Father's Day Promotion

I'm running a special on my website from now until the end of June. Buy one Postag and get a second one free. That's right: FREE!! Buy one for you and one for your Dad (order by June 10 to get it for Father's Day). He'll think you're swell.

New fabrics on the website

If you've purchased from me before, you know that I like to name new products and new fabrics after my customers. So head on over and check out the new designs I have available for belts, headbands and ponytail holders. And if your name isn't on a fabric yet, don't fear. I have a running list and you're probably up next!

Making sense of the mess

In my plight to pack and organize at the same time, here's a peek inside the studio at part of my fabric stash. "Part of" being the key phrase here. I have yardage and bits of pieces of patterns all over the place, so I used gallon size plastic bags to store it all. Each pattern goes in its own bag, complete with remnants and scraps.

Fabric ... done! In the new studio, I'll have a vintage (read: hand-me-down) dresser that I'm repainting and plan to store the fabric in the drawers. Now if I could just figure out how to deal with all the paper ...

deleted track from American Idol's finale ...

we'll wait to enter him into the contest until he can sing without taking his shoes off

Inside the studio: Repurposing

Getting ready for the move, I have been slowly going through the shelves and the drawers and all the boxes of STUFF we've accumulated over the years. The studio is probably the worst. I have trouble throwing anything away, knowing that I'll probably be looking for just that little 2" scrap of paper the day after I toss it. But, we are budgeting and KW and I are issuing challenges to one another on who can save/not spend the most. And I will win!! :)

So since I must have an adorable studio at the new house, and I can't spend any money to do it, I thought I would start looking at all my tools and supplies in a new light.

I had these little paint cans from the hardware store, and while they were functional, they weren't pretty to look at. I took some coordinating scrapbook papers that I had, measured to size, and glued them around the sides of the cans. Then I created little round stickers in Photoshop to identify the contents. I saved the file so I can use it for other supplies in my studio, and have that and the color scheme be the unifying elements. I mounted the sticker onto cardstock, punched two tiny holes in the top, and tied it around the paint can. I intentionally didn't glue it to the can, because I have a fear of commitment and know that I'll change my mind on its use one day.

Then I went a little crazy and decided EVERYTHING needed to be covered in lovely paper, so I started pulling out some of the containers I had been saving ... even an Enfamil container from over a year ago that I have been holding on to ... just in case. Now it's a darling little house for my hair clip findings.

www.flickr.com

Have you repurposed anything from your craft stash lately?

Saturday Strawberries

We met our friends at Springs Farm this Saturday to pick strawberries for the first time with Owen. We've been meaning to do this for several years ... even before we had O, but never found the time. The boys had a blast, and we got to feel good about ourselves for reducing our carbon footprint, supporting a local business, and being locavores for the day!! Hurrah us!!! :)

Website & Pricing Update

Just a quick note that the prices on my Forever Vase have increased slightly due to a change in Priority Mail shipping this week. If you're local and picking up, this doesn't affect you at all. Price is $30 / price + shipping = $41.

Happy Saturday!

What a great day! Although it was super hot, this day turned out to be so lovely. I slept in until about 7:00, hung out with the family for a bit, then hit up some yard sales ... it's been at least a year since I've even been to one! I scored a Making Memories embellishment set and an unopened pack of cardstock sticker quotes for fifty cents total!! I almost felt a little guilty about it ...

My friend Amy invited me to go with her to the Pottery Guild Barn Sale today, and so I picked her up after the yard sales. We went to Carolina Clay to get some supplies, then off to the sale. There were so many amazing potters there today, and it was really inspiring to see so many different styles represented. The really cool thing about potters is that they are so willing to share information. I shopped for a bit in Amy Sanders booth but didn't get a chance to talk to her; her work is so beautiful and her booth was packed the time we were there. Greg Scott has his super cool work for sale as well, and we chatted with him for a bit.

I purchased this amazing tray from Sylvia Coppola of Duck Creek Pottery in Indian Trail. My picture doesn't do it justice, because the inside of the tray has almost a verdigre quality to it. I also had the pleasure of meeting Amy Manson of Amy Manson Pottery in Charlotte; she is doing these beautiful image transfers which I've been studying lately, and she was kind enough to share some information with me.

Since we were somewhat in the area, we decided to hit up The Penguin for lunch because I love their fried pickles, but the line was out the door so we grabbed a table at Thomas Street Tavern. Food - great; service - super slow. Our waitress had the entire pub it seems, and bless her heart she was running all over the place. But it took us almost two hours for lunch, in the heat and sun, so we were exhausted and ready to get home.

