Custom iPad Tote

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.

Pinterest

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

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

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

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

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

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.