NEW BLOG

PLEASE VISIT MY NEW BLOG HERE: http://www.handmadebyamanda.com/hba-blog.html

Chevron Velcro Belts for kids

A chevron ribbon velcro belt for a kid.... What a fun and stylish way to keep those pants from drooping. 

It's custom handmade to order belt, by yours truly, made especially with my own 4 yr old & 5.5 yr olds in mind... the droopy jeans at this age drive me bonkers as a Mom. But since I can't be there at preschool and Kindergarten to help them go to the bathroom to assist them on/off with a traditional belt, this velcro belt seemed like the best solution to the "droopies". With "hook & loop closure", it's easier for a child to get this belt on and off - velcro belts for kids is nothing new, beeen around for many years.  My belt's design is similar concept to those "big name" guys here, but my design is different  than theirs... most children  under 6 yrs old have yet to master snaps on clothing - which to me made theirs less desirable, just my two cents.

Pretty soon you'll hear cheers from the bathroom of "Look, Mommy, I did it all by myself"... hooray! 

One small step for a child, one giant leap for Mother-kind everywhere ;-)  

Need a belt?   Order here in my Etsy shop.

You may customize your child's belt however you like.  Color options for webbing + chevron ribbon + TWO wdiths: 1" (2 yrs and under toddlers), and 1.25" (for 3 yrs and up kids)... Style away!

Need a belt?   Order here in my Etsy shop.

Etsy is for artistisans, crafters and designers

This Year 2013...

Etsy (pronounced 'Et- See').  Etsy is for artisans, crafters and designers.  It's an online community of thousands of "shops" of lots of creative people from all walks of life, selling anything from hand crafted wood furniture, up to up-cycled fashion clothing for adults.  What a better way to shop for authentic designs, and it's all just at your fingertips.  I have an Etsy shop located here, it's become my main source of selling my handmade designs and craft supply overstock.  Still kicking myself in the shins for not focusing my time, sweat, and energy into an Etsy Shop years ago when I opened it.  Instead I went the traditional "dot.com" route, which I never really saw much come of that... well, not much other than lots of bills for: website maintenance, web templates, and MANY hours spent formatting item listings... which in turn left little time for design of my actual craft.  I guess we do our best to learn from our mistakes and move on.  That lesson is still blazed in my brain, and my pocketbook for that matter too ;-)

No one artist/crafter is an island... that's what makes the community of artists on Etsy.com so great - there is an amazing network that supports fellow "Etsyians" - articles, groups, newsletters, discussion boards, etc.      There are lots of amazing fresh and talented artists/designers out there on Etsy, these are just a few of my favorites, in no way did they pay me to feature their shop, just wanting to share the crafty goodness with my few fans (errr, thanks family members + coworkers) that actually read this blog, LOL, (oh, and of course, thanks Mom for always being my champion supporter.. no matter how crazy my sewing ideas are!).

Here's a few of my favorite Etsy shops.  I encourage you to stop by and "favorite" their shops.

#1: Design Roots - Handwritten calligraphy and graphics that are fresh, modern, and timeless.  Great attention to details. Her wedding invitations have been most popular, along with her note-cards  and graphic art prints.  She's even recently launched stamp designs into her growing skill set.  I actually personally known the owner, Heather, we worked in the same architectural office many moons ago.

#2: Oh Dier - Handcrafted wooden signs, with plenty of satire, silliness, and whimsy.  Don't we all need just a little humor to brighten our home.

#3: Simply Southern Signs - I've only recently discovered this artist.  From reading her bio I realized that this Etsy shop is a husband + wife team - she paints, he does the woodwork - wonderful to see such a symbiotic relationship.   Her art isn't just on wooden signs.  A unique twist to her art is she also paints old windows - she has a very expressionistic and fun style.

Tooth Fairy Pillows

Thanks to a sweet friend, Mindy P., who needed a tooth fairy pillow for her daughter... I've been busy since this summer designing and sewing these little pillows for snaggletooths I know and a few sales in my Etsy shop too :-)  I made the sewing pattern myself for these pillows + an applique pattern, so these are one-of-a-kind.  These are custom "made to order" pillows, so each customer chooses their fabric, name font, handle colors, and name thread color.  It's been fun getting back to handmade designs... because I love any excuse to design and create.

The original pillow...

Back View of "Sports" themed pillow

Superman

 Batman

John Deere

Corduroy + pink

Pink flowers + fringe

Coming soon:  Spiderman, and Hello Kitty styles.

If you'd like to order these or request a custom tooth fairy pillow, please visit my Etsy Shop here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/HBAmanda


Next on my sewing "bucket list".... hopefully I'll start tackling tshirt dresses for girls very soon too!

One Year later... Bloggy Overhaul

I have been ignoring the blog for quite some time. Wasn't sure that I actually wanted to blog anymore.  Especially with the rise in Facebook popularity.  Who needs a blog, right?  Well, I'm not convinced either, but blogs are still read by many, sooooo I thought this should be a goal to refocus on in 2013... having more blog posts.  Woohoo!  No promises on how informative these posts will be, ha-ha.  But they'll be about sewing, teaching, crafts, embroidery... basically whatever is on my mind this week?!!  AND hopefully full of lots and lots of pictures of designs, and helpful sewing and embroidery tips.

Book or Magazine Ladder Shelf

I'm pretty new to the world of preschool teaching... let's just say my "green horns" are still attached.  So some days... err, i mean WEEKS are like "Aha" moments for me.  Biggest "Aha" moment so far is that preschoolers prefer NEED bookshelves that they can easily access.... not adults bookshelves with books facing sideways so they have to pull out 301 books to find the one that interests their 30 seconds 10 seconds attention span.  Not sure why I didn't know this, considering my father built two awesome forward facing bookshelves for my kiddos... DUH. (White Bookshelf above is my Dad's creation)

So.... I've been casually searching the internet for an affordable bookshelf, and gosh, all I seem to find is shelves that costs $300+, that's preschool robbery if you ask me?!

Today I stumbled on this great Mom Blogger and DIY Builder, who has lots of ingenious ideas, and she blogs about it, AND gives you dimensional construction drawings **angels singing**.  How amazing is SHE?!   Here name is Ana White, her blog is a great must read for a Saturday morning with your coffeecup and cozy pj's.  This is her version of a preschool bookshelf:  Book or Magazine Ladder Shelf

Twilight

Okay so I admit I'm a Twilight Mom... whatcha' gonna do?  Looking forward to the new movie release next month, LOL, yes, silly I know.  In honor of the hype and craziness, and just for good plain old fun... I can now offer Twilight Monogram Font :-) Wanna order a custom Twilight towel or burp-cloth?  visit me in my Etsy Shop and send me an Etsy Convo and we'll discuss the details.