Rain Rain Rain

I've been working like an ELF yesterday and today trying to finish all of the shirts I have. I'm down to my last 12, yes TWELVE!!!!!!!!!! Woo Hoo!!!! I WILL finish these by the end of this week! Here is one of my favorite designs for Christmas, especially for older kids (with an older looking font). I did a red turtleneck last year for Browder which G will probably wear this year!

 If you've followed my blog for a while, then this picture looks familiar! This is where I sometimes pile all of my "DONE" shirts ready for pickup! Most of these were done yesterday and today!

 Here is the weather photo for today ~ RAIN!!! It has rained all. day. long. I resisted a good afternoon nap and have slaved behind this machine most of the day.

How cute is this????

 This is a daughter of a customer and Mallory has one of these precious headbands. I want to take a picture of her with it on and will try to do so and post this week. These are by ZoeLynn & Co. and can be found HERE (Facebook) and HERE (Etsy). They are really cute and she has some great fabrics for Christmas too! Check her out and become a fan on Facebook!

So much for my WIWW (The Pleated Poppy)!! I failed miserably! I will try to take a pic every now & then and post, but as far as every day... I'm just not that stylish! HA! I still LOVE the blog and will keep up with what everyone else is wearing! I added her and another great blog to my blog list ~ both unrelated to applique but fun to read!

We have at least 7 new designs coming to Applique Cafe. There was also some confusion as to the Elizabeth's Embroideries Lamb design from my previous post. The website owner misunderstood my post and thought I was claiming it as my own! Most of you know a lot of the designs featured on my blog are from all different sites. I changed it so that you can see it's clearly from her site, and I may start adding captions underneath all of my right-hand-side pictures so you know where the design came from! She & I e-mailed this morning and it was a simple misunderstanding. I will add that info in my spare time....

As far as taking on more work! Maybe next week? We're heading to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Saturday so I'd like to finish my 12 and enjoy my weekend and then might take on a few orders before Christmas!

December Eve Eve

I hope everyone had a fabulous and 

relaxing Thanksgiving full of good food and family!?

I have been asked 2 or 3 times lately where this design came from. I have designs on my blog from lots of different places ~ they are not all from Applique Cafe! This cute lamb/sheep is from Elizabeth's Embroideries. This website is tricky to maneuver but if you scroll down on the page, you'll see a pink one with a bow. That's the one! 

 Today I did the Double Circle design and while the coloring on my photo is off due to the rainy weather today (I took the pic outside), I loved these fabrics together! I was matching a pair of pink pants and also a green cord skirt. It's the daintiest pink flower fabric and I love using it! I also used it on our new angel in a blue/periwinkle version of the same fabric.

We spent 5 days at the beach for Thanksgiving and it was fabulously relaxing! This was our 5th year I think of the beach tradition and we will hopefully continue for years to come. The weather is usually GREAT along with great shopping (and eating) and lots of doing NOTHING! I even met a blogger/applique/facebook friend at Publix down there. We were in the produce section and gave each other that "are you ?" look and quickly realized we knew each other, cyber-speaking knew each other! Not quite as crazy as running in to another blogger friend down at Disney this past year, but fun nonetheless. It's a small world after all...

Lots of these on the beach....

And lots of smiles....

This is NOT my Christmas card photo but I thought it was cute enough to post. I took about 40 pictures and ordered my Christmas cards today after spending most of the day on 7 different websites playing around with my "it" picture and all the gazillion cards out there. Snapfish had 30% off today so I went with them (and free shipping). Yeah! So glad that is over with (the ordering part).

My family was also extremely happy with the Iron Bowl results and are pumped up about ATLANTA this weekend (SEC Championship)! I went to Troy, but my husband, sister, father, brother in law, sister in law, half brother, a few cousins and 2 uncles graduated from Auburn so that qualifies me as a true Auburn fan! I'm sure I'm leaving some extended family and/or friends out of that list too. WAR EAGLE!!

We are working on some new AC designs for this week. 40% off sale ends tomorrow (or first thing Wednesday morning). Have a great week! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

First up... Thanksgiving "Gobble Gobble" Sale at www.appliquecafe.com! 

40% off all designs through the end of the month 

(aka November 30th)

Don't forget Applique Cafe gift certificates! 

Put them on your Christmas list or hint to hubby that you'd love one/some in your stocking! 

They come in increments of $10!

 

I didn't do too good with WIWW (www.thepleatedpoppy.com, see blog). I made it 2 days, Saturday we showed our house twice and camera was inaccessible, Sunday ~ church, and yesterday I was in shorts and a T-shirt all day with no makeup! It really is a challenge to a) get dressed every day and b) take a photo of  yourself.

 Above - me getting ready to go look at a house (plan B) and also attend Southern Homes & Garden's Ladies Night Out last Thursday!! black layer tee: Target, gray top: Walmart!!, cross necklace: Forever 21, jeans: Gap, shoes: Bare Traps.

Above: Friday errands and misc. all day and Auburn Basketball game Fri night.

cream turtleneck sweater: Gap, pea green infinity scarf: TJMaxx (love green),

skinny jeans: Mossimo Target, brown boots: Shoe Station

Well, it's almost THANKSGIVING!

 And IRON BOWL

 And BLACK FRIDAY

I hope everyone has a relaxing week full of good food and family! We'll be working on new designs hopefully this week! I was pleased with all of my samplers this week and hope to put them to use next week! 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

p.s.I did not get everything done prior to Thanksgiving! I still have 22 items to do and will get those done ASAP starting on Monday. My sewing room has been taken down for the rest of the week!

Happy Weekend!

Here are some pics from my week! First of all, I've had a Starbucks addiction for a few years now, ever since my friend brought me a Mocha Frappacino one morning while we let our kids play. This was several years ago and I've probably spent thousands of dollars (OK maybe not that much) at Starbucks. Mostly at our Cornerstone locale, but it was so bad for a while there that we would have to find them on trips just so I could get one. I used to think they slid some crack in them. For a year or so now (ever since they changed the Frap recipe), I also developed a liking for just a Mocha (hot drink) and I get them several times a week ~ usually when it's my carpool morning. I also enjoy a McDonalds Mocha Frappe, but that's another story. The other day I took the lid off and this is what is left. YUCK! All the mocha at the bottom and some other unknown "things" appear to be stuck to the wall of the cup! Totally random, but I had to take a picture to help myself break this habit! We'll see if it works... this is really disgusting looking...

 I got a surprise box in the mail this week from TJ's Fabric in Opp, AL! They so graciously send me these packages every now & then and it's like Christmas (maybe better?)! If you are anywhere in the vicinity of Opp (south AL), Dothan, Montgomery, or on your way to Destin and you drive down 331, turn off in OPP and visit this pharmacy/fabric store in one. I stopped on our way to the beach in July and am trying to get back down there sometime soon! My parents aren't far from there so hopefully I can go visit in the next month or so! FABULOUS selection of every kind of fabric you could imagine at GREAT prices! All under one roof ~ Michael Miller, Amy Butler, ginghams, polka dots, Riley Blake and everything and everyone else! Here are some of what T. sent me! Who doesn't love an OWL??? LOVE all of these!!

 My pics are out of order ~ here are a few Rabbit Skins hoodies I sent to Texas yesterday. You can't tell but the top fabric is that lime, blue & brown tri-check. I know some people dislike Rabbit Skins, but I have to say (I do like their tees and) these are GREAT hoodies! Very thick and soft and I thought they were great! They also have little pockets on the sides.

 Here is a shot of my "bundles". They are on the sidewalk because I try to take my pictures outside my front door. The lighting is so much better than in my dining room (which makes my pics YELLOW).

 Love how they are all neat & tied with ribbon too! Like Christmas I tell you!

 Another grouping of the green and OWL prints! Super Duper cute and I can't wait to use them! As I stated in my last post, GREEN is my absolute favorite color in the whole wide world.

 More...

