i heart linen

I.....

...just posted the trivets in my shop.  One may have your name on it! ^_^

***Update*** Only one left. The pink one!

Mini-Shop Update....

...with Bias tape in Reds, Yellows, and Browns in the shop..

......NOW! ^_^

*Update*  Sold out! Thank you! ^_^

Wowsers!

Don't you just love nutty words....like 'wowsers' and 'shazam'?
Anyhoo, huge thank you to those of you who purchased items from my shop yesterday! Your orders will ship tomorrow.  Those items disappeared super fast....so ......Wowsers!  Thanks!  I know some of you missed out, so I'll try my best to do another update this month with more pouches and bias tape.  I still have some mirrors left, so I can make more of those too.  I've got some other tricks up my sleeve too.....*rubs hands together....throws head back with wicked laughter* ....so hold tight.

(yes that's my big face you see......Aargh! Cover your eyes!!)

In other news.....(I just love saying that...tee hee).....ahem.....in other news, there's a new blog in blogland! Label Free! It is the brainchild of the lovely Aimee of super awesome Betsy Ross Patterns.  I'm happy to say that I've been invited to be a contributor along with several talented ladies:

SappMamma of Purly Victorious
Korallin of Kuky Ideas
Leya of Curious Bird
Tiffany of Tiffany in the Trees
and
Oh My Eye!

In Aimee's words:

"Homesewn is not a dirty word. This blog is for all of you with coffee tables that double as cutting tables, sewing machines that are held together with electrical tape, and an irrepressible desire to be creative in your own, unique space and on your own terms."

I'll be posting there about once a week, but I'll continue to make my posts here as well. I think it'll be a nice read, so go ahead and add it to your ever growing list of blogs!  Shazaaaaam!!

Kaboom!

See this mess? 

This was how my little workstation looked on Friday.  By Sunday......hmmmm....let's just call it ground zero for a big craft and sewing supply bomb. Kaboom! The sad part is that I worked all weekend and didn't manage to create one thing! Not a one. Boooooo, evil weekend, booooo, hisss.  Rowr!

Clearly not the wonderfully productive weekend that I had planned for myself.  Seems that some of my patterns and measurements were terribly wrong and all of the yummy goodies I had planned to make are now null and void. Aaaargh!  This weekend was a complete waste. Evil weekend!!! Why have you forsaken me!!?!?!?!!?!?!   *gets down on knees, tears shirt*  I know...can I be just a teeny bit more dramatic?

That being said, I still have a pretty substantial amount of items for my shop update today.  So everything will be up at 1pm Est.  Run! Run I tell you! Run like the wind to my shop! That's if you feel like it of course. ^_^

So I have planned to do another update after the holiday.  I need a moment to regroup and fix my errors.  Calendars are on the way! I promise!!  Happy Monday!

Shop Update!

So I've postponed the shop update to Monday.  I've got some more things to make.  I'm trying my very, very, very best to get a couple calendars done in time (no guarantees on the calendars) and a few other little items.  Some little pouches I managed to crank out yesterday for the update.........

I know....I've been a busy little bee......I'm super tired too.

These remind me of Bonne Maman jars.......mmmmm.....Bonne Maman...yummy.

They're teeny pouches too......4 inches x 4 inches. 

They make me happy. ^_^ I hope they make you happy too.

Well, off I go to sew something else!  Have a super dee duper weekend!

Totes......finally

Did you have a nice long weekend?  I did, nice and quiet, sort of productive as well. Grocery shopping, laundry folding, rearranging the apartment, making homemade low-fat chili, sewing....you know...the normal weekend stuff.

It seems like I mentioned these a year ago, right?  Well, technically it was last year but almost this year. ^_^

Well, I finally got them all finished!  (I just can't seem to get the lead out lately.  I dunno what that's all about. *shrugs*)  Anyway, here they are.  I'll be posting them in the shop as soon as I'm done with this post.  All but the red one, which already has a new home! 

I like the size of these.  They aren't giant totes...just a a nice size for running out to the store really quick or something. Or if you just don't want to schlep a ton of stuff with you.

They have magnetic snaps and matching polka dot lining.  I think I'm totally polka dot obsessed lately.  So if you don't like polka dots, you probably won't want to visit me for a while.... teehee!

