Crafty Carnival

Busy! Busy!

It's really busy around here!  We are getting ready for our huge annual 4th of July party!  We are having about 50 people this year, so it should be pretty fun!  With all of my business, I didn't have a chance to stitch up my last 2 designs for Pimp Stitch, so Lauren was awesome enough to help me out and get them stitched for me so I could still be a part of the release!  THANK YOU LAUREN!  I love you!!!

So you can head on over to Pimp Stitch and see the latest releases :)  I did one called Space Rocks with an astronaut and an alien, and one called Love and Happiness with a girl that has a rainbow on her head.  I can't imagine she has a very tough life with a rainbow following her around all the time :)

Also, Amy will be at Renegade craft fair in San Francisco next weekend.  She's taking some kits for Pimp Stitch too.  The kit contains fabric, floss, a needle and a pattern page that has one design from each of us.  For now you can only get that kit at Renegade, but we may have leftovers later.  I did a cupcake for my design on that page. 

My bff Nicole has it already (bff perks) and she stitched it on the apron of a doll.  SOOOO cute!  And she's offering it on her website!  (the pimp stitch patterns are for personal use only, but again, bff perks :)  Thanks, Nicole for making it look so cute!!!

PIMP STITCH IS OPEN!

I've written this post four times and something's happening each time.... I'm not happy.  I do not have all day to make this all cute and pretty again, so here goes:

Pimp Stitch opened today!  Tamie, Lauren, Amy and I all have 2 pattern sets each for sale on the site for only $3 each.  There is also another free pattern on the blog which is waaaay cute, so be sure to at least check that out! :)

I did Robots and Teddy Bears :)  Here's a quick look!  Please check it out when you have time!

And A BIG SPECIAL THANK YOU to everyone who helped us spread the word about Pimp Stitch this last month.  Especially Nat at CRAFTzine :)  It's because of the positive response and help from all of our readers that we have been able to forge ahead, so THANKS AGAIN!

Bears for sale on etsy :)

I updated my etsy shop with all of the bears I pictured in the post that's two below :)

Also, pimpstitch updated with a new free pattern from AMY!  check it out!!

Amusapalooza!

 Shame on me!  I'm getting this info out to you a little bit late... but Amusapalooza has started!  This is a month long party of stamping and give aways and challenges, AND it all ends with a great big fabulous stamp release at the end!  Please check out the amusapalooza blog for all the dirty deets!  (*and if you're new around here, here's a little background... A Muse is a fabulous company based in Seattle that manufactures rubber stamps, clear sets, beautiful papers and all things crafty and stampy.  I illustrate a few stamps for them and have fallen 100%, Prime Time, IN LOVE with them!  So definately, check it out!)

Free Embroidery Pattern

 Well... not here, but over at Pimp Stitch :)  We will each be giving away a free pattern this month, to be released each Tuesday (more or less) until our grand opening at the end of the month of JUNE!  yay stitchers!!!!  Check it out and leave lots of comments!  So... Let's get this party started!!!!!

Just Sharing some pics

So, last week I promised you pictures from my banner class!  Here they are!  I have a few kits left if you're interested.  The only thing that doesn't come in the kit is the rubber stamps I used.  But if you're a big A Muse fan, you'll have most of them and can sub out the ones you don't have.  Email me if you're intrested :)  There are close up pictures of each letter on my flickr if you'd like to see those too :)

I also wanted to share a sweet little birthday doll I made.  

And some bears I had laying around that needed photographing :)  The little birthday doll was a special order.  The smaller bears, I had left over from baz biz, and the big bear, well she's special.  (And of course there's more pics in my flickr :)

Teddy Bear and Friends magazine asked me to make her based on a reader's poll.  I made the people's bunny this way... (sorry, can't find the original post with the questions :(  So the bear had to be autumn colors, long pile mohair, long arms, short fat body, big black eyes, short legs, and a girl!  So she was born.  She was in the magazine, but only her head was pictured, so now you get to see the whole meal deal.  I know she's a little funky and special... but I really love her and think that's what is so great about her!

And finally, check out pimpstitch again... Tamie's bio is up.  She cracks me up... and she's funny like that in real life too!  Love her!

Oh... I said finally... but one more thing!   I'm already planning a trip to see my bff Nicole for the summer.  It's really hard living so far a part and I miss her so much!  We are going to try and go down to the brand spakin new - just opened - and super fabulous MY PAPER TALES store in San Diego.  THAT'S GONNA BE FUN!!!!!!!

Dudes make good spool dolls too!

Are you sick of looking at spool dolls on my blog yet?  LOL!  Me too!!  So I just listed a bunch in my etsy shop!

Also, the Pimp Stitch blog is updated again with Lauren's interview!  We've been working really hard behind the scenes to get the site up and running so you all can start pimpin your stitches!  We have some freebies that are on the way too for the blog!  Thanks for checking us out!  (And when I say WE are working really hard... I do mean Tamie because she has definately been are little work horse so far!  And don't worry Tamie, I'm just here to tell everyone how much I love you... I promise NOT to say a word about the fact that you're turning 30 on Saturday... no way... my lips are SEALED!  :)

And finally, thanks to everyone who signed up for my class at the Paper Garden this Friday!  It's gonna be a goody and I think you're really gonna like it!  I'll post pics of the class projects for all of you that live far away.  In the meantime, I'll just leave you with a pic of my first EVER atc card!  I know, I'm a little late to the game on this one... but I LOVED it!

