Caterpillar Cottage

Adorable Handmade Pet Apparel

2010-02-25T13:14:00.004-06:00

I've recently acquired two of the cutest Pocket Beagles in the WORLD! Being a seamstress and having small dogs - it just goes hand in hand that I would start making outfits for them. he he he So my newest creations are going to be Handmade Pet Apparel. I've finished two dresses thus far and am having the time of my life! Unfortunately my little Peanut is not quite as overjoyed about it as I am. tee hee hee

Here she is in a Prom Dress I made out of my daughters old Prom Dress. Going green is my thing!

And here is a cute little Red Polka Dot dress that I'm sure will look cute on anyone's furbaby!

Be sure to email me at Shanghai31@aol.com for any custom orders for your furbabies. Keep watching for more cute pet apparel to come - especially for what ideas I will come up with for some little boy outfits.

Creative Monkeys have been let loose!

2010-01-03T10:21:00.025-06:00

rFirst I would like to apologize for not posting anything new recently. I've been quite busy with craft shows, Pensacola Fair and creating new designs. I assure you, you won't be disappointed with my new products.

I'm expecting the new year to bring in more sales, more opportunities and more ideas! Let the creative monkeys loose, I say! Just to highlight some of the things that's been going on........... in October 2009, for the first time ever I placed some items I have created in the Pensacola Interstate Fair. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I won ribbons on EVERYTHING I put up to be judged!!!!!!

First place ribbon for my Zebra Handbag

Second place for my Cupcake Pincushion created out of a jello mold and fancy pins.

And Third place for my Cupcake Baby Rag Quilt.

All of these items as well as many more can be found for sale at my website, http://www.caterpillar-cottage.com/

Then in November 2009 I set up my tent at the Old Farmhouse Craft Show for the firsttime and again was pleased with the turn out of people. Especially since we had a hurricane headed for us that week. Which, thank goodness, turned into a tropical storm and caused no damage at all.

As you can see from my display, not only have I improved on my tent and display from when I first started - but I have also increased my volume of products.

Handmade Handbags, Rag Quilts, Pillowcases, Rice Hot/Cold Therapy Bags

Florida Gators Rag Quilt Tote and a baby T with the cutest saying!

Baby Burp Cloths made with Gerber Cloth Diapers

Minky Security Taggie Cloths - babies just love these!

Minky Baby Blankets, Rag Quilts, Cupcake Pincushions and Baby T, Burp Cloth and Bibs sets

Handmade Christmas Stockings!

Beautiful hand loomed Navajo Rug Necklace, Beaded War Bonnets and Cabachon Jewelry

My beautiful daughter helping out with the shows. You can certainly see the Cherokee heritage in her!

In December I worked on some Pet Carrier bags for my two new Pocket Beagles I've recently adopted. Peanut is posing in the pictures, she's such a wonderful model.

Here's a pet bed I've made for a customer's loved fur baby for Christmas.

And here's the photo they shared with me showing how much their Pug loves their new bed!

I've also designed a new Messenger/Laptop bag. These are great for many purposes and there will be more coming.

Finally, the year has ended and a new one starts. I'm currently working on more jewelry items and getting more listed on my website. So please take the time to see some of my one of a kind creations. Please feel free to contact me for special orders as well!

Happy New Year from Queet at Caterpillar Cottage!

2009-04-10T11:47:00.004-05:00

I have recently met a wonderful person on Etsy that creates some of the best clay art I've seen in a while! Her name is Gwen and you can find her at Creative Clay Cottage. Her prices range from the high end to the low end. So there's something for everyone! I'm just amazed at the quality of her work. Below is just a tickle of what she has to offer. I'm sure if she doesn't have what you are looking for she can make it for you.

Beautifully crafted clay orchids on clear vases

Adorable Giraffe pin

Take a few minutes to check her out and the other wonderful artists on Etsy.

Rag Quilt Pincushions

2009-03-25T20:10:00.005-05:00

Anyone that does sewing can appreciate the size of these rag quilt pincushions. Plenty of space for lots of pins and adorable to boot! How can it get any better?

