i forsee a long weekend of sewing & doing

we've had a friend staying with us the last 2 weeks in our 'spare' room (my sewing room, thank you very much) and i had to put all my things away for the duration. ie: no crafting for 2 whole weeks!!!!!
i can't believe how much i missed just having everyhting right there and ready to go and be used.
i've been gagging to make things, and now it's the long weekend and i can get everything out again and make stuff!!!
although i admit i have actually been quite productive in the time;
*business plan is now about 30% done. the overall outline is finished, i just need to flesh out a few parts and then look at the finiancial plan part-the scary bit. i'm looking at that new microsoft visio thingo as a financial management toolio. anyone have any experience with it?
*summer 07 range development is finished, with the line-by style all planned out. just need to refine the ideas and draw everything up in illustrator properly. oh, and reduce the qty of dresses from 7 to 4. except i can't choose. so it'll probably end up being 5. or 6. or 8.
*blocks are all cut out in card. now i just need to adjust them to my block measurements that i want (i did all the hard work developing them in my last job). they're currently for a size 10 fairly athletic 172cm tall woman(the bust to waist was 18cm...18!!!!)-crazy, crazy, crazy. so now i have to alter them all to be for 160cm tall, and curvier, with small waists and more arse meats.
*i've designed the tote bag i 'm going to make this weekend and send to liz for the bag swappage. i hope she likes picnics.
*i've designed the dress i'm going to make for my first refashion project. (that's it at the top) i will only be using what fabrics i have lying around, until i get my 1st pay from la new job-this might be hard, especially since i want to make it in cheetah cheater print fabric and i dont have any, but maybe dotty spots will do. depending on how it turns out, it may make it into my final 8 for s07. or 9 or 10.

speaking of which, how many people buy a jacket for summer? a light weight one, obviously. and if you buy it, do you wear it often, or do you prefer the good ol' fashion cardi? (a nice cardi, not the nanna kind). i'm not sure whether to include jackets in my range, but i'm completely in love with 3 designs, so i want to include them, but silly to go and spend a lot of effort making the pattens etc... if no-one buys them. hmmm.

argh! you got me...

I've been shot with a tagging gun!!!
(thankfully just a flesh wound, no need to panic Helen )

ok, the rules are probably all known by now, but just in case, here's the fine print:

1. someone tags you,
2. you post five things about yourself that you haven’t already mentioned on your blog,
3. you tag people you’d like to know more about


hmmm, since i've only been blogging a short time, anything i write is new really! ok, that's a cop out. i'll try to write something vaguely interesting and less known about me.

1. I prefer small, crispy foods. the smaller and crispier the better. it actually makes the food taste better if it's small. trust me. soft cheese is the only exception to the rule.

2. i only really wear 2 colours:red and pink and all shades in between. (black and white and denim don't count) i keep trying to wear green and purple and sometimes blue, but i just find it too hard. i look in the mirror and i'm all 'sneh. needs red'. and dont get me started on yellow...gag. i dont actually dislike those colours, i just dont feel right wearing them, or having them around me.

3. i'm completely useless at remembering names of bands and songs. i can remember the sounds and the way it goes and i say 'you know, the one with the doo dah deh nah nah moop' but it takes me ages to try to think of the title, and i never can until i deliberately stop trying, and then about an hour later(if i'm really lucky) i remember it. if i'm unlucky, my husband just says 'it was blah-de-blah' and then he wins, and that sucks.

4. i love fashion and clothing, but i really dont like the fashion scene. hence the vintage/retro obsession. i loathe those wanky 'fashiony' people who think that they're better than everyone else because they're 'a designer' . sneh. i'm much more interested in how clothing is put together and constructed, and fabrics and patterns and...oooh soo many things.

5. when we have a kid, if it's a boy, his middle name is going to be godzilla. no really. i can imagine calling out '____ godzilla nelson, you come here right now young man'...at his 15th birthday party and embarrassing him...bwah ha ha.
considering how well he'll be dressed, coz i'll make him all cool rockabilly baby and toddler clothes i dont think he'll care.

you're all tagg-i-fied nikkishell!


well 3rd day of new job is ok. it's a bit sneh filled, but considering i spent a lot of the day musing over what kind of tote bag to make for the swap, it is at least fulfilling the role of 'income while i get my shit started' nicely. i hope my swap person likes red. oooh maybe some faux fur? or leopard and gingham and cherries. hmmm, so many options.

i was looking for a picture of the bag shape i wanted to make, but i couldn't find it, but i found this very cute picture instead:
awwww, kitties all snorgling!!

oooh, my first comment!!!

