Green Envy Girls

Custom iPad Tote

2012-02-06T13:42:00.000-06:00

GreenEnvyGirls was asked recently to create a one-of-a-kind iPad Tote for an OU fan. We had to get specific measurements since the customer wanted a tote that would fit her iPad with the case.

We used all upcycled fabrics. The crimson is a textured knit jersey from a men's polo shirt. The back, flap and pocket are all from used military garments. We even added the OKLAHOMA to a military name tag. The adjustable strap is a 1949 military strap from our favorite military surplus store.

I think it turned out really nice. We'll now have this pattern available to those needing an iPad tote with their case.

2012-01-27T14:03:00.000-06:00

If you haven't heard already, Pinterest is the newest, addictive internet craze right now. Yes, I will admit that I spend a lot of time on Pinterest. But I will also say that I have found many ideas and inspiration. I thought that I would share an idea that I actually followed through on.

I had a spice rack that someone gave me that just sat on my counter for years. It didn't even have any spices left in it that I used. The spices and herbs that were left, should not have been consumed, I'm sure.

Our GreenEnvyGirls space is cluttered to say it nicely. So every inexpensive, creative way to spruce up, we'll jump on it! I used this idea from Pinterest and Redbook to clean up all our tiny beads and jewelry do-dads that needed a home. I grabbed some random scrapbooking paper that was laying around, my circle paper punch, a glue stick and my labeler. Voila!

One of Our Favorite Stores

2012-01-26T09:27:00.000-06:00

We've mentioned before how much we love Brigadoon Military Supply in Del City. Check out our pics from our latest shopping trip. Do you have any stores in your area that we need to check out?

We Have a SIGN

2012-01-23T14:30:00.000-06:00

You know you're big when you get a sign! Happy Dance....

We got a very special Christmas gift this year from

Maggie's dad and my uncle.

Check it out!

Thanks Uncle Farris!

We also have other big news. We are so excited to be selling our diaper bags at Green Bambino.

Green Bambino is Oklahoma City’s largest cloth diaper and eco-baby product store. As a former cloth diaperer, I heard about Green Bambino before it even opened. As soon as it opened, I was visiting and was so excited to see such a wonderful store in Oklahoma City. And let me tell you that my friends outside of OKC and in other states were excited about the store as well. Since then, Green Bambino has been so successful that she's expanded into a larger store where she not only carries cloth diapers but green toys and clothing. We hope you will go check out the store and tell your friends. You can also check out their Facebook here - https://www.facebook.com/greenbambino.

Green Envy Girls Celebrates a Birthday

2011-11-15T10:16:00.001-06:00

Green Envy Girls celebrated our first year as a legitimate business in October. The year has been amazing! We haven't counted how many items we've sold but we can tell by our inventory of magnetic snaps and our constant hunt for straps that we've sold a BUNCH of our totes, jewelry, hair pins, zipper pouches, bobby pins and rings. We are so proud of ourselves. I think it really hit home during The Girlie Show that we SHOULD be proud of ourselves. We've worked extrememly hard and it has paid off.

Our experience during The Girlie Show really proved to us that our pre-planning and organization skills were beneficial. The booth was only an 8' x 8' which is pretty small. Bags are really difficult to display correctly. We chose to cover the paneling that was provided by the show with black silky fabrics so that the bags would really show up and show off all of their color and detail. We used "S" hooks to hang the bags so that clients could easily remove the bags to try on and touch.

We also utilized a coat rack to display our small totes. People really responded to the smaller bags. They can be used as a purse for an adult or a child and they fit iPads perfect! I think we sold all but one or two of those.

We're starting to develop the look of what we want our clients to remember when they visit us at an exhibit. We've pulled the "g" from the Green Envy Girl logo and used it as a brand stamp. We also will continue to use our green flags made from used fabrics that we first used at The Plaza Festival. Hopefully, as we grow and continue to show our brand, people will begin to recognize us and therefore buy from us.

As we did the show, it was easy to let the customers look and touch but we discoved that if we talked about the products and what our mission is, the more people got interested and I really think they purchased more because of the stories we told.

You can never tell what is going to be a big seller. Each location is so different because it pulls different kinds of people. We didn't sell any of our diaper bags. However, we've made multiple contacts regarding diaper bags and have gotten a couple of orders for custom diaper bags because of what was displayed at the show.

Our zipper pouches sold like hotcakes. This particular set didn't sell a single one at Plaza but we sold out at Girlie. We've learned that we can't get discouraged about a certain product that doesn't sell at one show because it will probably sell at the next one.

The same can be said for our jewelry. Every piece sold except for the sea glass jewelry. The sea glass jewelry was a little more expensive and that could have been why. It may have also been that we needed to talk about sea glass and the story behind it. I wear it all the time but it's probably because it's so special to me because of the story it holds.