It says, "If there WAS a monster under your bed ... he'd look like this.  So, GO TO SLEEP!"  funny, right?  :)

Good Stuff!

I'm barely keeping my head above water over here, but I have to give you a few quick updates!

3 of my friends from here in Sacramento and I have gotten together and put up a blog and a website called Pimp Stitch.  It's a fun way for us to meet up and be creative as a group and it's just what we all needed.  It's a nice distraction from all of the other stuff we work so hard on.  Pimp Stitch is PURE fun, and while it's not going full force just yet, I hope you'll take the time to check it out :)  Amy, Lauren and Tamie are all super fun people to be friends with... I know... I spent the whole weekend with them at Baz Biz, and let me tell you... my cheeks HURT from laughing so hard all weekend!  (I'll spare you the details because they really aren't blog appropriate... lots of potty humor!)

Also, I wanted to give you the blog tip of the century READ LAUREN'S BLOG!!!!!!!!!  Lauren is really committed to blogging and sharing her craftiness and inspiration.  To me, this is the epitome of blog land.  Sharing ideas, providing how to's and inspiration and just all in all making it possible for others to share in any success you've found.  This is why I love Lauren's blog.  She does a tutorial and a give away every single week.  So if you are only reading ONE blog... hers is the one to read.  If you need a teacher's gift, hostess gift, or a plain ole pick me up... go to Goody Goody.  You'll find it there!  And if you aren't crafty but you like to buy crafty stuff... lucky for you, she has a shop too!!!

And finally, I just wanted to put a quick note up that says I'm not longer teaching at Convenzione.  I could write about how and why this all came about... but I'm afraid if I did, that it could be misinterpretted or picked apart.  So let me just say that it didn't work out, and there's no hard feelings.  BUT, I did work very hard on getting a project ready JUST for this event, so since I've gone that far, I'm going to put the kits for it in my etsy shop.  I won't post them until next week because I still have to bag them up and write instructions, but I already have all of the stuff :)  I'm sorry if I've dissapointed any of you, but trust me when I tell you, I'm no big thing, and you're not missing anything!  LOLOLOL!  Candice Carpenter has come on board to take my place, and speaking from experience (because I've taken classes from her) she is so super talented and fabulous and you will LOVE her!  Do not hesitate to sign up for her class!  And tell her I sent you!!!!

And finally... one more pic to leave you with from baz biz....

These Babies are going to Baz Biz

I'm really lucky that I have a daughter that wants to help me sew.  Sometimes I feel luckier than others tho...  I love that she wants to help... but if she jacks up the hair on one more doll... or "accidently" cuts something that's not supposed to be cut, I'm putting up a baby gate!  LOL!  And her next "craft" can be building a way to get over it!  LOL!  I know what you're thinking... close the door... ya right.. the door on this sewing room only closes about once a year for a special occasion when I have to hide the mess!  And even then it still takes me 45 minutes to clean it enough to get the door to close!  I come by it honestly.  My Gramma has a 5 bedroom house and 3 of them are "junk" rooms!  LOL!

(It even occured to me once... in a random thought... to tell the children, if a burgler ever comes in the house, just hide in the sewing room.  You'll be completely safe, and he'll never find you... and even if he tries, he'll probably break his neck and die just getting in the door... so you'll be safe.  HA HA!  I never did have that conversation with them tho, that would be irresponsible.)  I know I'm rambling, I'm tired.  I just wanted to share a few pics of the babies going to Baz Biz this weekend with me :)

I'm really excited about the whole weekend, because there are 5 of us girls sharing 2 hotel rooms, plus a few more from Sacramento Craft Mafia that are staying with family.  So there is bound to be some funnies.  You know the kind that only occur when you've had no sleep and you're exhausted and then there's the margaritas at dinner, next thing you know your saying - okay!  Go to sleep!- and it's quiet for a minute and then somebody starts giggling and it starts all over again?  Ya... that's what I'm looking forward too!  :) I even made us a boyfriend... just in case!  LOLOLOLOLOL!  :)

New Bears

These 3 furry friends will be available on Glitter and Grunge when it updates tomorrow on the 1st!  It's been awhile since I've finished any bears, but I've really had fun with these!

And don't forget to come see me this weekend at Baz Biz!  I have a lot of fun new stuff I really think you will enjoy seeing like these silly magnets!  But don't worry if you can't come, I promise pics when I get back.  Also, if you have time to kill, check out the vendor list on the website (click on baz biz above) and you can click around and see all of the fab blogs of the vendors who are selling there.  It's a real easy way to kill an hour or two without even trying and I garuntee that you will find at least a handful of vendors that you will add to your favorites!!!!

Lastly, don't forget to sign up for Convenzione!  The instructor list is very much top of the line and A-List, I promise!  In fact, so much so that I'll definately be low man on this totum pole!  But I don't mind at all because considering the company, I'll take it!  LOLOLOL!

That's it... short and sweet because I'm working for my show!!!