Archives for April 2010

I have really been enjoying putting some new twists on some old favorites in my little sewing world.  I am working on more canvas projects for customers, which is so fun, and still leaves time in between all the drying to keep up with my sewing.  Here are some recent orders.

This first order was actually placed by my cousin Rebecca in Collierville.  They are going to Disney World soon and she wanted a crown tee for her little girl, Ms Natalie.  She loved the previous crown I made, but wanted Natalie’s to have a little bling on it.  By all means, what little princess does not need some major sparkle.  I was happy to seek out those special buttons and love the end result.  Rebecca also wanted a cool baseball tee for one of her little boys, Garrett.  Thanks again Rebecca…love you and all your kiddos.

This next order was placed by my dad for his wife Judye.  Judye loves Alabama and he asked me to make her an Alabama shirt.  I wanted a total feminine approach to the logo, something summery and simple.  I love how it turned out.  Hope Judye loves it too.  Thanks Dad, as always!

Oh how I love these two new Africa tees.  These were ordered by Rebecca in Texas, but are headed to her mom here in Tennessee and her mother-in-law in Mississippi.  Rebecca and her husband are in the process of adopting from Ethiopia and wanted some very special Mother’s Day presents for their moms…too sweet.  And I was so excited when Rebecca chose these two fabrics.  I have really been hoping they would be chosen and finally I had someone who did and I think they look awesome.  Love the bright color combination and they just scream spring!  Thanks again Rebecca and hope the soon-to-be-grandmothers love them.

The next Africa tee is headed to Christi in Illinois.  Their family is in the process of adopting as well and she wanted a tee to show some love.  It really make my heart happy to hear all the stories of people adopting, not just from Africa, but from all over the world, including the US.  It really is just a pleasure to hear everyone’s story.  Thanks so much Christi.

And this last tee is actually for my little girl Harper.  She has been on the sick side lately and the other night while several art pieces were drying, I found this little black tee I had bought for Harper a while back.  I thought it was about time to sew something on it for her.  She always sees me taking pictures of items for customers and if it is kids tee, she will always ask, “Is that for me?” and of course my answer is usually, “Sorry Harper, but this is for another child.”  She really doesn’t ever mind, but always asks, so I was happy to make something special just for her.  I wanted a new twist on the initial tee and LOVE how it turned out.  Harper gave me a big grin too when I showed it to her.  She knows that H is for her.  Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Well the rain is still around in Tennessee, but at least our power is back and that means I am working away.  This first order was placed by Kelly in Hendersonville.  Kelly is a returning customer and this time she needed a Special Day birthday plate and a cute, girly tractor tee.  I really love this tee…it is going to be perfect for the sweet birthday girl who’s party is farm themed.  Thanks Kelly for your business and hope everyone loves their gifts.

This tee is headed to Cimbrey in Louisiana.  She wanted an Africa shirt to show some love.  Thanks again so much Cimbrey and hope you love, love, love your shirt.

This next tee is headed Alison in Murfreesboro.  Alison is an AMAZING photographer and actually took Sol’s celebrate adoption photos and she is just the sweetest.  She and her husband Brad have a true heart for adoption and work going on in Africa.  Alison will be going to Africa soon and contacted me about making her a shirt with the heart in Guinea.  She loved the tee I made for myself, found a tee she loved and asked me to do the rest.  Thanks again Alison and hope your trip is incredible.  Check out her photography site HERE.

These next tees are gifts for two sweet kiddos.  In my second year of teaching, I taught a sweet, brown headed, brown eyed little girl named Presly.  She was just the sweetest and totally reminds me of Haprer.  Presly has the sweetest heart and even over the years I have still remained in contact with Presly and her amazing family.  Lately Presly has been on my heart and what kid doesn’t love to get mail, so I decided to send her shirt, made just for her.  I hope she will just love it and know that I still think about her all the time.

And this last tee is for my sweet little nephew Van.  He will be one next week and his birthday party is this weekend.  I always try to give my nieces and nephews at least one handmade item for their birthdays and even other holidays.  I just love handmade items and all the love, time and work that goes into them.  So I made this little tee just for him.  Happy Birthday Van!

