Holiday Gift Guide Featurette

For those of you who follow me on Facebook and Pinterest, you may already know that I will be featured on the Daily Dose of Handmade Blog next week, November 26th.

Craft Show Display Options

I'm so sorry I've been remiss in posting anything since September. Shame on me!
With family in town last month and finishing a baby quilt for my co-worker; it's been a whirlwind of activity.

I'm also prepping inventory for my first paid holiday craft show, Adam's County Holiday Bazaar, on Deember 1-2. I sewed six new Christmas Stockings in a variety of themes yesterday. I have a few more stockings and swadde blankets to complete before I'm confident with my inventory for this show.
And I'm putting finishing touches on our booth aethestics. I uploaded some pictures to my Facebook Page today to show the progress of acquiring different display options for a craft sale booth.

There are soo many treasures to discover when you go thrift shopping at the local Arc or Habitat ReStore.
Last weeked, my step-daughter (Gail) and I went to the ReStore Access facility in Boulder in search of some unique display options for this craft show. Thanks to Gail, we lucked out with options of different sizes an uses for $20! Here's what we purchased:

•  four hinged, shutter doors for what used to be used for a closet entrance
• a large shoe rack from IKEA, pretty beaten up
• two cedar stained banisters (tie twine between the two posts to provide a fireplace feel)

Not bad, right? Friday was gorgeous weather in Colorado, so we took advantage of the warmth and sunshine to paint these items.

If you would like to view some of my inspiration, checkout my Pinterest Board 1st Impessions.

Austenland The Movie, Produced by Stephanie Meyer

If you're a fan of Jane Austen or just a fan of Pride and Prejudice, then keep your eyes and ears open for a new movie coming to a theater near you, Austenland. I recently discovered that the Stephanie Meyer is producing the movie, and has been a friend of author, Shannon Hale who wrote Austenland.

To learn more about the upcoming move, checkout this article.
Screen Daily - Austenland

Life Lesson - Who I Want to Be

from summersnowart.com

 

I think this sums it up. Some times as a woman, I think we become over critical of ourselves, others - competing for a job, place in life, acceptance, and driven to succeed. This pin I made, reflects the values I want in my life and how I treat others.

If you like this Life Lesson, there's more on my Pinterest Board - Life Lessons.

Holiday Inspiration... All from shopping

This weekend I began creating some new stocking designs all based on shopping trip to Hobby Lobby. Funny how that happens.

The stores Christmas decor was 40% and I couldn't resist. I found these mini rusted star ornaments and thought I should make "country/cowboy" themed stockings. You will find both sets in this design at my Etsy store.

 

The store also had a rainbow of hoe decor chevron fabric. I had bought some grey chevron earlier this summer to make a purse and diaper bag for my neighbor. On this shopping trip, I bought a yard of lime green chevron to make stockings and yellow chevron to use in a baby quilt I'm making for a colleague at work.

The chevron stockings are subtle and striking. I had a hard time deciding what to design for the stocking cuff. I matched linen fabric but it was too tan in color. So I decided t use cream felt. I ruffled the cuff, which was thick in areas due to the thickness of the doubled felt. But the final design is great!

If you've never learned how to gather fabric for a ruffle, it's pretty easy. All you need to do is set your sewing achine for the longest stitch (7 on my machine). Sew the two edges of fabric together with the long stitch.

Below I'm attaching the red holly gathered stitched ruffle to a linen stocking for its cuff. I really like the contrast of afbric and makes it shabby chic.

 

 

I hope these inspire you to shop for fabric to decorate your home this holiday season. Don't be afraid to play with different styles and patterns either.

Top Ten Best Gluten Free Blogs

I found the following Top 10 Blog recommendations for Gluten Free Living. Some of these I was already following, and some are new.

Depending on your food allergies you may want a more in depth blog that covers dairy and nut allergies. Check out the content and decide what suits your lifestyle and food allergy best!

http://www.blogs.com/topten/top-10-best-gluten-free-blogs/

Holiday Gnomes - Jolly, Holly & Mistletoe

 

 

The Holiday Gnomes came from the Holiday Craft magazine.

 

Last night was craft night with my step daughter. We assembled and painted the gnomes last night and she took today to embellished their hats. Giving each gnome its own personality.

 

I have become fond of them and call them the dwarfs of Christmas: Jolly, Holly, & Mistletoe