So it's the big 2-6 today! No big plans, nothing too exciting but I think we might go to Ikea this weekend, one of my favorite places in the world (besides the beach, exotic vacations and other fun places). We are putting the finishing touches on the house so we need curtains, a few more pieces of furniture and I am sure we will find a few more items around the market place.
I also received a wonderful gift in the mail from one of my favorite retailers. Anthropologie sent me a 15% off coupon for my birthday so I know where I will be heading in the next week or two. How cute is the little card they sent? I have never received something like this from a retailer before. Happy Birthday to me!
I love cupcakes! (I also love the Homer Simpson reference in the title - did you catch it?) Anyway...Cupcakes are amazing and I wish I could sit at home all day and sew purses and bake cupcakes and of course...eat cupcakes! So I spent way too much time on this blog Cupcakes Take The Cake last night, very fun, great picture, and delicious ideas. I probably gained 10 pounds just thinking about all of the deliciousness. So after pages and pages of cupcakes I found THESE cupcakes from The Busty Baker.
And their catalog is awesome, if you don't have a store near you order the catalog so you can get a little bit of inspiration. I love their photography, it's amazing:
No, I am not pregnant. But when I saw this graphic here I laughed out loud and sent it to my sister, who is pregnant. She complains because she doesn't think that she is crafty and she doesn't have any hobbies (I say having two kids, one on the way and a full time job is a good excuse for lack of extra time for hobbies). So anyway I sent her an email with this logo and a link to the site and told her that her protruding belly is a true sign of craftiness. A few of my other favorites include this shirt which I will have to buy for my husband when I am pregnant:
And, of course, I will have to have one of these for my little bundle of joy when he/she arrives in a year or two:
Take a look at the entire website to pick your favorites and get a few gifts for your next baby shower.This could very well be my new favorite website. I love crafting, sometimes it comes out looking great, just like the picture on the pattern or just as I had imagined it in my head. And then there are the other times... when it doesn't look ANYTHING like what I had planned - a failure. This blog is dedicated to these wonderful learning moments in crafting - Craft Fail is a great place to spend some time. Here are a few of my favorites that I have seen:
I recently found a new website and immediately put it on my list of favorites. The Bright Side Project is a blog dedicated to giveaways, everyone loves giveaways so everyone will love this site. The great part about this site is that to enter each giveaway you have to answer an inspiring question - not just "why do you want to win this item?" like many blog giveaways. Like: "When and how is the last time you were pleasantly surprised?" or "If you could invent anything, what would it be and how would you use it?" They might not be life altering questions and answers but they are different than most other blogs and it is fun to read all the answers people come up with, they are never the same.
Each month has a theme - July is "Beauty full!" All of the items celebrate, promote, and reflect the beauty in you and in life.
Another bonus is that most of the products that they offer are items that I have never heard of, therefore introducing me to new, fun websites and products. The variety of products is great too! Bags, baby bedding, cookies, and everything else you can think of. They even have their own iphone app!
So, do yourself a favor and stop by The Bright Side Project and take a look around!
Sorry for the Britney reference above, I do still love pop music though. Well it has been another few weeks since I last posted but I did warn you that with the move I wouldn't be around much. So we are all moved in now and unpacked for the most part so I am running out of excuses so here I am with a quick post before I go get a pedicure for my brother-in-law's wedding tonight. I am way behind on posting obviously so as soon as I get myself together I will have pictures of the new house, pictures from Spring Quilt Market and a few more exciting items for your viewing pleasure. Get excited, I promise I will post again before the next two month mark!
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It has been a whirlwind these past few weeks. We sold our house, bought a new house and have started the crazy process of packing up our current house. Plus I have a show on Saturday up in Cleveland so I have been trying to sew and pack for that at the same time. I think I have enough items for the show, I have one order to place and I need to pack everything up and then I should be ready to go. Here are a few of my Ella phants that will be for sale at Oddmall this weekend!
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So, I apologize in advance for being a little sparse over the next few weeks. We will be doing a lot of remodeling on our new house so we move out of our old house in about 2 weeks and don't move into the new house until the middle of June. Lucky for me I get a very convenient break the weekend of our first move, Quilt Market in Pittsburgh! It is technically a business trip since I will be working but my husband disagrees since he knows how much I like going and I would go for free if I wasn't working there. It will be quite crazy around here when I get back though. I can't wait to put up a few before and after pictures, there will be some big changes in that house!
It has been a crazy few weeks here, we sold our house after only 4 weeks on the market and we bought a new house! I am so excited about all of this, now we just have to cross our fingers until both of the closings go through in mid-May. Our new house is so cute, it's a 1915 Cape Cod, with original woodwork and pocket doors and 5 bedrooms, yes 5 can you believe it??!??!! One downside - Wallpaper, there is A LOT of wallpaper throughout the house. And not the pretty kind, the kind that all needs ripped out and every room needs repainted. But that's ok, I was looking for an older house with lots of character and that's what I got! It also has a window seat which I love and a big back yard. One of my favorite things has to be the front porch, complete with porch swing!
