Mimi Green Custom Designer Dog Collars and Leashes

Amy Butler's 'Little Stitches for Little Ones' : A Retrospect of 'In Stitches', The Original

In celebration of Amy Butler's new book, Little Stitches for Little Ones, I thought I'd take us back to 2006 and reminisce about her very fantastic book, In Stitches.

I could tell that I was getting old this year when all I really wanted for my birthday was Amy's In Stitches and Amy Karol's Bend the Rules Sewing. There were birthdays, pretty recent ones I am ashamed to admit, where all I wanted was a hookah to smoke really gross, sticky, Indian tabacco with my friends. Other recent ones I can't really remember very well but I do remeber looking at the inside of a toilet a good part of the night.

Don't get me wrong, getting old isn't a bad thing for me-- it was actually very exciting. I felt like a woman finally this past year and my hobbies were reflecting that. So anyway, here I am trying to explain to my husband what sewing books to buy me and he's looking at me like I am telling him which tampons to get at the grocery store for me. "Jewelry, I want jewelry, " I say and he can understand those requests, very well I am happy to say. I had to find someone else to buy me some Amy B. I email the links you see above to my sisters and mother. Unfortunately this threw them for a loop too. I ended up with a Amazon gift card from one sister telling me to order it for myself and a very irritated mother who told me that it is unlady like to tell people what to buy you if they aren't asking.

Okay, fine. I think I would have had better luck asking for the hookah. So in a last ditch effort to get my hands on In Stitches, I have my infant son order the book for me. I gave him my credit card number of course and typed in Barnes and Noble's web address for him, but that isn't the point. I was sure that little Auggie wanted to get these books for me as a present, he'd been hearing me complain about wanting them for long enough
The day the two books arrived I was ecstatic!

I mean, look at these stunning photos, these  vibrant colors! I couldn't put it down. Keep in mind that Mimi Green and Augustine had both just been born. I really didn't have free time for Amy, but I was willing to loose sleep over it, for a few days anyway.

I did buy the vintage sheet Amy recommends for making her PJ pants. I bought Michael Miller fabric to make a quilt. I had super good intentions, I swear I did.

Although none of Amy's patterns ever made it to my sewing machine I have no regrets. Amy's book is nothing like the exercise equipment I bought that has now turned into another place to hang my clothes. Although not used for what it was intended for, I am in love with In Stitches.  This book is the book I'd want to be if I were a book. The gorgous colors, the stunning photography! Colin McGuire outdid himself with the photos, I so hope that he shoot Little Stitches for Little Ones.  The reason I don't know for sure-- Amy is only selling this on her website. It won't be on booksellers shelves till early September.

That's okay with me, I am still in my honeymoon with In Stitches anyway. There are truly few things that are better than an overcast day, a fine cup of espresso, and cuddling up on my big couch with this book. The pages are thick and matte. Bound by wire, you and your imagination can easily flip through and have the book lay flat (great for laying it on your sewing table -- I'm told anyway. he he.) The lifestyle that this book portrays is one that I aspire to. It's like everyday is a Sunday afternoon in a really hip, cool, stylish world. All you need are your comfy PJ's, a big pillow to snuggle with and you are fabulous. As simple as that Ms. Butler is.

Today though i am making a promice to you and to myslef. I am going to pre-order Little Stitches for Little Ones and the day it gets here I am going to make something from it. Even if I have to rearrange the sun and the moon so I can have extra hours in my crazy day, I will do it. This time it won't seem too selfish to me. Auggie really wants an Amy Butler kimono and new crib set, he told me so;)

Craft Show Goodness

I had so much fun at my first craft show. My grandpa made me a super cool display, my table looked pretty good for my first time, and the other artists were really sweet and nice to meet.
It was Noah's idea to bring his puppy;) She was wearing a Mimi Green collar of course.

My mom and sister stayed with me all day and Dan brought the kids, including Cessie, down for a bit. But I have to say that it was exhausting. I did learn a few things that may help anyone who wants to do a show.