We had so much fun explaining and talkng about our tie flower brooch/pins and our hair pieces. Every age group buys these tie flowers! I LOVE it! One of my favorite moment of the show was when Maggie's dear friend Amy came to see us wearing a custom ordered tie flower that she has us make about a year ago. It looked fabulous! It was also so humbling to have friends come visit our booth wearing their big and small totes that they have bought from us in the past! Love our friends. Maggie and I were so heart happy to have the support from our friends. That may have been the best part of the show.

We are finally gearing down from the show and have reorganized our work space and have several special orders for diaper bags and Christmas. It feels so great to be busy! Our goals include getting our items listed back on our Etsy store and we are now talking about eventually getting a legitimate website up and running.

We also gave eachother high fives for each time we utilized the Square app on the iPhone to make credit card transactions! What would we do without the iPhone and iPad? I would have never guessed we'd be using an app for sales with Green Envy Girls! Awesome stuff.

We want to thank The Girlie Show organizers for an incredible experience. We'll definitely apply next year. And of course the old Farmer's Market building is incredible and will hold a special place in our hearts!

Thank You

2011-11-06T07:31:00.000-06:00

Maggie and I want to thank everyone who came out to support us at The Girlie Show. It was a great success, we met lots of wonderful people and had a blast! We will post stories and lessons learned once we get unpacked and can organize our thoughts!

Stories

2011-10-19T11:45:00.000-05:00

When Maggie and I create one of our custom totes, we love the idea of a story. We choose a bag design beginning with one piece of fabric that tells us a story that we can build around.

We sold this bag in the Plaza Festival. It's definitely a bag with lots of stories that we hope people will ask and share. The straps are either WWII or Korean War. They have been through some type of wear which in turn gives the bag so much character and individuality. The metal has a beautiful patina which we think adds to the richness of the bag.

We've also used the digital military camoflouge, faded camo from a pair of men's pants and a vintage olive green fabric. The orange fabric is from a vintage women's scarf. We loved the interplay between the masculine military fabrics and colors with the feminie designs in the scarf. And of course, our fused plastic always has a story. We collect plastic bags from mostly friends and family. This particular plastic was from some packing material from my husband's job. Taking a piece of what most people consider trash and turning into an original piece of wearable art is what our business is all about.

We singed the scarf fabric to make a flower for the front of the bag and added a military button with the same color of patina as the metal in the strap.

This tote was a special order. The client had a favorite demin mini skirt that she could no longer wear. I immediately knew what type of design to do for this bag once I saw the skirt. We pulled the warm, fall colors from the stitching in the skirt to carry out through the rest of the bag. We used a men's brown and plaid tailored shirt to give it a little bit of a western feel. But we added some shiny brown satin to give a girly flare. We also added small hints of pearl buttons throughout the bag to the continue with the western theme.

We usually do a 5" square pattern for these totes but I did a 7" square on this bag so that I could keep the large pockets from the skirt.

So, it is our hope and mission that this client will have some sort of story to tell with her new bag and hopefully it will carry more stories and memories as she wears it.

The Plaza Festival Experience

2011-10-04T09:56:00.000-05:00

Thanks to everyone who came out to support Green Envy Girls and the other local artists at the Plaza Festival.

Maggie and I had so much fun!

The weather was perfect!

The food was good!

The drinks were fantastic!

And the people were amazing!

Here are some pics that captured our fun packed day!

We need a pedicure! This is what your toes look like after a day on the blacktop at the Plaza!

Jackets, Girlies, and iPads

2011-09-12T10:07:00.000-05:00

Our latest news is that Green Envy Girls has been accepted into The Girlie Show! We are so super excited and of course we are working daily building our inventory. We have The Plaza Festival October 1 and The Girlie Show November 4 and 5.

Green Envy Girls moved last month from the cellar to a room inside Maggie's house on the second floor! The cellar was too hot to work during our record breaking 100 + temperatures. We've thrown everything upstairs and started to work. We've had hardly any time to organize and with our two shows coming up, it looks like a fabric factory exploded. But we are happy. We'll clean when it slows down.

With all that's going on, we've been working on a masculine iPad pouch. I found an awesome men's jacket at a thrift store. I loved it so much that I made my husband try it on before I cut into it to make sure he didn't want to wear it. Of course, he didn't like it. Yea!

I did some measurements for the iPad and cut away making sure to get the awesome pockets.

The fabric is a heavy duty khaki so I wanted to make sure and line it with something super soft that would make the iPad happy.

This was fairly simple to assemble and sew. And I think it's looks fabulous! I would totally carry my iPad around in this pouch. I love that we utilized the pockets so that a person can carry their phone and any notebooks, pens, etc with them without having to carry anything else. I made sure to make a latch on the top with a magnetic snap and a vintage blazer button.

