jcaroline

Cool New Print & New Fabrics

Check out this cool print I ordered and got last week.  I ordered it from Paula Prass's shop.  This print is the Audrey Lovebird and they customize it with any name you want.  I got the 16" x 16" canvas print that is gallery stretched (wrapped around the edges).  There was something about that girl's silhouette that caught my eye.  Paula's shop specializes in frames and wall art for children's rooms and she has some gorgeous things. And, she just announced that she is the newest fabric designer for Michael Miller Fabrics.  She is finalizing the line right now and so no sneak peek has been seen yet.  I expect to see that line mid to late summer.

Speaking of sneak peeks, Sandi Henderson over at Portabello Pixie,  (no longer the "newest" fabric designer for Michael Miller), is teasing us with teeny peeks of her new line "Farmers Market".  It debuts at Quilt Market in Portland next week.  I expect it to be as good as, if not better, than Ginger Blossom.  She is also debuting her line of patterns next week.  I wonder what she does in her spare time?

I have also been busy preparing for Quilt Market next week.  It seems that Michael Miller Fabrics has taken a liking to Modern Flora and are showing it in Portland next week.  (Michael Miller Fabrics is now the wholesale distributor for Modern Flora.)  That means that the famous photo shoot pictures are going, along with the floor pillows, curtains and the totes.   I'll be interested to see what the response to the fabric is.  It is certainly not traditional "Quilt Market" fabric, so that could be good or bad.  But, based on the last Quilt Market in Houston, the market is becoming less traditional, so maybe the timing is great.  I just hope Michael Miller is still smitten with the fabric AFTER the show.

Anyway, I'm going to Portland and hope to meet lots of the people from Blogland, so I'll keep you posted.

Black Bags

I found these bags in the Modern Flora Flickr Group and knew I had to have them.  They are made by Leslie Ann at Black Bags and she uses some darling fabrics.  Of course, I think the Modern Flora fabric is the cutest, but I don't see any more in her shop at the moment (probably because I bought them).  Anyway, I love the shape of the bags, the mix of the solids and prints, and her topstitching is absolutely meticulous.

Speaking of Flickr, I've set up two new project galleries.  Furniture DIY is for all you people that have been commenting that you are now going to attempt some re-upholstery or other fabric re-dos.  The second is Inspired by jcaroline for you to share the projects you made from our how-tos.  Share in the description what inspired you, if you made any changes, and (GASP) where you had trouble.  Create and share!

Furniture Redos/ Curbly

Hard as it may be to believe, I did not invent the furniture redo.   People have been doing this for quite some time and doing a great job at it.  I just became obsessed recently.  Check out Shelly of FliptStudio's upholstered bench made from an old coffee table.

She documents this bench re-do and others on her blog Flipt.  She is also writing a column for Curbly called "Goodwill Hunting".  Pretty clever, eh?  She also did a nightstand re-do.  Somehow she copied my idea before I even had it!  She won runner-up in the Apartment Therapy January Jumpstart competition.

Thanks, Shelley, for sharing your cleverness and turning me on to Curbly.  It is DIY heaven.  The originator of the blog, Bruno Bornzstein,  says " I wanted to create a place online where people can celebrate all the hard work they put into their homes."  The great thing is they cover projects large and small.  I myself am oddly intrigued by the homemade Swiffer covers.  Perhaps I have some scrap fabric somewhere to make some...

A Glass of Sanity with Breakfast

My friend, Rhonda, presented me with a gift of wine this week.  I did not know that the Sanity vineyard had a "Breakfast Chardonnay" varietal.  And the 50% alcohol content is quite impressive as well.

She got the label here where you choose your own wording to put on their designs, print it on a full page label and cut where indicated.  She actually soaked the label off this bottle because it was larger than this label.

I thought it was hysterical, but also a great idea for your next hostess gift.  You could make the label their name and the varietal "Best Party/Hosts/Friends Ever"... you get the idea.  They have the biggest selection of labels under red wine and white wine. 

Here's what I plan to drink this evening:

Trash Ties from Heather Bailey

Heather Bailey, designer of Freshcut fabric, is off on a new adventure!   Trash Ties^TM are Heather's new invention:  bendable fabric hair ties to replace barrettes, bobby pins or elastics.  Trash Ties^TM come packaged as one 25" length or five 4" lengths in several colors.  Even if you are hair styling challenged,  she helps you out with the included 16 page style guide.

If you order by December 10, she can get them to you in time for Christmas.  I  snatched up some for my nieces for stocking stuffers.  (If I come up with something they haven't heard of yet, they think I'm hip.  Or at least they humor me.)

Check out Heather's Trash Ties^TM and enjoy another product of her talents.  Don't worry-- she is not abandoning textile design.  She has a new line coming out in the spring of 2008.

Yum, yum

While doing a Google search for crack, I came upon Karen and Nancy's homemade goodies.  No, that's not really how I found them.  I was actually searching for "things to make my butt really big".  Well, they have it.  It's pecan crack and it's awesome.  I also bought a caramel sauce that is the best thing I've ever tasted.  They sell these goodies from their Etsy shop, September 15th to December 15th.  The packaging is as good as the product- cute ribbons and little jar "hats" (whatever those things are that you slip over jar tops).  The price points are $8 to $14, so great for little holiday gifts.  They included a couple of Espresso Caramels that were also delicious.  When I reorder, I'm going for the full blown Golden Caramels.

