Clever Apple is coming back!

I closed down my Etsy shop when we left Hawaii.

It wasn't really planned, it just came from having all our things in boxes while in Missouri and finding out we were having a baby and then having said baby.

Somehow I just didn't have the time (or much of a desire) to sit and embroider for hours.

But lately I have missed doing crafty things and now that Alice is older I have (a little) more time to work on things.

Also, with Stephen getting out of active duty and into the reserves and starting school soon, some extra income certainly wouldn't hurt.

So I am re-opening my Etsy shop CleverApple.

Though the name is the same, the product is different.

I'm keeping it a surprise what it is but be sure it's adorable and genius!

(Well, at least I think so)

It is taking a lot of time and work to get everything ready but if all goes well, I should be opening my shop in the beginning of April.

Here are some pictures of my work space (aka the dining room table) to give you some hints.

Bursts of Creativity

I, in my awesomeness, was featured in another blog!

Melissa from Burst of Creativity bought a custom piece from me a while back and must have liked it because she recently bought another piece from me.

She is making over her craft room and plans to decorate the my pieces.

Looking at her shop and her blog makes me wish I was a scrapbooker.

She is really talented.

So here's the link for my feature:

http://burstsofcreativity.blogspot.com/2011/06/clever-apple-etsy-shop.html

Make sure to check out the rest of her blog while your there!

Campfire Chic Interview

It's up!

My interview with Campfire Chic!

I feel so famous.

Check it out here:

http://campfirechicblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/seller-interview-megan-of-clever-apple.html

Thanks Kam!!

Also up are some new pieces in my shop.

I love this piece.





It's one of my favorites.

The "&" was made with a new satin silver floss I got and I love how it turned out.

Then there are these two super cute fabric pieces.





Who doesn't love some cute old lady goats sewing?

I had originally bought the fabric with the intention of doing some embroidery on it but I decided it was just so cute on its own that it deserved to be framed as is.

I also have made a new "Do Something Creative Everyday" piece that is 6 inches rather than the 8 inches.



I love adding the single sequin, its such a fun little detail.

I am also really excited because I finally sold Mimi the Mouse!



She was one of my first pieces way back in January.

I never understood why no one seemed to want her.

She was always one of my favorites.

But now she is headed to a nice home in Michigan.

Bye Mimi!

So all and all, an exciting week for CleverApple.

Guest/Craft Room

I realized the other day while looking through some old blog posts that I never finished the before and afters of the house!

Worst of all, I forgot to show you my favorite room!

The craft room! (also the guest room)

Here is the before:



Taking down that stupid border was such a pain!

After!



Aren't those scissors awesome! I got them at Target!

Guest Room Side:



Sorry guests, we never got around to getting a bed frame.

Craft Room Side:



Here is my little work space for my Etsy stuff.



Androgynous Andy helping me with my apple tags.



This is what I do with some of my pieces in limbo:



They are crying "please buy us and give us a forever home!"

Now not only do I love this room because it has all of my wonderful crafting supplies but also because of the special decor pieces.

Like this antique writing desk and piano stool.



That piano stool holds a lot of memories for me.

That was the stool my mom always used when she cut my hair as a child.

On top of the writing dest is the bouquet that I held while Maid of Honor at my best friend Anna's wedding.

This is the picture that is next to it.

(Sorry for the picture of a picture, I don't have a scanner)



That is Anna at her wedding.

The wedding dress was handmade by her mom.

It's a great crafting inspiration, as well as my very favorite picture of Anna.

This is where I keep a lot of my craft supplies.



That middle square is overflowing with Martha Stewart Living magazines.

I love Martha.

Well, at least the Martha corporation.

I don't know her well enough to say I love her personally.

On top of this organizer is a spice holder I got as a wedding present and had intended to use but it took up too much precious counter space.

So I used it here.



Here is the room facing the other direction.



Behind that cutain is this:



That blue dresser is filled with more craft supplies.

Don't ask me how I acumulated so many craft supplies, I honestly don't know.

I think they might multiply when I'm not looking.

Which is fine by me!

New Shop Banner!

I am really excited about the new shop banner I made today!

I really didn't like the old one and I was so proud of myself for figuring out how to make the new one.

So here it is.

Before:



After:



So much better right?

It looks more professional and it matches my business cards.

One of the reasons I am working so much on my shop right now is that a wonderful blogger has asked to feature me in her blog!

I am so excited, honored and nervous!

What if they don't like me?

What if my interview answers are stupid?

What if my pictures are bad?

ok so maybe I'm not THAT nervous, but I am a little.

Her blog has over 400 followers!

I have 4.

Who is the "her" I have been talking about?

Kam from Campfire Chic!

You can check her out here: campfirechicblog.blogspot.com

(I wish I was cool and new how to turn the "here" into a clickable link but I am SO not that computer savvy)

So in preparation for becoming super famous I have been working on my shop.

I'll let you know when she features me, it should be sometime this month.

New Pieces

I have been working hard on my Etsy shop lately and have come up with some new pieces.

This piece was inspired by this quote from Alice in Wonderland:

"Curiouser and curiouser!" cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English).

(By the way, if you have never read Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, you are really missing out)



For some reason whenever I think of Alice in Wonderland, I also associate it with the color purple.

This piece sold the same day I put it in my shop.



I knew there had to be a lot of Princess Bride lovers out there but goodness!

If you are not familiar with this quote, I may have to block you from my blog, we obviously have nothing in common.

