makelifesweet

What to get...

I have been on the computer since Friday morning.  I'm not one of those Black Friday shoppers.  Well, honestly, I am a Black Friday shopper, but I don't set foot in the mall.   Or Target. Or any other place I love to shop.  I try to figure out all of my Christmas shopping from the comfort of my own home.  My goal is to get everythingh done by the end of this week- on the internet.  

Then...I go to the mall!  On a Tuesday.  When hopefully, all the pressure of trying to find something is over, and I can just enjoy the experience.  Keep in mind that I live about 2 hours from an actual mall.  I can't just hop on over there.  But I do love going during the holidays- the decorations, the hustle and bustle of shoppers, the music.  And going to my favorite stores like Pottery Barn, J Crew and Crate and Barrel.  Just to see their holiday displays.  It really gets me in the mood for Christmas.

But sometimes on that carefree trip to the mall, I still don't have a gift for someone.  I walk around aimlessly with a blank look on my face because I.  Have.  No.  Idea.  I'm sure everyone has that one person (or 10 people) they just don't know what to get.  

So here is just a suggestion.  For your Grandma, who doesn't need another candle.  For your Christmas party hostess that will pile all the baked goods she receives in a "don't have time to eat that" pile.  For your son's first grade teacher who has a lifetime supply of bookmarks.

Our personalized canvas art prints take very little effort but make a big impression.  Like you actually took the time to think about the gift- even though it is sooo easy.  We have shown these in year's past, but just to remind you, we have selected a few to show you again.

 Here is our customized "Hometown" print:

 

The Custom Zipcode Print:

 

One of my favorites is "The Top 15".  Great for a family.

 

My most favorite:

Here are some that celebrate the season:

These look great in the kitchen:

One of our most popular gifts is the custom recipe print.  In black and white or color.

These are fun for the kids;

And for the sewing lover in your life (like yourself):

These are just a few- we have lots more in our shop.  

Now, for the good part.  We are having a huge deal on our prints!  You can choose any three 8" x 10" from our shop for $39.95.  The prints range in price from $19.95- $24.95, so you are could actually get $75  worth of prints for $40!  

If you would like to order, make sure to find the listing that starts with "Christmas Special".  If you can't find it, simply put "Christmas Special" in the search box and it will come up.  Make sure to leave us a comment when ordering which 3 prints you would like- any of the 8" x 10" ones are eligible, including anything that is personalized.

This offer ends Friday, December 6.  Have a great week and good luck at the mall!

 

In the spirit....

We are really getting in the spirit of Halloween.  Not that I have a clue to what my son's costume is going to be, but there are all sorts of Halloween/fall type things around here.  Here is our latest.

Of course we have had the ruffle kitchen towel before (lots of times...).  But we have never had a Boo Crew Kitchen Towel!  The kit comes in 3 different colorways:  green, black and orange.

I think the towel is perfectly adorable without a label, but if you really want to get in the Halloween spirit, you can choose any one of these:

About the Pumpkin Bar Label- if you don't order the label, you still should try that recipe.  Trust me.  They are dangerous.

And for those of you who are serious about Halloween, we turned our labels into canvas prints:

Everything is in our shop.  Have a great day!

 

The Porch

My mom has always wanted a screened-in porch.  And now she actually has one!  It may be my most favorite part of her house.  A perfect night would be curling up on the daybed and watching the latest episode of "The Bachelor".  Guess I just did that.  Perfect night.  

Anyway, I thought I would show you what she has done with it.  It isn't quite finished- she still needs to paint a little (as you will see in the photos), and add a few more accessories.  But this is what she has so far.  

The favorite spot is the daybed:

Especially for this guy.  Who, by the way, turns 10 today!  I took this a few days ago when he had a 3 hour nap.  Yes 3 hours for a ten year old.  He was a tired boy!

This is on the opposite wall.  I'm hoping she will make me an "America" sign.  Probably not going to happen.

Here is a table she made.  We have lunch on it quite regularly.

Love the chairs.  I am kind of obsessed with the whole industrial design trend going on.

Got this cute little fan at Walmart.  Yes, I said it.  Walmart.

The red stools- not sure where she got those.

Same with the rug.  Who knows where she got it.  But it is really cute!

This chair has been many colors.  I think it was last a dark brown.  But I really like the pretty blue color she painted it.