Rejection Stinks

2011-08-28T08:36:00.000-05:00

About the time I think I have my blogging on a role, the time gets away again and I lose a few weeks. This blog is always on my mind though. I have so many ideas on what to write and share. I just have to figure out when and how I can manage to get it all done.

In the time since I posted last, Green Envy Girls has been busy with orders and building up our inventory for The Festival on the Plaza on October 1. We also have been applying to a couple of local craft shows. We applied for the Indie Deluxe Craft Fair. When I visited the show last year, I definitely saw a gap that needed Green Envy Girls bags. I felt so confident that we would get accepted without a hitch. It was very dissapointing when we were rejected. That is such a yucky word. No matter what type of rejection the word is in reference to, it never feels good. I come from a visual arts background and they teach you to never let rejection get to you. You have to keep trying. It still hurts. It definitely affects the way you look at yourself and your work. What is it exactly that wasn't good enough? I spent a week really questioning myself and Green Envy Girls. Well, I'm back on track and concentrating on our next show.

In the last few weeks, we have created a one of a kind diaper bag for a dear friend who is having a baby girl in November.

We did a zipper this time instead of the flap over the front. We upcycled a pair of army green girl's pants for some small pockets on the front, back, sides and a pocket on the interior. We also upcycled a pink and white infant girl's dress. We utilized the pleats on the dress and the brass button for some added interest. We also used our new t-shirt technique with the hotter pink for some added fun.

We're really proud of this bag and are hopeful that this little baby girl will get lots of use out of her new Green Envy Girls diaper bag.

I have been obsessed with jewelry lately. As a visual artist, I have always been a nut for found objects, especially objects with a story to tell. Below are some sneak peaks at some of my favorite pieces that will be featured at our next craft show.

This detail shows an antique skeleton key and an old vintage button.

This necklace features an upcycled sting of pearls and some old vintage aged buttons.

This detail shows an old rusty watch buckle integrated with our t-shirt jersey necklace and a touch of fall colored beads and brass elements.

World War II

2011-08-03T19:09:00.000-05:00

A person could write volumes about war and the toll it takes on society and I'm sure you could also write volumes about what good a war has or could have. This is not what this particular blog is about. This is about Green Envy Girls fascination with all things military that could be turned into super cool and fashionable wearable pieces of art. I've been sewing and upcycling old military clothes for years. People love anything military whether it be camouflage, military patches or military symbols. It can represent different things for each individual, whether it be personal, purely asthetic or for its design elements.

As Green Envy Girls makes more and more bags, we learn more and more. I need to write a blog about all the things I've leaned about webbing and strapping for instance. I'm always on the lookout for good, strong, attractive strapping. It's hard to find used. I am always visiting thrift stores and resale shops looking for such treasures. I focus on fabrics that can be turned into a nice strap or I look for bags where I could take the straps off and use them on our bags. Recently, I was teaching in Del City and I knew that the Brigadoon Military Surplus store was close so I headed over. I started out dissapointed. Everything seemed too expensive and new for Green Envy Girls but then on a bottom shelf in the middle of the store I found a bunch of old straps with metal ends on some and metal clips on others. I sat down on the dirty floor in my skirt and began to pull all of the older, beat up straps 'cause they are the coolest. I went up to pay and the guy informed me that these were all from WWII and the Korean War. I absolutely love any type of object with a story. So you can imagine how thrilled I was to get a dozen of these beautiful straps! Some of the straps have faded writing and some have some faded print with some dates.

This bag was made for my mother-in-law. She had seen a bag that we had made but had already sold so she wanted one similar. This was the first bag with these new straps. I had to do some maneuvering to get the straps right and I think they turned out terrific. My brother-in-law gave me his name tag to add her bag to personalize it. I originally had decided to put the name tag on the front of the bag but my husband told me to try it on the strap. LOVE IT!

My brother-in-law also told me about this website:

http://1800nametape.com/.

You can order name badges. I haven't ordered yet but it would be neat to personalize bags with people's names or words.

Here is the finished bag.

I utilized the zipper again off of the military parka for the flower.

And finally here is the interior of the bag using some

pretty burlap from CISA coffee.

You may noticed the pretty lilly pads in one the pictures. These were in bloom in Maggie's yard the day I took the pictures of this bag! Enjoy!

Again thank you all for reading! Please sign up as one of our followers and help us spread the word about Green Envy Girls.

Back to School

2011-07-31T19:11:00.001-05:00

Oklahoma City's public schools are beginning this school year August 1. It is a new extended school year plan. I like the idea so I hope that it succeeds. I'm worried about the heat. The kids will not be able to go outside for recess until the temperatures reach the 90's which could be until September. I just hope the old buildings and the new can withstand the heat and cool those kids!

