Black and White

This is for the Etsy inspired challenge blog.  It is inspired by Modern Bird and this pendant etsy shop
Also linking this to Patties Creations Challenge Anything goes
Anything goes at Pile It On Challenge
Stamptacular Sunday Challenge Anything but a Square
Linking to Pear Tree Designs Challenge 32 Free for all

Meet and Greet: Fairytale Pumpkin Giveaway

Today I'm really pleased to introduce Christa Wiens of Fairytale Pumpkin. I'll get the disclaimer out of the way by saying that Christa is my very favorite daughter-in-law, and the incredibly adorable kids you will see in some of the photos at Fairytale Pumpkin are my grandchildren, Charlotte and Levi.

Christa has just started a new blog and has opened an etsy shop offering digital scrapbooking.

Christa, welcome. Can you tell us something about you and your family?
You mean besides my wonderful in-laws? Well, I have been married to your son, Aaron, for 10 years this week (woo-hoo!). We met in the 7th grade, so we've known each other longer than we haven't known each other. We have three kids, two of whom your readers have probably already seen. Charlotte is 3 and Levi is 2, and they are the source of endless entertainment and photos. Our oldest son, Caleb, would have been 5 this spring, but he died of SIDS in 2005. Aaron is an optometrist, and after teaching elementary school for 6 years, I am now a stay-at-home mom.

Fairytale Pumpkin is such a fun and interesting name. How did you choose it?
This past October, my good friend had this super-cool, picture-perfect pumpkin sitting on her fireplace hearth. She told me where she got it, and so naturally I copied her by buying one and putting it in front of my fireplace. And then I made my kids take fall pictures with it. I was a little obsessed. When I found out it was called a fairytale pumpkin, I thought it was such a perfect name, and it just stuck with me.

Digital scrapbooking sounds like the "modern" version of traditional scrapbooking. Can you briefly explain digital scrapbooking?
You pretty much did. If you are familiar with traditional scrapbooking, digital is not really all that different. There is background paper, photos, journaling, and other design elements, like frames, titles and embellishments. The only difference is that it is all designed on a computer and the finished product prints in one layer, like a picture, with all the elements included.

So I email my pictures to you. Then what happens?
Along with your pictures, you can also tell me if you have any preferences, like background color or specific elements you've seen in another layout (you specifically asked for the clipboards for Andrea's layout), and you can email me any journaling you'd like to have included. I will then put all the pieces together and design a unique, one-of-a-kind layout for you. I will email you a low-resolution jpeg file to review and make changes. Once you approve, I will email you a high-resolution jpeg which you may print or have printed. Alternatively, I can print it for you and ship it. It can then be easily slipped into an album, put in a frame, or anything else you like.

I don't have a printer capable of 12x12 printing. What are my printing options?
The pages print very nicely in 8x8 as well, or you can have them printed for you in either 12x12 or 8x8. There are a number of online services that will do this, such as http://www.scrapbookingpictures.com/, http://www.scrappingsimply.com/, and others. Costco now prints 12x12 and 8x8 sizes, and that is where I have all mine done. The quality is great and they are the cheapest around, with no shipping costs. If you have a book designed, you can also upload it to a website like shutterfly and have it printed and bound.

I'm a quilter. How would digital scrapbooking be of benefit to me?
As the daugher-in-law of an avid (and extremely gifted) quilter, I can say that I would love to one day have a scrapbook of all the quilts my mom-in-law made, along with pictures and stories of the people she made them for. I have done some quilting myself, and I know how personal each quilt is. I think it would be so valuable to have a record of that.

Our friend, Jessica, also comes to mind here. She just had an enormous quilt made for her, with a different friend making each block. To document this wonderful gift, she had each person take a photo of themselves making the block and they included a note to her. She put these into a scrapbook so each personal story would be remembered.

There is also a new, or maybe renewed, move toward documenting the process of quilting.

