Thank you Paigey!

In case it was ever in doubt...I love my BFF (and fellow crafter) Paigey.  I mean, I hate her for being so talented, and gorgeous and funny and fabulous, but she's always been infinitely patient with my crazy butt and she always happily drags me in her wake of awesimitude!


Take for example, the Psychobilly Luau.  This annual three day event, held in Brooklyn, is the premier gathering spot on the East for a melding of punk and rockabilly and all things cool.  Paigey was slated to vend at this event, and she very kindly offered to sell some of my hand made hair flowers. 

Luck Be a Lady tonight!

I quickly packaged up all the flowers I had in my Sweatshop and Priority mailed them to her, feeling a little guilty that I was adding to her already heavy load of stuff that she would need to transport to and from the event. 


Not only did she lug my box of flowers to and from the event...but she also prominately displayed them...and proceeded to text me all through the weekend with updates on the (considerable) sales that she made for me! 


On top of that...she then proceeds to give me major shout out on her blog!


Quite honestly, she constantly blows me away by her unfailing generosity...but also for her bloodhound nose for cool.  Heh.


So in short - I love my BFF.  And I'm so lucky to have her as my best friend.  She's awesome, talented, and just fun to be around!  If you haven't already - go check out her Etsy store and her blog!

The Art of the Ever Fabulous Paigey!

Craft Therapy (I need it!)

It was a fairly usual Wednesday morning. Like every Wednesday, I grabbed a cup of coffee on my way into the team staff meeting. Also as usual, we argued over the most ridiculous things - why documents need to be proof-read before being send, why we're changing direction on a project...for the fifth time. Upon leaving the meeting, still flush with the glow of victory (we *weren't* going to change directions on the project), we get a notice that we had a meeting with our VP in 20 minutes.

Now, for those of you who are not in the corporate world, whenever your VP wants to meet with you or your entire team with less then an hour's notice...and no reason is given...it's never good news. I half jokingly hopped onto my company's intranet site to look up the severage package policy. As we entered the room, I noticed that standing next to our VP were HR staff members. Again, not a good sign. Within moments, we were told that all of our positions had been eliminated and the entire department was laidoff...with the exception of four, who would be asked to continue to work eight additional weeks.

I was told that I was one of the four that they wanted to keep for the eight additional weeks.

At first I was elated. I mean, clearly, this was the best possible situation, right? I would still draw a steady paycheck for the next two months as I look for a new job, with the severance package as a cushion in the event that my job hunt took longer then the 2 months I would be still gainfully employed. Also, I secretly thought, if the job hunt took a little longer, it meant that I would be home all day...sewing and crafting away in the Sweatshop.

At least...that was my reaction that first day.

I'm a bit of a control freak, and I like to know where everything is - not just physically but emotionally, financially. Basically every part of my life has a little compartment. And now the compartment that was labeled "good little corporate cube-farmer" was all out of wack. This in turn made the compartment labeled "climbing the corporate ladder" go all out of wack, which in turn made the compartment labeled "20 year financial plan" go all gray and fuzzy, which in turn...you get the idea.

So it should be no surprise to anyone (except me), that as the days went by, I became a hot jittery mess.

Or I should say, I quickly spiralled into a hot crazy mess for about two days...until I (OK, J) couldn't stand it anymore, and started to focus all of that nervous crazy energy on sewing and crafting.

And suddenly, everything made sense again.

Oh, I was still nervous that all these compartments were teetering and wobbling around in my head, but rather then obsessively chew my nails off as I checked my email for the 12937465th time in ten minutes to see if any job leads have come in, I was at least productive and burning off all the energy that was making poor J go bonkers.

Somehow, not only did survive the last seven weeks, but that I got an offer from a company that I've been dying to work with for the last two years. As a side-effect of using my sewing and crafting to get through this tumuluious time...I have a *TON* of new products in the pipeline!

