And now for a little more about Melissa

Hi all! So, I (Melissa) want to share a little more about myself.

I'm a North Carolina native, and I just love living here. I was born in the Piedmont, grew up in Raleigh, went to college in the mountains and now I live in the foothills. Never made it out to the coast, but if my husband has his way, one day we will.

I am the only child of my mother and father (divorce and remarrying makes for lots of siblings), but I grew up as the only child in my home. It's an interesting place to be. Sometimes an only child, sometimes the youngest, sometimes the oldest...the youngest grandchild on one side by 10 years and just 10 years younger than one of my mother's sisters. I really think the constant shift of pecking order and lots of attention from some amazing people of all ages and stages really set me up for creativity.

I also happen to think that being relatively short made me a more creative person (hmmm...how can I reach that peanut butter?)

But more than anything, I think I get my love of thrift and creativity from the women in my family.

So, let's start with my mother.

my mom rockin out

I'll tell you a secret: working mothers are amazing. My mom went back to work to help our family in 1980. But even though we only had a few hours together each day, she made the most out of them. Each year I had a completely homemade and amazing Halloween costume and every Christmas included handmade ornaments. One year for Valentine's day we stayed up waaaay past my bedtime to make all the kids in my class Joan Jett or Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers record-shaped card completed with record jackets and plastic heat-sealed wrapping. (Man, I wish I had kept one!)

Joan Jett rockin out...not to be confused with my mom...

She taught me to knit (which now we have both forgotten), to sew, to be patient with my limitations and to think outside the box. She taught me to appreciate that things don't have to be ideal if you are willing to work with what you have and that sooner or later inspiration will come when you hit a wall. She values the things that could be made over things that could be bought and shows me that love can be expressed in the time spent making gifts that are from the heart.

Thanks Mom!

The Hickory Tree

Locals, have you had a chance to stop by The Hickory Tree consignment shop? What a fun place! Our dear friend Meredith opened her doors a year and a half ago and business has been booming ever since. Her place has some of the neatest variety of items for sale. There's big furniture (couches, dining room tables, bed, wardrobes, etc.), small details to complete a room (lamps, dishes, decorative pieces, paintings, etc.) and everything in between (our earrings!). This place is definitely worth a stop, located right on Old Lenoir Rd.  For more information check out her website or Facebook page. Here's some pictures of some items that caught my eye as well as some of our earrings for sale there.

Update, headband dilemma, and Orange Cat.

So it's been a bit since our last blog. We've had a lot going on these days! School has started and both of us have some adjustments this year. Melissa is homeschooling two now with a wee baby at home and Christa has started homeschooling one with a 17 month at home and a new pregnancy (with lots of icky nausea). Because of our new adjustments and our new developments for a fall/winter line we've put our Etsy shop on vacation to be reopened sometime next month. My nausea is keeping my production down a bit, but I'm still plugging away bit by bit and Melissa has been a busy bee making all kind of fun hats and such. So fun!

Yes, I have a headband dilemma. I've been making them the same way and am quite happy with the finished product except for the closure. I like the idea of it, but am not confident with how it looks. Here's the thing. I like that it's a tie closure. This enables people with all sized heads flexibility. The problem is the ties might be too thick? Or maybe it's that they're too long? Also, I'm a short-haired headband wearer and the tie looks kind of Ramboish to me. I'm not actually sure if it looks this way on me, but when I've tried them on babies, for example the way the ties stick out just takes away from the general cuteness of the headband on an adorable baby. This then makes me question how the tie looks with longer hair. Here's Em modeling for her mommy. What do you think? I feel okay about it.

My mom asked me to make headbands for a family of girls she babysits. The two older girls have longer hair so the tie should be okay, but the younger sister is almost one and does not have as much hair as her sisters. So...I've thrown around lots of ideas. Many of them repeats from them I first started the headband making process - buttons, some kind of looping, sewing in some elastic...any other ideas? Please share! All of these ideas, except the looping idea will require extra steps and extra supplies which means more time and essentially a higher priced item. I don't like that. Plus they limit the sizing more, which I also don't like. I also wanted to try thinner ties. My first attempt failed. I have any idea for a second try, but may or may not get a chance to try it before I need to get my mom her birthday gifts. My short term solution is so make the ties shorter. We'll see...

