Print Gocco

I really would love a Print Gocco. We almost bought one recently to create our wedding invitations but decided to go with good old fashioned printing instead. I have a ton of ideas going through my head and a lot of the projects I want to start involve screen printing but we only have huge screens and to coat and prepare the screens for a 3 x 5 design just seems crazy! I mean, just look at the beautifulness (word?) you can create with a Gocco...

Photos: A Lovely Morning Blog, Bridbird, Morris & Essex

Stamping

I'm on the hunt for vintage stamps for my wedding invites. I know, I know, if you are doing the math in your head right now you will realize that this is probably something I should have started months ago!! But, like all the planning for this wedding has gone, I have been MAJORLY dragging my feet!

Honestly, Mike and I have never had this much on our plate at one time and I feel like at any given moment I could have a major melt down so I keep barreling through, trying not to think of everything there is to do but honestly trying to plan a wedding in a recession while you are unemployed and have just purchased a house is really enough to give anyone a headache! But we were talking about stamps weren't we? Yes, so anyway, I have been on the hunt for vintage stamps today. There is something so beautiful about a wedding invitation adorned with lovely vintage stamps...

Photos: A Lovely Morning, Heather Ross via Decor8

A Picnic Set

Picnic season may almost be over in some parts of the country (here in Florida it's a year long activity!) but I thought this was a great project to liven up your next picnic.

This is also a great for those of you who want to make the switch from paper towels to cloth napkins. Mike and I did this a few months ago, I made us each napkins in different patterns and now we use these instead of paper towels. It is so much better for the environment and it now takes us twice the time to go through a roll of paper towels!

Photo: Purl Bee

An Adorable Valentine's Day Project

Via Inchmark

I'm almost finished with the quilt. I have it all pieced together and now all I have to do is baste and bind it. I'm proud of myself considering this was my first quilt. It was not very forgiving and there are a couple of minor things that just couldn't be fixed...believe me I tried! Luckily they don't really stand out and I'm really happy with the results. I'll post a picture of the finished product soon!

Putting the color wheel together...

My little helper...

The front is complete!

Free Amy Butler Holiday Patterns

Amy Butler has some free holiday patterns for download on her site. Here are some of my favorites!

Snow Mum Pillow



Tree Forest


Gift Box Sash


There are many more on her site!

Little Stitches

Amy Butler has a new book out, Little Stitches. I heard about this book a few months ago and the release date wasn't supposed to be until September but it's available now! I can't wait to get my hands on this new book, especially since my best friend is expecting soon!

Packaging and stuff

I have been wanting to re-design my packaging for a while now. I love the current packaging but wanted something that was more functional and still looked really nice. I came up with a couple of different looks but ultimately wasn't happy with the end result. I have finally come up with something that I am really excited about and in order to create it I had to order a Craft Robo, which is a small cutting plotter. I will hopefully be able to play with the machine this weekend and make my new labels. I have been so busy preparing for the Brooklyn Flea, which I will be selling at on May 11th, and I am dying to get the new package design completed before then. I will keep you posted on the results and hopefully will be able to reveal the new packaging on Monday. Stay Tuned!

Lotta Prints

I just got Lotta's newest book, Lotta Prints. The book is filled with beautiful and inspiring photos and wonderful, step-by-step instructions. I have gotten so many ideas from looking through this book, I can't wait to start on some of the projects. I've been eager to add some new and different things to the shop and this book has given me some great inspiration. The book shows you how to use stencils, rubber stamps, screen printing, and even potatoes to print patterns on many different surfaces. The photos are beautiful and as a bonus the book includes some stencils so you can get started right away. This book is a must have for your craft collection.

1 out of 2 aint bad!

I had another bad batch of soap last night. Honestly, I don't know what is happening. This one is usable, it's just cosmetic but this is the third batch where this same thing has happened. Fellow soapers if you can offer any advice I will gladly take it...basically, I pour the soap into the mold I cover it and put it aside and then I start cleaning up. Within about five minutes the soap starts to expand up and over the mold, pouring out the sides, making a HUGE mess! It then starts to go back down and kind of collapses on itself making the top of the soap concave. It's purely a cosmetic issue, the soap works fine but I can't figure out why this is happening and there was nothing to be found online when I did a search for "soap expanding in mold," or "psychotic soap" I thought maybe the temp was too high but last night I poured it when the lye and oils were at exactly 120 degrees which I have processed soap at before without a problem. I was so happy when last weeks batch came out perfect and now I am back to square one...this has never happened before and I have made A LOT of soap. I'm starting to wonder if I got a bad batch of lye or something.

Success....I think!

I haven't cut into the bars yet but I think I may have successfully made a batch of soap last night! It's not the Lavender Cream which had been giving me so many problems but I was using a fragrance oil I have never worked with before and since I have been having such bad luck with batches lately I was really scared of what might happen to this one. After I poured it into the mold I kept glancing at it every few minutes, half expecting it to grow legs and walk out of the apartment (this is not a far stretch if you had seen what my last two batches did!) I'm still too scared to make the Lavender Cream, I might try to tackle it this weekend after I get my confidence back with a few simple batches. I am preparing for Brooklyn Flea next month so I am building up my inventory with a lot of fun new scents, which means I will be making soap every night for the next few weeks! I am also excited about some new products I will be adding to the shop next month, including some things not bath and body related which I am really excited about! Stay tuned for updates!

I'm off to grab lunch, I've been told it is absolutely beautiful outside today, something like 60 degrees...spring is here, finally!

Pillows

Here are the completed pillows...


Of course PeeWee has to get in every photo!

Pita and pillows

Mike made some yummy pita bread this weekend. It was delicious and fairly easy to make. He got the recipe here. He switched a portion of the all purpose flour for whole wheat. Much better than the store bought stuff! While he made pita I made some pillows for the couch. I picked up the fabric last weekend when Melissa was here. It's from Amy Butler's new line, Midwest Modern. I worked on them for a few hours and then got really frustrated because I had to re-do one and I could not get the slip stitch right. I had three of my sewing books laid out, all of which had slightly different instructions for how to do a slip stitch and none of them made any sense! I went back to it last night and finished them, I think I finally got the hang of how to properly sew a slip stitch and they turned out really well. It was dark when I finished so I wasn't able to get a photo but here are some pics of the fabric. My next project is pot holders and an oven mitt.

Cute stuff

Check out this pincushion I ordered from Thecherrystem. I just got it in the mail yesterday, I love it!! I am thinking of getting one for my mom for Christmas.



I received a supply shipment on Friday filled with tons of new fragrances I am dying to try. Of course this will all have to wait until the new year because I am too busy to get into new stuff right now so they are all stored away in my supply cabinet...*sigh* Some scents to look forward to include: Kumquat, Champagne, and Black Tea. Well I am leaving work now to head over to Purl Soho to pick up some fabric for some Christmas gifts I still need to finish...er...start!

Oh, BTW I almost forgot to mention this AWESOME blog I found yesterday...it's called Make It and it is geared towards craft entrepreneurship. Right now she is documenting the first 100 days of launching her handmade gift wrap business. I'm addicted! I have been reading through her archives all day today (while trying to look busy at work!!).