Big Huge Blog to Blog Giveaway from The Artisan Group!

This is the first ever give away I have taken part in, and it's a doozy. The fabulous Artisan Group, who gifts celebrities at gifting events like the Emmys and the Oscars, has $950 worth of fabulous swag to giveaway. You have 30 chances to win! Click the link above, go, go, go! And good luck!

This is the first ever

Could the Slump Be Over?

Sheesh. We had a round of viral obnoxiousness around here recently. The hubby started it, and as always rebounded quite quickly. The oldest had it for a day. And the two little ones had a rough few days, but then were fine. I on the other hand am still working on getting rid of it, and it's going on two weeks. It just knocked me on my feet and zapped all of my energy. So I feel like I am behind on my orders, and there is so much I am desperate to do. (Hats, capes, mittens, boots!) When it used to take me three nights to get a pair of shoes done, it now seems like I get one a week done. It's very frustrating. And hopefully, as I am on the mend, the slump is over.

Last night, I finished a lovely pair of shoes. One of the things that is making my shoe making take a little longer is that I am drafting a new set of patterns. I have to alter my master pattern with every new size I get. So, that adds a little time right now.

I love the fabric that Cayce chose for these Marian's. It's a black and tan herringbone tweed, and there is a tiny bit of gold thread woven throughout it. And I love that she chose an indigo ribbon to go with it. So glad I had a silk one in my stash...

I wish you all health and wellness!

The Country Living Fair

For the third year in a row, I got to go to the Country Living Fair in Ohio. Country Living is my favorite magazine. I love pretty much everything about it, and the Fair is awesome. Filled with antiques, and handmade gorgeousness. I'm a kid in a candy store there.

Unfortunately, this year, I had a cold/flu. I was there, but I was miserable. I couldn't concentrate. Usually, I look for items I can use to make something with. But, I couldn't visualize well through the fog in my head.

Still I managed to pick up a few things. I spent half of my money at my favorite booth. Seriously, I always spend the majority of my money there.

I bought these adorable vintage and in perfect condition shoes mainly for my daughter. They're the right length, but unfortunately they're too tight and won't go on her very skinny feet somehow. Ah, well. They were a mere $9 and I am sure I can come up with a use for them. Wink, wink...

I also picked up this lovely pattern. I adore both dresses and dream of the day when I have time enough to actually make myself something like this...

The third thing I bought in this booth, was the middle fabric in the above pic. It's a vintage feedsack. Love it. The gray fabric on the right is also vintage feedsack. And the script material I love for its graphic nature.

The one other item that I purchased while there was a little reminder I plan to put in the living room in some way...

And speaking of making time, that's the other beautiful thing I came away from the fair with. My parents and my brother and sister in law and my hubby and kids all together in a couple of hotel rooms. Quality family time. My daughter kept going up to my dad and saying "Papa". He'd pick her up and she would cuddle into him, putting her head on his shoulder the way I used to do. It was perfect and beautiful.

A Little Something for Two

The ever popular "Billie Clip" had a baby...

I thought a mother/daughter set would be a wonderful thing. Now if only my daughter had some hair...

A Very Special Customer

For her daughter's birthday, a very dear friend of ours bought her daughter a pair of shoes from GLT. As part of the gift, we let sweet Charis be a part of the design process. She was so excited to get to design her own shoes.

We live states apart so unfortunately, I don't know my dear friend's children as well as I wish, so it was such fun collaborating with Charis. She is an endearing, polite and beautiful girl. I asked her to tell me what colors she might like and her most definite response was pink and brown. And she said she likes stripes.

I looked through my stash, but didn't find anything that was just right, so I went shopping. My oldest was forced to tag along with me, much to his dismay. But, when I told him what I was looking for, he dug right in and kept pulling out bolts, "What about this one?" Just when I was about to give up, and settle on a polka dot print, he found what I was sure was the perfect fabric. I bought enough of both, in order to give Charis the chance to choose. And, of course she chose the one that Isaac had found. We were all so thrilled. It makes the shoes that much more special.

She also decided that she wanted a butterfly as opposed to a flower. I love butterflies. And in addition to the shoes, she got a matching hair clip...

And my favorite new item, a matching bracelet as well.

I absolutely love the delicate nature of this bracelet. It's easily adjustable. It has been sewn on so it can be moved side to side, but does not slip off the ends. And it can be turned so that the whole bracelet lies flat, for easy transport.

They are all on their way to a very deserving birthday girl. And I hope that she enjoys them as much as we enjoyed creating them together. Happy birthday, Charis!

The Swan Song of Summer

School starts tomorrow. And the air has taken a decidedly chilly turn. Summer is officially over. This last long weekend I wanted to send it out in style culinarily speaking. That is so not a word.

At any rate, besides baking a double batch of banana bread (because we have a ridiculous 20 frozen bananas in the freezer, in their peels and not really good for anything else) I also made three and a half jars of strawberry freezer jam, froze 10 roasted bell peppers and some 5 ears of wonderful summer corn.

We also started off the weekend with a bit of a feast with friends we hadn't seen in way too long. Not a bad way to begin.

And then, there were these lovelies just for savoring the last bit of summer...

For lunch, crackers with cream cheese, homemade chimichurri sauce (which is basically cliantro, vinegar, lots of garlic and some spices all whizzed together), cucumbers and tomatoes. So yummy.

For dinner, rice, beans, mango pineapple salsa and shrimp. Happiness in a bowl.

And for the last meal of summer, Daisy-head Maizy burgers.  You know, from Dr. Seuss? My oldest asked for them. It took all day to make the flowers. It was a lot of effort for the two seconds of "Hey, we have flowers in our burgers!" that actually happened. But, the boys did help to make the cookies, and so hopefully, they stored up memories. Hopefully, that day of effort will resound over the years as "Hey, remember that time we had flowers in our burgers?"

The grow-up' burgers were so good, with chopped caramelized onions, chopped garlic and chipotle pepper mixed in. Yummm.

And with that, summer is over. Here is to a great school year, and a beautiful fall...Mmm, already thinking about soups and pumpkin lattes and apple cider...

Petite Bouquet Shoes

I love when I get a new challenge and something lovely emerges from it. I have a customer who wanted charcoal gray shoes with either a periwinkle or pink flower. Looking through my previous designs she chose this flower style:

A lovely ribbon style to be sure, but those were children's shoes, and that particular flower can't be made larger, so when placed on an adult shoe, it just didn't look right. What to do, what to do?

I just happened to have two shades of ribbon that complimented the periwinkle I had already used, I wondered how it would be if I made three flowers and used them all together on the shoe. Oh my gosh. I was so excited just by the idea, I couldn't wait to get them made.

Once I saw them together, I loved them! But I wanted to make certain that my customer loved them too. I had to wait an agonizing 36 hours to hear from her. She thinks they're beautiful! I'm so glad. And as always, my newest design becomes my favorite.

I think I am going to need to buy more ribbon.