Punkie Pie's Boutique Update

Cafe Style Pocket Apron

I have recently reopened my Etsy shop, Punkie Pie's Boutique, after taking a short break. I'm currently in the process of filling my shop up with aprons in a variety of styles. Right now I have these great waist aprons with a row of pockets to be used to carry craft supplies, cleaning supplies, money, keys, pens, pencils, tools, accessories, whatever is needed for:

• vendors
• hostesses
• bakers
• cooks
• waitresses
• teachers
• hair stylists
• crafters
• gardners
• nurses and caregivers
• photographers (great for carrying lens caps and other camera accessories)

The possibilities are endless!

Multi-Pocket, Multi-Purpsoe Waist Apron

Cup Cozy Cuffs

I've also added some unique Cup Cozy Cuffs that have an adjustable strap with double D-Rings so they fit just about any take-out paper cup. These cup cozy cuffs are great for keeping your coffee and tea warm. They are also good for cold drinks too (keeping the cold and eliminated condensation).These are reusable, making them an eco-friendly option to using those paper cuffs offered at coffee shops.

An apron and a matching cup cozy
would make a great gift for the holidays.

Projects

Wow! Has it really been this many weeks since I've blogged?!? Life has just been too busy. I've been working on several projects with my new serger as well as with my regular sewing machine but I haven't had to chance to share here on my blog. I will start out with my most recent handmade goodies and will work backwards to share what what I have been doing.

This week I made some aprons that would be really cute for Valentine's Day or any time of year. I branched out and made a few vintage-inspired aprons as well some sassy aprons with pleated bottoms (which I have to say I really think came out nice). These Sassy Pleated Aprons are my own pattern.

It has been incredibly cold and snowy here so I've been keeping myself busy doing some crafty type things with fabric. I've been trying out a few tutorials that I have found online and would like to share them with you as work on them. In January it was my mom's 70th birthday so I made these adorable no-sew fabric baskets for favors using this tutorial at CraftStylish. They were a bit messy but I had a great time making them and think they came out great:

This tutorial is so versatile. The little favor baskets can be re-used for holding things such as paper clips, bobby pins, sewing pins, loose change, etc. How about making them with kid friendly fabric and then they can be used to hold tiny little toys (like polly pockets - anyone with a little girl must have polly pocket pieces that need a place).

I'll be back (soon I promise with more).

Hooray for the Red, White and Blue

I'm excited to say that one of my patriotic hostess aprons is being featured in this Hooray for the Red, White and Blue Etsy Treasury . This is the first time I've had an item featured so I feel very honored. The treasury is there for only 48 hours so feel free to have a look and be sure to check out the Independence Day items made by other Etsy artisans.

I've been busy making new items (not aprons) for my shop and I will be adding those to Punkie Pie's Boutique asap. I'm also trying to finish up the rest Baby K's items since we will (hopefully) be meeting her over the July 4th holiday. She is suppose to be coming home by the end of this week. I can't wait to see her!

This is going to have to be short post tonight since we have a busy week a head of us getting ready for our first summer family vacation.

Happy July 4th to Everyone !!

Mary's Productions

Come check out Mary Mulari from Mary's Productions. She has been sewing and designing patterns for quite a long time. She has designed patterns for the McCall Pattern Company and embroidery cards collections for Husqvarna Viking, Cactus Punch, and Amazing Designs. Two of my favorite things - patterns and embroidery designs! :)

I especially like her apron patterns. This Clothespin Apron Pattern has triggered my interest. I think I'll have to purchase this pattern for myself.



I think this clothespin apron would look adorable made with this combination of Alexander Henry's Bird Seed Aqua and Melissa Averinos' Kimono Cocoa & Tendril Jade fabrics.


This is a definite item for the Have To Do List.

Sugar, Spice & Everything Nice

My Apron is here !!

I received my apron on Monday from the Lucy & Shawnee's Sugar, Spice & Everything Nice apron swap. Guess who was my partner??? Lucky me, Shawnee was my partner. How awesome is that! The apron is just beautiful. This was my first time participating in apron swap. It was so much fun. Nothing like finding a surprise present at your door step! :)

Shawnee's combination of Paula Prass' Flight of Fancy Pary Avion and the retro colorful flowers fabrics with the pink and blue ric rac make this a very cheerful fun apron. I love it. This is my first full apron!!


And she sent me way too many goodies to go along with it - so generous and sweet. The heart shaped measuring spoons are the cutest thing I've ever seen.



Thank you Shawnee!

I highly recommend joining any of Shawnee and Lucy's future apron swaps. They did a wonderful job organizing and making if fun with all the giveaways and fun blog posts. Great job ladies!

Apron-ology .. Aprons With An Attitude ...

I can't wait for the premier issue of Apron-ology to come out on February 1st, 2009. "With all the glamour and charm of aprons Stampington & Company brings you apron•ology™, a magazine that will present delightful photographs and illustrations featuring exciting apron designs with simple techniques and templates that will be fun for the DIY-er to recreate. Apron•ology™ will also feature ideas on how to repurpose vintage aprons, and how to wear them with attitude and style".

These ladies have been working hard at getting this publication ready... take a look at how fun their jobs must be! Oh, and so inspiring too!

It looks like some Apron enthusiasts (Creations From Heart, Melinda's Fabric Fancies, etc.) have submitted their designs to be featured in this new publication. I can't wait to see!

Go to Stampington to pre-order your copy of Apron-ology. You'll see other new pubs coming out too. Such as Stuffed, Green raft, and ArtQuilting.

I also ordered a copy of "Where Women Create". I took a peek at my friends issue and there's so many great inspirations from these women!

Etsy Store Opening!!

Today is my grand opening of Punkie Pie's Boutique on Etsy. I'm featuring my line of Retro Aprons. The collection of aprons I have for sale right now have been made from Ikea fabrics. This is my "Retro Tree" Half Apron made from Ikea's Fredrika collection. To see my other aprons please go to punkiepies.etsy.com.

Setting Up Shop

I'm finally getting somewhere with setting up my Etsy shop. I just finished creating my Etsy banner for my shop. I found the cutiest clipart from Crafty Chef Graphics that I've added to my logo for Punkie Pie's Boutique. Don't you just love it!



Here is a quick look at my Etsy banner that I made with the Crafty Chef's retro stove clipart using GIMP (GIMP is the GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed piece of software for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. It works on many operating systems, in many languages).

I'm justing learnin on how to use gimp so don't be too critical.



In just a couple more days I will have my first set of Retro aprons for sale on Etsy. In the mean time, you can check out some of my aprons on Flickr:

Punkie Pie

My 9 year old, dearest daughter (AKA Punkie Pie), has inherited the wonderful love for color. She has been painting, coloring, combining fabrics since I can remember. For every gift giving occasion she requests markers, pastels, colored pencils, paints, paper, canvas, etc. She attended a week long summer art day-camp in August. On September 28th all of the children's art work was displayed during an open house. Here is a painting she completed during the summer camp.

I will be opening my shop Punkie Pie's Boutique at Etsy.com soon. I will be selling aprons and other accessories that I have been sewing. So check back soon for my store opening!

Can you guess where I got the name for my shop?