My daughter will start 4th grade this year. She is growing up so fast. With her age, comes her strong opinions about her clothes, hair and anything else involved with her image. You can imagine how happy I was when she asked me to make her a bag for school Green Envy Girls style. She has always been so excited and proud of Green Envy Girls. I think this is the biggest compliment. She chose the colors of turquoise, lime green and brown. So Maggie and I chose the fabrics and went to work with a deadline of August 1.

I was pretty excited about my new t-shirt jersey technique. I discussed it with Kya and she said she'd love the lime green jersey on the sides. We also added a brown vinyl on the bottom so that the bag can withstand some 4th grader abuse.

Kya also chose her fabrics for the flower design on the front which included a zipper flower in the center.

She also needed a pocket to store goodies for school. We took a pocket off of a girls pair of cargo pants and added a lime green button for a special detail.

In other news, Maggie and I have been busy working on a new design for iPad bags. They will hang about hip length with a long strap. Maggie and I both carry our iPads everywhere. I've really started to pull away from the desktop and utilize all the wonderful technology and apps available on the iPad.

Stay cool in every way and thanks for reading!

I Don't Feel Old

2011-07-24T08:41:00.000-05:00

I used to babysit a lot when I was a young teenager. I can remember saving all of my money that I made so that when we made our annual trip to Albuquerque I could shop for clothes. I got a call a few weeks ago from a friend of my dad's who wanted to order a bag for his daughter. She was about to have her first baby. He thought she'd like a tote that she could use for the baby and then hopefully use for a purse later. I used to babysit his daughter when she was a baby. I really don't feel like I am this old! So this tote was a new challenge. Maggie and I needed to create a bag that could easily transform from one function to the next.

When we pull fabric, Maggie and I are down on the floor arranging and rearranging fabrics that we think will work. It took a little while to get this bag going. We knew we needed it be pink but it had to be mature. There is something about pink and brown that warms our hearts. We used a fabric that resemble animal print that we found in a girls blouse. We also used a camoflouge print from a girl's skirt.

We've been doing a lot of work with old t-shirt jersey and I had an idea to make our own fabric from a pink t-shirt. We used the "new" t-shirt fabric on the front of the bag in our traditional squares but also decided to use it for the sides of the bag. I LOVE the way this turned out and will definitely be using this technique again. It gives the bag a feathery and feminine feel.

Jersey is so fun to work with because it doesn't fray and if you pull it will will curl.

The bag has a small pocket on the front and the back. We decided since the bag was going to be used for a baby too, that the lining should be softer than our burlap and it needed to have a few pockets for all of the goodies a mom carries for baby. So we used the fabric and pockets from a pair of men's cargo shorts. The inside wound up having four pockets on the inside.

I am really proud of this bag. I already have plans to utilize this same technique in a couple of other bags we have planned. We shipped this bag and have gotten a report back that the new mommy really loved her new bag. Hopefully baby will love it too!

Here is are some pictures of our babies so you can see how busy and blessed our lives are each day.

Nice People

2011-07-20T19:19:00.000-05:00

I feel so overly happy when I meet someone nice. I don't think that is good. Being nice should just be in our nature but I find nice people to be a rare breed. Green Envy Girls has been a wonderful opportunity for Maggie and I to run into and meet some absolutely generous and sincerely friendly people. The following are a couple of stories of nice people.

In May, we displayed and sold our goods at the Village Fun Fair. We met this cute little old lady who talked our ears off to the point where we were looking and hoping for more customers to come to our booth so we had an excuse to escape. Well, she wound up buying several of our items and making some special orders. Maggie was the lucky one to deliver the special orders to her home. She was nervous. Well, this sweet woman gave us two shoe boxes full of vintage buttons! She appreciated our craft so much that she thought that we needed those buttons because she saw that we would use them with love. We wound up giving her the special order because those boxes of goodies were worth so much more than our little hair clips. When Maggie had to visit her on another occasion to fix a glitch, this sweet woman gave us some goodies that she had made and thought that we would appreciate. What a nice person!

As you know, we use burlap bags from coffee beans to line a lot of our bags. In the past, I had a coffee company that roasted the beans give us the empty burlap bags for free. As time passed, I lost contact with this gentleman and I was worried we would wind up having to pay for these bags. People sell them for a pretty penny online. I contacted several local coffee places and most places wanted to charge per bag. Well, I finally got a man who said to come on by and he'd give us a few. Maggie and I loaded up and headed to the warehouse. He met us outside and took us to the back and gave us a HUGE amount of beautiful burlap bags! He had looked at our blog and recognized that we were legitimate and made something beautiful out of a dusty old coffee bag. Let's just say that Maggie and I were both glad that we took her SUV instead of my tiny Toyota. What a nice guy!