If you live in the Middle Tennessee area, then you know we had major tornado weather last night.  I was so ticked…I had the night all planned…a little date night at home with Josh, sewing and art orders to work on, birthday presents to make and then of course, here comes the weather.  No major damage around our house, but a power line pole was snapped right in half by the wind and we were out of power from about 6:30 last night until lunch time today.  This did not go well with me.  I was hoping for a big post today, but instead it will be a small one.

This first order was placed by Natalie in Kentucky.  She and her husband are adopting a sweet boy, Tedi, from Africa.  Natalie was too kind and even sent me a picture of Tedi and let me just say, he is a heartbreaker.  Just the cutest.  They should be able to bring him home soon, so they are busy working on his new room.  He has the coolest baseball bed and some awesome plaid bedding.  Natalie wanted some special art pieces to go over his bed and this is what we came up with.  I love these.  They are 4 12×12 canvases and I used a mixed media technique.  Natalie loved the piece I did for Sol, so we just modified and changed some things to make it perfect for Tedi.  Thanks again so much Natalie and hope you are holding your son soon.

This next order was placed by Jill in Wisconsin.  She loved the gray Africa shirt I did for myself in the dictionary print fabric.  She really wanted a v-neck tee, so she just mailed me one and once it arrived, I got to work.  Hope you love it Jill and thanks again for your business.

And this last tee was ordered by my sister-in-law Katy for a special little one.  Thanks Katy!

So here’s to a night of tornado free weather and to many orders being completed.

These three orders are all new tees, kind of.  I love when someone emails me with a brand new idea that I have never done before…whether it’s a shirt or art piece or whatever.  I like a challenge and love to try new things.

So this first order was placed by Amy in Illinois.  Amy actually ordered from me over 2 years ago.  Check out what she ordered here. She was one of my very first out-of-state orders.  She has a little girl adopted from China and even then I asked her all about adoption.  I knew God was working and I loved hearing about other people’s adoption stories.  Once we started our adoption Amy was so sweet and sent me a very encouraging email.  So, back to this order.  Her little girl, Ms. Libi Faith is now turning 4 and needed a crown birthday shirt to sport with her pink tutu for her party and Amy contacted me about making her one.  I was so excited and happy to do it.  Thanks again Amy for being a supporter since the very beginning.

This next order was placed by Erica in Pikeville, Tn.  Erica contacted me about making a 1st birthday shirt for her nephew Quinton.  She wanted the letter Q and the number 1 for his 1st birthday.  I love how the tee turned out and thanks again so much Erica.  Hope Quinton has a great party and  loves his shirt

And lastly these two tees are headed to Terianne and Katie in Pennsylvania.  They are going on a mission trip to Milawi, Africa and wanted special shirts to wear while on their trip.  They wanted “malawi” on the front and on the back the continent of Africa with the heart over Milawi.  I was happy to give them exactly what they were wanting.  Thanks ladies so much and hope your trip is wonderful.

I can’t begin to tell you how happy it makes me to know my work is are headed out all across the world.  God really is just too good and I never want to give anyone the praise except for Him.

My boys totally melt my heart.  I had to share this picture because it just makes me happy.  I love everything about their amazing relationship, their brotherhood.  They are sweet, sweet, sweet on each other and still throw down like brothers and then will share an embrace like this.  They know how to have fun and I am one proud momma!

Onto some orders.  This order was placed by Christin in Georgia.  She wanted two Africa tees to show her love.  I was so excited because she chose two of my recent favorite fabrics.  These are brand new Africa tees…never made either of these before.  Thanks so much Christin and hope you love your tees.

This next order was placed by Robin in Florida.  This is such a sweet order.  Robin is heading to Nicaragua soon to meet her Compassion International sponsor child.  Robin’s daughter is going on the trip as well.  Her daughter and their sponsor child share the same birthday and will be celebrating their birthdays while in Nicaragua.  Robin wanted two matching cupcake tees for the girls to sport at their joint birthday party.  I was so excited to do this and to have a small part in such a very special birthday party.  I CANNOT wait to see pictures of these sweet girls.  Thanks again Robin.