Craft Show Tip #1 --- Dress in layers. I would have been doing a bit better in the morning if I had brought a jacket and a bit better in the afternoon if I had worn shorts. Yes, it is still cold here in NM in the morning time - can't wait till we are over that!

Tip #2 Have a game plan about what you are going to say about your product. I didn't think too much about that, and I am sure that even if I had it would have needed to be tweaked in practice, but at least I would have had somewhere to start. I may have sold more if I had "sold" my collars and leashes better.

Tip #3  Make sure to network with the other vendors. I met a lot of really cool women that I hope to work with again-- plus now they have my info which is key. Sometimes it is about who you know.

Tip #4  Go in without expectations. Just like anything else in life, if you don't expect things to happen you won't get disappointed if they don't. I wasn't sure how it would go, which I was glad about later when I realized that I had a massive show/sewing  hangover of sorts.  I was so tired, I am still getting over it!

Tip #5  Have a colorful display. I looked at craft displays on Flickr before the show and got some great ideas. The more attention you can draw to you the better-- this really means color and multi level views. If your display is flat you might find that your sales are too. And you can quote me on that one;)

Sewing Hang Over

Yes, this is me avoiding getting ready for tomorrow's show. And it's not because I am lazy, it is because I am so TIRED! Yesterday i whipped up 8 leashes, 3 collars, mailed orders and took care of a teething baby who is really hurting bad. Poor Auggie. Today I need to go to the bank to get change, go to the post office to mail packages to Canada, and fax my letter of driver improvement school completion to Albuquerque  Metro Court (don't ask;) That is all before I complete my goal of making 15 more collars today and painting my leash stand, green of course.

So I better run, but I will leave you with this:  This odd couple has finally bonded, look how cute they were this morning sunbathing together. As soon as this madness is over  the first project on hand is making Miss Etta a new bed ;)

Mimi Green Turns a Month Old!

It's been a smashing month for Mimi Green!  There have been lots of developments since our birth on the interwebs.

Lori Marie at Pretty Little Things featured her French Bulldog Matilda wearing a Mimi Collar. It is adorned with one of Lori's beautiful flower pins that she sells in her wonderful shop 

An article that I wrote with two other Etsy sellers was featured on Etsy this week. It is about the Dog Mafia

The Dog Mafia is a team that I recently joined-- all Etsy sellers who love dogs, donate to dog charities, and support one another in our efforts to make the world a more dog friendly place.   

Then Yesterday I got an email from Erin who featured Mimi dog collars on her blog.

It still makes me super excited to see my work on the web!

I have met so many nice people, sold lots of hip collars and leashes, and I get to do what I love.

Things are good on this front;)

Saturday is my first show at Cup O' Joe in Albuquerque. It is a super cute coffee house and only about 10 of us will be selling our goods there. It is perfect for a first show-- not so scary when it is a small event.

I will post lots of pictures from there, but try to come out if you can!

And thank you to everyone who made my first month full of sunshine.

My huband helped me...hehe

Mimi Green, a Odyssey of Sorts

My Dog collars are slowly making their way into the shop today, I am so excited. Etsy has been good to me, I haven't had the time to market much yet, but have already had 5 sales. What a rush that was! I can't imagine how the sellers who have hundreds of sales feel, hopefully it isn't one of those great feelings that fades after it happens so often.

Here is the first ad for the Mimi collars, yes I realize that I spelled Cecilia's name wrong in the listing, and yes I feel pretty stupid. At 7 am this morning that seemed the logical way to spell it, at 10 I realized that I was so wrong, but it was too late to change it by then. Good thing Cessie doesn't know how to read, she would have her feelings real hurt.

The husband says it is a bit "scrap bookie" which is probably good since I used digital scrap booking software to create this! I think it looks cool, makes me wish that humans wore collars cause I think I'd be smashing in this one (but not as Cute as Etta is looking in it)

This weekend Noah decided that he wanted to learn to sew. He was insistent that using a sewing machine "didn't look that hard" which made me mad a first till I realized that it was probably a compliment that he thinks I sew with such ease. I finally got him to settle on making those shapes with plastic beads that you melt together with an iron-- you know which ones I mean?We went to Joann's together, so much fun. Something I wasn't sure I'd ever get to do with my kids since I have two boys. He also bought a Hannah Montana pillow that he is going to 'kid sew' and a sunflower grow kit.