My brother-in-law is a police officer and is also in the Navy Reserve. Our last visit to see him, he loaded me up with a couple of arms full of military camoflouge uniforms including a beautiful army green parka. He had told me he might have a couple of things. I had no idea he would give us so much wonderful fabric that Green Envy Girls would eat up! What a nice guy!

With all that being said, pictured below are some of the bags that were created from the generosity of nice people.

This tote has vintage mushroom fabric from The Budget Shop that I mentioned in an earlier post. Notice the khaki fabric and pocket that was cut from a men's pair of cargo pants. And of course, the army green is from that parka that my brother-in-law gave us.

Here is a detail shot of the flower that we created from the zipper of the parka. I also used the tags that were inside the jacket at a decorative element on the front and back of the bag.

And here is a shot of some of that beautiful burlap used to line the bag. This bag sold immediately.

This next bag is our "Amy" bag. A friend of ours donated a cute pair of J Crew shorts that inspired this bag. It has some vintage floral fabric and some denim elements as well.

I created a flower utilizing the worn denim and zipper, and we used a button pattern on the front along a small hidden pocket.

There is also a hidden pocket on the side!

This tote utlizes a lot of the same military elements as the first one including several of the buttons from the parka. This bag is different from the others because of the vintage tie flower and we used a piece of the tie in the fabric portion of the bag as well.

Hopefully, I'm on a roll and will be able to continue my blog posts. About the time I think I've got everything under control, something like a sick kid, an upset husband, or the oppressive heat gets my life all chaotic and it takes some time to sort through the stacks of lifes pages. Thanks so much for reading!

Crashes, Heat Indexes and Kids and More Kids

2011-07-18T18:36:00.000-05:00

The last couple of months have been filled with computer crashes, heat indexes that have broken records, and of course a busy summer teaching my classes, traveling and keeping the kids busy.

I'll take you back to the month of June where Green Envy Girls created a fanny pack for the Fanny Pack Fashion Show at DNA Gallery in The Plaza District. I loved the idea of creating an updated, modern fanny pack. I knew we were competing with very ingenious artists who would be creating an original piece of artwork. I wanted to make sure that our fanny pack was wearable and hopefully would sell. I did a lot of research trying to gather ideas. Believe it or not, there are a lot of people out there, including the younger crowd, who wear fanny packs.

This is a picture of our model during the fashion show. It was so fun! The models were dressed in 80's clothes and accesseries.

And our fanny pack SOLD! I'd like to make more. What do you think? Would you wear a Green Envy Girls fanny pack?

So, the devastating news for me this summer is that my computer's hard drive crashed. I lost all of my beautiful photos and the Green Envy Girls logo. I also lost all of my teaching information. I have shed tears but am trying hard to make lemonade out of this damn lemon. I need to save my pennies and hire someone to try to save anything off the hard drive.

I had my newest camera break in June. Luckily, I had saved our old camera and it saved my life for the month of June and part of July. Yes, part. It also died. Guess I'm gonna need to save more pennies for a new camera. Having a camera is a must with Green Envy Girls! Luckily, my partner Maggie owns a good camera.

On the upside, Green Envy Girls applied for the Plaza District Festival. We have been accepted and are PUMPED up! Mark your calendars for October 1, 2011. Maggie and I are busy working on new bags and going through our inventory. We're going to have to find our own tent. I can't wait to set up and show patrons our awesome stuff! Check our their website for more information. http://plazadistrictfestival.com/. I hope to see your happy faces there to celebrate with us!

Green America: Stand Up to Big Plastic

2011-05-18T08:12:00.000-05:00

Green Envy Girls uses plastic bags to create our own "fabrics" for our totes. Since they cannot be recycled with normal recycling programs, we try our hardest to make something useful and beautiful but even our box that holds our plastic bags is overflowing from friends and family. Please use reusable bags. Make a statement by carrying bright and fabulous reusable totes.

Green America: Stand Up to Big Plastic

Cinco de Mayo Green Envy Girl Style

2011-05-05T11:04:00.000-05:00

Hopefully Maggie and I will get to celebrate Cinco de Mayo by drinking a Tecate with lime while we put all the finishing touches on our merchandise for Saturday. We've set up our tables to do a mock-up of our booth for Saturday. Here are some more peaks at some of our newest inventory.

We are in love with this bag. Neither one of us wants to sell it. It better go to a good home!

This necklace has bolts that have been collaged with vintage postage stamps! Another one we don't want to part with.

Innocent and pure! White sea glass with white jersey t-shirt and silver.

Kinda gettin' infatuated with the military look. Brown sea glass, army green jersey, found objects and awesome findings!

Another military look with a one of a kind green piece of sea glass that has some texture.

