makelifesweet

Back To Normal

At long last, I think we are officially back to work.  We had a great Christmas and we hope everyone's holiday was as much fun as ours.  First, a few things about Christmas.  As far as presents go, the theme was definitely "1001 ways to get on the internet".  Or I could name it "1001 ways for 3 kids and 6 adults to find a way to play Angry Birds".   From the iphone, to the ipod touch, to the Kindle Fire to a Droid phone to...etc, etc, etc.  I think we are teched (I know that is definitely not a word) out.  Which brings me to my treasure that my mom gave me.  Nothing technical at all.  She bought an old, beat-up rocking chair at some type of flea market and turned it into this:

I wish I had a "before" picture to show you the transformation.  A few months ago, I stashed away some of our Hometown grey dot canvas for myself.  I didn't know what I wanted to do with it, but this definitely works.  And I love the pillows- especially the circle one!

The kids also received some non-electronic items.  I pulled them away from their various devices today just long enough to start decorating a cardboard playhouse that Santa brought Cash:

I think they actually had more fun coloring and creating than they did playing a video game- just don't tell them that!

So back to the work stuff.  Before Christmas, we made our club project for January, but are just getting around to blogging about it.  I know what you are thinking.  Valentines Day.  Christmas was only 2 days ago.  But if we sent you this in February, you wouldn't have time to get it done.  So Valentine's Day is the theme for the January Label Crew!

Also, for all of you asking about our new Reunion patterns, we will have them on our Etsy site next week.

Have a great day!

A Little Late...

On a lot of things, really.  First, my mom spent a weekend at Hollyhill Quilt Shoppe in Portland over a month ago, and we are just now getting to it on our blog.  She was totally blown away.  And she made me really sad that I decided to stay home.  It was the week after Quilt Market and I have a three year old.  So staying home was really necessary.  My sister stayed home, too.  But she was fine.  She always wants to stay home.  

Anyway, the great people at Hollyhill invited us to participate in their annual "Homespun and Holly" event.  My mom was there with fellow Moda designer Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill.  I think she could have stayed there forever.  She was in definite quilt shop heaven.  She really had never seen a quilt shop like that.  The amount of fabric, the way the store was organized, the marketing, the displays.  Incredible.  Sweetwater even had their own section in the store.  Unfortunately, all our cameras stayed home.  Fortunately, Anne took some photos and is so nice that she is letting us use them.  

There were 8 Christmas Trees in the store.  Each was decorated in a different theme.  Here is just one of them:

Here is a photo from the Hollyhill website.  I wanted to see what the store looks like on the outside.  Just like a postcard!

Just that picture makes me want to go.  So hopefully someday.  Thanks to all at the shop that made my mom's experience so wonderful.  If you are ever in Portland- this shop is a must see!  

The other thing we are late at is choosing our winners for our Moda Blog Hop contest.  If you remember, there were 3 prizes, and you entered with a comment telling us what your favorite one was.  I may rethink that next time.  Because we always choose randomly, I had a few problems.  Every time I came up with a number, that person wanted a different prize than what I was picking for.  So I had to keep choosing to match the winner with the correct prize.  Hopefully that all made sense.  Anyway, here are the winners:

For the Reunion Layer Cake, the winner is:

Carrie Anne who wrote:  I would LOVE to win the Reunion Layer Cake... I already have a project in mind for it! Thanks for the great giveaway.

For the custom printed recipe, the winner is:

Kate R who wrote:  That cookie recipe looks great! Definitely on the list for this Christmas. I do love Reunion, but the printed recipe would be such a unique kitchen decoration so I think I'd choose that!

For the custom name label, the winner is:

Janet who wrote: 

Love your blog, but enjoy your generosity. Thanks for sharing your recipes and the sweet tea block pattern. Love the simplicity of it a lot! Each one of your giveaways would be wonderful; however, I believe I would cherish the name label. Happy Holidays and enjoy the season!

Congratulations to the winners.  Please e-mail us at info@sweetwaterscrapbook.com with your mailing address.  If you won the recipe, please include that, and if you won the name label, please let us know what name you would like printed on it.

Have a great day!

 

 

 

Summer At The Lake.......

