Category Archives: Sew Sew Sew

MImi Green is all moved in. Whoo hoo!

mimi green sewing studio

We are finally all moved in! I'll try to take you on a virtual tour of the place :

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My desk area. I can see out the little window at everyone working in the studio.

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View of the kitchen area

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Front door

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Paula working away. Didn't take us long to make messes! That little guy is Cooper, Jessi is babysitting him for a friend, but I really don't want him to have to go home! He has been so much fun to have around. See how much light we get!  It is absoulutly wonderful.

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The sitting area in my office. Of course I'd have a gallon of milk on my desk 😉

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Prepping area 

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Paula, Jessi and Cooper working

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Paula's pug Chupa hard at work 😉

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Overall it was a great move. We did it in 2 days, but Dan and I still haven't gotten to cleaning up the old studio. It is so nice to have the office close by, it is only a mile away from our house!

I really love this new space 😉

Mr. and Mrs. Macbooks

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My new baby– her name is midge (since she is much smaller than my old one). Check out the sweet covers we got for them!

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Mine got a tattoo of course;) All you have to do is find a sweet skin (aka laptop sticker) and attach it before the Speck cover and tada! Laptop tattoo. Dan inherited my 15'' Macbook Pro, which was named Cali but I think i will re-name her Marge since her coloring is like Marge Simpson's hair doo. 

Midge arrived on Friday and although her birth was almost painless, I did totally screw up by accidentaly deleting ALL of the Mimi Green files before switching them over to her. I got a cold and the meds just didn't agree with my brain.  Thank God for Mac's time machine witch had all but a few files saved. 

Dan also got a new baby just yesterday:

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A brand new industrial machine! Now we will be rocking out collars just in time for the holiday season.

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as you can see, we are swamped! The studio is a mess, but it is a glorious mess — I am so grateful that we are doing so well!

Crochet Awesome-ness

I found the most awesome scarf tutorial on lilibeth’s garden

for the sweetest winter scarf. Here’s the one I made:

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I love it! And it looks great in all colors. Here is the one Hiedi of Lilibeth (who has a fantastic blog!!) made:

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Awesome, right?  Now if I just could figure out how to make them for dogs… My Cessie gets very cold this time of year!

Happy Birthday Mimi!

It has been the best of times. Really, it has. Yesterday marked the 1 year anniversary of my first listing to etsy — the Cecilia Collar.

Now, a few incarnations later, the Cecilia is our all time best seller and it has a super close place to my heart.

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I really can’t believe that it has been a year! I guess when you are working so hard, learning so much, and having so much fun times just flies by!

Even though it has been a really happy year, this week was really emotional for me. I really wanted to take inventory of my life and ask myself, “is this where I thought MG would take me after a year?” Truth is that I don’t know. I didn’t start this business with a plan — I just totally dove eyes wide shut!

In fact, before I started I did no research to find out what I needed to be a real-life company, I didn’t look to see what others were putting out there in the doggie fashion world, I didn’t worry — it just felt right so I did it!  I know it must really bother some people in my life at times, but that is just me — if something feels right I go for it, if it doesn’t I stay away. I don’t always have clear reasoning, but I know what is right in my heart and Mimi Green was something that felt right for my family.

The decision to start MG was my own, but all the sweat and tears hasn’t been just mine. First my mom started helping me sew when I got so overwhelmed I just wanted to crawl up and hide. Then my sister Paula would come watch the kiddos for me so I could get some un-interrupted work done and when she wasn’t here Dan was entertaining them and keeping them out of momma’s way! Auggie has grown up with the sounds of my machine — he even had a bed in my studio until I had to make more room for a second machine. And why you ask? Well because my wonderful husband jumped on this runaway train and joined me in the venture this January. Lately, my mother in law has helped us with the flowers– she sends boxes from Wisconsin full of them every week!

And then, not to be forgotten, there is my little sis Paula who not only watched the kids, but learned the biz and is now just as valuable to the process as Dan and I are. She comes over every day after school and keeps us sane and organized. As you can see, it really has been a gigantic group effort.
Noah helps with things that he can like sweeping the studio or connecting buckles. Even Auggie gets in there and makes huge messes helps out! 😉

I won’t lie and say that it has all be fabulous. There have been a lot of ups and downs, mentally and financially, that have taken their toll this first year. I will say that I think that I have grown so much because of this and I have learned to be a better problem solver which isn’t my Strong suit!

Besides everyone who has helped me grow this baby, I am so thankful to all the awesome people I have met this year through Mimi Green. Customers in this industry are fantastic, I mean people who love animals are usually good people to be around! All the stores we have worked with have been great. In fact, I do consider some owners that I only talk to via email friends.

