Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

(are you getting your projects ready for the sew along?)

After Christmas Sew Along 2014 is coming!!!

"After Christmas"??????

It's not even Christmas yet!

You're probably thinking that I'm crazy right about now,

but there is a method to my madness.

If you are anything like me,

 you are WAY behind

 on your Christmas crafting and sewing again this year. 

And all those really fun projects

 that you wanted to make for yourself and your own home

 got pushed to the backburner

 while you try to crank out those Christmas gifts for everyone else.

I've been ooohing and ahhhing over all the cute table runners

 and Christmas quilts I've seen all over the sewing blogs

 and wished in my heart

that I had the time to make one or two of them for me :)

Well....here's your chance!!!

Instead of an After Christmas Sale......

why not have an After Christmas Sew Along!

It's the perfect time of year to pick up holiday fabrics and notions

 at rock bottom prices 

and after Christmas you don't have the stress 

of getting things made by a certain deadline!

So here's the plan:

The fun starts Monday January 6th 

and runs through Friday the 31st.

I will set up a flicker group for you each week

to show off your fabulousness :)

This is NOT a talent contest!

Sewistas of ALL skill levels are welcome!

And YES...there will be awesome prizes!!!!

And NO....you don't have to sew Christmas items.

For 4 Fridays in January I will pick a winner at random 

from the flicker group and I'll post the winners the next day.

Even if you don't win a prize,

you'll finally have some new Christmas goodness for yourself!!!

So who's ready????

Tell all your friends!

The more the merrier!!!

I'm having trouble with my blog button,

but check back later and I should

have it all worked out :)

Oh...and please leave a comment

and let me know if you are planning

on joining :)

A Tiny Bit Obsessed.....

So I signed up for the "She Who Sews" Blog Hop

over at SewWeQuilt.com

As soon as I saw the fabric we'll be using

I couldn't NOT join in.

What a fabulous excuse reason to buy it!

I'll admit I was smitten at first sight.

Am I a fan of Steam Punk?

No...not even a little bit.

But this fabric just calls to me.

The colors are perfection

and they match the colors of my sewing room!

The hop isn't until January

but as you can see I'm already stocking up :)

I just wonder if they used a photo of me 

for the green eyed brunette?

There is one other print that I am still waiting on.

It's multicolored buttons on a black background.

My brain is swirling with ideas!!!

In this hop we need to make items for our sewing room.

OH....I can't wait!!!

A stolen moment.....

I've been sewing A LOT lately,

but nothing for myself in quite a while.

Last night I finished up a large custom order

and found myself with an hour to myself at the end of the day.

I've been wanting to make this "Tammy" bag

designed by Madam Samm of "Sew We Quilt"

ever since I took part in the Tammy blog hop.

You can see my first bag here.

It's a totally FTS (fun to sew) pattern

and I finished this project up in about an hour.

That didn't include the time to cross stitch of course :)

I stitched my pattern on Osnaburg and then 

used  lightweight iron on interfacing to give it some stability.

I found this pre-washed red and white polka dot linen on Etsy

and knew it would be perfect for this bag :)

These bags hold tons and I'm so excited 

to finally have a new home for my nail polish

and manicure supplies!

I don't often sew for myself so it's fun

to have something lovely all for me :)

Hope you find some time to sew for yourself too!!!

My little flock is almost complete :)

I finished up "Kindness" by LHN Sheep Virtues last night.

I'm so excited that I've kept up with this series.

I'm waiting for "Gratitude" to arrive

and then there is only 1 more after that!

These will become a table topper

featuring all 12 sheep.

There is a new series starting called "Calendar Girls".

I'm so tempted to start on that one.

We'll see :)

Stocking Stuffers!

I just added these fun cup cozy/ scarf pin sets to the shop :)

Are they not the cutest?

I'm thankful to my clever customer

that asked me about making these for her a while back!

When I was finished with the artwork

by the incredible Michelle Palmer,

I had to keep going,

so I decided to make some pins 

out of wool felt.

I have to admit,

I'm a bit obsessed with this gingerbread man.

Sometimes things just turn out even cuter

than I imagined.

I'm in love.......

Purrr-fection!

As promised....

Here are the new bags and gift sets 

featuring Michelle Palmer's crazy talents.

The cats are just Purrr-fection!

When I stumbled across this adorable fabric

by Robert Kaufman that is out of print,

I knew I had to snag it.

I've looked high and low to find more

but so far, no luck.

I asked Cherise to make the matching fob

and she also made this adorable frogger!

It's so cute it almost takes the pain

out of froggin' out your mistakes :)

I'm just in love with the hand made lampwork beads.

There is only 1 bag left from yesterday's listings.

So if you are interested in one of these,

jump over to the shop and grab it :)

Tis the Season

I just listed all these treasures in my shop.

Whenever I list bags with Michelle Palmer's

Ah-mazing artwork,

they tend to sell out the same day.

I just want to keep them all!

I've decided to add custom scissor fobs

made by my very talented friend Cherise Smith.

(https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/stitchinglyalong). 

Now I want to keep them even MORE!!! 

Serious cuteness!

I know I added lots of photos today,

but I just can't help myself.

I just have to share :) 

Stop by tomorrow for some more

"Purr-fection" by Michelle :)

This mouse is just too cute!

If it doesn't sell today,

I may just have to keep this one myself :)

I love felt....yes I do...I love felt...how bout you?

I've been playing with felt.

What have YOU been up to?

Everything from Angels to Wild Kratts

Stocking Angels I by The Cricket Collection

I finished up this darling little angel a few nights ago.

Of course I changed the colors :)

Those french knot curls just remind me of my 

granddaughter Sofie.

How could I resist?

I also made 9 Creature Power Vests

for my oldest grandsons' birthday party.

He's a HUGE fan of the Wild Kratts.

Since there aren't any ready made vests available

his Mommy asked me to do it.

There are plenty of great tutorials online to make your own.

The kids were big fans!

Here are the "Kratt Brothers" aka "Torres Brothers" :)

They wore them every day since the party.

I also got the sweetest email from another Mom that her son

wore his to church, school and even slept in his.

I'd say that was a worthwhile project.

Makes my heart happy!

A lot to be thankful for!

Hard to believe it's already November!

It's a time to think about all the blessings in our lives.

There is so much to be thankful for.

I am especially thankful for my November boys/men.

My firstborn, Brandon was born Nov 7, 1980.

Brandon's firstborn, Elijah was born Nov 3, 2003.

My daughter's firstborn, David was born Nov 22, 2007. (on Thanksgiving :)

That's a lot of happy to fit into one month !

I thought I'd share my progress on the DMC "Red Crockery" kit.

I'm almost done.

Just the finishing touches

and then I can add it to the stack of projects 

waiting to be finished/framed at some later date :)

Today I'm working on Christmas items for the shop.

These little felt owls are going to get added

later in the week.

The larger owl is a pin  

and the smaller owls are necklaces.

Here's a peek at another gift set in progress.

I'm loving the scissor fob that was made to match

by my friend Cherise!

So what are you thankful for today?

Now why didn't I think of that????

I seriously have the BEST customers!

I had an email from a very special customer of mine

who asked me if I could make cup cozies

with artwork by Michelle Palmer

that could be made into a pin

that could be removed

and used on a jacket or scarf.

Seriously GENIUS!!!

So I contacted Michelle

and of course she amazed me again!

These little treasures measure 2" square.

How adorable on a scarf, hat or jacket?

What a neat gift idea for a friend.

I'm so happy that my customer is happy 

and she gave me a new idea!

It's a win win :)