Doesn't that sound good right about now???  It sure does to me!  Just imagine it ...  the sun beating down on your back, your toes in the sand, and not a care in the world.  I need to wake up from my dream.  In all reality the snow is beating me on the back and my toes are pressed up against a heater trying to stay warm.  But, I have found a great book to help us get in the summer mode -

Summer at the Lake Quilts by Susan Maw and Sally Bell.  It is full of projects to help you celebrate the outdoors and go on a picnic in style.  The other day it was in my mailbox (I know lucky me) and I had so much fun looking at all of the wonderful projects.  And since I like you I am going to let you in on a little secret - there is a giveaway going on for one of your very own books!  Go ahead check it out now!!!

The Moda Blog Hop!

Welcome to our day for the Moda Blog Hop.  On Monday, as I was thinking about what we were going to post, I visited some other designers to see what they are doing.  I laughed out loud when I read Minick and Simpson's blog:

What is the theme you ask? Heck if I know. Besides giving you a free pattern and recipe, I'm not really sure.

The "heck if I know" is what really got me laughing.  Because I really don't know.  And it's not anybody's fault at Moda's that I don't know.  Lissa Alexander does an incredible job of organizing these things.  I'm just a little out of the loop.  Honestly, we are a little overwhelmed from our 12 Days of Christmas event the last couple of weeks, plus we had pattern designs due the same day our Label Crew kits went out last week (so happy last week is over).  Oh, and my sister is in Las Vegas enjoying the National Finals Rodeo. And, yes I'm jealous. How I love Vegas.  And it's fine.  She has stayed home and worked plenty of times on my Las Vegas trips.  But I'm still jealous.

Anyway, back to the blog hop.  I know we are supposed to show our block we did last spring for "Moda's Country Fair".  And post our recipe.  So here it is!

Our block is called "Sweet Tea".  Simply click on the image below to make larger and to print.

 

 

We made both a pillow and quilt from our block:

And about our recipe.  We selected this Sugar Cookie recipe because it has a history with us.  When we were young and in 4-H, we both made these cookies our first year.  And both times they won champion at the county fair.  And a few years ago, my niece made them, and she too won.  But.... I made them the other day with my little boy.  And they were bad.  Really, really bad.  They would have only won grand champion for the worst cookie at the fair.  I have no idea what I did wrong- but it was something.  So, usually these are delicious.  Just don't leave out something.  Or measure incorrectly.  They will end up in the trash can.  

And because it is Christmas, we are, of course, going to give something away.  Or 3 somethings.  First, because this post is about recipes, you can win your favorite recipe custom printed on canvas:

And honestly, the recipe in the above photo is my all-time favorite cookie.  So if you are making cookies from this post, I would suggest the peanut butter.  Just sayin.  It has never failed me.  By the way, if you win this prize, it would make a great Christmas gift.  Of course, if you win this, we would put your favorite recipe in the print.

The second prize is a layer cake of our latest collection, Reunion.

 And our last prize is something from our recent 12 Days of Christmas.  The Custom Name Label:

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If you would like to win one of these, all you need to do is leave a comment and let us know which one of the 3 you would like.  We will choose 3 winners later this week.

If you haven't already, please visit all the designers that are participating in the blog hop.  Here are the links and the dates they post:

December 5th

Minick & Simpson
Bunny Hill
Me & My Sister
Deb Strain

December 6th

Kansas Troubles
Fig Tree
Cosmo Cricket
Lucie Summers
Liz Scott

December 7th:

Cotton Way
French General
Oliver + S
Sweetwater
Ellen Luckett Baker

December 8th

Thimbleblossoms
Kathy Schmitz Studios
Laundry Basket Quilts
Kate Spain
Primitive Gatherings

December 9th

Basic Grey
Jan Patek
American Jane
Sandy Gervais

Have a great day and thank you so much for stopping by!

Our Winner-

Happy Friday!  We are trying to recover from the 12 Days of Christmas- and just thanking our lucky stars there aren't 13!  Just kidding- thank you all so much for the orders!  We are swamped, but so very thankful.  

The winner of our contest is:

Teri M. who wrote:

I love all things you guys make!!! But my favorite this time is the Christmas Name Picture.

Congratulations, Teri!  Just e-mail us at info@sweetwaterscrapbook.com with your address and what name you would like on the label.

Also, a quick note to let you know the fabric kits for the December Label Crew project are in our Etsy shop now. 

Have a great weekend!