Life has been full of new and wonderful things these past few months. In February we started a complete kitchen remodel. It is April 19th and it is still not complete, but very close. I am in love with our refinished hardwood floors. Can you believe these gorgeous floors were underneath some terrible white tiles! The new farmhouse sink and the subway tile back splash make me very happy. The IKEA cabinets look clean and seem sturdy.

Meet Dutch. He is a Chihuahua/Dachsund or a Chiweenie, Chiweener, or Mexican Hot Dog. We love him so much. He was somewhat of a rescue from a neighbor that was not properly taking care of the new puppies. He was bottle, dropper fed for the first two weeks. He is now 8 weeks old and is happily eating canned puppy food and destroying anything he can get his little mouth on!

We had an epic Spring Break vacation this year. We took the girls to Portland, drove the Oregon Coast and headed to San Francisco. It was a lovely trip full of new adventures and cherished long time friends. Portland might be my new favorite city. We were lucky to be there on two very sunny spring days. However, I could see the evidence of a rainy city by all the moss and ferns that seemed to grow out of every crack and crevice. Looking forward to visiting again someday.

I am so excited to tell you about my new Craftsy Workshop! The folks at Craftsy asked me to develop an online workshop and I knew just what I wanted to do. This is a fun and functional tote made from “charm” squares. A girl can never have too many bags and this one is easy enough to make in an afternoon. I think it is so much fun to play with fabric, prints, and colors to come up with a great bag. As a bonus, I show some fun and easy embroidery techniques to embellish it!

I usually spend the holidays at home or with extended family that live near by. There are no extravagant parties this year and New Year’s Eve will be spent at home with my family remembering the past year and looking forward to the year to come. However, I couldn’t resist whipping myself up a little sparkly number to celebrate the season. With all the cookies I have been making and eating, it is a good thing it has an elastic waistband! I was inspired by a free tutorial that Anna Maria Horner has on her site. It is slightly modified for my tulle fabric. I created just one casing for my extra wide elastic. The hairpiece is inspired by another tutorial that Colette has on her site. I added a vintage button and snipped off a piece of the tulle sparkle fabric and added it to my barrette. If you need a little extra sparkle this year, both of these projects are easy and fun to make!

2012 Calendar Tea Towel Color: Pumpkin Pie

CONGRATULATIONS to Njeri for winning my tea towel in the 2011 Sew MaMa Sew Giveaway Day!

It is Giveaway Day on Sew Mama Sew and this time I am giving away one of my custom 2012 calendar tea towels (pumpkin pie colorway). Simply leave a comment on this post to win. This time Giveaway Day will last an entire week, from December 12th – December 16th. The winner will be announced on December 17th and I will ship international. Good luck!.

The Holiday Handmade market was a blast and there are so many talented artists and crafters in Denver. The Fancy Tiger girls are so cool. There was a marching band during the craft fair and a photo booth by Yaggi Photography. This is me posing with one of my tea towels. Share the craft love!

Handmade pin cushion and DIY pin heads.

Thanksgiving has past and the girl’s school break is over. We had a wonderful week full of family, food and love. The big Holiday Handmade Craft Fair is less than a week away and I have become a tea towel factory. My fair booth preparations are underway and with the help of my husband my space is going to be fun. Christmas is less than four weeks away. My holiday list is made, and for the most part, most of the shopping is done. There are a few special handmade items remaining on my “to do” list. I am so excited for my daughter’s school Holiday Fair. It has become a tradition for us to get our tree that day. I am looking forward to the smell of a fresh fir needles in the house and filling up our Advent calendar with tiny surprises for Mira and Willow.

Speaking of tiny surprises. Check out these DIY pin heads. You can find a great tutorial here. I am also teaching a holiday gift class at Fancy Tiger to teach other crafters how to make their own cushion and pins.

Pumpkin Pie

Heirloom Tomato

Macaroon

First introduced in the 1950s, vintage calendar towels can be found at garage sales and antique markets. I have a few and I would love to grow my collection. A linen calendar towel can be hung in your kitchen and once the year is over you can use them as kitchen towels, stitched up to make pillows and bags or framed as a wall hanging.

Here is a little sneak peek at the new custom 2012 calendar tea towels I am working on. I had Spoonflower print them and if you are in Denver and going to Fancy Tiger’s Holiday Handmade you can get one for yourself. I am selling them here and will be made to order. There are four colorways and kits to cross stitch and hang your own. I plan to hang one on my stove and use it, just like my grandma did in the 50′s.

Sadie Fox Studio Custom 2012 Tea Towel in Granny Smith colorway

My two sweet girls on Halloween 2011.

This year the whole family is dressing up for Halloween. It has been years since I have dressed up. I had to be Frida; beautiful, talented, and tortured Frida. More photos coming of the handmade costumes I made the girls and the devilish man I love.

I just learned what SWAG stands for. Did you know? Anyway, take a look at the crazy great SWAG I got at The Sewing Summit in Salt Lake City last weekend. I have a feeling that some of it didn’t make it into this picture because I have already shared with my kids. I had so much fun that I forgot to get souvenirs for my girls. They had fun picking out stuff from my pile of swag. So it is all good in the end.