I'm shooting to add some more stuff to the shop sometime this week or the following week. I'll keep you posted! ^_^

Customizing

My mother-in-law Mom-The Sequel (mother-in-law just sounds so awful doesn't it?) paid us a little visit.  Really awesome lady! It was nice to get to know her better and learn more about my husband's family and his childhood and such. 

Mom-The Sequel and Elijah

We're very much alike, which I sort of already knew. (His Grandmother, his mother's mother, was born on December 28th, my birthday is December 29th, and his mother's birthday is December 30th.  He still manages to forget one of them somehow.  Luckily mine isn't one of them. *huge grin*)   It was funny to have someone in the house who would say what I was thinking of saying before I could say it.  Mel's always saying how I'm just like his mom and I never knew if that was a good or bad thing because I really didn't know her very well.  After spending some time though, I'm confident that  he's paying me a compliment when he says it. Mom-The Sequel rocks!

Her visit also allowed me some "catch-up-on-my-sewing" time.  I was happy to finish up some custom orders. I was quite apprehensive about doing custom orders in the first place. They can be quite difficult custom orders sometimes.  You never know if your vision will turn out the way you'd like or if the customer will even like it.  One in particular:

Heidi of Pinksparrow loved the design of one of my previous bags, but wanted different fabric.  So she chose the Alexander Henry "Bird Seed" in yellow, asked for a pocket and said to surprise her with the lining.  Well, you know I can be quite indecisive so........

..I used a yellow polka-dot for the top half, more of the "birdseed" for the bottom and.......

...black damask for the pocket!  She received it and loves it.  I was a little worried that it would be too much, so I'm happy it worked out.  Thanks Heidi!  So happy that you are pleased!  I guess this custom order thing isn't so bad after all. I really enjoyed doing this one. 

Heidi makes these really super cute felt pins by the way!  I'm so amazed by all the cutie-pies she makes. 

These two are my favorite! *swoons*
She has many other lovelies in her beautiful Etsy shop.  So run over and check them out before they're all gone! ^_^

Wrap up

Happy to be getting the last of my holiday orders out the door!   I feel like I've just lost 20 lbs by getting all of these finished in time.

I had a lot of orders to fill and was feeling a little overwhelmed for a while.  I have to admit one thing though.  Made to order is not the way to go for me!  I've learned my lesson! LOL I think I'll be doing things a little differently in regards to the shop next year.

Yes!!!  Now I can start to have some fun and enjoy what's left of the lead up to Christmas.
I hope my customers are pleased with their purchases. It was a LOT of work. I still have 2 custom orders to finish but luckily they aren't for Christmas, so I can breathe a little now.

The apartment is looking less Grinchy now as well.  Yay! I managed to take a few minutes to put a little holiday cheer up. We'll be getting our tree this week too.

Slightly disappointed I wasn't able to as much "Holiday crafting" as I had planned.  But there's always next year! I'm just thankful to be alive, healthy, with a loving family for this season.  That's all the Christmas I really need.  (*whispers*  But next Christmas......it's so ON!) ^_^

Shop Update

Good morning all!  Real quick, I've updated with the 4 bags I posted this week.  If you feel so inclined, go take a look see.  I'll be updating the shop throughout the week here and there, so stay tuned. 

Also, I've been doing a lot custom orders.  Just in case anyone is interested.....If you see something that I've made either on the blog or in the shop that you'd like to have.  Let me know.....I'd be ever so happy to make one for you!

The Nice Aqua, Browns, Purples, & Hot Pinks

More baggy goodness for my shop update. 

I love these too.  I used these lovely Kokka fabrics that I found on Ebay some time ago. The colors are amazing in person, they really just POP!  These photos really don't do this fabric justice.

I added some more pin tucking as you can see.  I'm in love with the pin tucks!

Here are some shots of the inside.

Yup, more gingham.  I hope it's not too much combined with the outer fabric........

....What do you all think? Well I hope someone likes gingham.....because I certainly do!  I'm making a two or more of this bag for the store as well and I plan to use the same lining.  But I'm also thinking of making that particular bag made to order.  I thought it would be nice to have more lining choices than just the gingham.  Since you practically can put any fabric in and it would still be a really great bag.  If anyone is interested in having the bag from that earlier post feel free to contact me.

Anyhoo, gotta run!  The kiddies are getting restless......duty calls! ^_^