These were very easy and quick to put together. Stuffed tightly with poly-fil and topped off with cute buttons! If you like the looks of these you can find them at my auction sites called Black Kat Kreations and Modern Cherokee Designs or my website at Caterpillar Cottage.

I'm working on a tutorial so anyone can make these. Perfect items for beginners. So make sure to check back often!

~Queet

Handmade Gift Tags

2009-03-21T08:22:00.004-05:00

Another one of my friends, Nancy, makes some of the nicest handmade gift tags I've ever seen. They are very vintage looking. Perfect items for gifts, quilts, hanging, or whatever else you can imagine. Check out her blog at Huggins Haven for some great ideas.

She's in the middle of moving to a more southern location - closer to me! I'm looking forward to getting to see her more often. :) Nancy does alot of primitave/vintage type of items. Handbags, aprons, market bags, painting with gourds, etc. She's always on the go. Such an amazing woman!

2009-03-20T21:33:00.005-05:00

One of my friends, Dani, has a wonderful Etsy shop with some of the cutest tea towels I've ever seen as well as the transfers! And she hand stitches them! As if that's not impressive enough you should see the quality of her work. Truly amazing!

You can learn more about the things she works with as well as some great tutorials from Dani on her blog at China Lake News. Take the time to check her out - you will NOT be disappointed.

Headbands and Hairbows

2009-03-18T08:56:00.007-05:00

Lately I've gotten into wanting to do some smaller items that I can use to fill up my craft show displays and that are quick to put together. Thus, I've been looking for some great hairbow and headband tutorials. Here's just a few I've recently come across that I'd like to give a try.

Mini Bow Clips from WikiHow

Reversible Headbans from The Long Thread

Free Headband download from Heather Bailey

A quick and easy hairtie from No Time For Flash Cards

Unfortunately I don't have a pic to show you but this is a wonderful site full of different hairbows that you can make. I just love this one! Called Girly Things.

Have fun looking around!

~Queet

Decorating Home Office

2009-03-18T08:11:00.005-05:00

Today I'm going to show some pics of my husbands home office. This room used to be my daughters bedroom but since she's recently moved out - we decided to take advantage of the situation. LOL The walls were stained and had a trim dividing the two colors. As you can see, it was quite dark.

I made a suggestion of colors and hubby went and picked out what he liked. I really like his choices. The hunter green and tan go very well together. He finished it off with chair rail in a cream color. He's been working like a mad dog getting it completed. Now all he has to do is get his stuff moved in here.

Next room for us will be what was his office. It will becoming my new sewing room! Yeah! Finally I'll get to move out of the dining room. :)

Keep watching for updates!

~Queet

Finished Master Bedroom Decorating

2009-03-14T10:17:00.005-05:00

Finally I can show the finished Master Bedroom re-decorating pics. Yeah! This has been a slow process. Only because I have to make sure to take time for my orders or else I can't afford to do any re-decorating! LOL Thank you all for watching each step of the way. Now we've got two more rooms to do. Hubby's new office and my new sewing room! Keep watching for new posts.

Queet

Boots the Cat

2009-03-10T19:26:00.007-05:00

Boots is our family cat. He is the most finicky, spoiled baby in the house. He states quite clearly "I'm NOT a alleycat! I'm an aristocat!"

Here he is pictured with his brother when he was just a baby.

Hard to believe he went from this adorable size to the big lug he has turned into.

He truly hates that he has to share his home with Koko (a German Shepard/Rotweiller mix) and Baby (a Boston Terrier/Husky/Wolf mix).

Come see Boots at one of his favorite past times. - click here.

Boutique handbags and Native American Jewelry

2009-03-08T13:26:00.003-05:00

If you are looking for one of a kind boutique style handbags you only have to visit here for some great inexpensive finds. I'm sure if I don't have your fabric choices that I can custom make one that will fit your style.

I also enjoy making Native American jewelry and you can find those being sold here. Check back often for new designs. I'm constantly creating something. I just can't still my creative monkeys. :)

XO Queet

A great find!

