Trading is wonderful

I did a trade with a fellow Etsy seller, theGarbageGoose. She has four super cute children so we traded four of my little guys for some of her little guys.

She made a gorgeous doll for my mom who collects primitive dolls. It's stunning. See it here.

I don't trade very often and I find it very hard to say no to people who have asked me to trade. I've had to though. Sometimes I'm just too busy. I don't think it hurts to ask.

My experiences as both a buyer and a seller at Etsy have been very positive. Seeing this photo of all four of these beautiful children was, by far, the best experience I've ever had. I wish I could see all the kids who wear my clothes. I work so hard to make each little guy unique and well crafted.

Needless to say, this photo is courtesy of theGarbageGoose and better not be reproduced.

Etsy Babyshower

There was a thread in the Etsy forums a while ago about an Etsy Babyshower. Basically Etsy shops send stuff to expecting moms who are other Etsy sellers. The mom assigned to me is waiting until the birth to know the sex of the baby. That was a challenge because at the time, most of my stuff was not really unisex. I have stuff for boys and stuff for girls. So I sent Bean Beastlyn, one of my first onesies because it was the most unisex. I was worried that she wouldn't like it.

I got a convo the other day and the mom LOVED the onesie and was super happy with it. Yay!

She sent along this picture and sent her thanks.

Feature on the Little Ida blog

Just a few days ago I was featured on the Little Ida blog. It's an amazing blog written by the owner of super cool online kidstore, Craftsbury Kids. The items they feature on their blog are really top notch. The items in the store are also amazing. What a thrill to be included!

This morning I got the feeling that I should do a Google search for Lemon Cadet. So far, only my Etsy shop and this blog have come up. Today, it was a whole new story. I'm hoping this is the first of many more to come.

Little Ida featured "Here Kitty Kitty," a custom tee I have in the shop. I made the original for Loriola, another Etsy seller and she was really happy with it. I listed this one as a custom so I could make it in any size. I was wondering why it had gotten so many hits...

Perfecting a technique

I perfected my craft with machine applique! I found it rather easy to use the machine to sew the faux fur of the yetis but at first it was a challenge to get the corners right on the cotton prints. Here are some photos of my first attempts from early last year to use the machine.


You can only rip so many times before the applique is a mess but it was fun to tear off the fabric.

I love sewing and I love making these guys but I just wasn't able to keep up the hand sewing. I want to be prolific! That can't happen when it takes almost three hours to make one piece. So far the machine stuff is doing very well in the shop and in person.

Making it to the Etsy home page

After 4 months on Etsy, I finally made it to the home page. My little guy got around 300 hits.

I've been so busy with the trip to New York and being sick that I haven't finished anything new (except for one custom order). I've been working on doing machine applique -- in the long run it's going to save me a lot of time so that I might actually make a profit off of this endeavor. Unfortunately, it's taking a lot of practice.

Many pancakes into the bin...

Special thanks to Etsy seller maggiejs (who makes amazing jewelry) for taking this screen shot. I couldn't get a good image from my iBook because the screen is so small.

I like this song and video.

I don't know why I thought of this today but it makes me really happy so I thought I'd write this little reminder to anyone who reads my blog.

You should check out the Rathergood website. They're still at it.

I got this photo from some website who says they got it from NASA. Is that legal? I couldn't find any copyright information.

Vegan Twinkies.

I read the VeganLunchBox blog every few days to see what fabulous new creation Jennifer has whipped up for her son, Shmoo. Ahh, what a dream -- if only I could be a SAHM and spend half the day figuring out what to eat...

Anyway, that's not my life. I'm not even a mom. But Aaron and I did get a Bed, Bath & Beyond gift certificate for Christmas and after reading about vegan Twinkies, I ran out and picked up the Twinkie-making kit. We couldn't find the Malt Barley Powder anywhere in town so Aaron fudged the icing recipe. I'm actually at a loss for words to describe how amazing and delicious these tiny little filled cakes are (soon, were). There are only a couple left.

I highly recommend Jennifer's book, Vegan Lunch Box. It's really well organized (by the time it takes to make each lunch) and includes some great recipes that can be used for any meal. It has a great design and clear photos.