and the winner is...

...via random.org, #10, Meghan! And the fates work in mysterious ways--I'm even more glad to send this Meghan as she is a past customer of mine! Cheers, Meghan (and little Thomas)!

Lots and lots and LOTS of work happening around here. I got a bit backed up with Christmas orders but I'm really plugging away now. If you have an order in with me, never fear! I will have it to you in plenty of time for Christmas! I'm sending books out every day now, and soon I'll catch up with pictures here on the blog.

giveaway day!

Whew, I didn't think I'd make it there for a while, but here we are. Sew, Mama, Sew's Giveaway Day!

Last time I gave away one of my favorite cloth books, the British Words book. This time I wanted to try something a little different and do a test run on an item I'm thinking about making for the shop.

And here it is:


:A doll-sized (about 18" x 22") alphabet quilt!

I used all vintage fabrics and organic cotton batting to make this beauty. The thing I really love about it is that it's just as pretty hung on the wall as it is in the arms of your little one.

If you'd like a chance to win this for your very own leave a comment letting me know what you think of the vintage doll quilt as a potential addition to my shop. Are there any other things you may like to see? Themes for future books? I'm looking forward to some time in the coming year to further develop my products and would love to hear your ideas. And of course it's fine if you'd just like to say hi ;)

I'll be choosing the winner with a random number generator on December 7.

I will gladly ship internationally--I couldn't leave out all of the wonderful friends I've been making worldwide!

Cheers, and good luck!!

a date with my girl

Picked my girl up a bit early from school today and the two of us went to see this:


:We both loved it, but I suspect for very different reasons. I loved absolutely everything about it but I think a lot of it went over Tigerlily's head, though not so much that she ever grew bored. The characters are phenomenal--I have to say, I'm not his biggest fan but George Clooney was truly fantastic! I want to go again!

mark your calendars!

Another Sew, Mama, Sew! Giveaway Day is coming up this week! Check out their blog this Wednesday, December 2 for all of the many, many participating crafters. I'll be one of them, and here's a sneak peek at what I'll be giving away....


...See you then!

news

It's been a whirlwind week around here! Lyric's birthday, preparing for Thanksgiving, a nice visit with my Grandpa, getting some new items made and posted in the shop (time for a photography class, I think...), working on the many custom book orders I've accumulated, and taking a trip to visit family in northern New Hampshire have taken a toll and we're officially pooped today. But with less than a month until Christmas the show must go on!

Here are some snapshots from our week:

pirate party antics in the loft

drinking lots of cider

at home haircut

bellydancing after dinner

riding Opa's tractor

practicing for a pet

a brief visit to our old home in VT

missing wide open spaces

I finally found the time to work on a shop update, man that takes a long time! Here are some of the things you'll find:monogram card sets

scrap fabric card sets

holiday card sets

appliqued wall art

three is a magic number

It's been a big week around here. Aside from working like mad on custom orders and trying to fit in some readymade stuff for the holidays (shop update hopefully on Wednesday though it may have to wait until we return from our holiday travels) this past Wednesday was a very special day for us.Lyric by the fire just after being born

Lyric, my sweet baby boy, turned three. It doesn't seem possible that it was a whole three years ago that he joined our little family, and yet it feels like he's always been here. He brings so much joy and humor (and singing and dancing and jedi-mastering) into our lives, he's so awesome.

And now he's officially a "big kid"--he also started at the Free School on Wednesday! Of course, he's been spending lots of time there his whole life so he had no reservations about being there on his own. I'm a little sad that my little one is growing up so fast but mostly I feel as if we've entered a new era full of possibilities. I will actually have time to work now!

it's hard to go from holding up two fingers to holding up three

Here are some pictures of the birthday boy throughout the week, including at his swashbuckling pirate party:

the invitation

inside the pirate ship...too much grog

3 letters on 6 pages

I find that an extraordinary amount of children's names these days are 6 letters long, which works well for me since I originally developed my books to be 6 pages long. However, there's no need to exclude all of the little Eli's, Ava's and Kai's out there since it's just as nice to do 2 pages for every letter!

And so, here's my latest 3-letter name book on 6 pages (and my first try at a homemade lightbox, foolishly set up in my red room...):

getting in the spirit

Though the weather's been warm and it's not even Thanksgiving yet I'm already gearing up for the winter holidays. I'm warding off the feeling that I'm actually a bit late with all of this, but I'm determined to be at least a little less stressed this year while doing a bit more for and with my family.

I'm excited to be a part of Leah's stocking stuffer swap again this year and have just signed up for Sew Liberated's holiday traditions swap. I've got some good ideas and am excited to put it all together. Plus, it's so much fun to get a bit of surprise mail, especially at the holidays!



I'm also planning a big holiday shop update which, if all goes according to plan, will be on Friday, November 20. Be sure to check it out!

i

My latest work:

city cider

The stars aligned yesterday in our neighborhood as many folks found themselves with copious amounts of apples (see Leah's post) and a willing cider press. Together we all made lots and lots of apple cider--I didn't get a final tally; 35 gallons? We ended up with 5 gallons for hard cider and about 3 gallons of sweet, plus a bin of the chopped-up, squeezed-out apple bits that Skye's determined to ferment and freeze into applejack. Plans are in the works for a winter doldrums party. February at the Boatshop, people!

adult halloween

Well, luckily I thought to take some quick photos before our big adult party on Friday night because this is all I have for the Emma Goldman and Disposable Man costumes:

the camera is an anachronism, I know...

...here she is for real.

I hope you had as much fun as we did!

boo

:: Happy Halloween from Cheetah Girl, Captain Realpirate (with light saber), Emma Goldman and Disposable Man. More photos tomorrow!

'tis the season

As scary as it is ( to me, at least--I still have to make Halloween costumes!), the holidays are less than 2 months away! Last year I was absolutely swamped with custom orders and, though it was fantastic to have so much business, I was really crazed for the whole month of December and wasn't able to enjoy my own holiday as much as I would have liked. To avoid a repeat of the insanity in our home I'm hoping to pace the orders a bit more. So, I've posted this announcement and offer in the shop:

I would be honored to make a custom book (or banner or quilt…) for your little one to open this holiday season and hope to be able to accommodate everyone who would like one. Please keep in mind that orders do book up very rapidly and, though I may be able to take orders after this point, I cannot guarantee holiday/Christmas receipt of custom book orders placed after NOVEMBER 30.

As an added incentive for people to get their orders in early I’m offering 10% off any custom book, quilt or banner orders placed before November 8. Once your order is placed and your payment received I will refund the 10% to you via PayPal.

Thanks so much, and enjoy the season!

100% recycled alphabet quilt

:Fair warning ;)


I'll also be stocking the shop soon with monogram eco-felt stockings (this year I'm offering a mini-version to hang for your pets) and recycled card sets, and may even find the time to open a little shop (evilolivedesign) for the crocheted earrings I make.

triplets!

I recently finished up an order of three books for triplets. The idea of triplets alone is really exciting but I'm really excited about these books.

There's a lot going on with these, from the William Morris covers to the Houston/Texas theme, as well as a page in each book reflecting the parents' professions (dad's a librarian and mom studies speech). All in all I think these will be really special gifts for three really special boys.

Ben's book:

Alex's book (can't find the photo of his cover...):

Teddy's book: