NHQuiltarts!

It is no secret that I love fabric. I come from a long line of fabric lovers. My Mom knows where fabric stores are in towns she hasn't lived in for 20+ years. She might not know her way around the town, but she knows where the fabric stores are. It is all in your priorities.  My Aunts are the same; very creative people with fabric and needles.  Our girls had no chance of not loving fabric. since both of their Grandma's love to sew. They have given the girls countless bits of fabric, taught them to sew and spent time investing in their sewing future.

Ok, now that you know that we are staunch fabric a holics. The one path that I haven't really travelled is that of quilting. I would love to quilt, in fact I am cutting one out right now. I have been cutting it out for a couple of months......The problem is that I want to quilt like this:



[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="570" caption="http://www.etsy.com/listing/35924904/quilt-pineapple-blocks-and-appliqued"][/caption]

Reality always hits me when I look at Nancy's quilts at NHQuiltarts. She has been sewing quilts and teaching quilting for 27 years.  She also creates the most beautiful wall hangings. I love this pink hydrangea.



As you browse through Nancy's etsy shop you will be stunned at the variety of styles, colors and items. There is a wide variety and truly something for everyone. She uses quality fabrics and creates a one of a kind use-able artwork that will last several lifetimes. Stop by her etsy shop  http://www.nhquiltarts.etsy.com and let her know that I sent you by. I am going to keep plugging along and finish my quilt but I will never compete with Nancy. What I sew will simply be for family!

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

 

Handmade Leather Journals by The Orange Windmill at Etsy.

I have always wanted to be one of the those people that journals. I get started but then I get to feeling that my life is too normal and why would I want to journal about dinner choices, laundry and life at my house! So I guess I blog instead. IF I DID journal these are the books that I would want to journal in.

This one



or this one! I just love this green.



When I was a teen The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady was  quite popular. She had written and water colored in her book. She covered the changes in the seasons of her gardens and surrounding countryside.

  

It built up my desire to journal but I don't have to journal I could just write. My daughter journals and writes books. She would love to have one of these journals as her own. She has filled several blank books with writing. She would love this one in its blue leather cover.



Shhhh...don't tell...maybe for her birthday!

Talk to you later,

Karen

BTW all of these journals are available for purchase at http://www.theorangewindmill.etsy.com

Etsian Feature: Two Paper Addicts

The Etsy shop:TwoPaperAddicts is the brainchild of Rose and Cris, two etsy friends who became cross country best friends, and who both have a serious addiction to anything paper. Rose lives in Michigan and teaches high school literature, chemistry and biology full time. She has two young boys who keep her busy, and a husband. Cris lives in Colorado. She retired from Corporate America where she taught time management among other things and has forgotten everything she knew!! She has a husband and two yellow labs who try to tell her she is on Etsy too much.

Much of the above I borrowed directly from their shop profile on Etsy! :0) They are teammates of mine on the EASL team  which stands for Etsy Artisans Success League. They both have separate shops of their own. They sell such lovely paper goodies.

Like these:



 





These are just a few of their lovely items. Stop by and say hi and that you saw their wonderful paper goodies on Chocolate Dog Studio.

Thanks,

Karen

Welcome to the New Year!

I guess I should have been on here much earlier than Jan. 18! Life has been very busy and my blog has fallen by the wayside. We had family in after Christmas and the busyness of Pre-Christmas sales kept me hopping before Christmas! I almost reached some goals I had set last year at this time and when I look back at the year I can see God's hand in all of it.  I am not going to bore you with all the details. I feel very blessed and definitely well cared for.

My newest venture is to sell books on Amazon.com. It is incredibly easy and we are pulling books from our shelves that we haven't touched in years or everyone has read.  Then we are also getting rid of books that we used in college.  It is good to get rid of things and see the pile of books getting smaller every week. The kids wanted to list some wii games that they have outgrown or played through so those were listed in an adventurous moment. I think they are already planning what to do with any money that they get from the games.

My other new venture is my second Etsy shop called....The Paper Train. You can find it at http://www.thepapertrain.etsy.com. What does it sell? Well, all the paper items that I have had too much of in my other shop. They are both streamlined now and seem less cluttered. I wish I had created the second shop earlier.

I am creating some new items for ChocolateDogStudio and can't wait to post them in the shop but it will be Feb. before they are ready.

I keep looking back on the year and seeing the frustrations and then the blessings. We still have a house for sale and it has not had many lookers but the housing market is down and there are many people in the same boat. We have had a child announce an engagement so we will get to celebrate a wedding within 18 months! I was sure that time would never fly this fast and it seems to have picked up speed once he graduated from high school.

What is going on in your future?

Thanks for listening to me ramble,

Karen

 

New Cup Cozies

After getting together with my photographer over the Thanksgiving Weekend I have new listings in the Http://www.chocolatedogstudio.etsy.com shop. Woohoo, I am excited and made up a bunch of new ones that I think appeal more to the guys in your life. So here they are!

[gallery link="file" columns="4" orderby="rand"]

Which one do you like best?

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

A little of the New!

Here are some photos of items in process and then some finished goodies.



 

 

 

Here is the almost finished product.



 

Glass and glitter makes for a hard photo to shoot!

Some new cozy fabric:



 

 

Some new coasters:



I have a whole bunch of new Christmas gift tags, but they are already packaged up and ready to go. Don't let me forget the vintage tea towel aprons that are hanging up! My greatest fear is that I will forget something vital like the tins full of gift tags and Christmas paper flowers for gift wrapping or the post it note holders...

See you later,

Karen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Countdown to the Craft show!

I am counting down to the craft show on Saturday here in the Des Moines area. It is my first Christmas season craft show. I am nervous and have no idea what to expect. My online etsy buddies keep telling me that it will be fine. I am working like crazy and I have so much  I need to do and what feels like so little time!

.....

I wrote this a few days ago and I am still on edge. Say a prayer for me that I can pull this off.

 

Thanks, Karen