That is so true, Christa. Here's the thing. I used to be an avid scrapbooker. There are so many similarities between scrapbooking and quilting. Gorgeous paper, both solid and prints, scissors, embellishments. But once I started quilting, it became my obsession. Fabric takes up space. Scrapbooking supplies take up space. And I simply didn't have enough space for both of them. I think Christa makes a good point that there is much interest in documenting the actual process of making a quilt, from the initial design process to putting that last stitch in the binding.

Kate Conklin and Andrea Harris shared their pictures and stories with Christa so she could make layouts of the process they went through, from their initial sketches, or in Andrea's case, her son Ethan's sketch, to the finished quilt.

Kate recently designed "Sierra's Forest" (which incidentally is available as a downloadble pattern on her website) using Saffron Craig's newest fabric line, Forest Elementals. It's so interesting to see how Kate designed this quilt from beginning to end.

Andrea's story is one that made her heart melt, as it did mine when I read it on her blog. Her son, Ethan, designed a quilt using her colored pencils. She then turned the design into an actual quilt, and eventually it became a pattern available on Moda Bake Shop.

Are there other things you will be adding to your shop in the future?

I currently have weekly calendars available in my etsy shop.

These are custom-designed weekly calendars with interchangeable pictures. I created these out of my own need for a way to help my toddler anticipate her week, and, truthfully, to not have to answer the question, "Mommy, what are we doing tomorrow?" 100 times a day. I am also planning to create a daily calendar with a similar design. As a teacher, I think these would be really valuable for kids with special needs. I have done some invitation designs as well, and will likely be adding some of those to my shop. And I am open to suggestions! If someone wants something they don't see, I am more than happy to see whether or not I can design it. 

I had Christa design a layout with some of my selvage pincushions that have recently been in giveaways. She was able to incorporate my new etsy logo colors and stitching.

Here's what I'm thinking. A giveaway would be a great way to introduce both digital scrapbooking to quilters and definitely take advantage of the talent behind Fairytale Pumpkin. What are we giving away?

A two-page layout that will showcase your quilts, or anything else you desire. You email your pictures to Christa and she'll create something really special for you.

The Rules:

Leave a comment here for each entry. That's pretty easy, right? (but if you leave a comment saying you did all six--it will only count as one entry.)

1. Leave a comment here.

2. Sign up to be a follower on Fairytale Pumpkin. Christa updates her blog with her latest layouts. And besides, you'll have a chance to follow those adorable kids, Charlotte and Levi (NOTE: blatant grandmother bragging...)

3. Check out the layouts on Fairytale Pumpkin, come back and let me know what your favorite layout is (it would be great if you leave a comment on her blog as well--it won't count as an entry but I'm sure she would love to have you say hi.).

4. Follow Fairytale Pumpkin on Facebook.

5. Follow Fairytale Pumpkin on Twitter.

6. Blog about this giveaway on your blog...and come back and let me know.

That's six (6!!) easy chances to win a two-page digital layout. You have until 10 pm pdt on Saturday the 12th to enter. So let the commenting begin!

C UR I DKTR--Blogger's Quilt Festival

It's Blogger's Quilt Festival  so get ready to see quilts that will knock your socks off. Picture after picture of beautiful quilts, and each one has a story behind it. And before I forget to mention it later, my new etsy shop, Sewing on the Edge, is one of the premier sponsors, so be sure to comment on the festival post to be entered into the giveaways.

Our son, Aaron, and daughter-in-law, Christa, spent five years in Portland, Oregon, while Aaron went to optometry school. I always knew I would make him a quilt when he graduated. I didn't know I would be lucky enough to find eye chart fabric.

I found the pattern, "Hollow Cube," and started collecting black, white and red fabric. The blocks look complicated, but with some organization they were pretty simple to construct. Even then I was finding a way to work selvages into my quilts. Nearsighted...

Optic...

Black, white and read all over...

Lots of eyeglass frames for the back.

And a little pin for the front: the eyes have it!

The first eye chart fabric I found was quilting related. Fortunately I found something closer to the real thing for the border on the front. Because I'm pretty sure Aaron wouldn't have appreciated an eye chart that reads: "quilting and sewing makes me happy, love to buy beautiful fabric." No matter how true that is.

