Market Overload

This year market was an entirely different experience than last year, but still equally as fun. Have a "tiny" bit of experience under my belt helped and I was able to focus on more than just selling patterns...which I loved. Especially the networking. It's so great meeting people in this industry. So here's the recap  (in no particular order, because I'm feeling pretty lazy these days). My parents were able to come for Day 1 and see what market was all about. My mom had a glazed over look in her eyes the whole time, it was pretty funny. My brother Kim came for 2 days to help me figure out some of the business side of market and I was soooo grateful! He found out so much in two days that I've been trying to figure out in a year. Thanks bro!

 You all know Roni! She was a champ and helped out so much with the booth and sewing and soda runs and driving and just being there...love that girl! Oh ya, you know she's pregnant too right? She is...due in November! Super excited!

 Apparently my mom snapped this one of Kim and I chatting. And also...now I'm not only the "tiny" seamstress that everyone remembers for being so short, but I am also the "tiny" seamstress with the really "tall" brother (he's 6'6"). I love it! Everyone took pics everywhere we went because they didn't believe us. ha! They'd ask if he was my husband and I'd say, "No, he's my brother!" And then their jaws would drop! I love it! The ladies were really charmed by him though.

 The three of us at my parent's hotel. Yep, I'm looking really big and exhausted so just keep scrolling.

Shari (center) has been a great friend and mentor to me this year. It was so fun to catching up!

 Jason made these frames for me and I love them so much! They got more attention than the bags. I'm so excited to use them around the house now. :)

 AND THEN...one night, after everyone was gone, we took a little visit over to the Quilted Fish booth to see Elliot. I was going to steal him, but I didn't because their were too many witnesses...but next time I tell you!

 Quilted Fish booth again, with little miss Kayce.

 I was happy to see Jess back at market this year. She has such great designs. I've known her for several years and have always loved her bags!

 And for one of the great highlights of our trip! Roni and I were invited to the Riley Blake Party and we had so much fun. Even we were mondo pregnant and terrible dancers...it was fun!

 All you get is a cell phone pic. :)

That was our super fun trip! We stayed with my brother and his family, which left for some highly entertaining late nights with Carlin! Thanks to all of my super-supportive shops (new and old)! You were all so fun to meet and work with! OK, now I have to go make dinner for tonight because well, I am still a mom (a very very sad mom who missed her boy's preschool graduation for market...more on that later...if I can stand to think about it).

xoxo,



Spring Collection 2011

Better late than never right? I'm so sorry for the delay on my patterns. Roni and I are back from market and still trying to find our energy. We had a great time and I'm so excited to share pictures later this week! Yay! So let's do this...This first pattern is Little Miss Business! It has a cell pocket and larger pocket inside, with snaps on the sides to allow for the bag to grow a few inches larger. The ruffles are my favorite though! It's so simple, with just a little bit of sass. I love it!My second pattern this season is what we like to call, a little scrunched... There are pockets inside and one large front pocket. Fits perfect over the shoulder and is small enough to just tote around on date night. Love it!And this pattern is completely random, but was quite a hit at market. Ha! The Funky Chicken includes a fun little baby quilt (super easy) with a little stuffed chicken that lays eggs. hehe. In the back of the chicken, under the tail there's a little pocket that kids can stuff with eggs. My kids have gone nuts over this toy...I hope yours will too!

So that's it for now! I hope you enjoy the patterns. I'll get them listed in my Etsy shop asap. So watch for them. You can also find them in your local shop! If they don't have them, tell them to jump on the bandwagon and get some! Everyone is doing it! ;)

Talk to you soon. -xoxo

Could you say no to this face?

I couldn't either.

Farewell favorite jeans.

I don't look like this anymore.

Those jeans (above), they're my favorite and they don't fit anymore.

I haven't cut my hair in two months, which is a long time for short hair.

I drop Ruger off to preschool in sweats nearly every day. :)

I take lots of short naps and I don't sleep at night.

Everyone makes fun of me for forgetting what I'm saying mid conversation.

I have a 3 year old sitting on my right foot all the time.

And a 5 year old who corrected me on his bedtime story tonight...it's true.

My husband says I'm much happier and more entertaining when I'm pregnant.

I think that's because I forget so much. Oh well.

I finally found a new doctor (did I tell you that my old doctor took early retirement...grrr).

More on that later.

I'm also really blunt these days...learning to filter. :)

So that's all for now.

