The stockings were hung....

I absolutely L-O-V-E Christmastime. I'm not sure if it's the happiness that buzzes in the air, the insane amount of shopping, redecorating my house, twinkling lights, the smell of real Christmas trees, warm fires, that special feeling that only comes this time of year, listening to Christmas songs on the radio and being reminded of my fondest childhood memories, creating new memories with my family, or maybe it's that whole getting presents thing.... lol. I just love Christmas and everything that comes with it.

We just finished decorating our house and I just love it. We don't have anything new (yet), but the same ole stuff still brings about a certain magic. Especially my Christmas tree ornaments. I started out with an awesome purple and blue getup that my dad won at Target. He had his choice of any of the pre-decorated tree displays. He picked the purple tree because it is my favorite color. When I moved out on my own, he gave it to me. Tons of lights, ornaments, even an angel and ribbon. I used it for a couple of years. As much as I absolutely loved it, hubby HATED it. Plus it didn't suit our decor nor my personal tastes as an adult. So... I slowly started to buy burgundy and gold decorations. We've accumulated what I think is an acceptable amount. I just love gobs and gobs of ornaments. Some folks like just a handful of ornaments.... I want an ornament every 6" or so.

I'm holding out on the big reveal until the end.... (not like you can't just scroll down anyway lol)

Here are some of my fave ornaments/decorations...

Here are some pics of the process... DH and DD are too cute....

Nutcrackers are creepy and go on the back of the tree....

This tree goes above the door in a window....

Here... (it fits... it's a squeeze, but it fits... and it looks nice from the road)(admire the new floors)

And alas.... the big reveal....

Here she is....

Showing some love... best spots in Atlanta

I've been meaning to do this for a while now....

A1 Sewing Machine Co. - I love them. They are such kind and sweet people. They have serviced my Brother sewing machine and my Singer serger. There prices are unbeatable. I paid $40 to have my Brother serviced and $50 for my serger. Well... I actually paid $80 but it needed the timing adjusted which is not part of any repair shop's list of services done in a basic "tune up". With by Brother, I needed it fixed FAST. The tension needed to be adjusted and therefore unusable. I had it back in less than 48 hours. With my serger, I was just eager to get it back so I could actually use it for the first time. I dropped it off on Friday and picked it up the following Wednesday. I could have had it sooner if I had told them that it was really necessary to rush it. No rush fees on either occasion either. They are the best and I'll always use them to service my machines. They also sell tons of great sewing machines at great prices. Brands like Janome, Pfaff, Singer, tons of embroidery machines, notions for all of them. They sell used/refurbished machines and vintage ones too.

Intown Quilters - A fabric shop located by North Dekalb Mall. Granted, there are many other quilt shops between this one and my home. I'm actually located a good 35-40 miles from them... but it's sooo worth the trip. They have EVERYTHING. All of my fave designers and lines. It's all organized so well. I've been to a couple of other quilt shops who CLAIM to carry suchinsuch designer... like this one up in Dahlonega... they claimed to carry Amy Butler... they had maybe four bolts of Amy, and none of them were the ones I was hoping to find. I know a shop can't carry every colorway of every line of every designer, but c'mon.... four bolts? Intown Quilters is great though. They may not have every colorway of every line, but they still have TONS. It's so well organized. Calicos are arranged by color, batiks by color, then the stuff like Ginger Blossom, Sis Boom, Amy Butler, etc. are all separated out by designer and line.... something that some shops don't do. The people are very friendly, helpful, and they offer classes. If you call and ask if they have a certain fabric or line in stock, they won't reply with "Who? Huh?" like some places... they actually know there stuff. I called one place and asked if they had Freshcut by Heather Bailey and they actually had no idea what I was talking about and said that Freshcut is patterns, not fabric. I got there and looked around, sure enough I spotted some Freshcut.

Soooo.... Two thumbs up to A1 and Intown Quilters!

And one more thing.... since I've already blogged once today I'm going to stick this in here.

Here's why fabric designers should blog:
Folks like me connect with them. I enjoy reading those inspiration filled blogs, looking at the gorgeous photographs, sewn creations, etc. There are some designers who don't do this and honestly I'm more likely to buy fabric from a designer whose blog I read than I am one whom I don't. It's that personal connection. And BTW... check this out... that's Jennifer Paganelli who left a comment here!! :-P

I'm off to celebrate my Birthday for the next... oh... 3 days.

The Store, ramblings, upcoming not for profit, etc

No sales yet, but I just started. I know it's going to take a little while before I get my first sale. I'm waiting patiently. Here are a few things I've got up my sleeve.

