Thankful

We had a wonderful non-traditional Thanksgiving yesterday.
I dont care much for Turkey, never have really. This year I decided I had a hankering for fish. Pilgrims had fish, right?
So a call was placed to my father in law who is a fisherman as a hobby and we asked them if they would like to visit us for Thanksgiving to have a fish fry.
The next day I am still stuffed full of corn pudding, fish, coleslaw and seasoned potatoes, and I am thankful.
I do stop often and give thanks for the things we have. We lead a fairly simple life. Living on one income for the better part of a year has changed a lot in our lives.
I am working. Mr. RedMarionette is unemployed right now. Yet we are so thankful for our health, our family and friends, the additional income we have received from being able to sell on Etsy.
Life is an uphill battle for a lot of people right now and I think things are changing for the better. The life of excess that many of us have lived with for so long is slipping away. And in my opinion, I think that purifies our lives. It weeds out the unnecessary. The unessential. Shows us what really makes our lives fulfilling. Small things and simple things and who you are, not what you have.
Not the huge honkin SUV or the Diamonds or the fancy meals.
Family. Health. Hobbies and Happiness.
The ones you love are the ones that will be around forever.
Not the large Escalade that you purchased.
Not the bottle of fancy wine.
Not the designer purse.
You. You are the one that matters.
Be thankful, Be loving, and Be yourself.
Happy Thanksgiving.

My secret to mass production...

What we occasionally refer to around here as Critical Mass.
I have had several people ask me how I make the output that I do. The sheer quantity of products that are produced this time of the year and throughout the year.
I have two key words for you all.
Assembly Line.
I use Assembly line style production for everything I make.
Cut out all of the bodies.
Cut out all of the faces, feet, ears, tails.
Stitch all of the faces.
Stitch all of the tails.
Stitch around the outside and puff with stuffing.

Thats done in batches as well. Batching the product so you dont have to change thread color as often also saves time! You dont have to switch mental gears to adjust to another design. You pick one animal and go. I try to work in batches of at least 5.
Occasionally ill only finish one or two if I sit down and dont have much time. But I am one or two further along.

These are some of the tips I find help me out a lot!
I have learned my lesson this year though, I will be starting Holiday production in Feburary of next year. No more scrambling for me. I was totally unprepared for this rush of sales in November as last year (2008) I only had 30 something sales for the whole month. It has been a wonderful surprise, but I hate to admit I wasnt ready. It wont happen again.
Hope these tips help with your production this Holiday season!

Tis the season...

Tis the season for swollen and stiff fingers from so much cutting out.
Tis the season for less sleep than the body needs and relying on coffee and sugar to keep me going.
Tis the season wonderful family gathers around.
Tis the season my Husband has to pretend he lives alone a lot.
Tis the season the weather changes to something cooler so I feel more in the mood to sew.
Tis the season that is my busiest season.

Thank you to all of you out there who support what I do. Thank you to my Husband and family as I know this is a difficult time of the year with me pretending to be a hurricane and leave a wake of felt destruction across the house.
Thank you.

And now...
Atomic Holiday Bazaar Interviewed me and it ended up on Creative Loafing! Ka-POW!
http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/the941/2009/11/18/atomic-holiday-bazaar-interviews-red-marionette/
Cut and paste the link into your web browser or click HERE

Etsy Voter - Holiday Decor

My Green Christmas Wreath is included in the Etsy voter this week!
It is a vote put out to the Etsy community for them to vote for their favorite Holiday Decor!

I am so pleased and thankful for the exposure that these Wreaths are getting. I am excited since they are a new item in my line this year!

I am in full blown Red Marionette production to keep up with my Holiday sales. I have blown my goals for this year out of the water already!

I would love for you all to go take a look at the Etsy voter and cast your vote for your favorite Holiday Decor item. It doesnt have to be my item, but I would love it if you would support the Handmade Community and Etsy!
Please cut and paste this link into your web browser and log in to Etsy. http://www.etsy.com/voter_list.php?ref=voter&room_id=79

Thanks a million!

Grandma doesnt have internet - Sneak Peek!

It is a good thing my Grandma doesnt have the internet!
I wanted to make her a wreath this year for Christmas and since I had been making Holiday Wreaths I asked my Dad what colors she might like. He said she already had a Christmas wreath she just bought.
Hmm.
"Well does she have a spring one?"
Nope. Good. Im on it!
So finding spring flowers in November, Ladies and Gentlemen, isnt the easiest task. But I think I succeeded!
Here is the Bunny wreath I made for her for Springtime.

Multi-colored pom poms are hiding all around in the foliage and flowers like little puffy easter eggs. I had a lot of fun making this one.

Perhaps if the response is good I will consider making Spring ones for sale. Just dont tell Grandma you got to see it before she did! :)

Features galore! Weee!

I received notice today that I was featured on two blogs.
Weeee!
Check them out!

http://goodlifeforless.blogspot.com/


http://foundhandmade.com/news/
Scroll down to the second block of stockings! Phillip in his pocket peeper is there!

Thanks so much everyone!

My head...its still visible above the water, right?