Sneaky peeky - red turtleshell backpack

Sneaky peeky - Japanese flag messanger shoulder bag



Sneaky peeky - A-line halter wrap dress

Sneaky peeky - Halter wrap circle dress



HA! Who needs valium or a therapist? My beloved Kenmore, Swinger and White sewing machines (yes, I have three - please don't judge) are all the therapy this little Sweatshop needs.

Interview by Stitch Silly

Oooh!  The interview from last week that Stitch Silly was kind enough to do with me is now up!!!  I'm so excited!  Not just because I'm flattered (although I am extremely flattered that she thought that my stuff was cute...because I think her stuff is even cuter!) and had so much fun doing the interview, but because her store is completely adorable to boot (as previously stated)! 


Check it out: Stitch Silly: Talk to me Tuesdays! - Little Asian Sweatshop

Psychobilly Luau (Brooklyn)

My awesome artist (and fellow artisan) BFF Paigey is vending this weekend at the 5th Annual Psychobilly Luau in Brooklyn...and she's been kind enough to also sell my poker flowers and other hair accessories at her table!

Be sure to stop on by, say hi and check out her fantastic artwork on adorable necklaces, bracelets, magnets and, of course, my hair flowers!

An Apology to My 10th Grade Geometry Teacher

Dear Mr. D,


Remember me? I was in your 10th grade Geometry class  20-odd  a very long time ago. I was the snarky little Asian girl, second row from the back, who would sigh dramatically and saying things like: "but when will I ever need to know how to the figure out the diameter of a circle? I can just use a ruler and measure!" or "ugh, WHY would I never need to know how to make a perfect pentagon?!".


Although you kindly gave me an A (OK, I begged and pleaded my way into that A), I really never learned nor remembered the concepts...and now, years later...

You were right.  I do need to know this stuff.  I use it every day in the Sweatshop.  Or, I should say, I need to use it every day, but due to sleeping through your class, I have not a clue what I'm doing when it comes to figuring out the circumference of the design of the new messenger bag so I can be sure to buy enough trim.


If it wasn't for the kindness of Twitter followers and Facebook friends, I would still be trying to figure out how much to cut out to make the waist for a circle skirt.

And that whole debacle with making a perfect pentagon? Thank you YouTube!

In that overly warm, right after lunch, spring semester class, you stared me down and told me that one day, I would indeed need to know this information. At the time I scoffed, but you were right. I did need to learn this. 


So, I am taking this opportunity to apologize for ever doubting you. I eat my words every time I run into a problem that requires something that you tried to teach me. I wish I paid closer attention. Saying that I regret not being a better student doesn't really cover it.  Especially as I sit here, trying to remember how to figure out the angle of this corner without a compass or a protractor.


With every fiber of my, now wiser, heart, I apologize.


Sincerely,


~LittleAsianSweatshop


P.S. Do you offer remedial geometry classes for those of us who somehow passed college level Calculus, but still can't figure out how many yards fabric I will need to make an ottoman with a diameter of 18" and a depth of 14"?

A Monday Shout-out by "All Things LuciRae"

It was another blah Monday, when I get a message from LuciRae, a fellow Etsy seller with a fantastic vintage collection (and is just as obsessed with rosettes as I am), that she has featured my Bodice Ripping Romantic Novel Hair Clip on her blog today!  What a great little boost!  If only all Mondays could be so awesome!

So if you have a moment - please stop by her blog, wish her mom a happy birthday, and check out what's making me grin on an otherwise very Monday-ish Monday!

Check it out: All Things LuciRae

The Sweatshop Gives a "Friends" Themed Party

My sister-in-law was turning 40, and my mother-in-law and brother-in-law (her husband) asked me to throw a surprise birthday party for her.

Normally, I adore throwing parties, especially for big milestones, however, I wasn't expecting to be tasked with this so I hadn't budgeted for a big bash. However, determined to live up to my party-planning reputation, I dug deep within myself to come up with a way to throw a shindig on a shoestring budget.

