying having an extra creative outlet within Needlings. Plus doodling is just fun. I've always done it anyway! My plush usually start out as doodles. 

So after the robot headed out to its future home, I decided to get some of these doodles framed and in the shop! I plan on having them at my next craft show in a couple weeks too!




I'll have to get a few more frames for the rest of them! It was fun to see these silly little drawings all printed out and framed.



Last, but not least, I got started on a batch of Owl Mamas for store number fifteen (!) for Needlings, Little Bird Hamilton, which is a very cute local kids shop.  I'll be dropping of a batch of goodies this coming Thursday which I'm excited about.  

In addition to finishing up and dropping off items at the new store, I'll be trying to get a head start on making enough stuff to fill my own table for my first craft show of the year on May 5th in Waterdown, Ontario!
Lots of stuff on the go as usual.

See you next week, friends.

In the Workroom Recap : Week 232

Hi guys!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday last weekend. I didn't take a long weekend away from work myself but still had some holiday fun and a few Easter treats in the midst of Needlings work.




Man, I love pastels! I think I love the look of mini eggs more than I love the taste (though they do taste pretty great). I love bright colours too of course but I've always loved pastels. I remember having some inner turmoil accepting the hypercolours and neons of the nineties after the pastels I enjoyed as a little one in the 80s. That's probably a strange thing for a kid to think about. No wonder. But seriously, it was an adjustment but I've learned to love most shades and strengths of colours now.

So back to work, I had a few things to mail on Tuesday once the holiday was out of the way and the post office re-opened their doors.  I finished up a few ninjas on Monday for an online order while finishing up work on the batch of Owl Mamas that will be sent to White Rabbit in Iowa City.


So off they went!
And then after stocking up on some more stuffing...
The owls were finished!


So these guys will be set aside for a minute as I work on a few more things. I had some tax paperwork to finish up and organize so I had a bit of an office job for a day before I got started on some cell phone sleeves. 
So many receipts...
(These ones are just from shipping things - I guess that's why I know everyone that works at my local post office now)
      
Exhilerating stuff! 

And then on to those cell sleeves to add to White Rabbit's restock batch...



I'm loving my worktable lately...which is really helping me keep it nice and tidy so I have plenty of workspace!

I also got around to some doodling...


And then back to work!


There we go! All finished! Just have to tag and price these and they'll be on their way to White Rabbit in Iowa City!

I have more store restocks to do this coming week and then a personal stock to do something about for my first craft show of the year on May 5th so I'm sure there will be lots of things on the worktable for the next few weeks!

In the Workroom Recap : Week 231

I left off at the end of last week having finished what I thought would be enough to fill up my Needlings shelf over at Chapters in Ancaster.  Well, I went in to check on things and realized I needed to make at least a few more things to fill it up again.  Not complaining, of course - it has been so exciting to see my little guys disappear from Chapters at they rate they have been.

So I whipped up a few more little Owlings...


First I dropped off the big ones:


And as I waited mid-week on the pricetags to get the rest of my little Owlings on the shelf, I worked on a few more things.

If you follow my facebook or flickr you may have noticed that I've been doodling more lately. I did a little Easter bunny card for a little girl who my mom, a nurse, cares for. This was a fun little aside for me so I guess I caught a bit of a doodle-bug in my brain.


Here are a few more I did this week:




I have a few plans hatching for the future but for now, sewing comes first!
So all that sillyness aside, I got back to the "serious business" and dropped the rest of the goodies off at Chapters (forgetting to bring my camera along) and started work on more. Back to work on a restock batch of Owl Mamas for White Rabbit in Iowa City! I'll be finishing these up after Easter and then a batch of Owl Cell Phone Sleeves before sending them off.



I hope everyone has a lovely long weekend or just a regular good weekend. I'll be spending time with family in between some sewing sessions of course. See you next week!


            

Evolution of a Workspace

When I first started sewing Needlings in 2007, it was strictly living room/coffee table work.  This worked for longer than I'd like to admit although slowly taking over other tables and closets throughout the years.

Now I have beautiful big worktable and workspace that I love and a stuffed closet full of extra supplies, fabric, display pieces, etc.  

I am a big believer in the fact that there is no right way to do anything and work needs, craft rooms, workspaces, studios are no exception.  I use what works for me and am constantly changing things around to see fit.  As a result, my "In the Workroom" photos have had a lot of variations over the years.  Through some hardcore picture folder research and organizing - I found some examples to share of variations of workspace looks.


This was my "storage table" for finished goodies, paperwork, and extra supplies in December of 2007 only a few months in to Needlings.  Because most of my work in the past few years has been stocking stores, very rarely do I have this many finished Needlings goodies to store before they have to be shipped out! 
       

June 2008


*2009 seems to be the dark ages as far as workspace photos goes.  

March 2010 (with work snacks)


October 2010


April 2011


September 2011


January 2012


And today!


It's an ever evolving mess of scraps, supplies, and paperwork but I try to keep it tidy with lots of room for cutting and thinking. It's also fun to see the evolution of my work itself. And photo quality.

Do you have a studio or craft space? Where do you work? I'd love to see it!