Just kidding.

Kinda.

Here is another feather piece that I made with a very natural color palette in mind.



I also made another Mr. Darcy piece in a different color scheme.



Can you believe I have sold 5 Mr. Darcy pieces?

The ladies really do love Mr. Darcy.

I also put together this fun butterfly trio.



I'm in a bit of an embroidering frenzy right now.

I suddenly got a lot of good ideas and great fabrics and I cant wait to put them together.

In case you forgot, here's the link to my shop.

cleverapple.etsy.com

The Weekend

Well we had a pretty good weekend.

We hung out at our favorite coffee shop, ChadLou's in Kailua.

We love ChadLou's because its locally owned (by a really cute young couple with really cute little kids) and its not packed and noisy like Starbucks and it is also open with no air conditioners and freezing like Starbucks.

Did I mention it's not Starbucks?

They serve their cold drinks in mason jars like so.



We spent a few hours there this weekend.

Stephen had this,



While reading this,



(That's "History of the Pelonnesian War by Thucydides, it was written in 431 B.C.)

(Yes I am aware I married a nerd)

As I worked on this,



I was really annoyed because I forgot my headphones for my iPod and couldn't listen to my audiobook Middlemarch which I am really enjoying.

Instead I eavesdropped on a nearby conversation.

Yes, that's right, I'm an eavesdropper.

I drop eaves all the time.

I spent 6 years in school learning how to observe human relationships and behavior, how could I not be an expert eavesdropper?

This weekend we also bought some wine and gourmet cheeses, that was pretty tasty.



That brown marbled cheese had an Irish Ale in it.

Also this weekend we watched Thor, North by Northwest and our new favorite show Shark Tank.

I also got a request to do a custom piece for someone's wedding.

I was really excited about it because I love love love weddings and I love the idea of making something for a wedding.

Here's how it turned out.



My little model there is Androgynous Andy.

I got him/her at Ikea years ago.

He/she has been quite helpful.

Hope you had a good weekend too!

Coincidences

Strangest coincidence ever!

So I had my first real sale today.

(By real I mean, not bought by my mom or other friend, relative or acquaintance)

The customer was from Austria and a total stranger.

I thought that was cool.

On the invoice it had her email address which was her name @the-impossible-project.com

Crazy!

Now I realize this means nothing to you.

Let’s back track to just yesterday.

One of my favorite blogs is Pacing the Panic Room.

It is a blog by a photographer that I have been reading for months now.

(By the way, he has the most adorable maternity series of his wife Cole)

Well I was reading his blog yesterday and he had just posted about something called “The Impossible Project”.

(starting to see the connection yet?)

This blogger has recently started taking pictures with a Polaroid camera and The Impossible Project is...well, here’s their explanation:

“In October 2008 The Impossible Project saved the last Polaroid production plant for integral instant film in Enschede (NL) and started to invent and produce totally new instant film materials for traditional Polaroid cameras. In 2010 Impossible saved analog instant photography from extinction by releasing various, brand new and unique instant films. Therewith Impossible prevents more than 

300.000.000 

perfectly functioning Polaroid cameras from becoming obsolete, changes the world of photography and keeps variety, tangibility and analogue creativity and possibilities alive.”


I think that is pretty cool.

I am all for saving extincting forms of art.

(Yes I know extincting is not a real word, but it works ok)

(You still tracking with me?)

(Do remember what the point is?)

(Don’t worry, here it is.)

So you can imagine my surprise when I saw my customer’s email and discovered that she is a part of The Impossible Project which I just heard about yesterday!

Now tell me that is not a really weird coincidence!

The end.

Clever Apple: Custom work

So I have just finished putting all my new custom items in my shop.

For each one I had to make the sample and then another set ready to go for when I get an order.

For each sample, I tried to use the name a birthdate of someone I knew so that I could give it to them.

Because everyone I know have girls, I did have to make up one.

Here they are.






I was very excited yesterday to have my first sale.

Guess who the customer was?

My mom.

Hey, it still counts!

Now just a couple more sales and I may just cover the cost of all the supplies :o)

Making money or not, I'm still having fun doing it!

Take a look at all my work at,

cleverapple.etsy.com

Stay Clever!

Wow, that's really cheesy.

I had better work on a better sign off.

(suggestions welcome)

Clever Apple

Well, in my last post I mentioned that I may try to sell some of my embroidery.

I thought at the time that it would be a few months from now before that would happen.

But then...I had a stroke of genius!

Ok maybe not "genius" but a good idea all the same.

So since then I have been working non-stop on getting my shop open and now it is!

So I would like to invite you all to the grand opening of....

Clever Apple!



To be completely honest, the name really doesn't mean anything.

I just found an adorable apple stamp and suddenly all the great possibilities of an apple theme with red and green was too good to pass up.

My "genius" idea was to do a series of pieces with animals and balloons.

It started with Elliot the Elephant.





Then Larry the Lion.





And last but not least, Mimi the Mouse.





I created all the designs myself and hand embroidered each piece.

In the near future I will start some custom work with these same characters.

Each hoop comes with this adorable tag.



On the back of which is a small nail to use to hang the hoop.



And here is my business card (made with previously mentioned stamp).



I may be getting a little carried away.

I am really excited to see how it all works out.

If I sell enough to cover the cost of supplies, I would be happy.

If I actually make money, well, then I would be shocked and thrilled.

So check out my shop cleverapple.etsy.com