I finally took pics of the vintage pillowcase dress. Looking at it folded does not do it justice. Kaytlin and I had a little photo shoot today... here are some of the pics. You can find the listing here... it's a steal at $11. There are more pics in the listing.

I also made a tutu... but I'm going to wait a couple of days to list it. Supposedly it's good to scatter your listings instead of doing a lot at once. I know this isn't your typical tutu.... it doesn't exactly scream Ballerina. But I love it. It's very off-the-beaten-path. The original picture is larger. There are ribbons tied into it as well. I really like the way this turned out. I was thinking punky gothic princess ballerina. It'll be available in all sizes.... I just like the way these full length ones look. I've obviously got some photo editing to do. Kaytlin was funny... I told her to go put it on and come outside. She came outside wearing nothing but the tutu... I had to run inside and grab the first shirt I could find. She was wearing a shirt that somewhat matched to begin with. Og well... this'll work. This tutu says to me 'punky whimsey'... I think that's what I'll call it!

Just a funny side note.... I'm writing this from the breakfast table and I can hear matt belting out some song in the garage while working out. He tries to be so macho.... only I get to see the side of him that sings lil bow wow while jogging. LOL! As I was finishing this up the man beast came in and wiped his sweaty forehead on my arm. ICK EEWWWW!!!!!!!!

Next thing in the works - I bought these 18m capri jeans last year to sew something for my niece... but I never got around to it. I picked up this really awesome fabric... it's this really pretty aqua blue color with flamingos and palm trees on it. The flamingos and palm trees are in vertical lines (I'm not a big fan of lots of small scattered objects on fabric...). I'm going to make a cute top (two layers of ruffles attached to a bodice) and two layers of ruffles added onto the jeans. I wish I knew what brand the jeans were.... they were at Marshalls with the label cut out (only the size label remains). They could be expensive... or they could be cheap. No less, it doesn't matter. I won't be selling it for a huge amount since I just so happened to have the jeans laying around and needed to do something with them anyways.

Oh I almost forgot! Remember that dress I stashed and said I was going to give away? Well, I finished it over the weekend. Here it is! I won't be selling this or anything made with this pattern (well, for the right amount I would, but that amount would be HIGH because this dress was a royal PAIN)

Till next time. PS- leave me comments, I like to see who's reading ;-)

DUUH I forgot to add the 'not for profit' stuff!! I really want to start doing small things (with my scraps), sell them, and donate the profit to a charity of the month. Right now I'm thinking about selling coasters and reusable multipurpose/grocery bags. Thanks to some helpful moms, I think I've come up with a price. $10 + shipping for 6 CUTE reusable grocery bags and $7 for a set of 4 coasters. I wanted my first charity to be something eco related, but I'm having a hard time finding one that I'm comfortable giving money to. Maybe I'll pick something different instead.... plus no one gives a poo about our environment anyways. Got any other suggestions on things I could use my scraps to make and sell? Do tell!

Random thoughts of the day...

Vocabulary lesson of the day - Bias grain: Bias is the diagonal grain of the fabric…. Not the width, not the length, crossways.

What did I discover today: I need a walking foot.

Today’s inspiration: The Amy Butlers, Erin Murphys, and Joel Dewberrys of this world were not born with a big name… they started at the bottom just like everyone else.

Things I love today -
http://www.babylulu.com/products/fall07/prodLarge/531376.jpg
http://s7ondemand1.scene7.com/is/image/Gymboree/140032022?$240x305$
http://s7ondemand1.scene7.com/is/image/Gymboree/140031325?$240x305$

Blessing of the day: I found out yesterday that I’ve been paying my mortgage a month ahead of time as long as we’ve lived in the house! Whew! I thought we were a week BEHIND! Then I found a $50 in one of the desk drawers in the office.

Things I WILL accomplish today - work out for at least 30 minutes (yay, like I have a choice); do some LAUNDRY; start piecing together the first dress to go on etsy.

Note about the first etsy dress: I thought this was going to be a lot more simple than it has turned out to be!!! I like patterns that have minimal pieces to cut because I HATE cutting! I hate cutting out the pattern, I hate figuring out piece placement, I hate that my sewing table is not as big as I wish it were (not like I have the space for much bigger anyways), I just hate cutting!! However I have fallen madly in love with the fabric. It was hanging off the end of my sewing table last night... a good 2-3 feet was dangling just above the floor. I got to take a really good look at it as a whole. I think it would make some awesome pillows for Kaytlin's room... maybe a duvet cover since she needs a new one (thanks to her dad for MACHINE WASHING her down comforter, now we need a new duvet and cover).

Done with the randomness now.... hopefully I'll find my USB cord soon so I can load some recent and current projects!