Ok.  Think I've been at my computer too long.  My turn on the daybed!

My Favorite Holiday...

has always been the Fourth of July.  The parades, the warm (hot) weather, the USA, the picnics, red, white & blue.  What's not to love?  I have also always loved this:

That flag is from Pottery Barn so of course it is a tad bit expensive.  If you're me, it's really expensive.  But oh how I've always loved it.  Which gave me an idea.

We could make our own.  Here's our version:

Not bad.  Of course, it's not quite as large, but it is the same idea.  The flag design is actually one of our new canvas prints that you can purchase, but today we are showing you how to complete the entire project. 

What you will need:

• The flag canvas print- it is sized 12" x 19"
• Two 3/4" boards cut 7" wide by 21" long
• Two pieces of  1/2" thick wood cut 11" x 1 1/2"
• White paint
• Sandpaper and/or electric sander
• Rope
• Stain- we used a brand called Annie Sloan (more on that later)
• 4 small black nails
• screws
• drill

Here's what you do:

The print already comes with a distressed look to it:

But we wanted the edges to have a sort of frayed look.  We slightly sanded the edges to achieve this:

Next, sand the 2 boards to make sure they are smooth:

We were going for a white-washed look, so we lightly painted the top and the sides of the board white:

Next, we "aged" the board.  We used a product called Annie Sloan's Soft Wax.  It is so fun and easy to use, but you can use any stain you wish.  Just put a small amount on a rag, rub it into the wood and wipe it off.  If you use the Soft Wax, you apply a thin layer of the clear wax, they apply the brown over it.  More instructions are on their website.  

The board on the left is finished, and the board on the white isn't stained yet:

Here is a close-up of the finished board:

Use the smaller pieces of wood to connect the 2 boards.  Simply use a drill and screws to attach the wood to the back of the boards:

Attach the print to the boards with small black nails in each corner:

 

The last step is to drill holes for the rope.  Measure over 1 1/2" from the side and 3/4" from the top and make a mark (on both sides).  Drill a hole large enough for your rope to slide through.  Tie a double knot at each end of the rope to secure.

That's it!  You are now ready to hang it up.

If you want to try, you can get the print here.  It took us less than an hour, and it was a lot cheaper than going to Pottery Barn.   

Now something sewing related.  Here is a look at July's Label Crew project.  

The "Good Night, Good Morning" pillow cases are perfect for summer.  The fabric kits will be available in several colorways from Lucy's Crab Shack.  Look for them around the 1st of July.  

For more information on the Label Crew, click here.

Enjoy your Thursday!

My Favorite Prints

Whenever we have a new fabric collection, we design art prints to coordinate.  I have loved all of them, but these new ones from Lucy are my favorite.  I love them because they are so happy, they remind me of summer and they look so cute together.  I am going to hang 6 of them together in my little boy's room.  That's the plan, anyway.  Just as soon as his matching quilt gets finished!

The first one is customized and comes in green, blue, orange, pink or gray.

 

They are available now in our shop.

We are super close to getting all of our quilt patterns finished up for both Mama Said Sew and Lucy.  We plan on posting those next week!

A Bit Of News!

Heres hoping everyone had a fun and exciting Labor Day Weekend!  We are now playing catch-up and have some news to share!

MODA's COUNTRY FAIR BLOG HOP 
This is going to be a fun one!  Every day for the next month a different designer will be featured.  They will be sharing with you a project as well as some fun information about themselves.  Just think it is going to be like going to a fair for an entire month - nothing sounds better to me! 

The fun starts today with the very talented Sandy Gervais!

Here is the rest of the line-up
September 6th Sandy Gervais of Pieces from My Heart
September 7th Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill Designs
September 8th Barb and Mary from Me and My Sister Designs
September 9th Camille Roskelley of Thimbleblossoms
September 10th Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts
September 11th Basic Grey
September 12th Polly and Laurie from Minick and Simpson
September 13th Sandy Klop from American Jane (Post will be featured on Moda's blog)
September 14th Liesl from Oliver + S
September 15th Joanna from Fig Tree and Co.
September 16th Lynne from Kansas Troubles
September 17th Barb and Alma from Blackbird Designs
September 18th Aneela Hoey from Comfortstitching.com
September 19th Barbara Brackman from Barbara Brackman, of course.
September 20th Bonnie from Cotton Way
September 21st Christina from Cabbages and Roses
September 22nd Deb Strain
September 23rd Jan Patek of Brannock and Patek
September 24th Lauren and Jessi Jung
September 25th Stephanie from Lily Ashbury
September 26th Julie from Cosmo Cricket
September 27th Kate Spain
September 28th Karla, Susan and Lisa from Sweetwater
September 29th Kaari from French General
September 30th Lisa from Primitive Gatherings
and the fun continues into October
October 1st Kathy from Kathy Schmitz Studio
October 2nd Liz from Liz Scott Designs