While thinking about my sister in law's interests to get ideas for a "theme", I recalled that she is a *huge* fan of the old 90's show "Friends". In that single moment, everything clicked into place.

As the show has been off the air for quite a while, I knew that I would have a tough time finding "Friends" themed party gear (plates, cups, etc). Besides, I generally dislike (read: desperately hate) preprinted licensed stuff. It makes a gathering feel so commercial and less organic and thoughtful. I knew I would have to rely upon my creativity to set the tone.


You know you won't be able to get the theme song out of your head now...



Taking inspiration from one of my favorite episodes, the one where Monica dismissively assigned Phoebe the job of "cups and ice" and Phoebe vows that "Monica is gonna rue the day that she put me in charge of cups and ice", I bought a stack of the ubiquitous red plastic cups (which I needed for the party anyway), and embellished them with left over trim from the Sweatshop. I also found an old floral leis that I kept because I liked the colors, and tore up for this project. Using simple thin elastic strings (can be found in any craft or fabric store), I punched a hole in the sides of the cups and tied off the elastic string to create the straps to hold them on people's heads. (Cost: cups: $5.99 for 100; elastic string $2.99 per 3 yards, I needed around 9 yards, so $9.97; trims, flowers and glue: free)

Every good party needs party hats

Because my husband was such a good sport about how this "hat" making project had taken over our living room (random flowers and trim were oddly attracted to his socks), I made a special one, just for him.

Made the fez tassel by rolling together left over fringe

Funny husband!

Since food featured heavily on the show (between Joey's mania for sandwiches and Monica being a chef), I started off by listing foods that I remember seeing on the show. Like the aforementioned sandwiches. But then I started to remember more of the show, such as the (in)famous birthday flan! And Phoebe's grandmother's famous "Toulouse" cookies. And Rachel's "English Trifle" that was half trifle and half shepherd's pie. As I laughingly jotted these ideas down, my husband also started to remember things from the show (the episode where Monica bakes a dozen lasagnas...the "Joey Special" which is two pizzas, etc). By the time we were done, we had a menu that was several pages long, but incredibly simple (and inexpensive) to pull together! To make the theme of the menu easier to understand (there was a weird mix of foods), with the help of the interwebz, I made little tent cards with lines from the show about that dish. Then, to keep the "ice and cups" inspiration running, I cut little slits at the top of a few red plastic cups (I had a ton after all!) to create card holders for the tent cards. (Cost: around $175 for all the various dishes).



3 foot long sub - it would make Joey proud!

Look honey, I baked!



 

Made a quick trifle using whipped cream, strawberries, pudding and Nilla wafers.  No meat!



As my sister-in-law is a huge scrapbooker, I wanted a few mementos that she could use to create a scrapbook of her party. Taking a piece of black foam board and colored pencils, I created an inexpensive replica of the "Central Perk" daily specials for guests to "sign in" as a guest book. Although I thought this was a little corny (even for me), it turned out to be wildly popular! (Cost: $4.99 for the foam board; the colored pencils were free).

  

The colored pencils gave a "chalk" feel to the logo



 As I didn't have DVDs of the show, and I couldn't seem to find it on Netflix (yet, I can find weird screwball bad 80's movies like "Apple"...I love Netflix!), I took to the interwebz and was able to find mp3 and wav files of Phoebe's singing (including 5 different renditions of "Smelly Cat"). Embarrassingly, I also had a copy of the "Friends" album on CD...which was so old that it took iTunes nearly 45 minutes to read the disk. I put all of this on my iPod and plugged it to our stereo as music for the party. (Cost: free...unless you count the embarrassment of realizing that I had once bought the "Friends" album).

Final review - the party was hugely successful. My mother-in-law and brother-in-law were happy with the party (or at least, that's what they told me...haha), and my sister-in-law and all the guests had a great time. Although I was pretty stressed out trying to deal with all the last minute details by myself, I had a ton of fun making the hats if nothing else. Best part? I was able to throw a party for 30, for a little under $200 total!


And that is how the Sweatshop throws a party!