Well hello, Tuesday. So nice to see you.

After the whole craft fair date mix-up/fiasco/whatever, my inner time clock has been totally off.  Last night we went to dinner at a friend's house, and I thought it was Friday. This morning I woke up thinking it was Saturday, or Thursday, but definitely not Tuesday. It is Tuesday, right??  Just a minute ago I though it was Wednesday.  Do you get the picture? 

Since I seem to be losing my sanity, or at least my ability to know which day of the week it is, I am going to just leave you with some pretty pictures to look at with a subliminal message behind it. that message is that all of these are on my wish list.

Obi handbag

Vintage Dress

Sewing Pattern

Heather Ross Fabric Scraps

Carmel Apple

NABC Fringe Fest (or the one when I had the dates mixed up)

Remember the Craft Fair I told you about? The one that is this weekend?  I have been so darned busy getting ready--making inventory, designing product labels, enlisting the help of Beth and Alicia (and Alicia's husband who babysat and washed dishes!!) and am so close to being ready I can taste it. Almost.

I hadn't heard anything from the organizer recently so I went to the website and realized that the show is not this weekend.  It is NEXT weekend! bahahaha! boohoohoo!  How does one mix up the dates for a craft fair they are participating in???  I don't know either, but I managed to do it.  Thank goodness I have no plans for next weekend. At least I didn't until an hour ago.

So for you and for me and my lack of sanity, here are some details. 
I guess it's not technically a "Craft Show". It's actually a swanky festival that is part of the larger activities of Harvest Homecoming...the New Albanian Brewing Company's Fringe Fest!

Yay! Do you see the "Art" part? That's me and quite a few other wonderful and talented local artists who will have tables at the festival.  So mark your calendars for October 7, 8, and 9, and come down for art, great music, and loads of fun!

During the day this is a great family event. Della and I went last year and enjoyed walking around Harvest Homecoming as well as seeing all the local art at the Fringe Fest. 

Etsy Shop Feature: Graphic Spaces Wood

For those of you who don't look at the Etsy frontpage every hour I don't either, don't worry., you may have missed something incredible!  Graphic Spaces Wood is a shop that makes adorable nursery decor from wood.

This would fit perfectly in Della's room!

I love how unique this shop is. Woodworking seems so inaccessible to me.  Kind of like glassblowing, it is one of those arts that you really need to have some specialized training in before you produce anything halfway worth mentioning. or at least that is how I imagine it to be! After reading through their profile, it's obvious that a whole lot of talent is behind this shop!

They are offering a sale on their bookends through the end of the year.  I already have two on Della's wishlist for the holidays :)

Have you found anything new via the front page recently?





All photos are from the Graphic Spaces Wood Etsy shop.

Two Truths and A Lie: The Amy Butler version

Two (semi)Truths and A (semi) Lie
Remember this game?  I tell you three things. Two are true and one is a lie.  You guess which is which.  Then I tell you and you see if you're right or not.  OK, here goes.

1. I don't like Amy Butler's Fabrics
2. I don't like Amy Butler's Patterns
3. I Hoard every piece of Amy Butler fabric I ever get my hands on.

So do you know which two are true and which one is a lie?  Don't worry, I'm going to tell you!

1. True. Sort of.  When I see many of the swatches of Amy's designs on my computer screen, I'm not that excited.  I mean, I think they look nice, but what am I going to do with it? My typical answer is to draw a blank.  However, when I actually get a piece of Amy's fabrics in my hand, I fall instantly in love (in an admittedly materialistic sort of way), and the possibilities seem endless. Once I have the fabric in hand, I want bolts of the stuff and just can't get enough!

2. False. Sort of. Every sewing pattern or book I have seen by Amy makes me want to drop what I am doing and make it. In fact, I have two of her books that I love to look at. However, once I actually pick something to make, I realize it is going to be a very involved process because her sewing isn't the kind that takes short cuts and cuts corners.  That's why it looks so nice though.  I think I need to have an AB sewing month so I can start making more of the cute cute patterns of hers I have!

3. True. Until now.  The first piece of fabric I bought online was Amy's Morning Glory in Slate.  I hated it when I saw it on the computer but someone else wanted me to make something for them, and I bought it.  Of course I wished I had bought a whole bolt or two or three, but I didn't.  I did have one yard left over though.  And I had that yard waiting for the perfect project for the past 2+ years!  Then I saw the Sew and Tell Challenge on AmyLou's blog and knew I had to challenge myself to use this piece of fabric.