Be sure to visit the Country Fair Blog Hop daily!!!! ( there may even be some giveaways!)

Ryan Walsh, Im Just a Guy Who Quilts Blog 
Over the weekend we were featured on his blog.  Be sure to check it out!  Most importantly because he has a great blog but there also may be a giveaway going on!!! Check it out here.

Mug Rug Fabric Kits
 
are now available on our Etsy site!

And last but certainly not least!
The randomly selected winner of the our new Reunion fabric release is:
Lisa LeBlanc who wrote - I can't believe you are doing this to us already???!!! I just broke the bank on Hometown and now you are teasing us with more awesomeness! I am with you and the navy..mixed with green and gray...can't wait! Lisa in Texas
email us at [email protected] with your address and we will send your fabric right out.

 

Win A New Hometown Print! (And Get One For Your Mom)

We had so much fun and success with our "Sunkissed" art prints, that we knew we would do some for our latest fabric collection, Hometown.  We created these to take with us to Quilt Market next month because we think stores would love to display (and sell) these alongside the Hometown fabric.  But we also wanted to let you be able to customize them and put them in your home.  Oh- and we think they would make a great Mother's Day gift.

There are 4 new prints.  The first is my favorite.  It is simple but really cute.  It is called the "Hometown Definition Print".  My sister is putting this one in her yet-to-be redecorated guest room.

 
 

It looks even cuter with a Hometown quilt:

 

The second is called the "Hometown Bunting Print".  I think this is really funny because a few months ago we didn't even know what a bunting was- until we asked all of you!

 
 
 

Next is one similar to one of our Sunkissed prints. 

 

 This circle print has been very popular, so we did one for Hometown:

 
 

The last one is my favorite (yes I have 2 favorites).  It is a larger print (16" x 20") and celebrates all of your favorite things about your hometown.  It is called the Hometown Alphabet Print:

 

Each letter can be customized, or you can customize a few and leave the rest of the letters and words as what is pictured in the sample.  I love the idea of giving this as a housewarming gift- whether someone is moving to a new city or just across the street.  My mom thinks she is getting this one, so I guess my Mother's Day gift shopping is finished!

A few other Hometown prints that we have shown before would also make great Mother's Day gifts.  The custom Zip Code Print:

 

And the Custom Subway Art:

 

So, while you have to wait until August to get the Hometown fabric, the prints are available now on our Etsy site.

If you would like to win one, simply let us know which of the 4 new Hometown Prints is your favorite, and where you would hang it in your home.  You have until Monday.  Good Luck!

 

 

 

More Prints, My Favorite Quilt and Our Winner...

 

We have more prints to show you!  These are part of the 1st collection (above) which we started showing last week.  The next two both have the family/hometown theme to them.  The first can be customized with a zip code, city and state or any name with the full name printed under the large letters.

 
 
 

The second is a family "collage" type print, that can also be customized any way you wish. 

 

Now for the most exciting part.  We love how the black and white prints coordinate with almost anything- but they especially coordinate with my most favorite quilt.  You would probably think that my favorite is a quilt from Sweetwater fabric and designed by Sweetwater.  Not at this very moment.  The quilt I am totally obsessed with (I have been drooling over it for weeks now) is from Vanessa Christenson from V and Co.  I'm sure you have seen it- it seems to be showing up on lots of blogs.  Here it is (all photography is from Vanessa):

 
 

So, the other day, while I was looking at it for the 62nd time, I had a brilliant thought (I thought it was brilliant, anyway).  Wouldn't that black and white quilt look cool with our prints?  I love how she has the quilt photographed in a nursery.  But since my baby isn't a baby anymore, I would have to put it somewhere else.  And in that room, I would hang this:

 
 

Ok, that's my brilliant thought.  Just had to show you that quilt because it makes me so happy.  You can get the pattern here.  And please visit Vanessa at her blog.  If you aren't already a follower, one look and you will be hooked!

