I took my manicurist a big bouquet of greens this morning as a thank you for introducing me to the Glowing Green Smoothie.
That's about what we blend up for a three day smoothie supply. Parsley, romain, celery, spinach, kale, apples, pears, lemon and banana.
Yummy.
Encourage one another,
Phew. I'm back. (deep breath).
I love being busy but these last few weeks have been a little much even for me. I've missed you!
Let's catch up a bit shall we?
:: Some of the fun gifts I found at the LA Gift Show last week have started to arrive. I'll show you some here later. I love having more room in our bigger store to do more displays...one of my favorite jobs.
:: Speaking of displays...I never showed you this...
...it's the flannel dress that Beverly made for us. Sadly it doesn't look like we're having a winter this year. Yesterday it was seventy five degrees in LA when I was there for the Craft and Hobby Show. Crazy!
:: Several of you have been asking how I'm doing drinking the Glowing Green Smoothie so now that I've been drinking it for just over three weeks I thought it was time for a progress report.
First let me say that I started it in early January because after months of poor eating habits I was feeling tired and sluggish. I was no longer enjoying foods that I used to love and I was just feeling a need for a dietary change and a total detox. I drink 25 to 30 ounces every morning and although weight loss was not my primary motivation for starting the program I have lost about five pounds. What's really weird is drinking the smoothie has totally taken away all cravings for caffeine and sweets and I feel a definite surge of energy after I finish my morning drink. I was a daily triple latte drinker for years and haven't wanted coffee since starting the program. I can't say that I've noticed an improvement in my hair, nails or skin and certainly haven't had anyone tell me I look better, but I do feel better. Much, much better!
You know it's strange, but when you start your day off by getting 100% of your dietary fiber and daily requirements of fruits and vegetables you just want to continue to eat right throughout the day. I've even thought about starting an exercise program again. Just a thought at this point but who knows!
Will I continue? You bet. I really enjoy drinking that nasty looking green juice and love the boost of energy and sense of well being it gives me.
Do me a favor, will you? If you have tried the Glowing Green Smoothie (and I've heard from many of you that have) would you take a moment to comment to this blog post so others can read about your experience? Whatever your experience, I think sharing can help encourage others.
:: Bill and I met with our travel agent today to book plane fares for Europe at the end of May. We've been saving our air miles for two years and are really looking forward to getting to go again. Somebody pinch me! I'm one lucky and excited girl!
:: I've been putting the finishing touches on a email newsletter where we'll be announcing some fun special events and classes coming up at Strawberry Patches. If you'd like to stay up to date with what we're doing go here and sign up for the newsletter.
:: So are you all doing something special for Super Bowl? I hope to be sewing. I got another one of my crazy ideas that I want to try. If it turns out you know I'll be a sharing.
Until then...
Encourage one another,
It's been a busy couple of weeks around here with a trip to Los Angeles to the gift show, hosting a bus load of traveling quilters, vending at this weekends quilt show (Strawberry Patches is open today from 11-4), and back to the south land tomorrow for the big CHA craft show. I'm looking forward to February and hopefully a little more normal pace.
If you're local and have a few extra hours in your Sunday I recommend that you treat yourselves with a trip to the fairgrounds. Our local guild has put on a great show with some inspiring quilts and awesome vendors. They are there from 10:00 to 5:00. Then stop by Strawberry Patches to redeem your quilt show coupon of 20% off on any one cut yardage purchase.
Encourage one another,
These came today.
Encourage one another,
Just hours after I posted last weeks tutorial I got the idea for this pillow. So instead of letting a perfectly good idea go to waste here is
Gift Tags Part Two
Today I give you the (poorly written) instructions for my little pieced pillow. You may want to go here for the instructions for making the tags.
Writing these instructions reminds me of the time we were selected by American Patchwork and Quilting as one of their top ten quilt stores. Part of being in the magazine was to design and make an original quilt. I slaved for weeks over the drawings, pattern and fabric selection. But when it came time to write the instructions I just threw up my hands and boxed the whole daggedgum thing up and sent it off. Bless their hearts. They wrote the most fabulous, clear instructions for me. I am forever grateful!
Anyway...
...from a twelve inch square of fabric
measure over 3 1/2" from the left and down 3 1/2". Cut. Cut. (What did I ever do before computers and these cool little arrows? Oh, yeah I had someone else do my dirty work for me. I almost forgot).
Cut two strips 2 1/2" x 14" for contrasting "ribbon".
Attach 5/8" ric rac to each side of one of the ribbon strips using your machine's quarter inch foot. Notice the edge of the foot is traveling along the edge of the fabric and the stitch is right down the middle of the ric rac. It's all so easy when you put your good tools to work.
Attach the strip to the small 3 1/2" x 8 1/2" piece by putting right sides together and raw edges even. You will want to sew with the strip on top so you can see to sew just to the left of the seam that attached the ric rac. That little stitch is you friendly guide. Just follow along all the way to the bottom of the pillow piece and you'll be just fine. Cut off the left over ribbon strip and save it. You'll need it to join those two top pieces in just a minute. Press seams toward the ribbon.
