jane's apron

oliver + s

I was a little kid in the 60s and have distinct memories of the clothes my Mom sewed for me and my sisters.  I know she made all of my dresses...even my First Communion dress.  Times changed pretty quickly after that and sewing clothes was no longer a money saver.  Fast forward nearly 40 years and I have a daughter of my own.  It has never been that easy to find really, truly cute clothes for her.  When my husband told me about a book he read about in the Wall Street Journal called "Stop Dressing Your Six-Year-Old Like a Skank", I laughed...but then told him it's not that easy (especially since she has jumped to the 7-14 size).   

It will probably never ever be a money saver to sew your own children's clothes, but it is a chance to dress your child how you want to and to be creative.  I was so happy to see a new line of children's sewing patterns from Oliver + S in the latest issue of Home Companion.  Oliver + S offers sewing patterns for items like "swingset tunic + skirt" and "tea party sundress + bloomer". I'm slightly dizzy from the cuteness of it all.  And, to top it off, each pattern comes with a 5 inch paper doll and outfit.  Could it get any better than that?  Yes.  They also offer a Boutique Sewers Program...an industry first and one I'm sure will make lots of Moms really, really happy. 

My daughter is a little too big for the Oliver + S patterns but I do have several vintage sewing patterns that I have set aside that would be cute for her.  I might even make a dress for her First Communion next year...with a little help from my Mom.

new books

I recently purchased two books that I just have to share...

I requested that the library buy "Crafting a Business" from Country Living but became impatient waiting for it.   I  LOVE this book.  It profiles several different types of businesses and artists and, since I am so amazed at the process of creating things, I really enjoyed learning something from each of the featured business owners.  I learned that I am not the only one that likes designing something.  But making it over and over again?  Not so much.  The second part of the book presents business related items like marketing and sales.  While some of this is beyond my very small business, most of it was very, very helpful to me...and I highly recommend it...even if you are just thinking about selling your ideas or creations. 

I spotted the "Pippi Longstocking" book on the shelf at the library...the artwork is cute, colorful, and full of personality.  And the story is classic so the purchase is justified...don't you think so?

tea with jane

Anyone that reads my blog has probably seen that I'm a simple girl...no frills, no bling.  But every once in a while  something completely fabulous catches my eye. 

This beautiful apron is called "Tea with Jane" and was created by Calamity Kim (talk about mad sewing skills).  This isn't just an apron...it's art...the mix of colors, textures, and vintage embellishments is simply perfect.   

Something this beautifully and skillfully handmade is a sight to see. Stop over at Kim's flickr photos for more pretty details...and then on to her etsy shop to make it your own.    

mac or pc

There is never a good time for your computer to just stop working but there are definitely times that are worse than others. Our notebook PC has completely lost its power supply. I have all my data stored on an external hard drive...but can't get to any of it...and I was in the middle of working on all of the certificates and signs for our school auction this weekend. So I've had to move all work over to our iMac. Now the big question around here is what to replace the notebook with...a PC or a Mac? I spent all day yesterday creating auction documents in Word:Mac and it wasn't too hard to make the transition. I even uploaded one picture from my camera...no Photoshop though. Has anyone jumped from a PC to a Mac and not liked it?

Other than the auction stuff, I have also been busy this week finishing up not one, but two, altered train cases. I am using the paper squares pictured to make a nice patchwork background on one of them. The other is the pretty robin's egg blue case I posted about a few weeks ago. I've been contacted by a few readers about my train cases and decided to create an email list to send information about etsy shop updates and such. Just check out my sidebar on the left for information about getting on the list...I promise not to pester you with lots of emails and, of course, will never share your email address. If I can figure this whole Mac thing out, I hope to have a big update to my shop on Monday.

Now, I've got to get busy on those auctions documents. Have a good spring weekend!

thanks sew much

My milestone 200th post was my previous post.  Oh well...any post is a good reason to thank everybody with a little celebration giveaway.

I received a few copies of "Apronisms - Pocket Wisdom for Every Day" from EllynAnne Geisel.  EllynAnne sent them as a thank you for contributing a vintage linen story to her new book.  About the same time the books arrived, I scored a big group of aprons with pockets at my thrift store.  I'd love to give a copy of the sweet little book along with an apron to one of my blog friends.  I don't think the apron is vintage but it is handmade and really cute.

I also have new postcards from my latest collage and added the phrase "thanks sew much".  Using the word "sew" is still making me smile...but I'm easily entertained.  And so thankful again for how far this little blog has taken me.

Now, I love giveaways but don't like the wait...so I'll pick a winner for the apron and book and 2 more winners for a set of postcards tomorrow afternoon and update this post.