I'll keep you posted on any more pregnant adventures that come my way.

Ta ta for now!

Oh, oh, oh, new patterns coming soon...you might be surprised! hehe.

Baby Steps

My husband and I have been going through old boxes lately...attempting to get rid of stuff. While doing so, we came across this little treasure from my childhood. It was a very special gift and means more to me now than it ever did back then. I'm so glad I kept it! I was thinking (now that it's almost April) that this would be a great motto for me this year! As a family we've witnessed a lot of great things come to pass for us this past year and maybe this coming year we can build upon those dreams one small step at a time. What do you think? Do you have any BIG dreams you're working on? Fill me in, I'd love to hear! xoxo,

It may be awhile...

before I get my hands on a set of these.

photo

But I'll be ok, as long as I don't drop my tongs in the bottom of the washer again. :)

Boutique Nights.

These cake pops were my fave!

A few months ago I was trying to think of a way to get rid of all of my old market products, as well as test my new designs to see what kind of response they would get before market. I noticed on a few blogs that people were hosting boutiques in their homes. Their concept was a little different, but the idea was the same. So began my boutique nights. My mother was so generous and brave to be the first to host and then my sister-in-law Betsy hosted another for me last weekend. Best. Idea. Ever. Both were a success! :)

Because my new patterns were in the mix you don't get to see pics of the products yet (sorry) but I will make you super duper hungry with shots of the incredible food Betsy whipped up! She's so fantastic...I think I'll keep her! ;)

It was so fun to mingle with all of the women at both parties and it's even more exciting getting those emails of your (already) finished products! I love it!

Thank you everyone for your support!

xoxo,

Never grow up.

I'm not sure what it is about having a new little one on the way but somehow it changes everything in our home environment. We appreciate things so much more. We get scared a little more of what the future holds. And we just want to be with our family all the time. Life is moving fast and every night when I set the table I wonder how on earth we made it this far. But oh, we're happy, we are so happy to just have each other. I hope you are all happy too!

First Things First!

We need dresses! Lots and lots of dresses!

And maybe one of these...

Team Tiny

Team Tiny: n., a small team made up of important people that makes TS Designs possible.

(Picture from last year's market experience)

It's 3 am and I CAN'T SLEEP! This pregnancy has been easy in the sense that I haven't had much sickness, but for the first time in my life I'm experiencing pure exhaustion. So tired that I break into tears over lunch at Red Robin or so tired that I take naps at 9am. And now here I am blogging because I've been up for hours just laying in my bed. The bonus to all of this chaos is the quiet time that has come to me, allowing me to plan my Sunday lessons, my meal plans for the kids, and better yet....MARKET! Oh, how I miss market! And now the countdown is on. 80 DAYS left until I get to load up my minivan (yeah, we bought one of those) and head on down to Salt Lake City for 5 days of craziness and fun! And so the checklist begins:

• My patterns are in the testing process as we speak.
• My booth plans are sketched out (we'll see how much of it falls into place).
• Roni found her babysitter. Wahoo!
• Reservations are being made with Priceline.com (did you see the new commercial? My brother had my parents come out to watch it being made...I was a little jealous).
• Fabric is being ordered daily! hehe.
• Team Tiny is so ready (and so not ready) to go! :)

We find out tomorrow if we're having a litte boy or girl! So until then, I will keep my mind stirring with market to dos, because otherwise I'll go crazy waiting and um, not sleeping.
Happy Monday!

Tags...& more tags.

Sometimes I get emails asking about my tags...sometimes. It's not a huge topic of conversation, but it's a little detail that people notice and tend to ask about occassionally. So I thought I'd explain it a little bit more. So here's the truth, a long time ago (like 3 years ago) when my husband and I were poor college students I was sewing bags just to learn. I was cutting corners everywhere I could, including my tags. My grandma (who has passed away since) taught me to do, what I think is called a backstitch when I was about 8. She was sewing a very special apron for me and was showing me the fine details of how to do it.
So one day I pulled out some muslin and thread and starting stitching. I had read online to print out your letters on the computer and then trace them onto your muslin. So I tried it and it worked! I made about 100 that way and soon enough I was able to just free hand the tags. None of them are the same. In fact, they probably look different from my tags 3 years ago, but they are made by me...every single part of the bag is made by me. I like that!

It's a process though. They begin in a large strip and then I cut them down and store them in this jar (the same jar I showed you last year). It just sits on my shelf.

