A Sunny Day

A sunny day! In Seattle! I'm not kidding!

If you were out of town, just returning today, you probably won't believe me. Because today it's totally cloudy again...blaaah.

But back to yesterday's sunniness! It was lovely. Jamie and I went to Gasworks park--sadly neither of us had ever been there before. How can we call ourselves Seattlites? Well we went, so we can cross it off the list, but I'm sure we'll be back soon, because we saw a variety of interesting things, including:

1. Kids rolling down hills

2. A "freestyle walking" class going on (if you have never heard of freestyle walking, check this out). It must have been their first day off class though because we didn't see anything as "extreme" as that in the video.

3. A sweet juggler

4. Dog playing with Revolutionary Floppy Frisbee

5. Many amateur and professional photographers taking advantage of the awesome view.

We asked one such photog to take one of us...and sure enough we got some great work (Space Needle + Coffee + Lake Union=Classic Seattle Photo).

Sun! If you can hear me...come back soon!

(off to wallow in gray misery)

As Promised...

Remember this post about my sister Alli's mad hot embroidery skills? Well I promised to update and show the finished product. Viola!

Cute, no? The whole thing was her brain child, however I believe she got the inspiration for the bird from this awesome book. The cover alone on "Doodle Stitching" is enough to make you Add to Cart. Love it! Speaking of Allison, she also made this adorable necklace holder:

Is there no end to my sisters' craftiness? (Watch out Shannon, you're going to be next. I know you're reading.)

Lunch Tote Craziness

I spent a good chunk of last weekend on the last post...and the other chunk on these! My lunch bags were born when my friend Helena asked me to make her a bag just big enough for her lunch...then I was making one for Teri. Then Sharon. (my gold-star customers!) Then I was making one for my sister...then they became one of my best selling items on Etsy! Good thing they're fun to make. So I made these on Sunday...and all five are sold already! Ok, so I decided to keep the brown one for myself. Yay!

Market Bag Business

I spent a good chunk of the weekend working on a large wholesale order! 12 market bags=institution of the assembly line process. So far everything is CUT. Sounds like a small accomplishment, but believe me it takes some time. I also learned a valuable lesson about keeping fingers a safe distance from the rotary cutter! (to accompany the lesson learned last weekend about keeping arms a safe distance from the iron.) Anyway, here's a shot of the fruits of my labor...

Speaking of MARKET BAGS, you should check out the sale in my Etsy store! (yes, that little tidbit is your reward for still reading this) This week only, I'm offering free shipping on all Market Bags and Lunch Bags. It's time to celebrate Earth Day by purchasing some reusables, baby! Can't you see yourself walking out of Safeway with this on your arm? Aww.

painting party

I went to a painting party today! I was inspired by my new book "Lotta Prints". . . remember how I was going to print on everything? I wasn't kidding. Here's my utensil holder!I was accompanied by three of my fantastic students...pretty talented artists, the three of them. They looked really cute in their tea towel aprons (just finished this morning)...

Tea Time

I was inspired during a trip to Ben Franklin Crafts in Redmond (LOVE this place--great fabric selection! If you're in the area you should go there!) ANYway, back to my inspiration. They had these little tea towels in the cutest colors. I have seen tea towel aprons before, but this kicked me into wanting to make them!So today I did!

This is completely cheating though because it's not finished. I need to get some more ribbon for the side ties, but that will take all of 10 min. I couldn't wait to post it! I made it child-size (I hope--I don't have a child around for a model)...it's a little gift for a special small person whose name begins with N! More to come (5 more--no tea towel left behind!).

Night on the Amazon

.com that is. Just ordered an exciting new book on Amazon... Lotta Jansdotter's "Lotta Prints: How to Print with Anything, from Potatoes to Linoleum!" Super excited. I'm going to print on everything in sight. Because I have loads and loads of time on my hands... ha!

Anyone have any print-making advice for me?

itchin for stitchin

The art of hand embroidery has been rediscovered in my world! You remember my sister's adorable bird project (see previous post)? Well, it got me ichin for some stitchin! Check this out!

Are you drooling? If you're anything like me, you think that one of the best parts of crafting is organizing your craft supplies (yes, I'm a huge nerd). Mmm, eye candy!
So anyway, since I bought my new shades of embroidery floss, case, etc., I was ready to dust off my hoop and get going on some projects of my own. Lots of people have contacted me about monogramming on some of my items. I thought I would sew up some samples because I think it's a great idea. Here are some...

Get excited!