Today's bags and my new tags

Here are the bags I made today. All totes and one of each size. I've been making lots of the shoulder bags lately, so I thought I try to get a few more totes done. I made another wallet for Jon too...in cherry red this time and with the opening to the right side instead of the left.
Done sewing for today- it's time for a nap before work. Two long night shifts ahead, so I like to try to start with a little extra sleep-boost. I don't know if it helps, but it can't hurt.
Devon is off to Fright Night at Playland tonight with some friends. Jon was volunteering at FreeGeek today and then off to his night class tonight. Alison is out at a friend's house...so it's just me and the doggies here for now. I guess everybody will have some of the Hoison Chicken (recipe from a blog I added to my list today- a woman who is using her slow cooker everyday for a year!) if and when they get home.

Here are my new product labels. I got a tip here http://isewblog.blogspot.com/2007/06/making-your-own-labels.html for making my own using printable fabric sheets. I ordered the fabric from Joann's online. I just cut them to size and sew them into each item. They are fabric on the front and a kind of vinyl material on the back, so they don't fray. This picture isn't the greatest- I tried to use the macro on the camera and I don't think it worked, and then the batteries died....oh well, you get the idea. Cute, huh?

Twitter- my new addiction

Twitter is fun! Kind of like something between a chat room and a blog. I know it's not new, but it's new to me! It's a good way to spread the word about my blog and my Etsy store too.
Check it out and follow me (juicybags) if you want to. I've got my Twitter updates posted in the left column here too.

I've been working all day yesterday and today, so haven't done any sewing. I've been cutting open and cleaning, and then drying the juice pouches instead. That's the 'dirty' part of the job. I found a little white plastic scraper that helps get the adhesive off the pouches more easily. (my fingernails were taking a beating before) It feels good to be making useful stuff out of something that would end up in the landfills though. Jon tells me there are stats somewhere that say that these little foil juice pouches have one of the lowest rates of return of all the returnable drink containers! Probably because they are usually taken to school by kids who just chuck them into the garbage when they are done:-(
I wish I knew a way to re-direct those empty pouches to me! Let me know if you have any ideas.
(although by the time these craft fairs are over I might be so sick of sewing that I never want to make another bag- we'll have to see)

Why does this happen?

Experienced sewers...can you tell me why my machine does this? I'll be sewing along and everything looks great on the top side, then I hear a little telltale 'click' from the bobbin and I know THIS is what I'm going to find underneath. What I do then is re-thread the machine and the bobbin and it seems to work fine again...but then it happens again later...can't figure out why...help??

Rookies makin' cookies

Alison and her friend Hayley decided to make some cookies tonight. Aren't they cute? Wish I could get her to help out in the kitchen more often. Ah well...the cookies were pretty good. Not bad for a couple 'a rookies.

A wallet for Jon

Jon has been in need of a new wallet for a long time. He asked me to make him one so he could mention Juicybags when people asked him about it. I designed this wallet to his specs (using his current wallet as a guide) I think it turned out pretty good. It was a bit fussy to make because I had to cut the backs out of most of the juice pouches so that the wallet wouldn't be too bulky. It took 10 pouches to make this wallet!
It's got 8 card slots, and a large money/receipt pocket. It closes with a velcro strip. It was Jon's idea to add the black bias tape around the edges which turned out good I think.

Lots of sewing today. I decided I should try to make 2 bags, 1 clutch wallet, 3 coin purses and 1 pencil case everyday until my first craft fair. Some days I can probably do a little more, some less-- but if I can do that I will probably have enough stock for all the fairs. Sheesh-- what do I know!? I have NO CLUE how much stuff I'm going to need. Guess I'll just keep sewing until I can't sew anymore, and that will have to be enough.







Heading off to relax for a bit now and see if there's anything on TIVO worth watching.

Here's the new verison- much better!

Draft of my business cards

Jon helped me make this graphic for my business cards. The background is part of a picture I took last year of my stargazer lillies in the front garden. It just needs some more small tweaks- I'm not thrilled with the font for the information text. The 'juicybags' font is fun, but it doesn't work for the rest of the card- not easily readable. I need to find something prettier and not so bold. I also need to move the text a little closer in towards the middle to make sure nothing gets cut off. I was planning on printing them at home, but our inkjet had other ideas. I printed one page and they came out with bands of alternating light and dark colours across them. So much for that. Jon tried a few fixes, but no luck.
So, as soon as I can figure out how to do the tweaks it needs, I'll be ordering a batch of these from overnightprints.com instead.

I'm recovering from my 2 night shifts today, so didn't get much done. The garbage and recycling has been taken out for pick up, I went out to get dog food, we ate leftovers for dinner and I've made a clutch wallet and one coin purse. Not a totally wasted day anyway!
Jon is out at a class tonight and he's got a mid-term. He's been working so hard on these courses. I hope it goes well.

Later: Well, it's all tweaked and sent for printing now. Jon is a genius...I love the new version!