happy december!

I can't believe it's the 1st! Your wonderful wishes fed me the entire Thanksgiving weekend. I'd like to share a bunch of things with you this Monday morning. You may remember hearing me talk about my new organic line a few weeks back. I invested in some incredible organic cotton to make beautiful gifts and new items for my shop. I pre-washed one yard to gauge shrinkage and to experiment with some new ideas. That beautiful yard of fabric sat and sat in my studio. I just couldn't make the first cut. Has that ever happened to you? You have something new and lovely, and it's just so hard to open it up and use it. I came up with a plan. I decided that I had to turn every scrap of that yard into something: My One Yard Challenge! When I told my friend, Margie, what I was up to, she immediately thought of the beautiful book Something from Nothing, by Pheobe Gilman. I'm so glad that she reminded me, because this is one of my family's all-time favorite books, and I can't recommend it enough. It's the story of a little boy and his grandfather, a tailor. the grandfather makes him a beautiful blanket when he is born. As he grows and the blanket wears, the grandfather creates new life from what is left. He turns the blanket into a jacket, later a vest, a tie, and then a cloth covered button... it's a beautifully illustrated book with a very special message about resourcefulness and the fullness of life...

Everything in the above photo is made from my one yard of white organic cotton fabric. This is also a little introduction to some of the things I will be selling in my shop. I had so much fun figuring out ways to make tiny items out of my scraps.

So, come on in and take a closer look at the little stuff. These will be part of my gift giving this year:

- mini partridge and a pear tree ornaments stuffed with smaller scraps
-a little bird/dove zig-zagged with raw edges and a little quilting
- my first attempt at fabric covered buttons with hand stenciling... I'm addicted and wish I had time to make buttons all day!


More about the Elephant at the end of this post.

These three toddler totes were so fun to make and will be going in the shop next week.


Each one has French seams and the handles are reinforced. They are just right for a young child to pack up with toys and a snack... or to take it on a nature walk and fill it with treasures. My daughter has made it clear that she'd like each one... so they have the little person's seal of approval. I guess I'll be making more! The best part: they can be thrown in the washing machine.

Mark your calendars for December 8th! I've had so many requests for more burlap buckets. I've decided to do a big shop party a week from today. Well, not really a party... but I'll do a huge listing of all different kinds of burlap buckets, organic cotton buckets (that have the wonderful feature of being washable), some of what you've seen today and many holiday gifts! I'm really excited and would love you to come by. I'll be giving sneak peeks throughout this week.

And now, about that sweet baby elephant and the little bucket... if you fly over to The Crafty Crow right now, you can read all about them. You can also enter the give-away and WIN THEM! Yes, another Give-Away! Click here to find out more!

There are so many fun things happening today! if you have a chance, don't miss the grand opening of Margie's new Etsy shop, KNITALATTE at4pm EST!

Have a great start to your week... and to December!