The Last Day of July

So our neighbors have acquired two little tiny Toto dogs. This, we learned in mid Spring and I'm pretty sure they haven't stopped barking since March. Occasionally, if I'm outside, I'll yell at them to stop which works for a few minutes. I must admit it's difficult to yell at them because they are adorable, although it's getting easier. I really don't want to be one of those grumpy neighbors who complains, but the barking is driving me nuts. I don't even want to open the windows in the morning because I know the barking will come and it does, without fail. I'm not much of a dog person, I prefer cats, but I like to think that if I had a dog, I wouldn't let it bark the day away in my backyard. Apparently, not everyone shares this sentiment.

I've been whipping out purses like crazy lately. I have to take advantage of the purse making desire while it's here, because it never sticks around for long. These are so fun to make, maybe it'll stick around a little longer this time.



Have a lovely last day of July (can you believe it?), I'll be in the backyard cursing at small animals like a crazy person.

Polka Dots Make Me Happy

I just picked up this lovely stack of fabric from superbuzzy! I'm so happy with all the lovely polka dots I'm finding lately.

The Handmade Bazaar is tomorrow which means I have lots to do. Happy Saturday!

Sunday

The Handmade Bazaar is this weekend. I'd love it if some of you stopped by to say hello!

I may be holed up in the craft room for the next couple of days assembling shelves and getting ready for the sale. I'll try to emerge with more fascinating tidbits from my life, as I know you've come to rely on me for that. : )
In the meantime you can get acquainted with some new friends::

::Miss Frances Flax::

::Pierre::

Productivity

I'm making all sorts of progress on operation craft room. I haven't made it to Lowe's for paint samples but everything else is going great. It's looking like I might need more shelves than I originally thought, but we'll see.

I did get some sewing done last night amidst the clutter:

A Flocking Good Time

This afternoon I went to a Rubber Stamp supply store in Vancouver (WA, not BC). I used to go all the time when we lived there but hadn't been in at least 2 years. I was pleased to find they had moved to a more central location. I used to love going in there. It's owned by two older women who are the sweet grandmotherly types. They are always willing to stop what they're doing and answer any questions you have about a product or technique. I've had them give me mini demo's before. So it was lovely to see them again. They have a really nice little shop which has all the usual and somewhat tacky rubber stamping supplies, but they also have stuff I've never seen anywhere else like quilling and flocking supplies. That's right flocking, it's amazing. It can be applied over glue to make your image FUZZY. So. Adorable. I haven't done any flocking in a long time, perhaps I'll do some flocking soon. A few years ago, they actually sold me some vintage flocking supplies they'd had for years. It's impossible to find now, so that was quite a score!

This lunch tote will be in the shop tomorrow. Things are moving slowly here in craftland lately. I've been on an embroidery kick lately. That doesn't happen as often as it used to so I'm taking advantage of it.

P.S. the store is called Pampered Stampers-ha ha.

What you're about to see took great courage

I have been working on getting my craft room organized and ready for the new shelves I'm getting. I think the shelves will be the solution to my fabric storage and organization dilemma. I've tried many different types of storage and they all lead to this:

A giant fabric nightmare. I am a very messy crafter and seamstress, that's not going to change. I've accepted this fact, but have also come to realize that the more organized I am to begin with the less likely it is the mess will get out of control. So shelving it is. After the room gets painted and the shelves are in, my next project is the craft table. The table we have now has a large base in the center which is fine except that it's a lot of wasted space and with a craft room that is overflowing with that space is precious. My idea is to find 2 cabinets that I can put either side by side or back to back with a table top mounted on them. This will give adequate table space while providing storage below.