I'm having a blast with WIWW (see Wed. post). Jeff e-mailed me after Wednesdays post and I think he thought I had fallen off the deep end. Taking a picture of myself in the mirror is SO not my thing, but it has been fun to play along with The Pleated Poppy! It also makes you think twice about those jogging shorts and a t-shirt. I took pics Thurs & Fri, but not today. We got 2 calls last night saying they were showing our house this morning to 2 different people, so I couldn't tell you where my camera was. We got home at 10pm from an Auburn basketball game and cleaned til after 11, then cleaned ourselves out the door this morning at 9:30. 

So we've showed our house 5 times in 3 weeks. Not bad? It is A LOT OF WORK this selling a house business. Getting it all dusted and cleaned and everything in it's place, blinds open, lamps on just perfect, ALL OF MY SEWING STUFF PUT AWAY!!! 

I decided Thursday night to find some girls to help me with sampling my Applique Cafe designs. I conducted "interviews" via e-mail and picked 7. I got a bunch of great photos by lots of people wanting to sample. It was hard to pick but I picked 7 and farmed out our newest designs for them to sample for me yesterday and today. One less thing for me to have to do! We will hopefully get them all listed on www.appliquecafe.com tomorrow! Good night!! Look for WIWW pics this week (may have to post on Tuesday)!

WIWW

First of all, I LOVE ORANGE!!! Green is my absolute favorite color (I gravitate towards anything and everything green). Next to green is orange! Not so much for decorating and I personally don't wear it a lot, but I love to use orange in appliques. There is a precious kids clothing line that is actually out of Montgomery and every now & then I hit their overstock sales held at My Kids Attic. They also have Facebook sales but I like to get stuff ON SALE! Anyway... these are ruffle pants I got at their last sale, coupled with an Old Navy shirt, orange bow and these orange & white polka dot PJ's (which I ADORE). My sweet friend so graciously sold me all of her daughter's look-like-brand-new hand-me-down PJ's this summer so Mallory has them in orange/white dots, brown/pink dots, pink/hot pink dots and red/white dots. I LOVE THEM ALL! 

 Here are 2 shirts I did yesterday - I really like the Fabric Finders houndstooth fabric (this is brown). Something a little different than the usual gingham? I love brown and red together too. I cut off part of the princess carriage (because I'm still using my 55-250mm lens). I called last week and my other camera lens is still at the hospital! :( I have to get way far away of anything to take a picture!

 And now... this is totally random, but a friend of mine introduced me to a site called The Pleated Poppy. If you look at her BLOG, she does this thing called "What I Wore Wednesday" (aka WIWW). I LOVE reading her blog and find myself sucked in to all the other cute blogs linked to hers, but today I realized that A) it was Wednesday and B) why not take a photo of myself in the mirror and post it and PLAY ALONG!! Not a great looking face I have there while trying to take a photo with my ZOOM lens, but anyway...

white shirt - marshalls

lavender top - anthropologie (clearance rack)

jeans - gap

tan suede flats - old navy

cross necklace - Forever 21

Today I have worked all day (applique shirts), so basically I got dressed to come back home to work! Side note: I actually wore this for about an hour yesterday (for lunch w/ Jeff and kids), so I confess that I put it back on today! Check out The Pleated Poppy! She also makes cute stuff seen in her store. I don't know if I'll take a photo of myself every day, but it is kind of fun to participate!

We showed our house again this week. Not much going on! We are going to see another house tomorrow (our first time looking at anything). We have a house in mind we want to buy, but are looking for some sort of "Plan B" for my peace of mind. Everything is, of course, based on the selling of the current house. Exciting and scary! 

I'm working non stop (not really) trying to get as much work done as I can before Thanksgiving. Will finish up what I lack right after Thanksgiving. I will be taking 5 or so days off to enjoy Thanksgiving and will evaluate my orders the 1st of December. I've gotten a few packages of shirts in the mail this week and am still working on some non-Christmas items. T minus 35 minutes til I'm "off work" for the day, so back to work!

Fabric Addict!!!!

