Will The Real Me Please Stand Up...

photo source: Daniel Morel

We all become familiar with each other by our blogs. I am the woman who designs pillows and has an occasional giveaway. That is really just a small part of the real me. Today I would like to give you a wider glimpse of who I am.

As a woman I feel that I not only have to care for my own family but I also need to care about women all over the world and what happens to them in their daily lives. What issues impact them as well as their children. When all the large health organizations leave Haiti and church groups are gone who will be the strength to help re-build. As women we all know that great responsibility falls on the woman. Each will have to re-build her home as well as finding the resources to care for her family. Our concern should be how can we assist her in this process? Not only am I concerned with the women in Haiti but the world over.

There is a wonderful organization that I belong to which is MADRE. MADRE is an international women’s human rights organization. I think it is a wonderful opportunity to feel that you can make a difference in another woman’s life. I am so blessed with all that I have that I feel it is only right to pay it forward. There are so many international project that MADRE is involved with that may spark your interest to get involved and make a difference.

I am also adding the link to Shop MADRE. Which sells unique items that were hand-crafted by women. The products—from beaded jewelry made by women in Kenya to woven textiles made by women in Chiapas, Mexico—include all sorts of jewelry, household items, and clothing made by women around the world. The products range in style and quantity, but they all speak to the principle of helping to build sustainable sources of income. I hope you will visit their website as there really are some beautiful items. The Kenya rings are amazing for $10.00 each.

May the rest of your week be full of blessings.

Giveaway Winner...

I love to wake up in the morning, grab my first cup of coffee and sit and read all the wonderful post that were left on my blog. I also love running around the blog world and visiting so many wonderful blog friends with fabulous pictures and content. I really do consider my life to be incredibly boring in comparison to so many of yours. I’m afraid if I posted about my daily life many of you would be yawning out of boredom.

I do find excitement in designing and I have to force myself to leave my studio and do the mundane tasks of cleaning house and grocery shopping, two of the things I dread the most. I do tell myself that at some point I am going to find the time to learn how to decorate cakes. There are so many great cake artists and I think it would be fun to try. I’m sure that won’t happen at least for a couple of years, but it’s a great thought. I also committed to making doll clothes for my niece who just turned seven and got an American Girl doll for Christmas. This is a labor of love as I have not followed a pattern in years. I did announce up front that she might have to wait awhile for the collection. I hope she is still playing with dolls at 13. As you can see I have made the little robe and the pajama top which is still waiting for buttons, but it’s a start.

I want to thank all of you who left a post to be entered into the giveaway. I love all of your creativity! The winner of the 20" Piano Recital pillow slip is Paige from Simple Thoughts blog. I hope you will all stop back often as I do love to share my pillows with all of you. So watch for the next giveaway.

Have a wonderful week !

Starting 2010 With a Giveaway!

It seems like it has been so long since I have posted on my blog. I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday and I sincerely wish the very best to you and your families in the New Year. 2010 has started off rather busy as we are getting our Spring line finished. I am so excited with some of the new designs so I thought I would share a few with all of you.

2009 was an amazing year for our burlap pillows, so we will still continue making those as well as some new designs in different fabrics. I would love to hear your comments so please leave a post.

Now that the holidays are over and we are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel we thought it would be a perfect time for a giveaway. I love giveaways with a twist. Here it is… Tell me the most creative thing you did in 2009, I love to hear about how creative all of you are. I have decided to offer our Piano Recital 20"x20" pillow slip.

Here are just a few other new designs.

I hope the rest of your week is filled with love and laughter,

The Elf's Are Exhausted...

It has been so long since I have added a blog post and I can honestly say I have missed all of you. The elves are completely worn out and it is now time to just enjoy the holiday. We will continue to offer our free shipping ( U.S. customers only) on any burlap pillow slips until Friday. We also have a special on our tea towels. Buy two and get the third one free, that will end on Monday.

My Christmas tree is still waiting to be decorated, I still have not done my usual holiday baking so I am looking forward to a few days of getting into the spirit. I hope all of you have had sometime to reflect back on this year and remember the blessing that you have received. I know for myself, I can get caught up in the everyday events and not recognize all the wonderful gifts I have been given throughout the year.

This has been an amazing year full of love, health, family and friends. I greatly appreciate each one of my customers who have become friends and for the support they have given me. I also am so fortunate to have met so many wonderful and inspiring women who have taken time to visit my blog, you are all such a treasure!

Each Christmas Eve we have a tradition of drawing names, we then go around the room and express our Christmas wish for the name we have drawn. It is such a wonderful heartfelt time when we express our wish for that person. Many tears are shed and it has become one of our families favorite traditions. My Christmas wish for each one of you is an abundance of love each day, health and happiness in all that you do and the ability to
recognize the small blessing that come each day.

I wish each of you a very Happy Holiday full of love and laughter…

Love Vintage Suitcases? Make Your Own..

I started thinking about vintage suitcases like this one, and how they tell a story of where they have been. I have a collection of vintage suitcases and they are wonderful for storage. It seems that they are scarce and not many flea markets have them, so I thought it would be fun to offer a solution where you can make your own. These would also make a wonderful gift.

From time to time I’ve seen these great cardboard versions of vintage suitcases. PaperSource actually has a wide variety of them at pretty affordable prices - these black suitcases range from $8.00 - $14.50 each. These would be great for storing photos, stationary and craft items.

Lucky for me, I came across this DIY suitcase. It’s apparently made out of a Bisquick box! Who would of thought? Find the instructions here for this simple project. This project gives you so much more freedom, because you can use whatever boxes you have available to get the size you want, as well as fabric or paper that matches your color scheme, and it will cost next to nothing!

I envision creating a stack of these suitcases and decorating them with vintage travel stickers which you can purchase at a very reasonable price at Hello Traveler. Or paint them with chalkboard paint and write a personal message and give them as a gift.

I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Just Five Minutes, That’s All I Need

Whew! Made it through another very hectic week that consisted of so many mishaps. I always find it so interesting that Monday always seems to start off so good, I’m upbeat energized and ready to tackle the week ahead. Then by Friday I am in desperate need of just five minutes, five minutes to take a deep breath and take a look back at the week and see what I have accomplished and what still needs to be done.

I look forward to Saturday just as much as I looked forward to Friday night when I was a teenager. That sense of hurrah, I made it through the week and now I am rewarded with a day to myself. I love weekends, they give me a sense that I can stay in my P.J.’s all day and work at my own pace and if there is a spare moment I can allow myself to put aside some of my work and just design. Priceless!

I hope all of you will find more then five minutes this weekend to just stay in you P.j’s relax and find inspiration for the week ahead.

Have a wonderful weekend and I will see you next week.

Mid Week Buzz

It’s only Wednesday, and I feel like the idea of getting caught up is just an illusion. Between work, trying to keep my house clean, taking care of my family and chasing after the dog as he tracks mud across my living room carpet, it’s a wonder I have time to comb my hair in the mornings.

I have added a few new tea towels, and if your anything like me, I love to design my own gift baskets for the holiday and I think these would look adorable tucked in a basket.

So how is you week going? Do you find you’re under the gun and over a barrel? On days like this I am reminded of a quote from Kin Hubbard who says, "A bee is never as busy as it seems; it's just that it can't buzz any slower."

Let’s hope the rest of your week buzzes by quickly.