Now, I've got to decide on a paint color. I adore choosing paint color. Though, I've gotten rather boring in my color choices lately. I think it has to do with the fact that I have an awful lot of stuff on the walls and cluttering up every flat surface in the house, so when you add a bright or busy wall color it's just too much. That, and I've adopted a 'less is more' attitude lately. I'm trying to apply it to all areas of my life. It's working out fine, indeed. So, in most of the house, I've left the walls white. I'd like to give them a fresh coat of creamy satin paint but I just don't have the time right now. The craft room, however, needs some color. I'm thinking grey. I know, so boring. If you had told me 3 or 4 years ago that I would be considering painting a wall grey I would've scoffed for sure. Yet, here I am loving, grey, beige and cream. The new Martha Stewart paint palette has a lovely shade called beachglass, it's kind of a light blue grey. I like it but I've only seen it online. I may stop in at Lowe's tomorrow to see the swatch in person. I just found some vintage, white, dotted swiss curtains that I bought last summer, still in the package even. They are very nice on the window in the craft room. The white curtains would look lovely with 'beachglass' walls I think. You can't really see the curtains here but you can see my cute little red basket full of Japanese fabrics.

Sorry for the long winded craft room post. This is a very important facet of my life and I've struggled for years with getting it organized so the idea that I may have finally devised a system that works is very exciting. I'll keep you posted for sure.

A Magical World of Well-Designed Yet Affordable Goods

It was so awesome. I didn't have nearly as much spending money as I would've liked but I was in IKEA before the rest of the city, that's what really matters here : ). Regardless, it was great fun! Before this one opened here in Portland, we used to have to drive to the Seattle IKEA a couple of hours away. It always made me crazy because I felt this need to get everything I could possibly need to get because it could be months or years before I made it back. Those days are gone, my friends. I am now a mere 8 minute drive from the greatest store ever! Here are some pictures and now I'll stop talking about it.




Some new lunch totes are in the shop. I'll be listing more tomorrow.

IKEA

I had a delightful time catching up on my sewing last night while watching a marathon of this.

This is Lucinda, she's is going to a party and is presently waiting in the shop for just the right invitation, I hope it comes soon, she's all ready to go!

I also did some fabric printing last night, just little bits here and there, like this apple and polka dots.

I love to sew. I think I enjoy the process as much as the final product. I occasionally have an idea in mind of what I'll use a fabric for when I buy it, but I usually just buy stuff I like and it sort of finds it's way to the perfect project.

Speaking of fabric, I just got off the phone with Krissy, who invited Allison and I to the Friends and Family day at IKEA. Her friend works there and the dear, sweet man gave her a coupon to get it. Yes, we are part of an exclusive group of people who get to go in to IKEA BEFORE the public. I'm sure that I've mentioned IKEA here before, as it's been a life long (well, 10 year long) dream of mine to live near an IKEA. So one of my dreams has come true today. Today, I will enter the fabric department of IKEA and all will be good with the world for a short time at least. I'm charging the camera batteries as I speak, but oh that's right even if I weren't there are batteries for sale at IKEA. I'm so excited I could pee my pants! But I won't, I'll keep it together. Must go find something to wear to IKEA. More later!

Did You Miss Me?

Hello! I've missed my blog these past few days. Things have been so very hectic lately, but I think they are starting to slow down. Maybe. I will be spending the next week preparing for the Handmade Bazaar so maybe there won't be any slowing down. Can you believe it's Friday again, already? Summer is just flying by.

Some new twill tape is in the shop. I ordered a few new fabrics and will be working on some lunch totes and sewing kits this weekend.

I just finished several wholesale orders for Robot Candy, one of which included 48 bookmarks. These are fun to make so it wasn't like work at all, now the coasters on the other hand, are very much like work. There are some new coasters on the scene which is always good though. I get tired of seeing the same designs day after day so I try to add new ones to the mix as often as possible.

Enjoy your weekend!

I'm Here

I'm taking a short and unexpected blogging break. I'm presently surrounded by coasters and their components, working on 6 six different wholesale orders. I'll be back in a few days.