So what does this next year bring? I don’t know for sure, but I want to start it off running! Today I present to you our 1 year anniversary designs. And there are a many more than these that Dan has under his hat still!

Meet the ‘Annie’ Anniversary Collar:

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The Buttered Popcorn Anniversary Flower:

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The Blue Bird Tank:

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And the Flying Heart Tank:

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We have one more tank coming out this next week that will be super cute. I am dipping my fingers into the world of doggie T-shirt design — we will have lots to show you including some awesome 70s style iron-ons!

I hope you all keep following us this coming year. I think that now that we are finally acquainted with Mimi Green we will be able to spend the year coming up with even cooler products for your dog!

xoxo-Amanda

Cessie the pug

Big Exciting Changes!

I know I’ve been kinda neglectful of my blog lately, and for that I am sorry. But it was all for a good cause. We have been making some super great improvements on our collars here at Mimi Green and yes the prices have gone up a bit, but let me explain…
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We designed a new line of collars and leashes for a super cool company (I can’t tell you who yet, it is still under wraps!) and I had to go looking for new colors of webbing. While doing that I stumbled upon a company that makes the COOLEST colors of webbing — the only thing is that their webbing is twice as thick as the one we were used to using.

After much deliberation, we decided that this new webbing was the way for us to go. The colors are amazing, the strength is unrivaled, and the feel of it in your hands is fantastic.

So basically, we have spent the past month re-making everything! Our studio is a huge mess since we still have the old webbing so that we can send that to our current retailers who need to add to their stock, and we have the new webbing that will begin to ship out to our customers this coming week.

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I can’t wait to hear what everyone thinks! We love the change, I think it totally transformed our collars which in my opinion already rocked! (not to toot my own horn, but they do right?!)

As for the price increase, the benefits will be worth it!

One: we have the new webbing which is BEAUTIFUL!

Two: after the new line comes out (which will happen in a few weeks!) you will be able to find Mimi Green in a many more upscale doggie boutiques in your area. If all goes well, hopefully most people will be able to buy Mimi locally.

I can’t wait to tell you all who we are working with for this new line and show you how awesome it turned out! More to come very soon on that…

Fell off the Radar…

I don’t know how it happened, but I haven’t written a post in a month!

So much has happened since then, so I will give you a quick photo essay to explain my absence.

First, the super awesome Paws on the Run placed a HUGE order with us! I was sewing sewing sewing and then suddenly it was Nov. 12 — time to go to Mexico!
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Here we are riding horses on the beach in Cabo San Lucas.  I would have had a better time if I hadn’t missed my boys so much.

We came home after a week and I had to sew like a crazy woman once again! Got the order out in the nick of time since my order board was starting to overflow!IMG_8575

Then Auggie put jelly all over his belly.  (No this isn’t Dan, it is Auggie. I know it looks EXACTLY like Dan but I know my own child and this is him. It is a good thing my husband is the most handsome man in the world, eh? I am tempted to have another baby just to see if it comes out looking like a clone of myself. It would only be fair.)

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Sometimes the things this guy thinks are a good idea scare me. You’ve seen him eat coffee grinds, eat the dirt from plants, now jelly on the belly. I have my hands full, oh boy.

In my downtime I was surfing the net and read about this poor old, fat, black pug who had been dumped on the side of the highway and had no home. He was sleeping in the shelter, which although very nice, is still a shelter and kind of scary for dogs.  Dan owed me one for a stupid thing he did (no, I don’t have pictures of that;)  ) so I was able to convince him to let us bring this little guy home just until he gets adopted. IMG_8569

Isn’t he sweet? The name the rescue gave him is Rajah, which I love, but he won’t answer to it. He does, however, answer to Harpo and Pug. And trust me, I must have called him a thousand names before he descided which he liked.

He has been such an awesome guy. I am just dying to find him a new owner.

And then there has been Christmas orders for Mimi Green. More on that tomorrow!

Lastly, I got the best Pottery Barn knock off desk I have ever seen for my studio. I was gifted some money for my birthday and I figured I owed it to myself to make my work space nicer since I practlcally live in there!

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I am so loving the shelves below it. And the room! I can actually put more than just my computer on my desk now. Plus, you might have noticed that I have shelves under my table now.  We moved the sawhorses out, which were genius but served no purpose, and replaced them with shelving to hold all my webbing supplies. Another idea I stole from Pottery Barn, only their table like this costs $1000.

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And Cessie loves were her bed sits now — Right in the sun!

Where did I get this desk awesomeness? You might of heard of it, it is a very exclusive little shop called Targ’et Boutique. And last week they had free shipping and 15% off.  What a very happy early birthday present to me huh!?!?

Rhapsody in Blue Dog Collar

rhapsody in blue dog collar

Today I was inspired. KNME had a show on about young composers and musicians and I was so moved while watching it that I think I came up with a new super cool collar design. Fittingly, I named it “Rhapsody in Blue”.