ok, ok it's only a hello from a fellow blogger, but isn't that the best kind of comment anyway?
thank you 62cherry for stopping by and saying hello...and making me get all excited about this swap !
now, what to make, what to make...too many possibilities...
i'm also signing up for 6 months of re-fashioning, and i'm eagerly planning what my first outfit is going to be. i'm pretty sure it's going to be a dress, since i really don't wear enough of them. and they look so charmingly dressed up and just neat with rolls and curls.
i'm thinking of something similar to these pictures below, so i have some designing and
patternmaking to do until i can actually get to the making part, but isn't that half the fun?
and i must adjust my blocks to be according to my measurements again. my last job had a very tall block (172cm, yiiikes!) so the bust to waist mmt was 18cm!! i know i'm not tall (5'2"), but my bust to waist is 15cm, and Target's standard is 16cm, so i really need to fix that up before i even attempt the pattern. oh well, it's an incentive to actually getting my blocks established and ready so i can make things to sell-a-do.



and in other news...
i started my new job today...woohoo...no more snarky weasel head from having to deal with a couple of ..um...difficult people. the best thing about my new job is that it's more pay for less to actually do and be responsible for, so i can finally, finally, get cracking on making and sewing and crafting this year. (i have been procrastinating just too, too long now). And i really have to say that all you lovely aussie bloggy ladies are very inspiring. not just keeping me motivated to blog on a regular basis ('cause i don't want to be left out of all the fun), but because you are all so damn talented!!! every day i find someone new through link clicking on everyone's faves. my poor, poor overloaded bookmarks tab. oh well, once my laptop is all interneted up later this week, i can have my own bookmarks, all MINE!!!! mwah ha ha ahaaa.

a new year beckons...

Well xmas is over, and a new year has well and truly begun.
I'm not the kind to make an actual new year's resolution as such, but I do love planning things, and so I guess the planning of what is yet to come could be considered somewhat resolution-y.
So this year my plans are:
*new job (I start 12th Jan and I'm quite excited about the possibilities that may arise)
*new laptop perputer with wacom pen mousyness with which to draw up all my faaabulous ideas. -thank you Jim.
(I just need to get our home internets all wifi-ed so I can blog away on my own little black box instead of this big one) hold on, that's not a plan, that's a thing. I mean I plan to use the laptop to do lots of designing of things. Mainly clothing, since that's what I seeem to keep coming back to, but I really want to develop my skills in graphic design (being totally self taught makes it hard, but ultimately more rewarding in the end). I especially want to focus on developing trims for the line; all the assorted labelling and packaging that will be required one I actually get my arse into gear and make something to sell. After that, I am trying to teach myself how to make repeat patterns that don't suck. I understand the basic concepts involved, but I really just need to practice, practice, practice. And to get somewhere to print them on fabric for me, or to make some screens and do it myself.
*make patterns.
I really quite enjoy pattern making, the way you have to craft a flat surface to conform and mould to fit a lumpy, bumpy, (in the good way) curved body. I just wish it didn't take so long to do. But I've very keen to get cracking on this (after the dogged heat lets up-no fun crafting with sweat running everywhere) so I can make myself some new clothes for my new job. Plus, I really want to join that 'no new clothes' pact for the whole year, just to really push myself and offer not only an incentive to get this business off the ground, but as a reward for my hard work along the way.
*hire an accountant / get quickbooks running.
I hate money.
Ok, well that's a lie. I just don't like having to budget and deal with money. As long as I have enough to buy a few things, I'm happy. Clearly I'm going to have to learn to just deal with it this year, or my business aint going anywhere. suck it up, girl.
*make stuff and sell it.
this is the hardest part I think. I love the pre-planning, and then the actual planning. And the designing and finding the fabrics and trims, and trawling through op-shops and the pattern making and even the sewing. But when I look at how much I have to do all added up, it can be a little daunting and overwhelming. Ok, just chunk it down. one little step at a time. I'll get there, but damn it can be scary sometimes.
It's going to be hard, what with a new job and trying to exercise and still have time to relax and spend time with my husband and friends, but it's not going to happen unless I do it. so that's what I have to do. do it.

I'm still in the process of setting this whole blog thing up, and I've never been very good at keeping a diary, so hopefully having a community online here will help keep me motivated and posting. I really hope that people give me feedback on what I make, even if you just don't like it. it's good to have critical, useful criticism as well as people appreciating my work, so i can improve and grow as a designer.

I think one the first steps though is to set up this page a little bit prettier, and get some pictures on here, and maybe even my own site in the future.
For now, I'm off to read a few fave blogs...
xCherry