How cute is that house? Hopefully in about 2 months it will be even better. So if things seem a little slow around here for a while you will have to be a little understanding since once we get possession at the end of May I will be stripping wallpaper and painting as my second full time job. I will keep you updated, keep your fingers crossed that everything goes well with the closings!
I found this great post on design*sponge. It is a guide to all the great little places around Columbus. If you live in Columbus or are planning a visit here any time soon you should definitely check out this guide and start checking out each of these stops. I have lived in Columbus for about two years now and I have been to a few of these places but with this list I have a whole new set of adventures for the spring and summer. Make sure to check out the comments too for a few extras posted by locals. I think this might be one of my first stops,
The Book Loft seems like a place where I could easily get lost for an afternoon. 32 rooms of books, 32 rooms?!?! That's crazy, this is a must see.
Vintage finds could be one of my favorite things. I recently went to one of my favorite vintage shops, Footloose, in Granville, OH. I work near by so on my way back to the office from lunch I was very excited to see a big sign that said "Barn Sale at Footloose" No convincing needed, I was headed for the huge barn behind the store. As I walked in they said "don't pay attention to the price tags, just make us an offer." That's when I was pretty sure I was dreaming, but no, it was true. I had a great time digging around and finding some wonderful clothes. I ended up with these two wonderful dresses with great prints..JPG)
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Here are close ups of the beautiful prints:.JPG)
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You would pay top dollar for these beauties in many vintage stores but I got them each for only $3, yep that's right just $3! The green one even came with a matching scarf, how fun is that? I'll tell you...very fun! If you live anywhere in central Ohio or if you are planning a visit you must stop by Footloose, it is wonderful, room after room of these amazing finds.
It's not exactly the best time for this but we went for it anyway.
I put my house on the market a few weeks ago and now it is a waiting game. Hopefully it won't be a very long waiting game but these days you just never know. I am heading out to look at a few houses this weekend, I am so excited for a new house. All I can think of is the new curtains and pillows I can make. A new sewing room, all organized and pretty! That is probably the most exciting part, I have already picked out a panel print that I want to put on the wall.
Maybe a few of the coordinates hanging around the large piece. Wow, I've only had one person look at the house and I haven't even started looking at other houses and I already have my sewing room decor planned out. I guess I know where my priorities are.
What is this? Another post? That's right I am back in the blogging mode (hopefully it lasts a while)
I had success at Bazaar Bizarre in December so I am heading to another craft show in May. When I signed up it seemed so far away and now that it's April already it is just around the corner. I will be at Oddmall on Saturday May 9th from 10 - 7. The show is up in Cleveland, actually in Hudson, just outside of Cleveland. You would think since I live in Columbus I would do a few local shows, don't worry I have a few on my list for the year.
Anyway, this is the first show for Oddmall and I am very excited to be a vendor at the very first one, hopefully it will take off and I will be along for the ride. Since I worked non-stop for weeks to get ready for BazBiz I still have some inventory left over. I am thinking of a few new products that I can bring with me and I will need to add to the stuff I already have. I am pretty excited for show #2. I have put together a list of about 10 shows to do this year. I am sure there are tons more that I could do but I figured I should start out slow since I still have that day job and everything else going on.
Anyone else out there heading to the show? Stop by if you are in the area.
Well this is a very long overdue post. I really can't say I have any excuse for being gone so long. Usually people have some good reason like they got a new job or just had a baby. Sorry nothing here, back in February I went on vacation for a week, when I got back my computer was broken. After it was fixed a week later I was out of the groove. So that is the best excuse I can come up with. Some of you might think I was in mourning about all of my magazines that have gone under but no, just laziness.
I found this fun link with some interesting purse designs from oddee.com. They have a list of the 12 strangest purse designs. I think this is my favorite:
I like the "green" aspect of this one. I would have never thought to reuse old keys from my computer to make a purse but it looks awesome.
Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion has recently stopped printing their magazine. I loved this magazine and I am very sad to see it go. I recently purchased a subscription and I got a notice in the mail today that it was not in print anymore. Their website states that they are currently looking for a new publisher. I am sad to see it go, I think that it is always hard to find good crafting magazines. There are lots of quilting magazines, lots of paper crafting magazines but not many up to date magazines and articles that have projects that I want to create. ME's Home Companion always had great articles. Hopefully they will find a new publisher and it will continue, until then I will continue to search for good crafting and sewing magazines. Let me know you favorites.
Other magazines I miss... Adorn and Blueprint, where are all the fun creative magazines going?
I know this has been all over the blog world lately and I haven't written about it yet. I wanted to get the information out there just in case there is anyone out there who has not heard about these problems or if you are looking for the links to get involved.
As many of you may already know the government has recently passed the CPSIA stating that all items that are meant for children 12 years or younger must be tested before they are sold. Here is a recap from handmadetoyalliance.org:
In 2007, large toy manufacturers who outsource their production to China and other developing countries violated the public's trust. They were selling toys with dangerously high lead content, toys with unsafe small parts, toys with improperly secured and easily swallowed small magnets, and toys made from chemicals that made kids sick. Almost every problem toy in 2007 was made in China.