This is our newest diaper bag. It is a commission piece but it will be on display so that maybe we will get some more commissions! So excited for the new momma to see this one!

Sneak Peak

2011-05-04T15:12:00.000-05:00

Green Envy Girls is so excited about the debut of some our new jewelry at the Village Fair on Saturday, May 7. We hope to see some familiar faces and to meet some new customers. Our jewelry continues the tradition of our business with found objects, upcycled jersey from t-shirts, vintage beads and buttons and hand drilled sea glass from the island of Oahu. We will post some more pics tomorrow to hopefully get you all excited to come see us!

Preparing for a Fair

2011-04-19T08:40:00.001-05:00

Maggie and I have decided to put a booth in the Village Fair on May 7. It's a small scale affair which we feel is perfect for us since we're still on our learning curve. It's a local event for me since I live in the Village. Plus it's a fundraiser put on by the Friends of the Village Library. I teach a lot of programs through the Metropolitan Library System and I utilize a lot of their programs for my children too. So I feel like this is the perfect forum for Green Envy Girls to test our products on the locals. The fair has gone on for a few years now and continues to grow larger each time. It definitely needs a touch of the creative arts and crafts so I really feel confident that our booth will do great even it just means getting our names out there and generating interest.

We will be selling the products that we are known for but we will also be introducing our small totes for girls. These are the same style as our larger totes but just on a smaller scale. They are still created from upcycled and recycled fabrics but they do not have the fused plastics and the patchworked style.

This small tote was created using a wonderful vintage mushroom scrap that I found in a bag that I had purchased at a thrift store. It was total surprise and it is one of my all time favorite fabrics! I also used an orange sweather for the lining of the bag.

My daughter Kya is my model in this picture. Here you can see that the back of the bag is a green vintage fabric that I've used before. I love greens.

We will also have a small selection of our zipper totes that range in size and price. There are five different sizes and the prices will range from $15 to $27.50. They also are sewn with recycled fabrics, zippers, lining and vintage buttons. Pictured below is the medium sized tote.

The one below is one of the smaller totes. This is the perfect size for your purse.

I've been experimenting with our photographs and am still not satisfied with what I'm getting. The photo above was taken outdoors and the photo below was taken with my homemade light box. Still learning....

We will also be selling our tie flowers which sold like crazy at the last craft fair. We've been trying to step up our products by using better findings. So excited to show these. We've got quite the selection of ties yet most are not the colors we want for Spring. Hmmmm. May need to do some more hunting at estate sales, garage sales and thrift stores!

The Budget Shop

2011-03-31T13:29:00.002-05:00

If I could travel and had all the time in the world, I would visit all the thrift stores, flea markets, antique malls and garage sales I could. I love the hunt of finding treasure and the high you get when you score something so wonderful especially at a great price. We recently took a family road trip to visit my husband's family in Lakin, Kansas which is in the southwest part of the state. Lakin's approximate population is 2,500 which is more than I would have ever guessed. Spending a few days in a small town with the closest larger town 30 miles away, I was forced to slow down. It was pretty miserable because I am always busy, moving and creating. Grandma would not let me clean, the meals has already been planned and shopped for and there was no where to shop or even people watch. I had been looking forward to visiting the local Budget Shop but it was only open on Tuesdays and Saturdays. I had to wait until the morning we left to visit. To my surprise I found some treasures. I found several vintage, super groovy ties and lots of fabric scraps. I'm so excited about the bag that I'm working on right now that was inspired by some fabric and a tie that were found at this Budget Shop.

What are your favorite thrift stores, antique stores or flea markets?

Weighing Our Options

2011-03-25T11:36:00.000-05:00

One thing that Maggie and I have been struggling with is trying to find a local business who could sell our products. There are lots of wonderful places out there. What we're learning is that everyone wants to make money. We want to be able to make what we think is worth for our products but a business is also going to want to make a profit on the sale too. The people and businesses we have approached want us to either sell our product to them at a discounted price so that they can mark it up as they fit. The other alternative is to sell on commission which means that the store would display and sell our product and they would make a commission on the sale. Our problem is that we also sell to individuals through word of mouth, Facebook and Etsy. We cannot charge one thing online and by word of mouth and then have another price on the same product at a local business. I've even had businesses approach us about selling our products at wholesale prices which is a ridicuous concept for a totally handcrafted item. There is so much time and effort spent on creating our pieces that we have to make at least what we spent and the time utilized to create it. We're not grabbing things off of a manufacturing line and sticking our name on it. Totally handcrafted objects cost more. So far we've been making sales and it's these people that recognize that they are buying a one of a kind product that has been created with someone's hands with love for the craft.