 I've gotten e-mails all week long wanting to know where this sock monkey came from! It's from Applique For Kids! Moda makes a sock monkey fabric too ~ I've seen it on Etsy. This is just plain ole brown gingham.

Here is my little Zig Zag Tiara model! Love the Monag Frill Pants!

 Of course I couldn't take Sissy's picture without taking G's picture...

 Today I took a trip up to Beth's Heirloom for some regular orange gingham to get some pants made to match a top I bought for M. $87 later.... I decided to stock up on my Fabric Finders big 1/8" ginghams so I got 1/2 yard of each of these. These are my FAVORITES to applique with! They are nice and thick and WONDERFUL!! I had most of these colors except the pinks, but figured I might as well stock up - they are like $6.50/yard.

 I also picked up 1/4 yard of these. I swear I already have these, but if so I got them again!

 AND... Fabric Finders houndstooth fabrics. I already had lime green, so I got the brown, red, orange and the pink is actually cord. Then the brown micro houndstooth too (I'd love the micro in baby blue!).

 I love this dot and did the newest Christmas tree in it. It may be Fabric Finders also?

 I needed not 1 of these fabrics! Well, I did need the orange gingham which is not pictured, but the rest were just to add to my collection. I am a FABRIC ADDICT, as well as a FABRIC HOARDER (meaning I can't part with any of it)! Here's proof...

ALL SLAM FULL OF FABRIC!

Dress Makeover

I mentioned in a post a while back or on Facebook that Consignment Sales are a great place to find deals on stuff that can be appliqued or re-monogrammed. Here is a lime green cord A-line dress I bought this past Fall ~ I think it was like $4 or maybe $8 at the most BECAUSE it had a monogram on it. I'm sorry I didn't take a "before" picture, but I was able to easily pick the monogram out and chose to put this Scalloped Patch from EB over it with an M in this font.

 The dress is folded here but you can see it has pink buttons and pink ric rac on the bottom! A great deal for $4-8 (I cannot remember!!!). Some monograms are NOT meant to pick out - the tight curly ones are hard work! If you look at the bobbin thread and can barely see any (on the underside), then skip it or plan to put a patch OVER it. I could have NOT picked this monogram out, but it was an easy one and I thought the patch would lay flat and look nicer with it out. I have 2 more tops/dresses to pick the monograms out when I get time. Sometimes you can monogram over it (spray w/ water and iron to see what the hole-condition is).

Here is our Auburn Christmas Tree again, and I bought 2 Football Santa ornaments for it yesterday. Anyway, I got this from Kinnucan's which is located in Montgomery and Auburn, AL that I know of (I think there are several more locations - check the website). With AU doing so well this year, I'm sure you might find these at any sports store at some point. Just beware - I saw one of these at a consignment type store a couple of weeks ago and they were trying to sell it for $85!! Kinnucan's has the 3 ft for like $35 and if you are an account holder they always have coupons. They also have a 6 ft one for $109 I believe if you're REALLY an Auburn fan!

We have someone coming to see the house tonight, so we're cleaning up and will have to make ourselves scarce for a while. I am heading to a Hollywood Baby trunk show ~ evidently they have some Gabiano blank tees that are cute for cheap!

I updated my note above about orders ~ I pretty much have enough to keep me busy this week and next and am going to get all of my C'mas orders done by the first of December. Therefore, I'm not taking in anything else until at least December 1st, and will then take a limited amount of orders to last me a couple of weeks in December. I'd like to enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas with the family, and with us showing the house we never know when all of the sewing room has to be taken down! I AM able to leave my machine and computer out, but the rest has to be put up! Wish us luck on the showing tonight...

Customer Shirts and G's Pumpkin

Here are several shirts I did last week for one of G's buddies at school and his little brother. Mom wanted BOY stuff (planes, trains, automobiles) and all of the shirts are Garanimals from Walmart. They are also all dark colored tees which is a great idea for little boys! First, I did the AC Tractor minus the patch and the AC airplane (one of our first designs) on Embroidery-Boutique's rounded square patch.

