Expanding our borders (ever so slightly)

Posted in Daily happenings, dolls, Hand made gifts, Stuffed animals by Climbing Vine Clothing

Well, I know I’ve been posting a lot about my shop lately, but I wanted to get this out before the holiday weekend- you know, the weekend that starts the shopping mayhem for the next month.

Up ’til now, I haven’t done much with promoting my shop on designated online shopping days, or even Black Friday. But apparently, this Saturday is ‘Small Business Saturday’ and I was invited to join a real, live, local Etsy market to show some of my wares.

It’s at the downtown Chattanooga library, and I have no idea what to expect. Supposedly about 30 other vendors will be there, and as to numbers of customers- that’s anyone’s guess. But I thought, since it was free, that I might as well give it a try and get my stuff out there using a different venue.

So come on down and take a look if you are so inclined. And if you’ve been on the fence about buying my stuff, it will save you shipping : ).

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In other news, I posted something on my Facebook page a while back- something I couldn’t reveal on public media for disclosure reasons. I had received a rush order for three of my horses about two days before our big trip out west, and because of the generous amount this person was willing to pay, both to make them and ship them overnight, I went ahead and filled the order.

I am now at liberty to reveal what they were for. They were shipped out to Hollywood, CA for a little commercial. They really only needed one for the commercial, but ordered three to see which one looked better on set. It’s just a brief, horsey cameo, but I’m tickled pink about it. Take a look!

18Nov2014

A Holiday Herd

Posted in dolls, Hand made gifts, Stuffed animals by Climbing Vine Clothing

I know the season is already late, but I have been wanting to make at least one big push for my shop before the Christmas season is fully upon us. With travel and sickness and general busy-ness, I feel way behind where I was last year at this time. But last year, I was traveling for Christmas and so had to close my shop December 1st. We are staying in town this year, so I hope to be able to take orders through at least the first half of December.

So to get you all in a festive mood, I want to show you what I’ve been working on in between bouts of croup and trips to the ER. It’s a new series of horses that I have been having enormous fun designing. I posted my first plaid horse on facebook a few weeks ago, and couldn’t wait to do some more. But after I finished them, I felt like they needed a little something more, like maybe a rider.

I haven’t done a lot with pants for my dolls, but I like the little riding pants on this one. I even figured out how to make boots!

Since they go so well together, I thought I would try something new and sell them together on my shop this Christmas. Here they are on a country outing.

Aren’t they cute? I’m kind of excited about these two.

But here are some solo shots if you would like to purchase them separately.

And here are a few more of the herd by themselves.
One plaid with an auburn mane and tail.

And this rather striking fellow with a lovely gray houndstooth coat.

I am also continuing to sell my red horse. This one was by far my most popular last Christmas, but instead of wool, I decided to try making him out of a lovely cherry red corduroy. I like how it turned out.

Due to the uniqueness of the plaids in these horses, (they are made from wool skirts) they will only be available in twos or threes. So think of them as limited editions, but hopefully with new and different ones to come.

Let me know what you think! (And feel free to share ; )

11Nov2014

Getting my fall fix

Posted in Daily happenings by Climbing Vine Clothing

Since I moved to the south, Fall has become my favorite season. I like spring as well, but I so struggle with the hot and humid summers here, that that first cool breath of autumn air seems to wake me up from a long and exhausting dream. Doors may now be opened without air conditioning being swept out to cool the neighborhood, and windows propped up without threat of the pesky mosquitos.
And then, of course, there are the colors. The sky changes from that muggy, bronzy haze to a startling blue, and the trees begin their magic. I so look forward to this time of year that I was saddened by the thought that our trip out west was taking place during the last few weeks of October. I didn’t want to miss a moment of it. I had great plans for leaf collecting, orchard tromping and pumpkin patching before we left, but in the hurry of sewing and cleaning and packing, I did none of it. And when we got to Washington, we were greeted with such a series of rain that there were only a couple of days that allowed the few bright deciduous colors of the Evergreen state to shine.
All in all, I was pleased, (after returning from our wonderful and exhausting trip) to find that fall was still going strong here. But before we could go out and enjoy it, there was the sorting and unpacking and shopping to do and school to resume. And then we were all hit with a doozy of a cold that kept us housebound all weekend.
But yesterday, I couldn’t stand it anymore. I decided to ignore our runny noses and take advantage of what fall weather we have left.
I thought it would be fun to find an apple orchard, so we loaded up and headed to nearby Signal Mountain. We arrived, but after taking a quick tour of the place, it was clear that we had missed the season.

Although there were still delicious apples and cider for sale in the little store, I was disappointed. But having come all that way, I thought we would make one more stop at one of our favorite parks, just for the view. It was well worth it.

It was such a beautiful time, that I kind of went crazy taking pictures. I wasn’t the only one. There were people up there taking engagement photos, family Christmas card shots and maternity pictures. So I did my own little family session and went home satisfied. Then I made an apple crumble and drank some fresh cider. I felt like I had fulfilled my fall quota in one afternoon.