The United States Congress rightly recognized that the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) lacked the authority and staffing to prevent dangerous toys from being imported into the US. So, they passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) in August, 2008. Among other things, the CPSIA bans lead and phthalates in toys, mandates third-party testing and certification for all toys and requires toy makers to permanently label each toy with a date and batch number.
All of these changes will be fairly easy for large, multinational toy manufacturers to comply with. Large manufacturers who make thousands of units of each toy have very little incremental cost to pay for testing and updating their molds to include batch labels. For small American, Canadian, and European toymakers, however, the costs of mandatory testing, to the tune of up to $4,000 per toy, will likely drive them out of business. And the handful of larger toy makers who still employ workers in the United States face increased costs to comply with the CPSIA, even though American-made toys had nothing to do with the toy safety problems of 2007. Toy makers won't be the only ones impacted by the CPSIA, the thousands of US businesses who offer clothing, jewelry and other gifts for children --in essence-- the entire children's industry will be as well.
The CPSIA simply forgot to exclude the class of toys that have earned and kept the public's trust. The result, unless the law is modified, is that handmade toys will no longer be legal in the US.
Thriving small businesses are crucial to the financial health of our nation. Let's amend the CPSIA so that all businesses large and small are able to comply and survive!
After all the problems with lead paint found in toys imported from other countries this law was intended to protect children but in the end it is just going to put hundreds of small businesses out of business. They have started making changes saying that natural products like wood are allowed to be sold without testing, but if there is paint or any embellishing on your wooden toys it needs to be tested. This doesn't just hurt the toy manufacturers, this is going to affect the entire handmade industry. Please follow the links below to have your voice heard:
Sign this petition: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/handmadetoys/
Read more about CPSIA here:
http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/Home
http://www.change.org/ideas/view/save_handmade_toys_from_the_cpsia
http://www.coolmompicks.com/savehandmade/
I thought this was a cool idea, I saw it over on Make It a very fun blog about starting your own crafting business. The rule is you must have spent at least one night in each city.
Columbus, OH
Cleveland, OH
Dayton, OH
Springfield, OH
Athens, OH
Elyria, OH
Lansing, WV (White Water Rafting)
Vancouver, Canada
Houston, TX
Wayne National Forrest, OH (Camping!)
Eagle River, AK
Homer, AK
Denali National Park, AK
Seward, AK
Cincinnati, OH
Buckeye Lake, OH
Rock Hill, SC (right outside of Charlotte)
It looks like I spend a lot of time around Ohio, makes sense. 2008 was a great year, I seemed to be pretty busy. I really like this idea, I think I will continue this list next year and see where the year takes me.
Where did 2008 take you?
Just a quick post to say that I hope everybody had a wonderful holiday and is looking forward to a great new year. Looking forward to 2009 I already have so much to look forward to. With my recent success at BazBiz I am looking forward to a few more craft shows this year. I have a few weddings for friends and family that I know of, a new niece who just joined the family and a new second cousin on the way. I have a lot to be thankful for from the last year and a lot to look forward to in the year to come. I wish the same to all of you and I will be spending the next week thinking of my new years resolutions and goals for the new year, personally and professionally. More to come on those subjects soon...
My first book review is on Simple Sewing by Lotta Jansdotter. I bought this book right after it came out. I love Lotta's design, they are often very simple but her colors and patterns are always fun. This book has 24 projects broken down into 4 chapters: Cook, Go, Nest and Organize. 
I love Lotta's style, from the small pencil drawings throughout the book to the font she uses for her title. I enjoyed looking through the book almost as much as I enjoyed making the projects. The book includes step-by-step instruction for each project, pattern templates, a fun list of resources and some general sewing tips, and it is spiral bound so it lays flat when you have it open to make a project, a big plus in my book.
I have been way overdue on a post but I have been super busy getting ready for and attending Bazaar Bizarre. I have been working into all hours of the night for the past few weeks getting ready for the show. I got a lot done and I must say I am a little proud of myself for getting so much accomplished. The show was this past Saturday and Sunday up in Cleveland, OH at an old studio. The building was great and we got there early on Friday so we got a great table by one of the windows so we had good light and a little ventilation when the room got too hot.
My favorite part of the show was hearing the compliments from people looking at my stuff. Even if they didn't buy something many people still took the time to say that the bags were pretty or some of my items were great ideas. Many people even asked if I was "the artist" I never really look at myself in that way but it is nice to find people who appreciate what I do and understand what it takes to get one of these shows together. All of this made me very proud of my little craft show table and made me want to continue with shows and this little business of mine.
If you are visiting my site because you saw me at the show please let me know how the show was for you and any feedback is always appreciated. We are working on updating the etsy shop so check back in soon for updates.
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Here we go with confession number two. I am addicted to craft books. I love books in general but I have about 65 books that are just crafting books. They cover various topics from sewing to crochet, from purse projects to print making and of course a few general craft books. There are tons of books out there on knitting and crochet or scrapbooking and paper crafts but I find it can be hard to find new sewing craft books (maybe that's just because I already have them all)..JPG)
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