Button Eyes

2011-03-23T12:49:00.000-05:00

My great friend Heather made it over to the Green Envy Girls cellar to take some pictures of me and Maggie so that we could put our faces with our name and our blog. We're so goofy down there that we wanted to portray our senses of humor in the pictures. We got several great pics. This pic is looking down into the cellar. Maggie is sporting one of our Sew Funky Totes and I'm wearing one of our many, many men's ties that we use in our shop.

This one speaks for itself. It's my favorite. I really can't decide which one to choose for our initial bio picture but I decided the more serious one would be best for now. I don't want to scare anyone away. What do you all think?

Zippers

2011-03-02T17:23:00.000-06:00

For years, I've been going to estate sales and collecting vintage fabrics and notions. I get super excited about old buttons, snaps and zippers. I really could just display them and look at them all day without using them. When I find a treasure such as an old, aged button, it's pretty sad to let it go. I feel like I've saved it from it's demise and resurrected it into life again hopeful that someone will recognize its special story. It's fun to find a stack of buttons or a pile of zippers with the price tags still attached.
This picture is from my personal stash of zippers that we use on all our bags, pouches and totes. You can still see the 17 cent price tag from TG&Y. Do you remember TG&Y. We had one in the small town I grew up in.

I'm really looking foward to Spring and Summer and warmer weather for many reasons. One of my favorite things to do is visit garage sales and add to my already HUGE collection of goodies for GreenEnvyGirls. Isn't it strange how we all come out of our homes when the weather warms up as if we've all been hibernating. We clean our houses and have sales hoping someone else will get use out of something that we are finished with. I feel as if I need to have a garage sale each year or our home becomes too clogged.

I've mentioned before how we are working some new designs for our zipper pouches. We are going to make 6 different sizes. We will create them in sets where we coordinate the fabrics to match if someone chose to buy them as a set. These will be the perfect size for your purse, up to your makeup and then large enough to carry hairdryers and brushes or even your art supplies. Here is sneak peak. I'm really excited about them and of course they will have a signature GreenEnvyGirls button or two on them.

Greens Continued

2011-02-25T09:08:00.000-06:00

This particular customer also requested packets on the interior of the tote. I cut the pockets from the same military jacket and zigzagged them onto the burlap.

The flower for this tote consisted of singed camouflage from the same jacket, singed satins & plastic, and three vintage buttons that I sewed together. I created the bag to look 'old' so the straps are frayed and will continue to fray to add to that vintage look. The customer received her tote and I was given the thumbs up.

Greens

2011-02-25T09:03:00.000-06:00

Green has been my favorite color the last couple of years especially when it comes to textiles. So you can imagine how I jumped on the order that requested rich greens. For the last few years, I've made tote bags using Army jackets that I've found at thrift stores. I had some of this left so I dug it out and worked with it again to create our newest tote. Instead of the traditional cotton strapping and webbing that we use on the other bags, I decided to try out this technique. I sewed together pieces from the cuffs and along the opening of the jackets to utitilize the buttons and the button holes.

A Full February

2011-02-18T11:34:00.000-06:00

My intentions in starting this blog were to post at least once a week. Well, it's already gotten away from me. I'm happy to report that I've moved back to the cellar and have resumed my evenings there sewing away. My dining room table and bar are now filled with the familiar family things and not fabrics, threads and sewing machines.

We finished and delivered the bag that we've created for The Hounds of the Heartland fundraiser. I have been informed that two of the greyhounds really liked the bag. I really love the bag and am hopeful that it will belong to someone special.

We also completed two other bags that will soon be listed for sale through Etsy and through Facebook. The first bag shown below is the first tote that I've done where I used a very straight, geometric stitch on the fused plastic instead of the normal free-form, organic stitching. It is also the first tote where we've added pockets from an old pair of men's pants to both sides of the bag for an added aesthetic feature but it's also very handy. It is also the first time we did not run the strapping all the way down each side of the bag. I really like how the design of the bag really shines through without the stapping running down the middle of it.

This bag was one that I've been wanting to make utilizing some of our craziest, most vintage fabrics. The strapping is also vintage that I picked up an estate sale and I have been itching to make a bag with it. I love the orange and browns and I just know this bag will find the right owner. Hopefully I can keep my paws off of it. Sometimes it is very, very difficult not to keep the bags for yourself. Sometimes it's even harder not to just use the bag once before it goes to it's new owner. We definitely make each bag as if we would carry it and love it.

I mentioned in our last post that we are creating identitical totes but smaller for either young girls or for someone who wants a smaller bag. We are going to use only recycled and vintage fabrics on these small bags and not use the fused plastic. The reason for this is that we would have to charge the same amount because it is just the same amount of time and resources as we use on the larger totes. We have a lead where we could potentially sell and advertise these smaller totes at a dance studio where the girls would be interested in using them for their dance clothes and shoes. It's hard to tell in these particular pictures but these bags are about 25% smaller than our standard totes.