So we made the circle print from Authentic fabric designs.  We didn't want to leave Sunkissed out:

 
 

Both the circle prints are available now on our Etsy site.  This is just a preview of our Sunkissed collection.  More later this week.

I almost forgot the winner of our contest!   The lucky person who wins their favorite print is:

Rachel who wrote:

if i HAD to choose a fav...it would be the subway art.
i love, love, love how personalized it can be.

*fingers crossed*

Congratulations, Rachel!  Just e-mail us at [email protected] and we will start working on your print. 

Have a great Monday!

Okay-Here's The Deal!!! + A Very Special Contest

Remember a long time ago (probably 5 or 6 months) when we asked you what your hometown was? Some of you should, because we got over 1000 responses!  Well, today I'm going to give you one piece of the puzzle.  There are actually 3 pieces to this puzzle, but today is only the first step.  We will reveal the other 2 pieces to the puzzle in the coming weeks.

Now fast forward to last week when I proclaimed on this blog that we were working on something and hoped to get it done this week.  And a miracle happened- we actually got it done!  Well, some of it anyway.  Enough to let you in on it.  So..............

We wanted to do something a little different.  Not quilting or fabric, but something else we love.  Now you know we love words.  We also love designing and decorating and typography.  And we absolutely love subway art.  So we decided to create our own subway art and design and produce custom prints. We had a few guidelines we wanted to follow:

1.  It must be high quality and printed professionally,  We use textured matte canvas- which is an incredible surface.  It produces rich color with and the texture gives the print depth.  The inks used are the highest archival pigment inks.

2.  We wanted to make it affordable.  Subway art is everywhere, but it can be seriously expensive!  We have different sized prints with different levels of customization.  Therefore, we have different price levels to make it reasonable for everyone.

3.  We wanted to inject some "Sweetwater" in the art.  A lot of our prints will incorporate our fabric.  That way you can coordinate your quilts with a piece of art to hang on your wall- think a baby quilt made with Sunkissed fabric paired with a coordinating print for your nursery (you will see that next week!). 

We are just revealing a few at a time (the creation and framing and photos are taking us forever!).  So, staying with the "Hometown" theme, here are our first 3 pieces, which are all black and white (great with our Authentic fabric).  The first is all about your hometown.  It includes street names of our town in Colorado:

 
 

Keep in mind that this print can be customized in a variety of ways.  Instead of streets, you can use facts about your family or cities you have visited.  It makes a great wedding gift- you can include things such as the wedding date, church, the names of the bridal party, etc.  You can see other examples on our Etsy site.  Here is one I did for my sister for Christmas- it also comes in this antique background:

 

The second print we are showing today is all about numbers.  We all have important numbers in our lives- birth dates, wedding dates, number of people in your family, addresses, zip codes, etc.  You can customize this print with your special numbers (notice the Authentic newsprint as the background):

 
 

This one also comes in a black background:

 

The last one we are showing today is one of my favorites.  My sister designed something similar to this for her Christmas card a few years ago.  She lists 15 facts about her family- such as names, her anniversary, activities her family enjoys, etc.  It can also be personalized for an individual.  We think it would make a great gift!

 
 
 

Okay, so those are our 3 for today.  They are available now on our Etsy site. 

So, do you want to win one!!!!!??????????

Simply leave us a comment and let us know which of the 3 is your favorite and where you would hang it in your home if you won.  We will choose a winner on Monday- but check back before then- we will have more to show you!

12 Days Of Christmas Begins

with .........

The 25 Days Of Christmas Kit

 

Make 25 Tree Ornaments to Hang on your tree to help countdown the days before Christmas. 

Tuck little gifts,

 
 

candy

 
coupons, etc.  inside to open up every day in anticipation of Christmas.  It also helps that the little bag ornaments are lined in cute fabric!

 

Every day for the next 12 Days we will be showcasing a new project to create for your special Christmas season.  It wouldn't be fair for us to just show you the projects so we will have kits available for the projects available here on our etsy site.

Stay tuned for more fun projects!!!