This last order was placed by Stephanie in North Carolina.  Stephanie wanted some Guatemala tees for some very special kiddos in her life.  I am hoping for a picture of her boys sporting their tees 🙂  Thanks again so much Stephanie.

I have had so much fun creating things lately for customers and have been given some really neat requests.  Some requests have really gotten my creative juices flowing and some that have challenged me.  I have a few art pieces still in the works and can’t wait to post them when they are complete.

This first order was placed by Shana in Georgia.  A friend of hers had breast cancer a while back and now it has come back.  It has showed up in her lungs and brain too.  Shana and several other friends are gathering items for this friend to send to her as a small pick-me-up.  Cancer has always been a huge issue in our family and I have had several family members die from cancer, so I was really honored Shana chose one of my shirts to bring a little joy to a friend who was going through so much.  She chose the “hope” shirt and let me choose the fabrics and tee color.  Her only request was that it was springy and a happy shirt.  Thanks again Shana and it was such a privilege to make this shirt for your sweet friend.

This painting was ordered by my friend Brea.  Brea runs an amazing children’s consignment sale here in middle Tennessee called Encores And More North.  Brea always needs workers for the sale and if you work a certain amount of hours you get to shop before any one else or sometimes you can barter and do the same. That is why I love Brea.  The last two years she has been in need of my services and I have gladly agreed so that I can shop the workers sale and do not have to find a babysitter to work…have I mentioned that it is an AMAZING sale.  So last year I painted in her house because I paint walls and Brea knows it.  This year she needed some art and I was so excited.  I love to paint and I was glad to do it.  So here is what Brea chose.  Thanks again Brea for giving me and all those moms out there these great opportunities to shop at your sale.  I totally appreciate it and all your hard work that goes into such a HUGE sale.  Can’t wait for Fall.

24×36 acrylic on canvas

This next order was placed by Christie in Franklin, Tn.  Christie actually had seen some of my work in her sister-in-laws house and had a very unique request of me.  She brought me an old cross calendar and asked that I make an art piece out of the calendar.  After really narrowing down a tecnique for the piece and which crosses to incorporate, Christie decided that she wanted me to use the fruits of the spirit for the wording.  This will be hanging in their family room and these are characteristics she wants her family to be reminded of.  Thank you so much Christie for your business and for such a fun and unique request.  I loved working on this.

24×36 mixed media on canvas

This last order was placed by my friend Alissa.  She needed a girl baby gift and totally just let me do my thing.  It’s nice just to create sometimes and I love all these springy colors.  Thanks Alissa and can’t wait to hang out tomorrow night!

Just wanted to remind everyone that the guest spotlight giveaway I am participating in, ends at 9pm tonight.  Click here to enter. Up for grabs is a custom Pitter Patter tee, adult or kids, of your choice.  Can’t wait to see who wins.

I was contacted about a month or so ago about doing a guest spotlight giveaway over at Tuckers Take Tennessee by Meghan…a sweet momma who promotes small businesses.  I was happy to participate and you can head over to her site HERE and enter to win a custom Pitter Patter tee of your choice. The giveaway ends tomorrow, Wednesday at 9pm.  It’s easy to enter and don’t forget you can find us on Facebook HERE and Twitter HERE.

And check out what I finally did yesterday…

I finally made myself an Africa shirt.  I have so many art projects going on and most of them need a certain amount of drying time, so while I was at a stand still and all my kids were still asleep, I decided it was time I finally made myself an Africa shirt.  I am a very simple dresser…I prefer tees and jeans, flip-flops or converse and I usually never wear one shirt alone…I am a major layerer (is that a word?).  So I went to my closet and grabbed one of my many plain jane tees and set to work.  I had it narrowed down between two different fabrics…you can see my other choice below…but the dictionary print won.  I really am pleased and can’t wait to sport it…currently it’s in the wash.  So there you have it.  And don’t forget to check out the Pitter Patter giveaway here…simple to enter and you could win a custom kids or adult tee of you choice.

The runner up of my choices.