Frosty Friends and Tacos

Complete and on it's way::

More Frozen Treats for the shop today::



I hear there is a new taco wagon in the neighborhood, so I'm off to find it. Word on the street is they make their own tortillas. Anyone who knows me knows that I love a good taco.
I know most of the good spots around town and the not so good ones, too. There are some ultra cheap and delicious spots we visit often and there are a couple of higher priced, once-in-a-while-indulgence spots I love too. The thing that always amazes me about a good taco is the sheer simplicity. Two flat corn tortillas, some well seasoned and perfectly cooked meat, a handful of cilantro and onion and you've got pure perfection! It took me a while to get used to the idea of not having cheese, lettuce and a crisp shell, but there's no going back now. I do like a bit of verde salsa on top. We'll be making verde salsa and canning it in the next month or so, stay tuned.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

edited to add:
Well, the new taco cart won me over. The handmade corn tortillas were amazing!

A trio of feathered friends has just flown over to the shop.
They were joined briefly by happy and sad little creamsicle friend but Creamsicle, I'm happy to report has found a home!


We went to the Farmer's Market last night and bought these yummy blueberries. I think these will be finding their way into some muffins. Maybe with a bit of lemon and topped with sugar, yum!
Happy Weekend! Again, already.

Sound Advice

I made a couple of linen library totes last night. I absolutely adore red and linen. I'm not sure what it is about the two together but you just can't go wrong with red on linen. These are in the shop. I've got a couple more I'm working on and will hopefully get them in there later this week.



I'm almost done with a wholesale order I've been working on. I will be so glad to get it finished and sent off, I think I may be able to get it out today.

This morning is remarkably cooler than the past two. It looks like we made it through Heat Wave 2007, as our local news calls it. I love that any weather condition that is at all beyond normal immediately gets a name followed by the year, which is then followed by a story on how to deal with said weather. Such as tips to avoid heat stroke #1 drink water #2 don't sit in the sun for hours #3 find some water to swim in #4 buy a fan or air conditioner. So there you go, more words to live by from Chet and Dot. I'm telling you, I might get a book deal, here.

Paper and Twill

New items from the Chet and Dot Print Shop.
Some cards:



Why yes that is Sleepy Bunny of Vinyl Pouch fame. Here, she's sound asleep in the clover.

New Twill Tape; Dots and Happy Sailboats:

And a few bookmarks:

These items will be in the shop later today.
It's only supposed to get up to 98 degrees later today. It's several degrees cooler than yesterday's high of 1000. So. Hot. Last night I stood in front of the sprinkler while I watered the tomatoes. It was delightful. Happy Summer!

Happy Cappuccino

Some happy, non-animal creations for the shop. Happy little cups of cappuccino!



Crafty Wonderland was great yesterday! It's so nice to get out and meet people who know me from here or etsy. We also got to chat briefly with the owner of one of our favorite local shops about a possible wholesale venture. They just opened a shop in Tokyo, which is like a dream account for me. I would love to have my stuff for sale in an adorable little gift shop in Japan!

It's supposed to be 200 degrees here this week. I plan to plop down in front of the air conditioner and sew. My outside temperature tolerance tops out at around 85, any hotter and I start to go crazy. It's not pretty. Stay cool, friends, literally.

Bunnies and Vinyl

I whipped out some new vinyl pouches yesterday. I couldn't get enough of this sleepy bunny so she made it onto 4.

A little umbrella with scalloped edges::

I'll be selling at Crafty Wonderland this Sunday, stop by and say hi if you're in Portland.
Happy Friday!

Quiet

The peace and quiet has returned to the house. Everybody headed home yesterday. I like visiting with my family, but it is nice to have things back to normal. On Tuesday, we went to Jamison Square here in Portland. If you have kids and are looking for something to do this summer, this is great! There is a wading pool that fills up and empties every few minutes with water that pours out of the giant stone steps along the side. It's endlessly fun for kids and adults.

This little mushroom pouch is in the shop, I'll be adding more items soon. I'm just getting back into sewing mode, post family.

I hope you had a nice holiday, we watched a rather nice fireworks show right from the backyard.

Time Out

I'm just popping my head out to say hi, I've got relatives in town, 2 of whom are small children. It's been a long time since I've had little ones around.

We've been to the zoo, the park, the ocean and tomorrow we'll do some crafts (yay!) and maybe find a fountain for the kids to play in. We roasted marshmallows and lit sparklers last night.

See you in a couple days.