Sunday, May 24, 2009

New Look Logo

I did forget to introduce you to the new look to the Grandma Jim logo


I also have a couple with text.....



and of course,





Front Royal Show!


Well the first large show I ventured to take part in was good for Grandma Jim. It was a good learning experience and I got to practice in erecting the tent with its sides and setting up the displays of my blankets.

I sold a few blankets and gave one of the Breast Cancer Survivor Blankets to the Susan G Komen display to raffle off.... so that went well. I did get a lot of interest in my blankets and a lot of people commented on the quality of the blankets and asked who made them. It was always funny watching their reactions when I explained to them that I made them and not my wife.


Here are a couple photos from the festival.


My lovely wife behind the table:



Grandma Jim Behind the table:


Tent and displays


I know it looks like a corn dog, but it is fried Snickers! She said it was good....





Grandma Jim out.



Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Ready for Front Royal Festival

The Front Royal festival is this weekend and I finally am out of material to make blankets. And I was told to stop until after some of them are gone from our basement!! I have a total of 64 blankets to take to the show. Up 8 from my earlier post. The reason for the increase is, I made 8 more (of course). I added four children's blankets. Two baby Mother Goose blankets and two Carnival blankets. I have also added four small throws made from Thomas Kinkade prints. One is double sides with the panel and the other three have the print panel on one side and a solid color fleece on the reverse side. One ivy color and the other two a doe color.

Children's Blankets





This gives me over 10 good blankets for children for the show.

The Kinkade blanket with the doe colored reverse is pictured below.

This is the blanket folded in half length wise to show the chapel.

This is full view of blanket.

No new blankets until after the Front Royal Festival, unless it is a special order.

Grandma Jim Out


Hello Kitty

A friend at work asked me to do a Hello Kitty blanket in pink for a friend's daughter. I found a couple samples and she selected the material and asked me to try and match the reverse side to the background color of the Hello Kitty design. A daunting task since it is pink. I had tried earlier with a couple of my Breast Cancer Survivor blankets and got close but not close enough. So I was shocked when I was able to find the perfect pink top match. The result is below. This turned out purrrr fect (could not resist) and the young lady loves it, or so I am told.



North Carolina Tar Heels

Last week a friend that had gotten a VA Tech blanket for one son asked me if I could do a North Carolina blanket for her other son. The answer was, of course. I really like the way this one turned out. The reverse matched perfectly, which is often hard to do with blues. Her son loved the blanket. The Tar Heel blanket or most any NCAA Division I school blanket can be special ordered by email at blanketsbygrandmajim@verizon.net



Sunday, May 3, 2009

Nursery Rhyme Children's Blanket and the Front Royal WIne Festival and Craft Show

In preparation for the upcoming Front Royal Wine Festival and Craft show I have added a children's nursery rhyme blanket to my inventory. This blanket is a very soft light blue with characters from a couple nursery rhymes depicted on the fabric. Each of the blankets is approximately 48 inches wide by about 56 inches long. Two photos are shown below: A quarter fold view and a closeup detail.





I have started getting ready for my first big craft show. I will have a booth at the Front Royal Wine Festival and Craft Show on May 16th. This is a new experience for me and I am trying to get things ready well ahead of time. This weekend I start pricing all of the blankets in my stock and creating an accurate inventory. To my surprise I have over 50 completed blankets. 56 to be exact. Below is a photo of half of the blankets stacked on the coffee table that is on the couch in the basement. Do not ask. Just go with the fact it was not on the floor!





Thank goodness, I got them all packed away before my wife saw them! But she did see the photo and just sort of shook her head and laughed.

Please stop by Front Royal and see me on May 16th. And buy a blanket. Please!

Grandma Jim Out!


Two New Designs Totals Six For Breast Cancer Survivor Blankets

I have been working on some new blankets the last couple of weeks. Two of the new blankets are Breast Cancer Survivor blankets. Each of these takes new meaning for my family, as my wife's sister was recently diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer. She under went a lumpectomy this week and got great results. My family now has three survivors. My Aunt Marjorie, my sister Julie and my sister-in-law Kathy. Here are the two new blankets for Breast Cancer Survivors.



This brings the different designs for Breast Cancer Survivor Blankets that I make to six. My favorite so far is the embroidered Rose and Ribbon blanket on light pink. The material is difficult to get but it is worth it.

The other four are show below again.






Grandma Jim Out