My year in cities - 2012

I've done this a few times in the past, I missed last year so I wanted to make sure I got around to doing it this year, even if I'm a few days late.

Home is Westerville, Ohio

I spent a lot of time in Chagrin Falls, Ohio this year wear my parents live.

I also spent a few nights in Buckeye Lake, Ohio where my in-laws live.

A very memorable night in Conneaut Lake Park in Pennsylvania.

We had a great cruise vacation this summer that had us spending a night just outside of Baltimore, Maryland, then a few nights on the Atlantic Ocean and Bermuda.

Another family vacation gave us some great days and nights in Deep Creek, Maryland.

A great year with some ups and many downs but I made it through and I'm ready for a fresh start in 2013. I'm already looking forward to a few nights in Florida coming up!

Happy New Year to you!

Quote of the day

This pretty much sums up most of my mornings.

Here

Party Planning

Speaking of planning WAY ahead for parties... I think it was when my daughter was about 5 months old that I started planning her first birthday party. I am so excited to be close enough to start putting together the guest list and actually buy supplies. She is 10 months old tomorrow - only 2 months to go!

Follow my Party Ideas Pinterest board to see my inspiration for the event! There are so many fun ideas to choose from I don't know where to start.

2 becomes 3

I can't believe it's been over 2 weeks since my little lady arrived. Everyone told me the time would fly and it's true, I swear she is getting bigger every day.

What I've been up to in 2011

I can't believe it's May already, almost half way through the year, pretty crazy. I will admit I've been a little quiet on the blog this year so far but looking back at some of my resolutions for 2011 I am not doing too bad. I've already done 2 shows and I have one scheduled in the fall so I am on track to do my 6-8 shows, just need a little research to get a few summer shows lined up. I have been doing more sewing and designing, even though you may not be able to tell since I have totally failed on my second resolution so far - Etsy. My poor little Etsy account, only used to purchase, nothing for sale. But I have lots of time left in the year to get that taken care of so I won't consider it a full fail yet.

Oh yes, one more thing for 2011:

I'm expecting a little girl in August! I can't wait to meet her and make her clothes and toys and teach her how to sew. I can't believe I'm almost into my third trimester - very crazy!

What has 2011 brought you so far this year?

New Year's crafty resolutions

I guess it's that time of the year, everyone is looking back at what they accomplished last year and figuring out what they want to accomplish this year. I looked back at my resolutions from 2010 and I can say that I didn't do half bad. Of course there are a few that will carry over into 2011 that still need improvement but overall I think I did ok.

I know it's a little cliche but I am going to post my crafty resolutions anyway.

1 - More craft shows - In 2009 I did 2 shows, in 2010 I did 4 shows. I need to keep growing that number so this year my goal will be 6-8 shows. I did 3 holiday shows in 2010 so I need to concentrate on more spring/summer shows in 2011.

2 - ETSY! - I am horrible at this one, I never have anything in my shop and that's a big problem. I have tons of items just sitting in my studio that could be for sale or perhaps sitting in your closet! I WILL get better at this in 2011.

3 - More sewing and new designs - This is just a general goal that is pretty standard throughout the years. I have sketchbooks full of drawings, I am constantly tearing inspirational images from magazines and bookmarking pages on the Internet. I need to work all these ideas into physical products.

So those are pretty basic resolutions but I think if I follow through with them I will have a successful year. Wish me luck!!

Small Business Saturday

I just found this link last week and I think it's a wonderful idea. We have Black Friday, Cyber Monday and now Small Business Saturday to get us through the Thanksgiving shopping weekend. A great way to kick off the holiday shopping season - make sure to support small businesses throughout the country this holiday season! This new movement started in New York City by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the Chief Executive of American Express - Kenneth Chenault. They are hoping to encourage people to shop at locally owned, independent businesses instead of only shopping at large chains. Celebrate Small Business Saturday on November 27th!!

Do you love to create? 25 signs that you may love to create

Check out Vickie Howell's list of "25 signs that you may love to create." It will bring a smile to your face and if you're anything like me you will probably find a few (or most of them) that apply to your own life.

I definitely see myself in #1 - My husband broke my Amy Butler Vintage Botanica platter only a few days after I got it (never released, one of a kind!). I had a hard time letting those broken pieces of ceramic go.

And I know I see myself in #22 - we all know I have a problem with magazines. Have you seen my studio lately? I "cleaned" it up since I was having some house guests. For some reason my husband didn't think my 3 foot high stack of magazines in the corner of my studio counted as "organized" - I disagree.

Where do you fall on this list? Have any other signs?

Spending time outside

I will be the first to admit that my posts haven't been exactly regular around here. I will admit that the summer has gotten the best of me and I haven't been around the computer too much. I have a good excuse though, I promise!

Here are a few of my excuses -

Smokey Mountain National Park - hiking and waterfalls

Buckeye Lake - weekend trips

Springfield Flea Market - searching for treasures

Inniswoods Metro Gardens - I could spend hours wandering through this park

Found! Vintage School Desk

As I walked down to the store today I passed this wonderful vintage school desk sitting in my neighbors front yard - only $30 (I got it for $20)! I grabbed it, paid the wonderful gentleman who owned it and ran home before anyone could try to take it from me. What will I do with this desk? I have no idea but I love it. He told me it was from a school house in Virginia and it is at least 65 - 70 years old - so cool. (I know the pictures aren't too glamorous but my new find is being stored in our unfinished basement which is pretty un-glamorous too.)

