one shabby chick

Summer Living

OK so another 3 months have gone by - can I blame it on summer?

How about I just show you what we've been up to?

We spent a lot of time at the beach.....

and I've been doing lots of sewing:

experimenting with leather

having lots of fun with Cotton and Steel fabrics

making lots of Jane Market totes for friends

 

Have gotten obsessed with a new shorts pattern

 

and with making patchwork panels

more beach days

and now school and soccer are about to be in full swing. I'm not ready!!

So, how did you spend your summer?

busy, busy

Sewing away for craft fairs.

First fair of the season was yesterday and I did ok considering there were flash flood warnings all weekend! I was seriously thinking of just showing up to get my deposit and going home.

But it ended up being a nice day (with a few bouts of rain sprinkled in). Total miracle! It poured rain the entire day at our house!

I did add some of the goodies I've been working on to the shop tonight:

My to-do list is pretty long this week too! But I'll be sure to check back in here soon!

Hey there

Well...again...it's been a while.

I do keep thinking about how I need to blog and not just book reviews or giveaways

(although I'm sure no one minds the giveaways).

First of all I have a winner for the Patchwork Please giveaway.......

Karen H (sent you an email!)

I've been sewing a lot lately - getting ready for craft fairs that are coming up.

Little bloomers (I used this pattern - just changed the legs a little bit):

some new ipad cases:

and mini ones too:

I also tried out some fun scrappy garland (don't know where to hang it though)

and these cute coasters that I think I'm going to make as Christmas gifts to go along with some other handmade goodies. (tutorial here)

I had a pop-up shop last night at Honolulu Night Market (it was super last minute, like one day notice).

I did ok - made my booth fee and a little more but I was hoping for a better night (sales-wise).

It was SUPER fun to spend the evening with my hubby though. There were all kinds of great food trucks so we sampled lots of yummy foods and checked out all the interesting people that stop by these events.

He had never been to a fair with me so it was a fun change to have him (and he did all the heavy lifting - yay!)

This morning left me in a bit of a funk as I was comparing myself to other local crafters and measuring my success in light of theirs - never a good thing.

But as I walked to the car (to head to church), I just rehearsed in my mind all my blessings - and it changed my mood rather quickly.

Hope you all had a great weekend and are looking forward to a new week. I know I am - have a few ideas I want to try out soon.

And an Etsy update (with a coupon) will be happening in the next day or so! I have lots to load up!!

a 13 year old

 

Somehow I missed the birthday post for Bela here on the blog - Instagram is just so easy and convenient lately.

She turned 13 on August 23rd so now we have two teenagers in the house!

Hubby wanted to make her birthday the BEST EVER and she really wanted to go on a hike for her birthday so we had her three best friends spend the night and went on an amazing hike.

I always try and do something crafty with the girls for her birthday and I think this was maybe the most fun yet.

We made dream catchers:

I bought a bunch of embroidery hoops and we used scraps of fabric, yarn, crocheted doilies and ribbon to make them - I love how they turned out!

The girls were thrilled too!

The next morning we set out on the hike. It's up in Kahana Valley. You have to drive past a bunch of houses and then park and walk past a few more to get to the start of the trail.

The first part is a semi-paved road and then you get to the trail. At this point you can walk about 5 minutes down a hill and get to the rope swing and river (that I will tell you about later) or you can take a path off to the right and go on a two hour hike that will end up at the river.

We wanted some adventure so we went on the two hour hike - even our littlest did it. It's fairly muddy (we were lucky it hadn't rained too much before the hike) and there are a few little creeks you have to cross - one you are probably in about knee deep. But it was fairly easy and there are even snacks (guavas and mountain apples) along the way!

There is pig-hunting in the area but we didn't see any pigs (our friend did have a run-in with one on this trail a while back though so be careful if you go on this hike!).

At the end you come down the trail to this beautiful scene. The girls had so much fun on the rope swing and just exploring the area. 

A set of winners

OK so here are the winners for the re-giveaway prizes.

First winner is #65 - Allysha - guess it was your lucky day!! You get the book and fabric set!

#112 - KHohns - you win the set of Lunden Designs quilt patterns!

And #177 and #161 - Erica (B) C. and Elaine T - you both win the cute luggage tag pattern + fat quarters!

I've sent you all emails!

The microMod giveaway is still going on and you can also enter to win a sewing machine (contiguous US only - that means I'm out too) at Alexia's blog!