C UR I DKTR. Good advice for anyone. Especially anyone who spends a lot of time at the sewing machine.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Enjoy all the quilts.

And we have a winner

Thank you so much to everyone who participated in the Sew Mama Sew giveaway. I appreciate all the encouraging comments. The winner, picked by the random number generator, is #190, Stephanie, who said: "I like them all. Such a good idea."

Thanks, Stephanie! This will be in the mail to you on Monday.

There are still some pincushions at Sewing on the Edge, and a lot more will be added next week so feel free to head on over and do some shopping.

And y'all come back for Bloggers Quilt Festival starting tomorrow!

Thought for Thursday

A commenter on the giveaway post asked about the fabric I used on the back of the giveaway pincushion. Amazingly, to me at least, the selvage was still intact on the fabric. How did that happen? (It's "home sewing is easy" by Alexander Henry, by the way). But in the course of things, I was googling sewing fabric and came across this piece by Sharon Yenter of In The Beginning Fabrics.

Let's just enlarge this portion a bit...

I'm pleading the 5th Amendment...

Don't forget that today is the last day for the Sew Mama Sew giveaway. Leave a comment here and I'll choose a winner at 4 p.m. PDT.

With a little help from my friends

This is the pincushion that is being given away this week in connection with Sew Mama Sew. Thanks for everyone who has left such nice comments about the giveaway and the pincushions in Sewing on the Edge. You have until the end of Thursday, the 20th, to leave a comment for a chance to win.

So where do I get all these selvages? Hmmm....well, if you have followed for a while, you may have noticed a few posts with photos of fabric. Let's just save I have a nice "collection."

I also have some really great fabric-obsessed friends...friends who don't feel the need to hang on to every little selvage they cut off. Nope. Instead, they pack them in bags and send them to me. And while it may seem odd, it is like receiving a valuable gift when I open that bag up. To thank these generous friends, I have been making a pincushion for them. These are going out in the mail tomorrow:

I try my best to customize them a bit.

Crystal from Modify Tradition is from Minneapolis. Believe it or not, I actually have some fabric from a shop hop that was held in Minnesota last summer. I tried really hard to piece together "Modify Tradition," but the closest I could get was Modern Tradition. Hope this is close enough for you, Crystal.

Terri from Sew-Fantastic has been very generous and requested aqua and gray. She even got a strip of the fabric that started this whole obsession: dumb dot. And on a fun note, she will be moving to Bakersfield, just two hours from where I live. I'm hoping we will have a chance to go selvage fabric shopping together sometime.

Amy from Amy's Creative Side (and don't forget, Blogger's Quilt Festival is just around the corner--too much fun going on this week!) gave me a list of some of her favorite fabrics/designers. Those super cute color registration dots in the center are from the Hunky Dory line, and I even got her name in there as well. Well, Amy Butler's name actually, but close enough.

And Jacquie from Tallgrass Prairie Studio has been a complete inspiration. Remember the quilt she made from selvages? I think she used most of her selvages up, so while I didn't get a package from her, I have gotten a lot of inspiration. She is from Kansas and loves modern quilting. So...don't you think she should have a pincushion with selvages that say Midwest Modern and Kansas Song? I thought so too.

And look what came in the mail yesterday? Laurie Wisbrun from Scarlet Fig has been designing and printing her fabric for a while. I'm a huge fan. And then she was picked up by Robert Kaufman and her fabric will be debuting some time this month. Can't wait. In the meantime, I get to play with this

and this.

Thanks again to all my generous friends.

And if one of you readers out there has been wondering what to do with the selvages that you cut off, well, I made sure my contact information is handy. You know, in case you need a new pincushion...

May Giveaway Day!

Today is May Giveaway Day at Sew, Mama, Sew! And here is what I'm giving away. A one-of-a-kind pincushion made from selvages (I may have mentioned a time or two how much I love selvages). And since it is a giveaway sponsored by Sew, Mama, Sew!, notice what it says in the very center. Yes, I spent a lot of time going through bags of selvages trying to find the words to piece together.

And this is the pincushion back. The funny thing is, there is certainly NOT extra money in the budget. Not my budget anyway. Because I keep spending all my extra money on fabric.