Just leave a comment and you're entered.  Do you have an "apronism" or momism to share?  The only one I can think of comes after a big garbage disposal repair last night...."If you see a quarter go down the disposal, tell Mom".

update...

liz (mabel's house) has won the apron and book

goody-goody and sally have won the postcards

Thanks again everybody!

kids and crafts

I have been a room mother in one or the other of my kids' classes for 8 years now.  It's not that I'm that Mom...more that our school is small and the room mother pool is pretty scarce.  Add the fact that I'm also the reluctant Brownie Scout leader and you can see why I've held so dearly to my Martha Stewart Kids magazines.  We've made ornaments from old Christmas cards, crowns from paper plates, and official looking name tags from office supplies. I'm always under budget and take a lot of crap from my friends.  "I can't help it" I tell them "that's just the way I was raised!".

One of my earliest crafting memories is making a purse from a cereal box.  I was not in school yet so I must have been about 5 years old.  We never had any special art supplies around...just your basic crayons, scissors, and glue...and lots of imagination.  The idea of making something from nothing is part of who I am.  When my own kids come home from school and start drawing or making an animal from pipe cleaners, I also know it will be with them when they grow up too.   

As always, Charlotte Lyons has put what I'm trying to say so nicely into words in her recent post about Amanda Soule's "The Creative Family".  I have not seen the book yet but the whole idea behind it makes me happy...crafts and ideas "all within budget, without commercially marketed products. Fabulous, thrifty, home-made fun". 

spinning

We are safely back...but my head is still spinning from that 18 hour thrill ride home from Orlando...

art

I have always wanted to have artwork at my house.  But, in reality, I just never had much access to really great artwork.  This has all changed with the discovery of so many creative blog friends and etsy. 

When Catherine at Red Shoes offered her amazing house paintings as prints I ran so fast to get my Visa card that I nearly fell on my face.  This print is perfect for "our house" too...there are 5 of us. 

On the etsy side, I know that everyone is probably familiar with Emily at The Black Apple.  I was so happy to get this print from her...

Finally, I found this print from Cathy Nichols.  I'm pretty sure I found her shop from someone that "hearted" my shop...just love how that whole thing works!  The title of the print is "where you go I follow".  It just plain makes me happy.

I will post a follow-up to this post to show my new artwork displayed in my house.  Soon...really (i.e. my husband is still "working" on cutting that dining room table mentioned here...sigh).

misc goodies

I've got a few misc. things to post about today...

I received this fun bunch of thrifty goodness from Barbara at oodles and oodles.  Barbara had a trivia question about Grant Wood's American Gothic...which I answered incorrectly.  I should be wrong more often.  Oodles and Oodles is my new favorite blog because Barbara is thrifty and funny...a perfect combination.  I'm currently following her daily posts of items bought for $1 or less.

If you look to the lower left of this page, you can see that I added a new section called "Things to try...".  It's a place for me to keep track of tutorials and other stuff that I might want to try (someday) but be sure to check it out for anything you'd like to try too.

About blog comments... I almost always reply to new readers but, for some reason, I was not getting all of the emails for comments and I know I have missed a few of you in the last few weeks...so sorry!   

Finally, I was tagged by Gabreial at Vintage Indie.  Vintage Indie is the best source for vintage goods at etsy and other places...I love it.  Things have been crazy busy around here (too many field trips, stressful brownie scout meetings, 6:30 am soccer games, computer problems, etc.) that I can sum up lots of random stuff about me in one example.  During our snow day last week, my cell phone was missing for about 24 hours...and was recovered the next day in a pile of snow across the street...I won't even begin to explain how that happened but will let it serve as an example of my daily, goofy, messy life.      

moonflower vine

We finished off last week with two snow days and, right now, I'm needing a few thoughts of spring.  I know growing flowers from seeds seems a little "too Martha" but it is a good way to have flowers that are not always available at most places.  I love green flowers and the only way I can get the "envy" zinnias is from seed.  My favorite flower for about 5 years running is a moonflower vine.  I first tried them on my front porch on a big trellis.  The vine grows like crazy in the hot sun and then blooms in huge, fragrant flowers in the evening.  Last year I tried to grow them on our porch swing supports but it didn't turn out...but I'm going to try it again this year.  I'm looking at the swing covered in snow but the thought of sitting on the swing on a summer night with the moonflowers in bloom is a good dream for today. 

And it really is just a dream...in reality, when I sit on the swing at night it pretty much sounds like this..."move over a little, your popsicle is dripping on me"..."stop hitting the baseball this way"..."go across the street if you want to hit the golf balls"..."put your popsicle sticks in the trash"...yelling now across the yard "shut the door!"...still yelling "if you get a lemonade don't spill it all over the kitchen floor"..."where is your Dad?".  Our neighbors love us.