design. wash. rinse. repeat.

Eerie winners!!

thanks for all the nice comments about the new Eerie halloween line, it was fun to hear from so many different people and connect with some new blogs. the random number generator selected three winners who will each receive a selection of products from the Eerie line! the winners are:

1} Leslie: I love the eerie doilies!! They are so fun!

17} Tracy: Wow, that's a tough one to choose a favorite? Gotta luv those adorable skulls Eerie Do Me A Favor...but I truly luv 'em all! Thanks for the opportunity to win Ü

21} Becky: How cool that you got the chance to do this! and how extra cool your designs are!!!

winners, i will email you to get your mailing address.

happy halloween!

freebie: halloween labels!

I'm of the opinion that no soirée is complete without custom labels for your beverages, and since the Halloween party season is upon us i thought some creepy labels would be the perfect freebie. 

These three designs were created to co-ordinate with the new Eerie line, so if you're feeling creative you could easily whip up matching invitations, place settings, food picks, name tags, and any other party décor you can dream up. the Skull Favor Boxes would even be the ideal parting gift. plus, when all is said and done, you could create scrapbook pages to match! (and don't forget to enter to win your very own samples of Eerie, i'll be picking some winners on saturday!). bottoms up!!

whooooo loves fabric?!

Introducing the Eva fabric line, new from BasicGrey and Moda.

Despite the loss of many beloved clients this year due to the economy, i consider myself extremely lucky. Foremost on my list is that Moda picked up the Eva line from BasicGrey and turned it into fabric! I come from a long line of fabric lovers, so to see my own designs available in stores is completely surreal and exciting. I couldn't wait to dust off the sewing machine and start playing with this "new" medium.

Although i love to quilt, i'm admittedly crap at sewing anything else. This became a massive problem last friday when i REALLY wanted to design and sew an Owl RIGHT THAT SECOND, but lacked the necessary skills. Fortunately for my adventurous spirit, i was able to call on the expert living right around the corner. my mother. After a bit of trial and error, we were able to work up a pattern, and in the space of an afternoon we took two lovely Owls from conception to completion. (yes, i confess i had to unpick a seam... okay two seams... or maybe three or four. really who's counting?) The girls were mesmerized by the entire process and couldn't wait to begin smothering their owls with love. Little Kate immediately christened them Ruffle, and Rawffa, and they've been inseparable ever since. 

I figure we're not the only ones who love owls, and thought this would make a fun freebie pattern. my first fabric freebie! now for that serger i've been wanting... any recommendations?

giant pumpkin patch

Little Kate and i hosted our very first playgroup yesterday. nevermind that the kids are all merely 4 years old, this is totally new to me and i was feeling intimidated! (i barely have a clue how to entertain my own little one, let alone eight of them!) however, we thought up a fun project, and the kids seemed to really enjoy making these huge pumpkins, so i thought i'd share.

SUPPLIES: Orange butcher paper, 1/8" hole punch, sticky-backed craft foam (i was hoping for glittery black, but with short notice only found gold and silver, which worked as an alternative), 2 yards black ribbon (1/8"), scrap paper (old newspaper or phonebook pages work well). OPTIONAL: spider rings

To Prepare:

Double up orange butcher paper and trim desired pumpkin shapes (about 18-24 inches large), and punch holes around the outside edges. Then cut various mouth, eye, and nose designs from craft foam, and lastly cut about 2 yards of black ribbon per pumpkin.

Have the children:

1 > Pick a face design and adhere it to a pumpkin.

2 > Lace 3/4 of the way around using the black ribbon.

3 > Crumple scrap paper and stuff the pumpkin until he is nice and fat!

4 > Lace the rest of the way and tie. As a finishing touch, attach a plastic spider to the bow.

voila, a giant pumpkin patch! Afterwords we snacked on cheese and crackers, and finished up with orange Oreos and cute pumpkin lollipops we found at Michaels. too fun!

freebie: Pumpkin Pops!

Trick out your treats with this fun pumpkin lollipop topper (of course featuring the always creepy "freckle face" drawn by my 3 year old). Spooky on the outside, delicious on the inside! Plus the design co-ordinates perfectly with BasicGrey's new Eerie halloween collection. For extra dazzle, i covered the leaf shape with bright green glitter. 

introducing Eerie (and a giveaway!)

