Spring 2010 Colors

Snow Snow Go Away; Come Again another day; we will like to go out and play!

It's Friday and the end of the weekend. Truly happy that the weekend is here. Hopefully we will get to play in the snow today and hopefully you have a great weekend as well.

I am still working on my spring collection and just wanted to share the article on spring 2010 colors. These colors include turquoise,tomato puree, fusion coral, pink champagne,dried herb,violet,aurora and eucalyptus.

You can read more at http://www.fashiontrendsetter.com/content/color_trends/2009/Pantone-Fashion-Color-Report-Summer-2010.html


Have a great weekend and meet me back here on Monday

Stay Tuned!

More Fashion trends can be seen at http://www.nekinaturals.com

Another snow day - another working day

Another snowy day in the East. More snow for the upcoming weekend and we are trying to work however Natanael has turned the house into a non-walking zone:)

Wish I can jut play for the rest of the day but work calls and little man is trying to climb over and on top of me to play with the laptop that he has already plucked out 6 keys. :) Definitely will need another laptop soon.

Working on baby dresses this week. I have been frustrated with my bag designs this week so let me focus on the baby dresses for this week.

Hope everyone stays warm and keep learning, studying and practicing your craft.

Stay Tuned

Selling at a Craft Show

Are you ready for your 2010 Craft show? I am scheduled to attend one in April and gearing up as much as I can from Brochures,Order Forms to Displays and Pricing. It is a lot of work and you will need at least 2-3 weeks prior to the show to be ready.

To find out more about how you can sell well at a craft show,check these links.
There is one link I am yet to find and it is written by one of ETSY bloggers. But as soon as I find it, I will share it.

Enjoy! Remember, you need to be prepared and ready!

http://www.ehow.com/how_4749771_things-sell-craft-show.html
http://www.entrepreneur.com/startingabusiness/businessideas/article76936.html
http://tinboxartshow.com/how-to-make-a-first-craft-show-cheap-and-painless.html
http://www.articlesbase.com/art-articles/make-your-craft-show-display-stand-out-from-the-crowd-251104.html

Stay Tuned


Visit my shops at Neki Naturals and Neki Naturals ETSY store

Paitence is a virtue

Today I am suppose to be writing and sending information out on craft shows and
I really have to do this but my toddler is really going through this phase of
just been fussy and not happy with anyone or anything. So keep your fingers crossed that I write this piece later today.


Stay Tuned!

Titbits on Stella McCartney

Snowy rainy day in New Jersey!!!!

Stella Nina McCartney was born on 13 September 197 and she is an English fashion designer. She is the daughter of former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney and the late photographer and animal rights activist, Linda McCartney. It is stated that she
started designing when she as not yet 1 year old. Even though she came from a wealthy famliy, She studied her foundation at Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication, fashion design at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in the early 1990s. Her graduation collection in 1995 was modelled by friends and supermodels Naomi Campbell, Yasmin Le Bon and Kate Moss – for free – at the graduation runway show and hence began her fashion career. A lacto-ovo-vegetarian, McCartney does not use fur or leather in her designs and supports PETA.

If you will like to read more on Stella, check out
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stella_McCartney.


Tomorrow we will talk about craft shows for the spring.

Stay Tuned.

Visit my shops at Neki Naturals and Neki Naturals ETSY store

Titbits on Vera Wang

Beautiful Monday Morning. I am almost back to normal and back to the grind. Natanael got his first hair cut yesterday and I think my heart is also returning to normal heart beat.:)


Following our trend of designers short bios, I am sharing some titbits on Vera Wang. Who does not know her? She is well known for wedding gown collection. Vera Wang Becker was born and raised in New York, NY of Chinese descent. Her parents were born in Shanghai, China, and came to the United States in the mid-1940s.

Little did I know that she used to be a figure skater in high school and competed at the 1968 U.S. Figure Skating Championships with James Stuart. When she failed to make the US Olympics team , she joined the fashion industry. How is that for a designer story?

She was a senior fashion editor for Vogue for sixteen years and in 1985, she left Vogue after being turned down for the editor-in-chief position and joined Ralph Lauren as a design director for two years. In 1990, she opened her own design salon in the Carlyle Hotel in New York that features her trademark bridal gowns.