Cool Plates from Jackie Shapiro

You may have seen the name Jackie Shapiro on our website.  She is the designer behind Modern Grace and Play for Wyndham Fabrics.  I just noticed that she has a whole other life as a designer!  She has a company called French Bull, which specializes in melamine dishes and now stationery, and designs some of the cutest dishware (including flatware) I've ever seen.

While drooling over the dishware on her site, I noticed that I owned one of her plates.  I had seen this cute child's plate at the Contemporary Art Museum Houston's gift shop and had to buy it for you-know-who.  Those fabric designers are everywhere!

Anyway, the French Bull site lists three places to buy her things online (or to just ogle at them):  Plum Party, Cocoa Crayon, and Loft Party.  These plates are like cute fabric on your table.  And you don't have to sew them into anything!

Polka Dot Market

I bought this darling little girl's purse from Polka Dot Market.  It's a very belated birthday gift for a 4-year-old who likes girly things.  Polka Dot Market specializes in monogrammed items for children and adults (aprons, Tshirts, bags, stationery).  You can choose from different fabrics & colors and they'll make it for you.  They've got some darling things and I didn't have to make anything myself.  (Thus why the birthday present is belated- the original plan was to make something and it hasn't happened.)  Don't miss the owner's Sally's blog.  She'll keep you updated on what they've added to the store.

I'm out of sorts this afternoon.  In the last week, I've really caught up on getting items added to the website.  Of course, there is always something to add, but the huge mounds of product laying around have been taken care of.  So now I'm a little lost.  Start a fun project this afternoon? Or keep my nose to the grindstone and clean up the little remnants of stuff that never get addressed?  Or spend my afternoon pondering those questions and accomplishing nothing?  Probably the latter.

Visual Goodies

I just got my notecards by Lara Cameron from Moo!  Let me back up... Moo is an "on-demand" printer in England that specializes in sticker books, notecards and mini cards.  You can upload your own images to be printed, or you can choose from their designer images.  I think Moo is a great idea for pictures of your children, pets, loved ones or to make your own invitations or birthday cards. Their sticker books are packaged like matchbooks and are darling!

I had seen Lara Cameron's work on her blog, Kirin Notebook, and she recently announced that her designs would be on Moo.  I especially like her design of scissors and buttons shown on top. She also sells her designs on fabric at her Etsy Shop.  She is in Melbourne, Australia, but she'll gladly ship it to the U.S.!

The other goodie I've been enjoying is these bags of fabric.  If you do projects that require small pieces of lots of fabrics, they are for you!  They are basically samples and any other pieces of wayward fabric that we've cut into roughly 3" x 4" (at least) pieces and we've bagged approximately 45 of them (50 grams) for $2.  It's a "while supplies last" type of thing, but given all the fabric I'm finding stashed away, we should be fine for awhile.

My other mania at the moment is "fabric packs".  When we buy fabric collections, some pieces sell more than others.  So eventually, when the line is discontinued, there are orphaned pieces from the collection.  I started making color groups of those fabrics with fabrics from other collections and if I may say so, came up with some darling ones.  I then tied them up with ribbon and voila-- it's a visual delight!  The packs are one yard pieces of either 5 or 6 fabrics.  I will be offering them on the website-- I just need to organize them and price them.  A great gift for a crafter, yes?

Love the Web!

I saw these paintings on Jessica Jones's Etsy Shop "How About Orange" and had to have them.  And now, a few days later, I possess them!  I love the web!  And ironically, they are resting on the orange couch in my office until I find them a proper home.  Check out her shop- she's a graphic artist who creates paintings and other decorative items.

In fact, she shares the tutorial on her blog for making fabric-covered thumbtacks.  Once we get the correct size button covers in, I'm going to make some myself.

Also on her blog, a pdf download of these same vines on a birthday card and envelope to print on your color printer. Isn't sharing grand?

Etsy Update

Check out this customer's site on Etsy,  C.B.Stitches.  Darling belts from fabric very reasonably priced.  I had to order two for myself! I love what she did with Michael Miller's Disco Dots.   

Etsy

I may be years behind, but I just discovered Etsy!  It's basically Ebay for handmade items but the designers post a price for their items instead of accepting bids.  You'll find fabric items, glass items, beaded jewelry-- anything that can be made by hand.  A great place for unique gifts and for things you don't have the time or patience or ability to make yourself.  Each designer has a separate "shop" within Etsy and the site has a variety of ways to search within the shops.

One shop that caught my eye was Busy B Boutique.  Their signature item is a fabric headband that looks very nice.  Of course, I loved identifying the fabrics they used.  They even have one headband made out of our custom jcaroline black & white fabric.  (My first foray into fabric design which we used for purse linings.  I really like the fabric, but I did get tired of looking at it when we had 500 yards left of it and we were no longer making purses!)

If, like me, you just heard about Etsy, it is definitely worth spending some time browsing. There are some beautiful things and the items I saw were very reasonably priced.