This past year i was thrilled to get to work on BasicGrey's first ever Halloween line! If you know me very well you're probably imagining me passing out with excitement upon receiving the call (and you'd be right!). I Love Halloween. I Love bats & skulls. and i Love BasicGrey. The result is Eerie, a double-sided paper line with 36 creepy co-ordinating designs. As if that weren't enough, we've also created tons of wicked stamps and embellishments (view a sampling below, including the spooky Skull Favor Box!)... so many fun treats! Having just received my box of samples i would love to share with fellow fanatics, so drop a note on this post, maybe mentioning your favorite of the new Halloween embellishments or stamps (you can preview the full line here), and on October 24th i'll pick a couple of random winners to receive their desired item plus a few other spooky goodies!

and stay tuned this month for some co-ordinating digital freebies!

buttons buttons

As i neared the final stretch of pregnancy this last summer i couldn't stand the thoughts of purchasing—let alone wearing—another maternity top. so naturally i went shopping at Anthropologie! to my surprise, in the midst of their clearance section i found the perfect top for an unheard of $9. why so cheap? because many of the cute button details were unraveling and falling off. 

Vintage button stash to the rescue! I handpicked a random selection of favorites and fixed the shirt up in no time. Which got me to thinking what an easy project this would be to spruce up any old tee. Pictured below is a plain white shirt that my creative niece Kynzi transformed with a splash of buttons, but even a graphic tee could be rejuvenated with some selectively placed buttons and stitching here and there. the possibilities are endless, and what a great way to re-use and recycle. Who doesn't have billions of buttons laying around itching for a creative place to land?

don't even ask

fabulous four

This week we celebrated LilyBean's birthday (4 already?! my goodness i'm trying not to think about it, yikes). Among her MANY wishes was the desire to create a "Flower" shaped cake. Of course she's been talking about this for months, and I've just nodded my head and smiled, like a good mom, and suddenly it's the big day and i'm thinking CRAP! how in the world does one go about making a flower shaped cake?? and i'm asking myself WHY OH WHY didn't i find a mold or something?! It's not like i didn't know this day was coming! But i'm happy to report that even though we may not be the most professional, we were successful, and most importantly we had a blast. (Perhaps the many hours spent watching the food channel have not been a waste after all!) We found metal bowls that were a nice size for petals, and then a larger bowl for the center. We whipped up some tasty batter, filled our bowls, and set them in the oven to bake. Once the cakes cooled we iced them with her favorite colors (PINK, and yellow), and then my darling went wild decorating. She was slightly distressed that the flower didn't have a stem, but at the end of the day she thanked me profusely for the "best birthday ever". gotta love being a mom.

{Little Kate informed me this is her "sneaky look".}

house of Pi

Introducing "Pi".

21 inches long

9lbs 10oz (gasp!)

arrived July 18th, raised arm first, a-la superman (a sign?!)

much beloved by his big sisters 

Three year old LK is a genius at coming up with creative names for all of her stuffed animals and dolls, so naturally as soon as we discovered a baby brother was on the way she immediately set to work coming up with the perfect name. After much deliberation she decided on:

 

first name "Pi".

middle name "Cotton". 

No she didn't mean "pie", and no, she is not aware of 3.14, she just liked the combination of sounds. We called him that for months, and now that he is here, with a birth certificate that officially says "Oliver", we are still calling him "Pi". Despite how funny it sounded the first time, the nickname has grown on us. Yesterday i even overheard my sister-in-law explaining to someone that although he's nearly 4 weeks old she's never actually heard anyone refer to him as Oliver. hmmmm, didn't realize this was going to stick!

As freaked out as i've been to inherit the "mother of 3" label, and as sleep deprived and blurry that i feel right this very moment, I can honestly say i've never been happier. The stars aligned and i was able to experience the natural childbirth i had hoped for, which i still can't quite find the right words to describe. It almost doesn't seem real. Painful, yes, a bit scary, yes, but incredibly life altering. I still feel awestruck and "high", and it never would have happened without T, my Mom, and my exceptional Midwife. They intuitively gave me all the help i needed when i needed it most... from silent support, to loud cheering, to gentle massage, to withstanding verbal abuse (although to my credit i kept that last part to a minimum!). and now Pi is here, welcomed to the world in a room so full of love my heart could have burst. He took my breath away, and i hope i never forget the feeling.

As always i'm amazed at the generosity of family, friends, and neighbors. We were welcomed home with a huge banner (handpainted by my good friend Sue) proclaiming "House of Pi", and so many thoughtful friends brought dinner that i didn't have to cook for nearly three weeks straight! Plus my friend Stace lovingly custom created an entire "Pi" themed wardrobe. (pictured below is his "Pi in the Sky" onesie!). I feel so loved.