2009-03-07T21:40:00.005-06:00

Today I have been searching thru blogs looking for some great craft show displays to help give me ideas on how to improve my own. I came across this wonderful site filled to the brim of great pics and ideas at http://handmade-goodies.blogspot.com/. I was overjoyed! I just have to share! Here are some of the cutest pincushions I have ever seen. I'm just going to have to try my hand at them. I'm even more anxious to get out some of the patterns I've collected over the years.

If you are looking for ideas on how to improve your craft show displays - the above blog is surely one to check out. Great Job Emily!

Re-decorating our bedroom project

2009-03-06T12:29:00.006-06:00

After much deliberating, my husband and I decided it was time to change our dreary beadroom to something that more suited us. The original rich plum color we put on the walls made the room feel small and too dark.

We viewed hundreds of paint chips and magazines to get an idea of what we liked, because to be honest, we aren't doing this again EVER. LOL We agreed on this soothing sage green and cream combination with a white chair rail. Don't you just love it?

We also took the bi-fold doors off of a bathroom closet that we never close and used them like shutters on the sides of the windows. Now it's time for me to put the icing on the cake so to speak. Curtains, pictures and eventually I'll get around to making a quilt to go with the decor.

Native American Seed Bead Jewelry

2009-02-21T15:52:00.008-06:00

Being of Cherokee descent I'm proud to say that I've recently started making Native American seed bead jewelry. I either hand loom or hand weave my items. Here's a few photos of some of my recent items.

This is a 12 strand rug necklace done on a loom. It is finished with cones and a magnetic closure.

These earrings were done by a weaving technique called the brick stitch.

This pair is obviously of a musical note for those music lovers we all know.

All of my jewelry can be found at http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/moderncherokee. Come check me out!

Preparing for craft shows

2009-02-21T15:29:00.011-06:00

This year is my first time ever doing craft shows. I've learned some things along the way and still have ALOT to learn. First and best advice I can give is - spend the extra money for a good canopy cover! This photo is of the first canopy I started with. Horrible! While doing the first set up in our yard it was already falling to pieces. I got it at Wal-Mart for $54.00 thinking, "This will work fine and doesn't cost me a lot of money." Not a good one at all! I ended up returning it.

This one I got at Lowe's for $200.00 and much more pleased with how easy it goes up, the sturdiness of it and all around construction is so much better.

I've also learned to be prepared for anything and everything. Make sure you have your stakes and hammer at every event. You never know when a rough wind is going to come up.

Taking pics of your layout helps you see what others are seeing when they drive or walk by. As in my second one you can't see that I have alot of purses to show. Not good. I need to find ways to bring my items up to more of an eye level and can be visible for all angles.

As I said, I'm still learning as I go. Any advice that others can give me would be greatly appreciated as well.

Taylor Bag and Wallets

2009-01-09T08:37:00.004-06:00

Since I just recently decided to quit my part-time job and stay home to save my hands from carpal tunnel and tendonitis I feel my creative energies overflowing!

This is my newest handbag design that I just love! I named it the Taylor Bag and have been making matching wallets as well. I just love the new fabrics out there today. But I'm thinking this bag would look great all in solids with your name or initials monogrammed on the flap. Hmmmmm see my brain is working again! LOL

Whimsical to Classy - What purse is your love?

2008-05-16T16:08:00.006-05:00

Hello! I am so excited about designing and creating one of a kind purses, handbags, and totes!

In my own personal search for the perfect handbag in retail stores, I have come to realize that there are so many choices yet they are so much alike. I would find a purse that was "ok" and go with that until it literally fell apart. Then I would go through the same routine of trying to find that "one" purse that expressed who I was. Only to have to find the one that was "ok" again and start the cycle all over again.

Because of this I decided to start designing and creating my own purses. With all the wonderful fabric choices out there I just KNEW I would find just what I was looking for! Now I have the problem of deciding which purse to carry! :)

Take some time to check out my website for your one of a kind purse. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.