Well by the end of the night he had big ideas. He told us that he is going to start a web site and sell these treasures on-line. When I asked him what people could use them for, he said that he is going to attach them to blankets, collars, make a mobile out of them. I wanted to giggle, both at how funny he was and how cute I found his sense of entrepreneurship, but I didn't. If I know one thing about Noah it is that he doesn't like to be laughed at. I explained to him how he needs to make his product stand out from the rest, how he needs to make people want to buy it. I could see the wheels turning in his head. He was making even bigger plans, I could see it in his bright eyes.

And then, at that moment, I was taken back to my childhood. My grandma had me sewing with her right out of the womb and by the time I was Noah's age I also had some big plans. At the time I was crocheting baby bottles that held a bottle of baby powder, if you can imagine this in your head, see the nipple bending back to reveal the holes int he top of the powder. I then carefully weaved a ribbon in the middle of the bottle, for decoration and to distinguish if this should belong to a boy or a girl.

My step mother owned a boutique for babies in town, in fact it was called Baby's Boutique. It was a high end resale shop in a pretty fancy shopping center, I didn't realize at the time what a very cool shop it was. But, I did see the opportunity for a business of my own. I would make hundreds of these baby bottle powder holders and I would sell them in her shop. And I would make so much money, I mean they were $3.00 each and I would sell thousands of them.

She was nice enough to let me put them up on the counter where people checked out. Week after week past with no sales. I couldn't figure out why no one wanted these goodies. I mean, they were so super cute, and the idea was funny, it was a bottle that was actually powder! At the time it didn't occur to me that they had absolutely no function at all, I was just so proud of myself that I had made all these on my own. My mom and my grandma were proud of me too and kept encouraging me to make more of them, make different things-- just keep creating.

So I did. And every Christmas, up in till last year, my family got gifts that I had spent the year trying to perfect. This has gone on for probably 22 years now.

In the years between the baby bottle debacle and now, I have been a bit scared to put my work out there in the world again. I only got the courage again after my family and friends told me that people would buy the things that I am making, that they had good form and function.

It is super cool to see Noah having the same thoughts that I did. I can only hope that my newest endeavor takes off and really works so that I can be inspirational to my boys, so that they can see that it can be done.

Most likely Noah will never sell any of his plastic race-car adorned blankets or collars, but I hope that this is just a seedling in his brain that will someday grow into a million dollar idea.

Mace Windu hopes so too.

Sneak Peek...

                                                                                    

Fabric Frenzy!! Free Shipping!!

Grand opening!!!  Mimi Green Fabrics is now open for business!

www.ShopMimiGreenFabrics.etsy.com

In honor of how excited I am that this shop is opening, I am offering free shipping.

I just had the idea for this today. I figure that I order all of this fabric 15 yards at a time-- way more than I need just for myself. And how did I get to this point? Out of frustration really. Amy Butler fabric isn't sold ANYWHERE in Albuquerque. I got to thinking how I must not be the only one out there who has no access to her beautiful prints, so Mimi Green Fabrics was born. And I decided not to draw out the maturation of this shop, like I have with Mimi Green. I hope it can be of use to some of you out there!

I am so excited to get to share this with everyone. I can't tell you how close I am to being able to stay home with Auggie and Noah, and really, there is no better way to get to do that except for this.

And I promise, by this time next week Mimi Green will be up and running also so you can see what I have been making with all this gorgeous fabric!

 

Almost up...

Labels on their way, all the hardware got here today, tags made--- Etsy shop should be up in a week!!

I had an itch to sew last night. Thankfully, my pug is very appreciative.

And then I had the urge to embroider.

Good thing I had fabric and stuffing to make this bed or my husband may have ended up with his name sewed on all of his pairs of underwear.

I see some things that I could have done differently, but at 11pm, this was all I had in me. I got the instructions here from Lori Marie at little pretty things.

 

And little Cecilia, well she has never been so happy. Next time , a  doggie coat.