I've been sewing up a storm this week as I have a craft fair this weekend.

And I've made some fun items that I can't wait to stock in my Etsy shop too.

 

These clutches are from  lbg studio's amazing pattern and I just changed the dimensions a bit - I love them.

And I made some fun tote bags with a faux leather trim too.

OK I'm off to sew, sew, sew!

Honolulu Night Market

I know I said I was done with craft fairs for the season but I have a chance to be in an amazing market on Saturday.

I've been sewing a few new things for it and working on three custom quilts that I need to deliver next Saturday.

Plus there's still regular life, school, cookie parties, ice skating (tomorrow) and as always, laundry :-)

Yep, I am regretting piling so much on my plate this year - but I'm getting it done and trying to enjoy the season as I do it!

And I have great helpers - my two oldest baked all those cookies and are vacuuming the house as I type this.

And my wonderful hubby - dang I love him.

I got home from the last craft fair to this:

(he said that stands for Head Over Heels For You)

I have been wanting one of those new coffee makers from Starbucks and he bought me one :-)

Now I can have my own lattes at home whenever I want (and yes, so far I love it - just wish they sold the pods at Costco).

ok I'm off to sew.........I'll post the Lunden Designs winners on Monday!

Updates

 

* The craft fair was amazing!! Thanks to everyone for your well wishes and to my wonderful customers who came out!

* I put a few goodies into the shop today - pillow covers, zip pouches and a baby boy quilt.

*Finished this little quilt at the craft fair and gifted it to the mom-to-be on Sunday. She loved it.

But I didn't get a finished picture!!

* Been gathering Christmas goodies - look at these cute pouches I bought from Krista for my girls!

and I bought a cute tote from Amanda (she's having a sale right now too)!!

One more craft fair this Saturday!

And of course I'm making a few more things - camera straps, guitar straps, fold over clutches and a couple more goodies!

I have a great giveaway coming up on Friday so stay tuned!!

Sewing Marathon

Feels like I've sewn a few marathons lately.

I'm in full power-out mode as I have a craft fair this weekend and one next weekend plus custom orders (yes, I am in way over my head!!)

I will be doing a shop update on the 10th with all the goodies that are remaining (hopefully there won't be too many)!

I'm off to bind a few quilts  - I'm crazy I know - but wanted to post a little note just to let you know I'm still here (I'm on Instagram constantly if you want to follow me there).

Local peeps - here's the craft fair info for this Saturday:

OK - Have a great weekend everyone!

Just a reminder

Where to start

I should really do better about blogging so I don't have a million things to share when I finally sit down to blog!

I never thought I would need to actually schedule myself to blog but that's kind of what it's turning into these days. Mostly cause I'm just so busy sewing in any free minute I get!

I have a really big craft fair this Sunday - at least I'm hoping it's really big.

I've never been to this one before but have heard it's a really good one so guess I'll have to wait and see.

I'm sewing as much as I can (yes, I wait until the week before to sew everything - don't you?!).

I did close the Studio Cherie giveaway and will pick the winners next Tuesday after I've recovered from the craft fair.

OK enough about craft fairs...how about some Halloween pictures?!

I didn't manage to get one of the oldest but got one of the rest of us.

Our church partners with another church for a huge Fall Festival every year. It's all free and is so fun for the community.

I was in charge of the jumper for a few hours - check out my cute little Wonder Woman helper (she's a friend's daughter).

Hubs was a crazy Duck Dynasty distant relative - think he must be related to Si.

and the kiddos:

Batman is VERY serious!

They had a pie eating contest this year (pumpkin pie) and there were three different age categories - and my boys/men swept the whole thing!

I got lots of jokes about not feeding them after it was over!

So fun!

Oh - and checkout my sister-in-law and brother's costumes!!

Is that not the coolest?! She made the heads out of paper mache and paint and fake fur - they were so awesome!!

I also finished up a quilt for a friend's baby shower this past Sunday.

(setting up)

She's having a girl - she's also my hairdresser so I had to go in real quick yesterday for a cut and color since she's due to have the baby any day now!

I used the Blind Co-Pilot pattern from Katie and Jacquie's book - best book ever!!

OK I'm off to put elastic into skirt waists and sew up zipper pouches.

Have a great Friday everyone (or Saturday if you are in Australia)!