The family went to 5:30 Mass tonight and while Owen was much better than last Sunday, he was still the banchee in church, so it made for an eventful service. All in all, awesome Saturday for Mother's Day weekend. It's supposed to rain here tomorrow, so I'll be using some of the clay I bought today to make some orders and some new products I've been sketching.

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms ... I hope it's a great day for you. Anyone have any fun plans???

mad organizational skills

Check out my son and his penchant for having things in just the right place ... (I should have shot this in aerial view).

After dinner last night he lined up his almond muffin, deconstructed box of raisins, sippy cup, cluster of raisins, and cup of water. All in a row. Anytime I would hand him something else, he needed to line it up with the rest. A boy after my own heart ...

And speaking of organizational tools (a favorite topic of mine), a friend on a forum pointed out this cool new line of office supplies from Staples. Here are a couple of other organizational goodies currently on the wishing list:

• Neat Receipts - who doesn't want one more gadget to organize their life?
• Start Here Adhesive Pockets - cause I have way too many notes tucked in notebooks and in my purse.
• Daily System - I want the whole kit and caboodle!
• Making my keychain a little more organized with these monkeys.
• These would jazz up all my paperwork ... so cute!!

What are your favorite organizational tools? Got any cool websites to share?

capture: yoga class insight

My instructor Michelle ended our yoga practice today with these words:
"Reflect on you who are. Who you want to be. It's all right there inside of you."

Scoutie Girl Give-Away

The lovely Jan at Scoutie Girl has organized a fabulous giveaway of Indie designer goodies valued at $547!!! Right on! Head on over there and check it out ... and good luck!!

TGIM

Thank goodness it's May!! Here's a recap of last week ...

Monday

Worked, did some pottery, took adorable pics of Owen playing in and around his new mountain climber outside (shown here with his favorite toy, Daddy's tape measure).

Tuesday

Flew out at 6pm-ish to Seattle for a business meeting for the "day job." Arrived at the hotel around 10:00 (1 am body clock time).

Wednesday

Up at 4am (7 am body clock time) cause I couldn't sleep. Sinuses start kicking in. Shower, breakfast, meetings all day. Drive past the needle. Down to Pike's Place to check out the market. Dinner at a conveyor-belt sushi joint. To the mall across the street to kill time before the 10:30 pm red-eye flight home.

Thursday

Arrive in Charlotte at 6:30 am. Nose is clogged; sinuses are painful. Home to crash. Wake at 12:30; can't breathe. Work from home for a couple of hours. Back to bed. Fired bisque kiln at night.

Friday

To work. Can't breathe. Coughing like a champ. Delighting my co-workers :)

Home - water main break in the 'hood so we have no water. KW isn't feeling well and it's getting scary. He has chest pains so we take Owen to Grandma's and KW to the Emergency Room. EKG, then Xray, then blood work. All is normal so we're discharged. Back to Grandma's house at midnight; still concerned as to what's up with Kevin's ticker ...

Saturday

Kevin is feeling better and we're hoping it was just stress and Wachovia-overload. At National Scrapbook Day I finish 19 pages and consider it a success. I'm addicted to digital scrapbooking and am turning my sister into the law for being a dealer. A couple of hours later we had dinner at Courtney's BBQ with our friends. Yummy! Opened a great kiln-load (thankfully) full of orders.

Sunday

8:00 Mass at St. Philip. Not Owen's best showing. He took EVERYTHING out of my purse and put it on the floor of the church, factfully stating its name as he did so ... iPod ... wallet ... cookie. Nice. Home to change, then to Target for supplies. Owen is getting very sleepy. We met some friends at Brixx Pizza for a long-overdue lunch, and Owen found it hilarious (read: he's DELIRIOUS) to throw everything on the table, as his new friend Matthew sat nicely and politely in his chair. After lunch, we thought he would crash at home, but alas, no. He played in his crib for an hour and a half before finally snoozing for a couple of hours.

Quick visit to Aunt Kimby and Unca Joel's house to drop off some things (like a very-belated birthday present). After a wholesome dinner of macaroni and cheese and leftover pizza, Owen had his bath and made us chase him around his room ... it was after 8 before he went to bed. He must have sang to himself for over an hour before finally settling to sleep. He kept saying, "Got it?", "Capiche?", "Understand?". I'm not sure if he was talking to puppy or bear, but someone got the message.

About 10:00 last night, I was able to start getting myself together for the week. Prepped supplies for orders to be shipped this week; sewed up fabric samples for Indie Peddler; cut Totally Indie Coupons to be sent out; started making custom stamps for new vases; paid bills; scanned new images; fell into bed totally exhausted around midnight.

Whew ... I'm still recovering! I've been meaning to post snippets and pictures and updates all week, but the time got the best of me. Here's hoping May brings more time, less stress, and more happiness to everyone all around!!!