New Fall & Halloween Items

Hello, I hope everyone stateside had a wonderful long weekend. I had the most productive weekend in some time and I'm so excited at all thing things I got done!

I cleaned out my sewing room, which was uninhabitable, you will just have to take my word for it as I forgot to take before pictures beforehand (oops) but this is how it looks now! You can actually see the floor and there isn't stuff and fabric strewn everywhere. It really is a huge deal for me, I have more to organize so things don't get out of hand again but for now I have completed phase one.

 

I actually sketched and sewed today in my room so that's pretty exciting because I haven't done that in months.


I finally added some new Fall & Halloween stuff to my Etsy shop! Including candy corn prints and a cute little bat prints.

I love making patterns and banners so I combined the two and created some pdf banners that are available for instant download. So you can print and make your own :)

I love Fall the seasons start to change and get cooler, it's a very big deal in Texas lol.

I've also been working on other drawings and ideas, (like my little fall owl prototype below) which I hope to have added to shop in a couple weeks.

What are you working on lately? Are you excited for Fall?

Target Finds

I haven't been shopping at Target very often since the breach, I still buy groceries, but I have severely cut out the superfluous little random items, that are so enticing at Target. Even after reading this buzzfeed list, I thought yeah that's not me anymore.......  well that lasted for a couple months lol.

Here's what I found at a smaller Target, that's not super close to my house, and I probably visit it once or twice a year. I'm so excited to share the cute items I found with you :)

 As you might know I am sucker for banners, it's instant festiveness and a pop of happy!
I had wanted to make a simple heart banner for Valentine's Day and that didn't happen, so when I saw this bunny banner I snatched it up! It was so adorable, and who doesn't love burlap? Now, I could have made this myself, I'm ashamed to say I have burlap fabric in my stash and as an avid crafter, I felt a slight pang of guilt for not putting it down and vowing to make it myself. But sometimes you need some pre-made happy. This burlap bunny banner is from their awesome Threshold line.

I couldn't find it online, but I took a picture of the box so if you are interested you know what to look for :) I found it on an endcap in the housewares section.

The second amazing find was a set of three journals, perfect for tech geek in your life.
It was one of those things, that makes you stop in your tracks and go back and re-examine. I must admit I am a bit of a tech geek and this was just too hilarious to pass up. Especially since I had never seen it before at any of the Targets I regularly visit. I found this in the gift section by the party stuff/gift bags, it's a random smattering of stuff that kind of reminds me of the impulse buys they have at Urban Outfitters.

 I couldn't find these online either but the brand is called green inspired, just wanted to show you the back of the package so you know what to look for at your store. Here are the green inspired products that do show up online I have the trio of traveling notebooks I keep for notes on the go :)





And because this Target was on the small side, on the opposite side of the aisle I spied the awesome Oh Joy! party collection!!!

I have admired Oh Joy! for a very long time, she has amazing books on starting your business and blogging and she really sets the bar high in the blogging world.
If you don't know her, go and discover her immediately! Her awesome design aesthetic and eye for color, come together in this lovely, adorable party collection. I had to grab the scallop party hats with gold dots, they are so adorable they make me want to plan a party around them lol.
And I thought they were a steal at $3.00 for 8 hats in different colors.

What have you found at Target lately that you were really excited about? Have you been shopping there a lot?

Happy Thanksgiving DIY banner

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
It has officially become cold and wintery in Texas, and while I was staying in last weekend I decided to make a Thanksgiving themed banner to get in the holiday spirit. I got inspiration from Sew Caroline's  Christmas tree banner that I mentioned before

I decided it would be fun to make a leaf banner with felt. I already had lots of fun colors in my fabric stash and leaf shapes drawn from my sweater weather drawing.

I made the leaves larger and used them as a template.  You could do a quick sketch, or use actual leaves for a pattern.  I chose different colors for different shaped leaves and planned out the order of the banner by color and shape of leaf.  I just winged the top stitching with my machine for the vein detail on the leaves . I did at least 3 vein stitch lines for each leaf so it looks somewhat balanced.

I didn't have any neutral cotton ribbon so I just used the edge of some muslin selvage and stitched the leaves to my muslin strand.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone :)

Fall Projects

It has finally cooled down here in Texas, I am definitely excited about consistent cooler temperatures. Here's what I have been up to lately.

I've been planting my Fall garden full of broccoli, cauliflower and kale.....so I'm looking for new recipes.

Making birthday banners......I think they are so much more festive than just a card.

I made a fun little cupcake pattern for the background

I have been working on some new drawings both hand drawn and digital

fox friend

sweater sketches

And some new stuffed animal prototypes

I have had a creative epiphany and I'm working toward getting much accomplished the rest of the month. I hope to share more completed projects soon!

What are you doing to enjoy this Fall season?

Top 5: November is here

 Random things I want to share. Here's what I've been up to lately

1. It's not often I find jewelry I like, I'm always looking though. When I found this necklace it was love at first sight and I bought it right then! Which is a big deal for me since I am a chronic window shopper and returner ;)
I found out about this cool site from one of my favorite blogs, Oh Joy!

it's purple :)

2. I have been reading a really great book, the Happiness Project. Basically the author makes a to do list for each month, goals she wants to accomplish and talks about how that process goes. It's really encouraging, she's not a self help guru or anything just a writer trying an experiment trying to savor the little things, and enjoy her family. Take time to do things she's interested in that she has not always make time for. It does seem a little daunting when you look at it as a whole process but piece by piece, it's just being proactive and disciplined to go after the things you want  and to actively choose happiness even when it's not easy. I'm going to start working on my own to do list this weekend.

look how cute this cover is from the version published in Korea

 3. Making bunting banners. I thought these were cute at first  but then they started getting  super trendy and it was enough already.
But I made one the other day for the first time out of different kinds of paper and it turned out really cute. Usually when I work on drawings or sewing I don't get done in one sitting so this little craft was very satisfying indeed. I decided to try to make one next on the computer, I used the floral pattern I drew in Illustrator .Then I made a triangle shape laid out enough pieces for the words I wanted, I used a large white font so the words would pop against the dark purple color, printed it on a 11x17 sheet of paper. I cut and punched and strung and ta da project completed.

4. Wreck it Ralph and other Fall movies. Now that it's November (how did that happen?) all the good Fall movies are coming out, there's so many I'm excited to see like James Bond, the Lincoln one, just to name a few. But this weekend I hope to see Ralph, I'm so excited :)

too cute

5. Planning for the holidays and new items for my shop. It's always fun to play with ideas

winter birdy sketch

Welcome November, I'm ready for my favorite time of year :)