Her line has expanded and she has made wedding gowns for well know celebrities and figure skaters.

She is married with two daughters and the sweetest part to me is that Wang was inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2009, and was honored for her contribution to the sport as a costume designer.


For more information, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vera_Wang

Stay Tuned!

Visit my shops at Neki Naturals and Neki Naturals ETSY store

Keep on keeping on

Today I am very much under the weather since my son passed his cold to me and am struggling to keep my eyes open and body moving. My brain seems clogged and all I want to do is to hit my bed and sleep but that is not happening today but just to keep the motivation going , my husband sent me this link to this video and I just wanted to share it with you. It made me so happy and emotional not just for the teenager but also for the parenting. So for this weekend, keep on doing what you do eventually it will all for into place.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngzyhnkT.

Need your comments on the video

Have a great weekend!

Stay Tuned

Titbits about Carolina Herrera

As mentioned yesterday, I will be highlighting some women who I believe help to inspire and motivate me. These range from politics to business to fashion to Family life. As a 35 year old mother, I am starting late to fuel the passion I have for crochet designing. Better late than never! In light of that, I just read a short bio on Carolina Herrera who was not hired as a fashion designer till the age of 41! She was a wife and mother of four who loved fashion. Enjoy!

These are some bios that I found from about.com


Vital Stats

* Born María Carolina Josefina Pacanins y Niño in Caracas, Venezuela in 1939.
* Married to Guillermo Behrens Tello 1955-65 (divorced).
* Married to Reinaldo Herrera in 1968.
* Four daughters, six grandchildren.

Resume

* Debuted with a test colleciton in 1980, moved her family to New York.
* Expanded her empire to include perfume, accessories and bridal.
* CFDA Womenswear Designer of the Year, 2004.

Trademark Design

* Glamorous day and eveningwear.

What You Might Not Know About Carolina Herrera

* She attended her first couture show, at age 13. It was Cristobal Balenciaga.
* She made international best-dressed lists before she became a designer.
* When she became a fashion designer at age 41, it was her first job outside the home.
* Famous clients included Jackie Onassis for the last 12 years of her life.


Enjoy!

Stay Tuned!

Websites Showcasing Everyday Inspirational and Motivational Women

Yesterday was a holiday and it was spent running around my toddler hence I was not able to publish a new post.
Enjoy this weekend post!

For me,pPart of my motivation and inspiration on lazy days comes from reading and seeing women that I admire
reach new levels in their personal, financial and business lives. My spirit is uplifted when I read a blog or book
or magazine that showcases women who are creative, women who are dedicated and committed to their families and their business. I try as much as possible to take one thing away from each woman and apply consistently in my life.

I am sharing these websites and if you can, you can share yours as well and I will keep a compilation to publish at a later time.

As hard as it is to read any adult book these days with a toddler, one key advice from these women is to read and read and read. So today, I am sharing some of the web sites that I visit often for advice and inspiration.

1.http://www.success.com
2.http://www.womenwholaunch.com
3.http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/mostpowerfulwomen/2009/ - This is a quick read for powerful women in 2009.
4.http://www.pink.com
5.http://www.womenentrepreneur.com/

Have a great weekend!




Stay Tuned!

Study,Learn and Practice

I used to be avid and passionate basketball fan especially during the Micheal Jordan era and I will watch ESPN from sunset to sundown. It was so bad that I used to fall asleep with ESPN on and wake up to ESPN. I knew almost all the basketball players stats and I can argue with anyone on any game during the season.

So whats my point?

In learning and watching so much of basketball, I taught myself the game. I even played a little from what I taught myself but I can sit down and watch the game now and make comments on plays. The same goes for the anything we are passionate about.

Especially with craft, as much as I love it, I have to study it and learn new techniques and have an eye for colors. Even though I am still working on my patience skill, I still need to practice my craft and not necessarily see the quick return in sales. One of my favorite basketball players, Allen Inversion(who is out injured) used to hate practice. There were so many press conferences about him not showing up for practice but as he got older, he realized that in order to compete and work well with his team, he will need to practice his game no matter how much of a natural talent you are.

So study, learn and practice are my motto for this month. I will try not to dwell on the fact that it does not necessarily produce sellable items but it is one step towards been a great crochet designer.