And then eventually that tag finds a home inside one of my bags. Now, isn't that just an exciting process? I knew you'd enjoy it! Lol! OK, so really, I love this process and I don't think I'll ever just order tags because it's so enjoyable. It forces me to slow down and enjoy what I'm doing and I remember a little piece of my Grandma Keller at the same time. :)

BTW, I'm inviting you all to come follow me on Twitter! It's lots of fun and I make a fool of myself all the time because I'm not always understanding what I'm doing. But it's fun...so come play along!

Hugs!

Happy V Day!

I'm still not sure (at the ripe old of 28) how I feel about Valentine's Day. I kinda think it's silly and I kinda think it's sweet. Maybe by 50 I'll have made my decision. I do know that there are many things I love though:

1. I love my little boys and my older boy.

2. I love sewing (as I learned after a whole week without my machine).

3. I love to throw things away (random I know, but it feels so good).

4. I love making hearts out of playdough with my kids.

5. I love getting packages in the mail!

6. I love having my husband home on his days off.

7. I love my family and friends.

8. I love chocolate and diet coke.

9. I love to shop.

10. I love to love and be loved. :)

Tell me, what do you love?

Sale!

This bag is my newest top selling bag for a reason...it's absolutely Darling! ;)

So...I'm on vacation! Have you noticed? Sheesh. It was that time when I needed to get out of town and spend a little time with my Mom, being that it's her birthday and all! Wahoo! We love to celebrate around here and with all this excitement I felt it'd be appropriate to have a sale this week! Hop on over to my Etsy shop where you can purchase 2 patterns and get 1 FREE!!!!! Just leave your freebie request in the comments section after your purchase of 2 patterns. Easy as that! Patterns will ship early next week.

xoxo,

Happy Monday!

This morning we made homemade playdough! And then we played with it and we made a mess and built squishy snowmen and laughed and shared and had lots of fun! THEN 45 minutes later we were done and ran off to watch Toy Story 3, leaving Mom to clean up the mess, but she didn't mind because we had a great time!

Happy Monday!

Feels like home

I wish that I could express the amount of emotions I've been feeling lately. But I'm not sure that I can. I hesitated to write about this experience I had last week, but since it's been a week and I'm still thinking about it, I guess I'll write about it.
My boys and I have one major outing a week which consists of a little shopping, lunch out somewhere they love (typically the Target cafe...I know right?), followed by Sawyer's physical therapy in one town, and Ruger's speech therapy in another town. At first I dreaded these days, oh I hated every minute of it and complained via text to my mother the whole stinkin' day. But then something happened last week, it was such a little thing, but it was magnificent.
Ruger and I were playing in the ball pit while Sawyer was working hard in the other room and a girl about 7 came running in. She ran up to Ruger and said, "You wanna play with me?" He jumped at the chance and suddenly they were swinging from the rings in the ceiling and flying into the ball pit. They had conversation and they laughed and the best part is, they didn't care about each other's issues. They both have them, it's apparent (if only everyone's issues were physical for the world to see?) but no one cared. She didn't ask about his hearing aids and he didn't ask about her.
As I watched them I was caught off guard by the feeling I was having...I was homesick...for the hospital. What? Seriously? Isn't that strange? I had so many feelings come back and memories of children I would play with and watch late night movies with and no one cared about the other's issues. These hospitals for children bring such a comfort to their patients and for some reason, these obstacles that we deal with every day in the real world don't matter inside those walls. There's no pitty, no teasing, no pointing or laughing, we just are who we are.
So the longer I thought about this the more I remembered how much of my time I spent in those walls thinking about how I could some day come back and be a part of that world again. I had no idea that I would being going back there for my children though.
As we prepare for our first extravaganza to Shriners this summer for Sawyer's surgery, I will enter that world/home again, where I spent so much of my childhood. I will see familiar faces and feel those pains he has all over again and I will have complete comfort in knowing that he's getting the best care possible. Don't get me wrong I'm scared out of my mind! But maybe just the comfort of those walls will help us all make it through the summer a little easier.
I've been reading this blog and this blog a lot lately about words and dreams and while it's difficult to look in the future right now with all that lies ahead for us and think of those things, I think for now I'll just settle on seeing all the dreams and blessings that have unfolded infront of me...right now. I can't believe the support I've received through my shops and orders lately...but thank you so much! You're all helping to support this little family of mine and I am so grateful for that! You're making my dreams come true and all of your sweet emails with questions about the boys or thank you's for your orders really make my day! Please know that! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I'll be here setting goals, making dreams, finding words, and trying not to forget all thats been given to me thus far!

