And She's Off...

La Manita

Today was a big day -it was the debut of La Manita, my home-and-hand-made arts and crafts business. I had a booth at an arts and crafts fair at Wood Gormley school here in Santa Fe and am proud to report I actually made some money - but most importantly, I had a ball. Yay! The barrettes and barrette cases were a huge success with all the little girls and their mamas (a few dads, too). Actually, come to think of it, one little boy did buy a barrette case, which he then tied around his face like a bandana...he was a riot. And, starting on May 3, I will be an official vendor at Santa Fe's Farmers' Market Sunday Community Fair!! I am so excited. I'll be selling my barrettes/cases, reversible pinafores, pillows and art hoops (maybe a computer sleeve here and there - we'll see).

So, about these barrettes...I designed this fabric and had it printed by Spoonflower. I'm so excited about all the possibilities...Spoonflower is amazing. I'll be selling these barrettes at the community fair and also plan to design some fabric for the pinafores. I'm also in the process of setting up shop on  Etsy and Big Cartel...stay tuned.

Am off to bed...I'm exhausted. And very smiley.

Handmade Challenge: My Handmade Christmas (what I've done so far)

My kitchen looks like Santa's little workshop right now...here's what I've been working on this past week (top to bottom):
Pillow inspired by Zakka Sewing; laptop sleeves; another little pillow; moustache ornament.

I have a few more laptop sleeves that are almost done plus a few embroidery projects...eek...and a few more things. And how many days until Christmas?

Embroidery Project #2

I'm thinking of embroidering this poem on either a pillow or dress for Sylvie...or both. I also need to get started on some Christmas stockings. And how many days until Christmas?? Something ridiculous...where did the year go? Sylvie's almost ONE! (Well, December 21...) Speaking of which...I'm planning a First Birthday fiesta...will post some ideas later.

Bird & Bull v.1

Just doing some color studies with Bird & Bull. Not sure where this is going...

Re: The Ornament Swap

I've been trying to figure out what I'm going to do for the holiday ornament swap...I'm thinking something with my handwriting...perhaps embroidered...on what? Uh, I don't know, which is exactly the reason I signed-up to do this...so I can play. Yes, yes, yes. I'm also working on our holidays cards. I'm so excited to send out cards this year because of our new addition (yes, Sylvie).

If you'd like to see more of my holiday handwriting explorations, be sure to check out my Flickr photostream! I think I like where this is going...let me know what you think, gracias!

Holiday Ornament Swap

cake & pie and freshly{blended} - two very, very cool bloggers - are hosting their 3rd Annual Holiday Ornament Swap...and I've decided this swap is just the thing I need to do! (If you're interested, here are the details). Yeay!

[ image from freshly{blended} - isn't it cute? ]

My first shot at embroidery

This is my first doodle embroidery project - and my first time embroidering. After seeing Dayna's quilt and all the cute embroidery on it (see post below) I was inspired to give embroidery a shot. So far, it looks like it's going to be something for Sylvie (haha)...maybe a pillow?

And she's off...

This blog has been a long time coming...I am so excited to finally get this going. Since I had Sylvie in December 2007 I've felt this overwhelming urge to get creative, get crafty, get going. So this is it...and she's off...