It had to be something for me though. I decided to make a craft apron for next weekend's show. I was going to do something simple but then saw a "great" tutorial for one that even had a hidden zipper pocket.  Let's just say about an hour in I thought I was going to have to throw away the fabric I had waited so long to use! I was able to salvage it though and make an apron that isn't quite what I envisioned, but oh well.  I still love this fabric and can't wait to wear the apron next weekend. 

Head on over to AmyLou's Sew and Tell Challenge to see lots of other great projects involving Amy Butler's fabrics and patterns.

 

Twirl Skirts for Infants and Toddlers

I've been up to my neck in mini skirts the last two weeks and am so excited to dig out and finally tell you all about them!  I've been wanting to get into children's clothing for a while, but I found that without a serger it was going to be more work than I was really able to give.  A few week's ago I finally got a serger (yay!!!) and have been loving it. One of my first projects was to make a little skirt for Della.

I loooove this fabric combo!  I found both at Hancock Fabrics, and because they weren't on sale only bought a little bit. Big mistake! The pink is now gone and I can't find it anywhere.

Della is still crawling though thinking very seriously about walking!, and most of her skirts and dresses are too long for crawling comfortably, so I needed something that hit above the knees. See how easily that little booty scoots around now?! 

I love these skirts for their simplicity in making as well as style. The skirts look great with leggings in the Fall and Winter, and the style is good for the older girls as well (the bigger sizes are slightly longer for modesty's sake!)  I've been making quite a few of these little skirts which have been added to the shop. 

These skirts are a great way to use some of the fabric bits that are less than a yard but too big to be considered scraps.  The hard part for me has been to not buy up every cute piece of fabric I see!  I've got plenty and have taken advantage of a few sales lately, so you'll see plenty more in the coming weeks including a sweet Argyle corduroy, some vintage fabrics, and some fun winter and Christmas colorways! 

What have you been working on??

Pinwheels Birthday Party: Della's 1st!

I think I might have started planning Della's first birthday party before she was even born.  Ok, maybe a few months later. But still.  This is a big deal! You only get one first birthday party! I started off with a color scheme in mind which ended up being a pinwheel and color theme which ended up being a pinwheel and  lots of colors wildflowers theme.

Have you all seen the expanse of party inspiration that seems to exist in blogland these days? I mean there are tea parties and slumber parties galore, and they all seem to be in the forest these days.  And they are all absolutely stunning. But how does the host have any energy after moving all that furniture to the forest to actually enjoy her party?! Maybe she's a super hero.

But I'm not, so I tried to stick with something slightly more simple: a very scaled-down, no-forest, I love to eat and spend time with my friends-type of first birthday party instead.

Oh, and did I mention that at my one year old's birthday party, there was only one guest under the age of 21?  Yeah, that. So how do you plan a birthday party for a one year old when all but one of the guests are of adult ages?!

First, you thank your lucky stars you don't need to plan Pin the Tale on the Donkey or Musical Chairs just yet. Maybe that will be next year--when all of our friends with younguns haven't recently vacated a 100-mile radius of our party.

Second, you make sure the food is good, because adults like food. (and really good birthday cake!) That, however, is a topic for another day on another blog.

Third, you try to make it pretty, so everyone can enjoy the festivities of celebrating a beautiful little girl and the life God has given her.  For us, it was the pinwheels (and flowers from the market).

I bought the double sided paper for the pinwheels here. These are a fun afternoon project (really they take no time at all!)  Here is a super easy tutorial to make the pinwheels,

I also ordered a little extra paper and made a garland. I just used a scalloped-edge circle punch to get the shapes, and then sewed them together with a little extra thread in between each set to get this just right.  I think this is one of those easy decorations I will be making again. Plus I used a paper that can be used multiple times since it is high quality and super cute!

I also made some tissue pom poms, but they looked nothing like what I envisioned so I'm forgoing the pictures!

There was quite a bit more I wanted to capture, but with all of the fun going on the day of the party, my hands (and brain!) were typically too full to grab the camera. 

That sale...it's still on

Just in case you missed the memo on Twitter or Facebook, pretty much everything in the shop is on sale until Sept.12!  I've added a few new skirts for babies and toddlers (which I'll tell you all about later).  For now I am enjoying a crazy busy week at work and time with my in laws this week.  I'll catch up with you all this weekend!