Orange Cat! So...we are taking some of our hats over to the photography studio next Tuesday afternoon! We were going to go yesterday, but my nausea got the better of me and Melissa ended up having dentist appointments for her kids. I called Dana and rescheduled so we are good to go! I'm so excited to finally, after much talk, get our hats in their place. We may end up having other products there, but for now we'll start with hats. Their Open House has been postponed until sometime in September or early October. We're so happy that they've been so busy!

What I'm working on Wednesday: apple hat

What I'm working on....Oh I don't even want to stop to think about it, but here's my couch this morning.

Finishing this apple hat idea I had. Just have to put the stem and leaf on the top, but will I use lime green for the leaf?

Meanwhile, Abby and Reid are drawing away and bringing me their latest creations, hence the pile of paper.

Oh, and I'm trying to finish reading of Abby's history lessons to her. Poor thing! I made her hold the book so that I could multi-task! Well, maybe that's not too bad...she could have just read it to herself.

And I love the cat face she brought to me...see it?

What I'm working on Wednesday: floor pillows, the beginning

New, Orange Happening!

The other night Melissa and I went over to Orange Cat Photo to check out their new space. Orange Cat is made up of two photographers, Dana Andreasson and Erica Harper, who used to have their studio space downtown on the Square in Hickory. They recently rented a new space on the corner of 127 and 2nd Ave NE. Such a neat, old house with lots of character and awesome lighting for some new photo opportunities on site! Yes, I know I am unashamedly promoting these ladies, but why not?! I actually only know Dana a bit and just met Erica that night. Their photos just have this amazing quality to them (as you can see with this wee man!) and their new house has great energy. ALSO, Dana did ask if Keeperz would be willing to sell some things in their new place. :) Of course Melissa and I are thrilled, honored, etc. Talk about a great motivator! Plus fall is right around the corner and we have yet to have a fall season trying to sell our hats as Keeperz. There is going to be one other retailer selling some pretty cool clothing there, Bada's Boutique (go "like" them on fb as they have a page too!). They have a store front in Newton, I'm pretty sure. We hope that Orange Cat does really well in their new space and that our products bring them (and us, let's be honest) more business. They are offering a great deal for the month of August, no session fee! For more details check out their website, blog, or fb page, links below.


One project we are excited to work on for Orange Cat is a display, well displays. We have to figure out the best way to have our hats and such scattered around the house so that they mesh with their style and ours. Melissa came up with some really fun ideas that I'm so glad she shared! I think we are both super pumped to get moving again. The summer heat and young children really make us tired and finding time to do anything besides basic home survival things is a challenge. However, we are up for it and are determined to make more time to get things rolling!

Orange Cat Photo will be having an Open House in August. Once we know the dates we'll let everyone know. If you are in the Hickory area be sure to come by!

Here's Orange Cat's info:

http://www.orangecatphoto.com
http://blog.orangecatphoto.com

http://www.facebook.com/orangecatphoto

Hat displays

We are super excited about getting our hats ready to be sold in Orange Cat Photography Studio! They are moving into a great location close to downtown Hickory in an old house on 127.

Christa and I went by there last week and got a sneak peek at the space and how they will set up their handmade boutique shop within the photography studio. We left all a buzz thinking about how to display hats...

We used 2 quart sized mason jars as our displays at past craft fairs, and although that fits with our personal style and image, it just didn't fit in with a permanent display at a shop.

On the drive home, we talked about using Styrofoam heads covered in paper mache or fabric. Once at home I hopped on google. I found heads for $5, but then had to check myself...is purchasing new Styrofoam products part of the Keeperz creed?



So, I kept thinking...and googling...

And I thought, why not keep true to my calling and make something myself! So, I set out to look for ideas for making balls out of fabric and found this cute pattern on the purl bee:

But then I realized...I don't have tons of scrap fabric that I'd like to use, but I DO have a ton of scrap yarn...duh! I'll crochet something!

So I set off with that wonderful concoction of inspiration, determination and confidence...

I decided to combine all the images from my googling and make a head-like, but featureless form, crocheted and stuffed with recycled plastic bags: Viola!