Sewing on a Super Bowl Sunday

2011-02-06T20:00:00.000-06:00

Sew, it seems as if the month of January was not a great month to get a lot of work done for Green Envy Girls. My business partner's husband was very sick and my husband had to leave town. So I had to move my sewing maching and lots of supplies back home to sew on my dining room table. Once I thought I was going to be able to move everything back, the flu hit our house. My daughter was sick for 10 days. I've been sewing whenever I get a chance. That is one advantage to having a business at home. I could sew when Kade napped or sew while I had a few minutes between laundry and dishes. But I will be glad to get this all back to the shop. My kitchen and dining room look like an explosion of fabric and thread. I know it drives my husband crazy. Hopefully I can move everything back this week.

My poor husband must really love me because he had to give up a Super Bowl party to stay home 'cause I wasn't feeling well. But he really must love me since he didn't say a word as I did a little sewing during the game. I tried to sew quietly.

Maggie and I have talked and have decided that we will be working on some new designs for our zipper pouches and a new design for the traditional tote that will have a zipper. I'm looking forward to posting pictures of the newest totes, including a small version for young girls.

Yellow and Greyhounds

2011-01-27T09:23:00.000-06:00

Green Envy Girls is working on a tote to donate to the 2nd Annual Greyhound Gala which is a fundraiser for Hounds of the Heartland. This is Hounds of the Heartland's biggest fundraiser of the year. Join them for appetizers and a cash bar, silent auction, raffle, greyhound gear for sale, door prizes, awards, and the chance to meet all their adoptable greyhounds! Here is a "peek" at the tote. Come join us on March 5 from 3:00 - 6:00 pm to support this great organization and to put your bid in on this yellow and greyhound tote.

http://www.greyhoundpetsok.org

Trademark

2011-01-21T16:12:00.000-06:00

Today we received notice that all of our paperwork was approved through the Office of the Secretary of State of Oklahoma. That means that Green Envy Girls is now a registered trademark. It's pretty exciting but at the same time, it's a little frightening. A few weeks ago, we also registered and got our tax identification number. Now we have to figure out how to buy wholesale for some of our supplies that we do have to purchase new such as fusible interfacing and webbing.

I also am researching how to make a good blog. I want to format our blog to convey what Green Envy Girls is all about. So, I'm trying to remain patient and take things one step at a time and try to do things correct the first time. One thing that I have learned after becoming a parent is that patience is the best trait to learn and hold on to. I'm certainly not patient all the time but I have learned that it pays off in the end.

I mailed a diaper bag on Tuesday to Texas and received two calls yesterday to tell me how much she loved her new bag. I can't tell you how much it means to have someone compliment you on something that you've put so much work and love into. My hope is that everything we make conveys the love and passion that we feel for our company and our product.

The Story....

2011-01-20T16:25:00.000-06:00

Several years ago, a friend of mine got my brain started on an idea of incorporating my passion of recycling into what I hoped would one day become a viable business. I believe every artist, no matter what discipline, dreams of being able to make a living doing and creating what their heart and bodies were designed to do. After deciding to become a stay at home mom, I struggled with losing my 'self'. For those of you with a creative soul, you will understand what I mean when I write that I had to take that creative energy and direct into something else. I cooked, I decorated, I gardened and then I started sewing. I started sewing clothes for my daughter. Then I started sewing clothes for my friend's children. Then I started creating totes and bags out of recycled fabrics, upcycled fabrics, found fabric, old clothes and plastic bags. My initial idea was to create a trendy grocery tote to carry my groceries home without bringing home all those plastic bags. I wanted to make something beautiful out of something that would have been thrown away. The idea has transpired into a small business that now sells totes, diaper bags, zipper pouches and fashion accessories including jewelry.

Towards the end of 2010, my cousin Maggie and I were talking about being stay at home moms and losing our sense of identity. She was a new mom to twins, a boy and a girl and I was the mother of an 8 year old and a one year old. I was also in a spot where I was in need of finding a job because of a change in my husband's job. I was beside myself with having to make that life change and having to put my baby boy in a daycare situation. We decided we would go into business together and created Green Envy Girls. We tried working out of my kitchen and dining room but immediately discovered that would never work for what we wanted as a business. After a lot of discussion and finally coming to terms that we needed to start small, we moved into her storm shelter that is inside her garage. People laugh when we tell them we work out of a storm shelter but it has been great! It is the perfect size. It is a designated place to design and create. We have told ourselves and eachother that we will work when we can knowing that our time is precious with small children.

This blog is going to be a story, hopefully an inspiring and fun story, of our experience starting up a small business. I'm sure that there will be stories of children, mommyhood, marriage and our adventures in the storm shelter.