There are a lot of pincushions for sale in my new etsy shop, Sewing on the Edge.

In the meantime, for a chance to win this pincushion, visit Sewing on the Edge and tell me which is your favorite. Then just come back here and leave a comment.

This giveaway is open until May 20, so there will be plenty of time to make your choice. I'll be happy to ship internationally, so if you are visiting from outside the United States, don't let that stop you!

Wordless Wednesday: Selvaging my sanity

I am not kidding

Two things:

1. Randi from Fresh Squeezed Fabrics is having a 20% sale on everything in her shop. Everything. And a giveaway on her blog.

2. Starting today, I'm not buying any fabric for the entire month of April.

Hmmmmm.

I wonder if that second item will turn into an April Fool's joke.

Only the next thirty days will tell....

And really? It's April already? Are you kidding me?

and we have a winner...

Thanks to everyone who made a comment regarding the name of my new etsy shop. Lots of good suggestions and feedback!

I added up all the comments left during the two days and gave that total to Random Number Generator to work its magic and the winner is Laurie, who said:

OK - I'll change my vote to Sewing on the Edge :)

And indeed, that is the name of the new shop, Sewing on the Edge. As much as I loved the name Selvaged, it came with its own problems and confusion. People simply have a hard time spelling it. American version (selvaged)? British version (selvedged)? And easy to confuse with Salvaged. When elpf pointed out that there was already an etsy seller with the name Selvedged, the decision was made.

Some people questioned the wisdom, or sanity, of using the word sanity as part of my etsy shop name.

However, Kristen had an excellent idea: to add a tag line. So, the etsy banner will read:

Sewing on the Edge

Selvaging my sanity, one stitch at a time

I thought that was the greatest solution. So, Kristen, you will also be finding a pincushion on its way to your mailbox. So will Becky, my niece, who came up with Sewing on the Edge in the first place.

Thanks so much to all of you for stopping by and sharing your thoughts and ideas. I hope you all have a happy and productive weekend. Me? I'll be selvaging my sanity, sewing on the edge, making items to stock the new etsy shop!

But first I'll leave you with this little visual. No matter what the question is...ice cream is the correct answer.

Round 2

First of all, thanks for all the great feedback and suggestions on my etsy shop naming dilemma yesterday. Here is the update:

After elpf did an etsy search, she found there was already a seller by the name of "Selvedged." That happens to be the British spelling, by the way. But for my purposes of trying to have a unique seller name, it knocked "Selvaged" right out of the ring.

Then my niece, Becky, sent me an email with the suggestion of "Sew Edgy." As soon as I read that name, I knew that was it!!! So I was already writing my blog post in my head when I thought, hmmm, maybe I should do an etsy search on that name. Bah. There's an etsy seller named "Sew Edgy Designs." So that became a non contender as well.

But Becky had another good suggestion.

So in one ring, we have the reigning champion, weighing in at 17 characters,

                                                      Selvaging My Sanity

And new to the fight, in the other corner, we have the new contender, weighing in at 15 characters,

                                                      Sewing on the Edge

I like them both a lot, although maybe questioning my sanity is not good from a business standpoint. On the other hand, sewing actually saves my sanity.

I also like the other name because it incorporates the idea of selvages while at the same time leaving product options wide open.

Same rules as yesterday. The pincushion is still up for grabs. If you commented yesterday, go ahead and comment again today. That way you will have two votes thrown into the ring for the prize.

My sanity could depend on your comments...

You might remember that I have mentioned my obsession with love of selvage edges from quilting fabric.

I'm quite sure I will never make this but it is highly likely that  at some point I will make something similar to this gorgeous quilt.

Photo courtesy of Tallgrass Prairie Studio

And that brings me to the reason for this post. I am starting a new etsy shop. We already have One in Every Color and to this point that is where we have stocked everything we have for sale: fused glass, quilting patterns, selvage-edge pincushions. With no cohesive thread to tie them together. After reading a marketing tip that such diverse items could be confusing for the buyer and harder to brand you as a seller, I began thinking about opening another shop, just for things I sew. And since most of those things will involve incorporating selvage edges, it became important to pick a catchy name.