Sew the 8 1/2" square to the other edge of the strip (bottom part of photo below). Then join the 3 1/2" square to the 8 1/2" strip with the remaining leftover piece (top part of photo below). Heck, just look at the pictures!
Trim both pieces with your rotary cutter so everything is nice and square and neat..
Sew ric rac to both sides of second strip.
Join top to bottom sections by sewing the two sections to the 14" strip. Same drill. You'll follow right along the stitch that attached the ric rac.Trim and press seams in, toward the ribbon.
Finish your little pillow as you normally would.* You can add a ruffle if you want or cording. I just hot glued the tag on, but you could sew it if you'd like or maybe use velcro.
I think these would be fun for birthday gifts, or graduations. Put a babies birth date and weight on the tag, a wedding date, get well wishes. The possibilities are endless.
Gosh, you could just say hello...
or goodbye...
Encourage one another,
* What's that? You'd like to take a pillow finishing class? The uber talented Annette will be teaching a pillow finishing class at Strawberry Patches next month. Check the newsletter or call the store for details. Your pillows will thank you!
Here's more of the new fabrics from Moda that I ordered last week:
This is Sweetwater's first children's collection,
a beach inspired group for both boys and girls.
Lucy's Crab Shack is due to arrive in June.
Also arriving in June is a Christmas group called Sentiments by 3 Sisters.
Vintage inspired prints with a traditional flare.So pretty and sophisticated.
It seems like I've been doing lots of shopping lately with a full day on Friday at the LA GIft Market for some great gift items. I found absolutely amazing things and will share them as they arrive over the next two months.
Encourage one another,
I'll be back tomorrow with another Tutorial Tuesday Post. Two in a row. Crazy I know.
Thursday I got up an hour early to make my list. My schedule was tight and it needed to be mapped out perfectly.
Doable, tight but doable.
Lets be real here friends. I have this Type A Personality and when things are this tightly scheduled and don't go exactly as planned I've been known to, em... lose it.
Here's how my day went in reality:
By this time my panties were in such a bunch! But then:
Long story short, the day turned out just fine. Wonderful in fact, despite my crappy attitude. If there is a moral to this story I guess it would be, don't sweat the small stuff. Everything will turn out just fine despite the bumps along the way. It's the people in our lives that makes the journey worthwhile.
Sometimes I just need a chill pill.
Encourage one another,
Hey, if you love to make lists you might like Teuxdeux. Just be prepared for the inevitable changes in plans! = ) Happy rainy weekend!
I spent a few hours with my Moda rep on Tuesday. He had lots of Christmas for 2012 to show and this:
It's Vintage Modern by Camille Roskelley and her mother Bonnie.
What would you do if you had decide between these 40 beautiful prints? Hard. I know.
I did what any savvy buyer would do, I took the easy way out and bought them all! All ten flannels too!
We'll be kitting this 71" x 86" quilt when the fabric arrives in May so let us know if you're interested.
photo by Camille Roskelley
The perfect blend of vintage and modern
photo by Camille Roskelley
in today's hottest color combinations.
photo by Camille Roskelley
Oh, the beautiful possibilities!
Next time I'll show you what's coming from Sweetwater.
Until then...
...Encourage one another,
I swear sometimes my projects seem to take on a life of their own. I start out with one idea in mind and before I know it, I've taken a sharp turn and ended up somewhere totally unexpected. So was the case with this little project. I thought I'd make stuffed hearts using some really cool ribbon that I'd saved and somewhere along the way got an idea for fabric tags instead.
I love tags. You know those paper ones with the brown reinforcements and string ties that you get in the stationary stores? Love those. So I thought it would be fun to make some out of fabric but make them big enough that they could double as little Valentine cards. Just something that a friend could hang in her sewing room or over her desk. A lasting momento of friendship.
I must say here that this is a pretty lame tutorial. Just really a bunch of photos for hopefully some inspiration. What you decorate your tags with will totally depend on what's in your stash boxes, bags and bins.
Here's what I did:
I started with Peltex Double Sided Fusible Stabilizer and ironed fabric to each side. Peltex was the perfect choice for this project because it's thick and firm enough to support my embellishments. You can even sew through it if you want. It was the first time I'd ever worked with Peltex and loved how easy it was.
I traced my tag shapes onto the fused fabric and cut them out.
Because some of the fabric I used was a loose weave I thought I would seal the edges so they wouldn't ravel so I painted on Mod Podge Matt around the cut edges.
Then I just rubber stamped a message or design on the front of my little tags and decorated them with some flowers and odds and ends I had laying around. I mostly just hot glued everything down. Each tag took just a few minutes to make although deciding what to do took awhile, but that's the part I love the most - getting out all my treasures, sifting through boxes of buttons and ribbon, trying to find that perfect thing.
I've had these little decorative drawer pulls forever and never knew what to do with them. What I thought I wanted was a big eyelet but didn't have any so the drawer pulls seemed perfect.
I just poked a little hole through the Peltex and screwed the knob onto the tag.
Here's one with an eyelet after a quick trip to Michaels. Bill helped me drill a hole through the Peltex big enough for the large eyelet.
I antiqued the edges by blotting the edges with a rubber stamp ink pad.
If you'd like to make your own you can go here for the tag pattern.
Encourage one another,