Im alive!
My blogging has taken a regrettable turn south due to the lack of time to post fun and interesting things that I know you all are waiting anxiously to hear! heh.
Right?
I just wanted you to know I think I am keeping my head above water so far! I am having awesome sales thanks to Etsy and the features I am having. (Thanks Etsy!)
I am prepping for my Holiday shows and still working 40 hours a week. Mr. RedMarionette is being a doll and helping out with wrapping the wreaths, dinner and other necessities around the house.
So I am stopping in to say Hi and then flitting right back out!
Have a wonderful day everyone!

MyShoppingConnection.com

My Funky Christmas wreath has been featured on MyShoppingConnection.com!

http://www.myshoppingconnection.com/articles/celebrations/holiday-wreaths.php

You can follow this link to see it!

Thank you all for the support of Handmade goodies!

It made me smile...

Today I was stuck in some serious traffic on the way to work. Ticked that I will be late to work from going 2 miles in half an hour.
I look behind me with my rear view mirror and see an elderly couple in their car.
The wife says something and they both giggle manically.
It made me smile.
Giggling old people.

Tee hee!

Good Morning World.

Shopping

I am doin a bit of shopping. Things that are kinda long overdue... I wasnt super productive tonight for Red Marionette so I figured I would be productive in personal stuff.

We found out quite a while ago that Mr. RedMarionette is allergic to his tungsten wedding band so I just recently purchased a stainless steel hypoallergenic surgical grade ring from this seller: Divine3Designs

I cant wait to get it and I know he will be excited to be able to wear a wedding band everyday. :)

I am also looking for a pair of Red, blue or black fingerless gloves. My hands get chilly from working so much on hand sewing (especially when Mr. RedMarionette loves to have the windows open and the 60 degree breeze coming in) id love to be able to keep my hands warm and not have them stiffen up. Any suggestions? Id love to shop from an etsy person, not sure if I need little ones that stop at my wrist or ones that go all the way up my forearm a bit. Id love to see listings if you all have suggestions!
Thanks much and happy shopping to us all!

8 Layers of Fluffy Felt Horror

I realized tonight that I have a tired little sewing machine. It has served me well but I have discovered its limit.
Its a singer sewing machine I picked up at a rummage sale for $20.00
That in itself makes me very happy. An unwanted item from someone became an extremely useful tool for me.
I am guessing it is about 15 to 20 years old. Metal. Heavy. Durable.

For the tree skirts I am making this season, I have four layers of felt across the front for the snowbanks, base and front. When that is stitched and turned in to topstitch, it becomes 8 amazing fluffy layers of horror for my machine.
It cannot maintain the pressure on the presser foot with that many layers (the foot that holds down the fabric) so it knots up the thread into horrible rats nests that I have to rip out.
I have managed to finish 5 skirts. The last two today have had a lot of extra work put in to them ripping back out and then trying to get a good seam.....
Tonight it let me know it is done.
Rats nests galore so I called it quits.....for now.

I have a backup coming from Mr. Red Marionettes family that is an OLD heavy duty gear driven sewing machine. (Thank you Grandma!) I get it. In three weeks.
Until then I will do everything up to that last little top stitching.
So dont fret! Production doesnt stop, I will have more soon!

Atomic Holiday Bazaar interview!

http://atomicholidaybazaar.blogspot.com/2009/11/red-marionette-interview-for-atomic.html

TA DA! You can cut and paste the link into your web browser or follow the link here: Red Marionette Interview

I am super excited and honored to have Adrien write up a little doodad about me!
Heck yeah!
It is also being featured on Creative Loafings blog here:
http://www.sarasotaspeaks.com/node/52778
Creative loafing is a regional publication which covers various areas in the US for the do-it-yourself and artsy scene.

On another note my beautiful purple wreath sold last night. It is going to a wonderful home and Mr. Red Marionette is starting on yarn wrapping another one today. :)

Productivity and exciting times!
Happy Friday!

Somebody likes me!

I was on the front page again!

The item had over 1000 views in the half hour it was on the front page!

It is the green wreath in the top right corner!

The odd thing was it was under an Etsy search term "Swedish"

Am I missing something and swedish includes green items? :)

I am ever grateful to the support from friends, family, bloggy stalkers and everyone that loves Etsy.

Thank you all again and have a wonderful evening!

Party Owl

Last night we had a printing party. When I say we I mean Mr. Red Marionette and I.
This is the new card I am releasing this week.
I am having a lonesome cutting party today to cut out all of the cards and later in the week I will even embellish some of my holiday ones with a tiny splash of glitter in a few of the snowy areas.

They can be seen here without glitter:
Phillip
Bobby Joe, Bobby Ray and Bobby Steve
Ned

I am excited to be releasing these and particularly excited to be sending some to family who have never seen these before. It has been cooler weather here as well so it definitely is getting me in the mood for the Holiday rush!

Coffee and Sleep

I have discovered that coffee and sleep are the two most important things I have to have when doing a TON of crafting. The season has officially launched and I am getting a little less sleep and having a little more coffee. The ratio will eventually slope further as the season goes on.

Let the games begin! :)