 Next, the AC Zig Zag Dump Truck (which is one of my favorite boy designs) and the AC Bulldozer. Gray was a tricky color but I like the red and black on it.

 Next... love the Riley Blake fabric with all the transportation, so I put this on layered AC Rectangle Patches. This is the 4x4 layered on the 5x7. Also, AC Helicopter which is another one of my favorites for boys.

 Lastly, the AC Zig Zag Train and EB's Chunky Applique Alphabet ~ his initials in some cute road construction fabric that "Mimi" sent me in exchange for some patchwork fabric I sent her! Again, gray was a tricky color but the Road Closed signs had gray in them so I thought it was perfect! I also have this road construction fabric with a brown background.

After having to postpone last Wed., G's preschool (4 yr old classes) went to the Pumpkin Patch on Friday.  After Halloween, but it's still Fall and we were the only people there so it was great! Luckily I only have my zoom lens on my camera right now, so I was able to catch a couple of shots of him from far away picking out his pumpkin! He was determined to pick it up!

He got it off the ground, but didn't make it too far...

Love this picture! I also LOVE this t-shirt! It's a khaki Garanimals tee from Walmart and it is SO SOFT!! I went back to Walmart last week and got him a khaki turtleneck b/c I like this color so much. You can't see the pumpkin, but it is from Nobbie Neez kids and it's the first pumpkin applique I ever bought! I did it in orange cord for this shirt and it has a simple brown thread stem and green thread leaves. It's a great applique!

Yesterday the fam went to Auburn for Homecoming. It was F-R-E-E-Z-I-N-G, but we had a great time! When I say fam, I mean all 5 of us, Jeff's parents, his sister and her 4 kids. We made it til halftime and then came home! I went to Troy and Jeff went to Auburn. He is a HUGE Auburn fan. I have family that graduated from there too so I've grown up being an Auburn fan, BUT..... my boys are crazy Auburn fans! They are obsessed (like watch the game on TIVO 5 times the week after). It's fun and annoying at the same time!

Sat night we bought the boys a 3 foot blue and orange Christmas tree for their room along with orange & blue lights - it's plugged in and ready to be decorated for Christmas! Mallory has a cute pink tree that I can't wait to get out again this year, so why not a War Eagle Christmas tree (or right now, a War Eagle night light)?

Last but not least, we FINALLY showed our house today! It's been a week and 2 days of keeping it clean and "ready" every single day, so when the Realtor called this morning I got a little excited about our first customer!! The people who looked loved it, but they have to sell their lake house first. They do have someone interested it seems, so we'll see if anything happens and hopefully someone else will want to come see our CLEAN house sometime soon!! I'm pretty sure that the day I leave it a mess, someone will call to come see it.

We have 2 new AC designs for this week already, with 2-3 more to come! We've sold lots of gift certificates too and hopefully everyone will pass the word along and put them on their Christmas list! Hint Hint!!

InTown Quilters

First of all, as I sit here in my sewing room/dining room and look out my window, this is what I see!

Exciting and scary! We built this house the year after we got married and moved in with our dog, Bear! We've birthed THREE children in to this house (not IN this house, but at the hospital and then brought them home to this house). It holds a lot of memories and we love this house. We just need a LITTLE more room! Little Mallory (who is completely potty trained without a single accident since she "got it") needs her own bathroom and Momma needs a sewing room! So we are praying that it sells, but with good timing! We're in no hurry, but also don't want to sit on it for another year. Perfect timing Lord!!

Here are my pics from InTown Quilters (Decatur, GA). If you are in the Atlanta area or passing through, get out your GPS like I did and find this store! TONS OF FABRIC!                                                                           

 Here are some of their Holiday fabrics ~ lots of Riley Blake which I love!

 More Winter and Holiday!

 More Riley Blake ~ Wheels

 Tons of other great fabrics and everything is organized so neatly!

 Here are a couple of Michael Miller Ta Dots!

They don't sell all of the Fabric Finders ginghams, but they do sell tons of name brands you'd love ~ Michael Miller, Moda, Riley Blake, etc. I also took pictures of what I bought and will post them next time!