And if you're feeling lucky, Camille is hosting a fantastic giveaway over on her blog...it's a good one!

A work in progress.

Well, we're getting there. This room may not look like much, but compared to where we started it's a complete transformation. We still have the base boards, doors and outlets to finish up before I can decorate the room anymore, but I thought I'd show you how it's coming (I also wanted a record of it for myself).

The boys quilts were finished on Christmas Eve, but I'm so glad they're done. Roni and I were able to sneak over to our friend Carma's house and use her quilt machine (thank you so much Carma! the boys really miss you).
Ruger begged and begged Jason to let him pull the train table back out of storage and Jason finally caved...I forgot what a wonderful toy it is! :) I'm in love with this carpet, prior to this we had green checkers and green walls (it was a sight to see). I've never felt so grateful for flooring...I love it!
And a shot with the window. I had just enough backing from Sawyer's quilt to make some little curtains. And Ruger has discovered that if he hangs the monster pillow on his bed post that he can hide his leapster and many other goodies at bedtime...sneaky guy! Hopefully I'll have more to show you soon, however, if I have to make the top bunk again, I may go into labor. Have a good one!

Cupid's Messenger Bags

One of my favorite holidays is Valentine's Day! I love it because it doesn't matter if I make it a big deal or not. If I want to buy my kids a balloon and call it good then I can or I can make them something super cute and fill it with goodies that they don't need. :) This year I thought I could help you make your children's V's Day

a little more enjoyable too!

Hop on over to my shop to purchase these little messenger bags!

There's no pattern (not yet anyway), just the bags and if you order more than one

your shipping is still only $2! Yay!

I have three listed right now and I will be working on more soon!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Oh to be organized!

Are you organized?

Is everything in your house in perfect order?
Are your toilets always scrubbed and is your sink always empty?

Or do people always trip on puzzle pieces and transformers when they walk in the door?

I'm the last one on that list. Oh how I try. I really do but I just get so distracted with the wonderful things in life like hide-and-seek, and texting, or even the mail. It's true! I can hear that metal box slam shut everytime the mailman leaves our porch and I run like mad, because a lot of the time there's something wonderful there waiting for me to rip open! :)

I try so hard to get things in perfect order, but what am I suppose to do with all of my receipts? And when I just finish cleaning my bathroom and my husband brings home 120 rolls of toilet paper...where the crap am I suppose to put it? I know, I know there are answers and books for me to read, but I don't want to.

People used to make fun of me when they'd come over because I kept my peanut butter in the Tupperware drawer...it was convenient and low! I could reach it and it was right by the fridge. However, I've moved it back to the cupboard this last year because I was made fun of so much.

I've been working on my sewing room all morning. I know what I need and how to make my folded fabrics look pretty, but as for the chapstick, and the spray adhesive, and cute little buckets I'm saving for market...I have no stinkin' clue! None! I guess I'll figure it out or shove it in the closet, but really these things are so hard for an indecisive, happy person like me. :( So stay tuned...maybe I'll get this crazy mess figured out and if I do, I'll post some pics for you!

Promise. Maybe.

Hugs,

It's in the shop!

I know, I know I took forever! But at last, it's here! Hop on over to the shop and pick up a pattern for yourself! :)

Happy Monday!

Thanks so much!

I couldn't believe all of your sweet comments about the baby! It's always a little scary (and exciting) when you find out about another baby, so your support is much needed and I'm grateful for every. single. one. of. you.

I went to the doctor yesterday and she said everything was looking good. Our little clan is super excited! However, the boys have no clue what's coming. Sawyer asked me yesterday if the elf that Ruger brought home from preschool was the baby from my tummy. That was a fun conversation.

I haven't been sick at all, which is amazing compared to the last two (maybe it is a girl?). However my appetite is somewhat disturbing. Hehe.

It's strange to look at my little guys now and watch as little preparations are being made with both of them. They are maturing a little faster than usual and they're acting out a little more. I felt this way before Sawyer was born too. The children can always sense that things are changing but they just aren't sure how. I'm grateful for those changes. I don't think I could feel at ease with another baby if I didn't see that happening. They play well together, better than most siblings, and I think that will be a great blessing in my favor. ;)

We're excited for our new journey and can't wait to share it with you all!

xoxo-

Welcoming 2011 + One!

Coming this July!