No Excuses, Just More

Ok... so no excuses. I'm a busy person, but so are tons of other successful bloggers. So I'm going to give it a go...again!

The boys are big these days....

And....

As you can see, they can keep me busy. And then my shop is keeping me really busy too! But it is time to start sharing all that here again, so here I am! And today I'm going to share with you my Alabama Bangle Bracelets, made from real license plates!

Like them? They will be for sale soon in my Etsy shop.... but I can do other states. Today just happens to be Alabama (the first alphabetically) day!

Later!!!

Roselawn Fall Festival

Wow! We had a wonderful weekend in Cartersville, Georgia. The 35th Annual Roselawn Fall Festival was tons of fun and we met lots of new friends. I’m hoping to share some pictures and detail information with you later, but right now I’ll be totally honest. I’m EATEN ALIVE by the Monday morning GRIND! :) Okay, granted, my “grind” is different from most. But I still have to deal with all the crazy unpacking, washing, cleaning, straightening and replacing from going to the show all weekend. And lets not even count the state my house was in after being totally ignored for the last four days and left to the devices of two toddlers. Yeesh. I’m only on laundry load 5 for the day so far! :)

I’m going to be posting a ton more stuff in the shop this week, so make sure you dart over to StressTheSeams on Etsy to see all my lovely stuff. Some of it is new inventory, and some of it is de-stashing sewing and crafting gear to make room! It’s getting tight in the studio and with all the shows going on, I can’t manage to sew fast enough to keep up with the influx of stock as well as the stream of custom orders! I guess that’s a good problem to have!

Speaking of custom orders, I have several of you waiting on customs. The good news is that EVERYONE who has placed an order (yes, that includes your bag Kim… and all your goodies Dolores!) FINALLY has all the necessary supplies in house to complete it. The last pieces were found this past week, so I can FINALLY get busy on them (since I don’t have a show this week). Incoming customs are currently looking at a month in creation time due to the CRAZY show schedule in September (what’s left of it), October, November, and early December. But everything in the Etsy shop is ready to ship right now! :)

Back to the machine! I’m so happy to have five minutes to share with you how happy I am to have time to sew! :)

Zoom!

September is CRAZY!

It is just nutty around here this month. I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around how an entire week has passed! Sunday was a crazy awesome show at Atlanta Station in Atlanta that just sort of came up on Friday as an option. Thankfully, we did it and now we know that it can be very successful, not to mention fun! If you've never heard of SimplyFun toys, you should check them out. Their regional rep, Susan, was next to us at the show. They have AMAZING games for ALL ages! We had SO much fun! Check it out at I'm not being paid a dime to say how impressed I was, seriously!

We sold completely out of magic wallets at the show, which makes Mr.STS VERY happy, though VERY busy restocking our inventory this week! :) My binders, journals, and small bags were a massive hit, as was custom work. That is always so nice, to know that someone likes your stuff so much that they want to patron you to make a piece JUST FOR THEM! So great!

We've applied to several more holiday shows, and had to turn down invitations to even more as you can only be in so many places at once!

Off to work more on stash busting. I've taken pictures of all the.... crap. Yeah, we'll call it that, as it's not yet valuable, but it's not worthless either. But it is definitely a mess. Yeash. I'll post the pictures as soon as my cheeks stop being so red from embarrassment. Yes, they are THAT bad.

Zoom!

Stashbushing So Far

So I've managed to complete a tote bag. I'll post a picture as soon as possible, but I've been helping out a friend and keeping his two year old and five year old sons yesterday and today, so it's a miracle I'm getting anything done with 3 boys between 20-25 months old under foot! :)

So far I've used:
-1/3yd microsuede
-1/2yd Bird Talk cotton print
-3/8yd Blue Dot cotton print
-1/8yd Ocean Swirl cotton print
-1/4yd Blue Batik cotton print
-1/2yd WonderUnder
-1/2yd grey fleece
-7/8yd fusible interfacing
-8 extra large brass grommets
-1/2 spool of thread

I've also managed to cut out and prepare another DOZEN patterns!
And I've put together my IKEA Mala paper holder for the butcher paper that I use for pattern roughs and for the boys' art purposes.
Then there were the four acrylic signs that I got from a bank that was changing their signage. I managed to remove all of the lettering from them so that I have three clear ones and one dark grey one ready for new clear labels.