Stay Tuned

Where does it go?

I hope everyone had a great valentine weekend! Time seems to pass very quickly when there are special days or Holiday. Hence, my question is where does the time go?

Today is a holiday and as usual, Natanael deems it to be Mommy day even though it is a working day for me. On days I need to work and babysit, I am trying to find ways to manage my time better.

One thing that I started to do as advised by my coach is to document my time everyday but on the days that I spend the entire day with my son, there is not much to write.
do I accomplish anything work wise? No but I take heart that all activities with him is building his intellect and help him to feel loved.

Now I just need to find time to think,design and create my designs. I am still working on it.


Stay Tuned

Mistakes - Is it really?

Have you ever made a mistake while making a design? Most of the time for me, Yes!
especially when I do not write it down. But last night mistake was empowering for me.

Why?

I was making this tote bag with a long strap and it was suppose to cross the body with a few flowers here and there. Well, I sewed the straps on the wrong side making my tote bag not what I expected. Normally I will give up, sulk for a few days and start from scratch. Maybe I was tired last night but I decided not to quit and reworked the strap to become two straps. I think I felt more joy because I did not give up than the made product. Now, I plan to add a flower to the button placement to give it a more sophisticated look. I will post it as soon as the flower is done butI was quite thrilled with myself last night. It may not be much but it is a great start of changing styles on the spot. Love it!

Stay Tuned

Sodium Sodium Sodium

As I mentioned yesterday, I am not a great cook and neither do I love to be in the kitchen but since I became a mother, I had to venture into the pantry to be able to make some food for Natanael. He will only eat it if he sees the steam from the stove and had an opportunity to stir it. Maybe he will be a chef but that is a different topic for another day.

Since he loves tomatoes, I try to make dishes that involve tomatoes. During the summer, this was quite inexpensive because I grew my own garden. Since the fall and the winter, buying fresh tomatoes has become quite expensive and we eat a lot of it. Someone or somewhere I read suggested to try canned tomatoes to reduce the cost.

Little did I know what I got myself into!

When I looked at the nutritional facts and looked at the sodium content, it was over 1400mg for one can! One can of tomatoes! They try to make me feel better by stating that one serving which is 1/2 cup is 220mg but who cooks with half a cup? I normally use the whole thing. My curioristy grew and looked at the organic pasta sauce I use to cut corners so I do not have to make it from scratch and the sodium content for one jar was 1800mg! Here I am trying to feed my son organic food but saturating his food with sodium.

Oh Well! Back to square one with fresh tomatoes. Next summer, I will plant and grow as much tomatoes as I can and freeze it for the winter.

Stay Tuned.

Snow Day

So today it is snowing and that means we are all home. Now trying to run a business and babysit my toddler on a snow day is a challenge. I have already lost 6 keys on my keyboard and struggling to keep the rest intact. Today, I decided to give him an old keyboard and see if that can keep his attention for a little while so I can spend half an hour on my computer. The excitement like any other toy is probably going to wear off in an hour or so. Oh Well! All everyone can hear around the house is calling out his name to keep him out of trouble.

Next we are going to cook even though I am not interested in cooking but he loves to stir stuff up. After that session, hopefully he can take a quick nap and by then I will have thought about another activity to last till bedtime then I can really get work done. Going to start a new design for a messenger bag that people are asking for and complete the pattern instructions today but until then it is Mommy day according to Natanael.

Stay Tuned

The Joy of the UnKnown with Toddlers

I am a mother of a 16 month old, Natanael and I cannot believe how much babies change or how much they grow up. Every week, there is a different word or facial expression. Last week every single fruit was called an apple and this week, Natanael has decided that he will shake his head "no" to every plea and request. How do they even know that NO means shaking their little head?
At first, it was cute and funny but now he shakes his head to changing diapers, food, changing clothes, picking up items on the floor. Frankly almost anything other than taking a bath and eating cheerios.

I am one of those personalities that need to know what is in the future and I have no idea what he is going to do next either today or tomorrow or next week.

I love it when he speaks but the non-verbal "NO" is not funny any longer.
Even though the books guide you on what to expect but really need to be in the moment to grasp it. I love it but waiting almost with finger biting waiting for the next action or word.

Stay Tuned