My first choices were already taken: On the Edge (just a buyer, not a seller) and The Cutting Edge (soldered glass jewelry). One afternoon I started brainstorming with Jessie and George while they were in the hospital with Sue. They came up with a bunch of names. Some good possibilities, like Edge to Edge. George's big contribution was Bordering on Insanity. Really, George?? I quickly vetoed that name....until we were back in Sue's room visiting, and this time Mark and Jessie's fiance, Luke, were there as well.

By that time I had settled on what I thought was a great name, one that I had thought up all by myself.

Selvaged

I liked the kind of play on words, well, just one word actually. Salvaged selvages.

To my amazement, everyone thought it was a boring name. Bah. Okay, guys, what do you think of  George's suggestion, "Bordering on Insanity?" I asked with a snicker. Luke, who is also in marketing, said he thought it was a really interesting name. Jessie said she could definitely click on that name just to check out what kind of items the seller had. Okay, so I did an etsy name search.

It was already taken!!! Unbelievable! Again, apparently just a buyer, not a seller.

More brainstorming. Along the same lines as Bordering on Insanity, I came up with Selvaging My Sanity.

So here is where you all come in. It's up for a vote.

In one corner is Selvaged, weighing in with a lot fewer letters, straightforward. I think it could be a good contender.

In the other corner, weighing in with a couple more words and a lot more letters and just under the 20-letter limit imposed by etsy is Selvaging My Sanity.

What do you think? And if there are some of you who occasionally read this blog but don't usually comment, this would be a good time to come out of the woodwork and make your voices heard. You can remain anonymous but I would still love to know what your choice would be.

Would a giveaway sweeten the deal? I reserve the right to make the final decision, but I'll throw a pincuchion into the ring for the comment chosen by the random number generator on Thursday at 6 p.m. PDT.

And as long as we're talking selvages, look what came in the mail about a week ago. All the way from Australia. From one of my favorite inspiring quilters, Red Pepper Quilts.

I have lots of product ideas. But first things first. Help me find my name.

Sometimes the World Wide Web is really just a small neighborhood

I read Kerri's blog regularly and I have placed several fabric orders with her (she has an amazing amount of Heather Ross fabric that is hard to find) and lots of great fabric in pink, red and aqua.

The colors in her awesome banner really give a clue as to who she is and what colors she loves. So when I was surfing around etsy the other night, specifically looking for "original fabric," I found Tasha's shop and then her website.

This is Tasha's original fabric, and yes, of course I ordered some. I even broke my self-imposed fabric-buying moratorium to purchase some. (Here's the thing about self-imposed moratoriums: it's really easy to overrule the person who issued the moratorium in the first place...)

All you have to do is look at what she offers for sale in her shop or read her blog so see that Kerri and Tasha needed to "meet" each other online.

So I sent Kerri an email basically saying, "Hey, you have got to check out Tasha and her fabric! You will love the colors..."

And Kerri emailed me back saying, "Thanks for thinking of me, and emailing me!. Yes, Tasha is actually my sister in law! She is very talented!"

It's a small world afterall...(and, yes, I do apologize if you'll be singing that song all day long now).

Let the Games begin!

I love the Olympics, and am much more partial to the Winter Olympics than the Summer Olympics. This year they are even in our neck of the woods. Sort of. Well, straight north of us anyway. And apparently Mother Nature is enjoying the little joke she is playing by dumping too much snow on the Midwest and East Coast, while the Vancouver area is having to truck it in.

(picture by John Thurlow)

I was windowshopping on etsy, and in honor of the Olympics and the Canadian venues, I found these items by amazing Canadian artists, in the five colors of the Olympic rings, of course.

by Minaude

by Mooka Soap

by Wild Woman Jewelry

by Kimberly Jones Designs

by Savage Artwork

by Penny Glass Girl

And because you just never know what will strike your fancy,

by Rock Your Nose

Good luck to all the Canadian etsy artists, and to the athletes from around the world. Let the Games begin!