Here is a bit of inspiration for me from the good old google image search.

via Ohdeedoh

via Paris by appointment only

via The Stir

via Country Living

I think I like it in the kids room or play room the best. But I do heart that amazing shop in Paris, I think I need to go sew there someday.

BLOCKED!

I'm having design block - like writer's block but with purses. I have girl's night out planned for this weekend and I wanted to come up with a small clutch or wristlet that I could bring out on the town with me but I can't get inspired. I've sketched a dozen designs, looked at thousands of photos, been through my entire fabric stash and nothing is jumping out at me. So frustrating!! I have two nights before I head out on the town so hopefully I can pull something together before I head out.

Does anyone have any tricks to get my brain working again?

Purses for your fingers?

Ok, these are not purses at all but the shape and design remind me a lot of a silhouette of a purse. I discovered these beauties at bagexchange.com and loved the look of them. Each design is truly unique and not like any jewelry I've ever seen. Each piece is customizable and hand crafted for you. And the prices aren't too bad - most of them I looked at were in the $400 range. I love when artists see new inspiration and create something totally different than the everyday. You can see more of these designs and purchase them through Seaside Designs. Enjoy!

Obsession Confession - Sunflowers

I have become obsessed with sunflowers lately. I logged onto Google this morning and saw that you can change the background of your Google home page - I don't know if this is new or not but it's new to me! (Check the bottom left corner of google to set your background) So I set my background to a crazy fun field of sunflowers.

I have always loved sunflowers and I've always wanted to visit a sunflower field, I've never seen one in person so now I am on the hunt for one in Ohio, preferably central or northeastern Ohio. Then, of course, I spent way too much time looking around online at photos of sunflowers and sunflower fields. Here is a little sunny inspiration for you today:

(This was taken in Ohio!) via flickr user janruss

I also found this image:

via Thai Blogs

And riding an elephant through this field of sunflowers is now on my bucket list.

Great estate sale find

I am so excited about my recent find at an estate sale I stopped at over the weekend. I have always wanted a shelf like this, I always see them in people's house, antique shops and envy the owners greatly. But, now I finally have one of my own. I haven't decided exactly where I want to place this shelf or what I am going to store inside but I am excited to figure all these things out. The top is my favorite part, all the intricate detail is beautiful.

For now it sits in my dining room waiting for the light bulb to go off in my head when I think of the perfect spot/purpose for my wonderful new shelf. To be perfectly honest I have dreams of this in my studio to hold all of my fat quarters and other fun sewing notions but I think it is just too pretty to be hidden upstairs where nobody will ever see it. I will have to find a better spot for it, possibly in the dining room...we will see.

I had to add this picture since my cat snuck in the background.

I have officially converted!

It's official! Today I came home to a brand new Mac Book laptop computer waiting for me. I am so excited I can barely contain myself. I have been playing with it for a few hours now getting everything all set up and it is fantastic. I have a Mac at my job so I have learned to love Mac's over the past year and I finally have one of my own!!!!

But, this comes with one big condition. I must use my computer to build my blog and my business. I need to start writing more and work on a few book ideas that I have. I can't wait to get started!

Garden days

I can still barely believe that the weather is finally warm enough to start working in my garden. I spent a few hours outside today and am so excited to see my ferns are starting to sprout up and even my hostas are starting to peek through. My husband and I are planning a big backyard makeover this summer with a patio extension and hopefully a new built in fire pit and maybe even a water feature too. I can't wait!

Impulse Buying!

I always get excited when Target gets ready to release a new designer collection. Unfortunately, I usually go to the store look at all the cool stuff and somehow convince myself that I don't "need" any of the items. And then without a doubt a few months go by, I see the products all over blogs and in magazines and I decide that, in fact, I do need those items. But by that time the product is long gone and can't be found in any store in town. This happened with the Orla Kiely collection and I was pretty bummed.

So, when I first heard about the Liberty of London collection at Target I made sure to note the date of release and promise myself that I would buy some of my favorite items. So the release came along a few weeks ago and I followed through on my promise to myself and got some goodies!

I got a set of journals, a candle, two storage boxes and a tunic!

Spring is Here!

I can't believe it, after months and months of grey weather day after day we have finally had a few days of sunshine here in Ohio. I even have bulbs coming up throughout my yard!

Organizing my craft room - Before & After - Fat Quarter Storage

We all know that I have a small obsession with fat quarters. I love to collect them, display them and just have them in general. I have a few areas where some of them are on display and before they were just kind of there. Not much organization or interaction with my other sewing notions so I did a little re-working the shelves, no huge deal but it makes me feel better when I walk in the room to have little pockets of organized, nice looking areas. Here are a few before images of the disaster areas:

And now, the after photos:
The "pretty" areas inspire me to keep on working on other sections of the room so eventually there will be one big inviting, inspiring room for me to work in.

Visit my new Flickr page to see a few more detail shots of each of these shelves.