I’ve been waiting to make a Limited Edition Collar in a boyish color. I just couldn’t find a fabric that moved me. Then this : linen colored with blue polkadot flowers. Perfection. Then I hand beaded the petals with the tiniest beads, they look so delicate, but really they aren’t I had to run the collar through all the buckles after I beaded it, didn’t effect the beads. Then I ran the sewing machine over them to sew it to the webbing and not a one flew off. Awesome. It will work on Cessie even though she is constantly scratching around her collar. rhapsody in blue dog collar

I think I will make 25 ‘Rhapsodys” so get them while you can. They will be on Etsy for $22.50.
rhapsody in blue dog collar

Tijeras Open Air Market LOVE , XO

I wasn’t sure what to expect from the Tijeras Open Air Market. The list of artists looked impressive, but I wasn’t sure if being so far away would be good for drawing a crowd. I was so wrong. We were there yesterday on a slow day (the weather was yucky in town) and the crowd was still phenomenal.
Shoppers seemed so happy to be there and were ready to shop. I felt like they did, I was in such a good mood just for being there. The landscape is stunning in Tijeras and it felt so good to get out of the city and into the fresh, clean air in the mountains.

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This was the awesome view from my booth. The booths are already set up, and if you do more than one day you can just put the canvas walls down and leave your tables on site. Makes set up so much easier!
Anna King is the owner of Just Imagine Gallery and the Tijeras Open Air Market. She was an absolute joy to work with — not like other gallery owners I have encountered in my time! In fact half the day went by without me even knowing she was the owner.  I guess I was looking for an uptight, upset, pushy person walking around and instead the owner was so easy going, doing the hula-hoop with another artist! This was a much needed breath of fresh air!  (Please excuse me if you are a gallery owner. I’m sure you aren’t all nervous, pretentious people, but I have had some bad experiences with the gallery folk being down to earth)

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Here is my sis Paula working hard for Mimi Green.
The morning didn’t start out so well, but Paula saved the day. First I got up an hour late, we arrived with 20 minutes to set up, and then all my ideas for how I was going to hang the photos fell apart. Finally Paula thought out of the box and made them all hang from the rope we were using as a clothes line (which was Kim’s fantastic idea!) We only got to hang like half of the photos I framed and matted, but that was okay because if I had been there alone none of them would have been hung! Paula was awesome, a natural.
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Kim came over Friday and helped me figure out displays. She made this super cool one in the basket. Key fobs are hanging from the sides and there are collar and leash sets inside. Noah pained the frames for me– I thought he did such a good job! I love how he takes interest in my silly projects.
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I got to give treats to a super cute Chow named Chewbacca and a gorgeous standard poodle named Poodle;) And I sold lots of tags, collars, and 1 key fab and bought two perfumes from the Laughing Turtle Soap Co. —  They make fantastic body products that are all natural which means I can use them which makes me super happy!

All in all a fantastic day. I can’t wait till next year so I can sign up early and do all the Tijeras Open Air Markets. They start in May and run till Oct.

Rowenta Auto Steam Iron

I really got spoiled this weekend. My $6 Wal-Green's iron bit the dust so my generous, loving, wonderful husband gave me his credit card and told me to go to Joann's and buy myself a fancy smancy iron. Yes that's right, I got a Rowenta.

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Now, you wouldn't know the impact this would have on your life unless you have ironed with a Rowenta. See, you can hold this iron vertically and it steams your clothes — it is just like being at a dry cleaners!  If I had to dress up for work everyday this would be a God send. No more looking like you slept in your suit!

Not only that, but it has a stainless steel plate that makes the iron glides right over the fabric like butter. I never even knew what a chore it was ironing with my cheepy until I ironed with this amazing appliance. You don't have to put any pressure down, you don't even really have to push it, it just glides. (Take note that I am not talking about ironing clothes, I think I have done that like once in my life, I am talking fabric here.)

As we all know you can save yourself lots of headaches by just ironing your fabric before you start sewing. In fact, I think I am probably incapable of sewing without ironing. And now, thanks to my Rowenta, I will be able to do it in half the time! 

It heats up super quick and has an auto shut off so that if it sits upright for more than 8 minutes or sits on it's plate for more than 30 seconds it shuts off. Then it has a motion sensor that turns it right back on when you pick it up. Genius. Now I never have to worry about burning the house down with my iron again!

It cost quite a bit more than my Wal-Greens iron, like $54 dollars more, but I am sure that it is worth more like $1 million dollars. 

If you want to experience this sort of ironing nirvana, Joann's  is offering $20 off on their website, plus here is a coupon for Free Shipping at Joann.com. I like to spread the love.