All that AND laundry day with 3 toddlers and a 2 hour commute each day to drop off the kindergartener. Not bad so far. No clue what I'm going to accomplish today, but I'm determined!

Off to Stashbust!

---but I do want to admit that the Labor Day sales are starting to look REALLY tempting.... how should I best resist?

September 1: Stash-bustin'!

Stash Busted:
Fabric Used: 0 yards
Notions Used: 0
Trims Used: 0
Thread Used: 0
Patterns Used: 0

What I've Made:
Items Created: 0
Patterns Created: 0

So I've joined a September Stash-busting Group. You can find out more about it by clicking the button in my sidebar. The basics are that you can't buy crafting gear for the month of September and you have to use what you've got. Only thread and glue can be purchased so that you can continue on with more projects, and that's only if you are out. There's also an exemption for business purchases and 1 get out of jail free for an AMAZING deal. But I'm trying to adhere to the spirit of the month and not purchase crafting stuff! And the other half of the goal is to see how much you can use in creative ways this month. So I'm going to try to produce in profuse numbers!!! :) So today is day one and I'm starting with a tally of zero....

But as I've already got the beds stripped and in the laundry, dishes done, and kitchen cleaned, I'm ready to face the studio and see what I can do! Wish me luck.... or better yet, JOIN ME!!! :)

My Breast Cancer Awareness Line

It was time for me to do a bit of a benefit at my Etsy store StressTheSeams, so I’ve chosen the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3-Day, as July was Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This past weekend we set up at the Atlanta Christmas In July Benefit Art Show for Susan G. Komen and had a really great show. The venue was amazing, the other vendors were wonderful, and we made not only sales but also friends! Can’t beat that experience!

But, as my Grandmommy has recently made it through her last “clean bill” check up as a survivor, I’ve decided to add a Pink line to my shop, of which I will donate a portion to Breast Cancer Research. Because until there is a cure, we are all still at risk of loosing the most valuable commodity we have… the women who love and support us. So check out some of my new items that I will be listing in my Etsy store this week!

  Yep, it’s a Hot Pink Lace Hat, complete with feather trim and silk cord gimp hat band! Super cute and perfect to perch on that amazing coiffure!

  And here is my entirely vintage and upcycled materials (okay, except the thread) Quilted Pink Patchwork Embroidered Market Bag. Super cute and oh so cuddly soft!

Last but certainly not least is Tula Pink’s Plume fabric line for Moda. I turned it all into a patchwork Pink Plume Quilted Market Bag. Also, super gorgeous and incredibly useful, with a definite nod to both modern sensibility and traditional workmanship.

Both of the bags are entirely lined and quilted, so they are really well made and can hold up to regular use while still looking amazing. And I had SO MUCH FUN while I made them. I played with all kinds of block designs, incorporated all kinds of crazy pink fabrics in the vintage/upcycled one, and got to really check out the spectrum of Tula Pink’s Plume line. For someone who isn’t exactly a girly pink kind of girl, I really enjoyed these three projects! And there are more pink items to come. Working with a color palette I usually avoid has been tons of fun and has really caused me to stretch my creative muscles.

Okay… so now I’m off to finish the last bits of hand-quilting so I can get machine quilting today. Wish me luck!

Patchwork and Quilting 'till my fingers explode

Ok, that is a LITTLE dramatic, though I swear they are threatening to. You see, I've been working on my Lace Top Hats while waiting on my iron to heat up so that I can press pieces of Moda's Plume and vintage/upcycled fabrics into patchwork bags. Said patchwork bags then get basted (more pins) and quilted (thankfully by machine) into quilted market bags. They are super cute, but I've made three totally different ones today. From cut to finish, three of them. With embroidery. Yikes. And I only have 4 more lace hats to finish, all of them different. Then I only have 7 hats that need decoration, 24 ribbons to be added to other things, and lets not forget the handwork I'm nearly done with on the Victorian Table Runner.  Yeesh. And I've got another quilt top finished, just waiting for its final assembly. Needless to say, I'm BUSY!

So off to bed, but I'm going to try to share some pictures with you tomorrow, I promise. I want to show you my new apron! :) And I have a pattern review (okay, TWO pattern reviews) to share with you as well!