No Coast Craft-o-Rama

Country Mouse and I will be at the No Coast show Friday (3pm - 8pm) and Sat (9am - 5pm).  Stop by and shop local handmade goodness.  We'll have some specials as well as a few new goodies that you won't find in our shop.  

Hope to see you there!

Thanksgiving Morning

Thanksgiving morning walk. Turkey in the oven. Furry ones in their beds. Country Mouse on her way. Wishing you a wonderful day with your loved ones! 

xoxo, City Chic & Country Mouse

Creative Gift Wrapping Class - join us!

Hello friends, Happy Friday! Country Mouse and I have been busy sewing and getting new items ready for the holiday season coming up. We really do not like to think about the holidays too far ahead because this means the arrival of winter and snow in MN, but we like to have goodies ready in our shop for all of you who plan ahead with your shopping :)


We also have a fun crafty announcement... Country Mouse and I are the featured artists at Design Vertigo for this month! 

Here's a little bit on how this came about...We met Amanda back in May at the Spring Soiree and adore her shop in North Saint Paul. So when she asked to feature us, we were honored! We made a special line of aprons, oven mitts, and towels for her shop, so be sure to stop in if you are local.

We also had the opportunity to decide if we would teach a class.  Country Mouse and I really gave this a lot of thought. After all, neither of us ever dreamed of adding "teacher" to our titles. Our personalities are comfortable in the sewing room, "teaching" one another but getting in front of a group, quite honestly, is a bit scary for us.

After spending time with the many creative souls at The Creative Connection Event and pitching our ideas with fellow crafters we decided we were actually excited about the opportunity and not so scared. This will be a night of bringing our crafty ideas and supplies to share with creative friends, that means you - our dear local readers =)  

 Our creative class is called Creative Gift Wrapping and you can read the full description here. It will be at Design Vertigo in North Saint Paul - Tuesday November 1 at 6pm. Basically we will bring supplies to create three different gift packages you can use for your future gifting needs.  We will use fun supplies like Japanese washi tapes, fabric, paper, ribbon, baker’s twine, and tissue. There will be snacks and lots of inspiration, we hope you'll join us!

To register, please contact Design Vertigo in North St. Paul - you can stop in or call 651.770.1901.  Let us know if you have any questions about the class, hope to see you there!

Foxy Lady

It's rare, but sometimes Country Mouse and I get the chance to make something for ourselves.  I fell in love with this Foxy Lady in Mollie Makes and last weekend Country Mouse surprised me with her! Handmade surprises are the best, thanks Mom!

The Creative Connection Event

Country Mouse and I attended The Creative Connection Event this past weekend where we were surrounded by like-minded creative types.  It was an unforgettable few days! We finally met many of our online friends and had lots of previous customers stop by our booth to tell us what joy their ironing board cover brings them.  We love seeing those happy smiles! 

Above is one of our treasured pics with Tif (Dottie Angel) who we were truly giddy to meet! She has the most lovely book out right now, we highly recommend you pick up a copy.  Country Mouse and I normally share a book, but this was one we knew we must each have our very own copy. 

A picture of our booth, this was before I figured out I needed to use a bit of flash in this lighting environment so I apologize for the yellow tint.

I took an Inspiration Board class with Leslie from A Creative Mint.  For one of the boards she challenged us to use a color we do not care for.  

My color was red, I don't think I own anything red...

The rest of our pictures are of booths of the following vendors who are all as sweet as pie:

In His Grace

I Sew Lucky

Whimsy House

Dear Prudence

We cross our fingers that they decide to keep the event in the Twin Cities area again, although it would be fun to travel somewhere else wouldn't it?  Country Mouse and I would have a hard time leaving our fur babies though...

  

We do hope that you get the chance to be around like-minded crafty people for an entire weekend, if that's the kind of people you enjoy, it's a real treat! 

Friends and Sunshine

 This weekend was spent with the sun and friends. Both were good distractions. But now it's time to get ready for The Creative Connection Event.  We hope to see you there!

New Fall Fabrics

Hello Friends! We just wanted to pop in and show you the new fabrics that arrived.  It's always a happy day when pretty fabrics make their way into the sewing room, isn't it? We are big fans of Joel Dewberry's fabrics and his newest collection - Heirloom - might just be one of our most favorites yet.  It's perfect for transitioning from late summer to fall, don't you think?  

We are busy getting ready for the Creative Connection Event here in St. Paul September 16 - 17, are you coming? We'd love to see you there! Also, we are giving away an ironing board cover over at one of our favorite blogs Going Home to Roost.  Please stop by before it closes on Thursday! We hope your September is off to a fabulous start! 

A Lampshade Project

Last weekend Country Mouse and I got together at her house for some major sewing and managed to squeeze in a project for ourselves. Even though I reduced my hours at my day job for the summer, time has gone by faster than it ever has. Someone told me as we get older, time goes by faster. That seems true....I need to do something about that.

I have so many pictures to sort through and a new computer which is wonderful, but it's taking me longer to do computer things...changing from a pc to a mac = learning new technical things.

So bear with us as the summer posts have been few, but we hope you have been out enjoying summer rather than being online.

Back to the original thought in this post, the lampshade! A project that has been on the to-do list for months :) Above is the before picture, just a plain old shade and some vintage doilies. Add a late night with a hot glue gun this can be dangerous! and you have a pretty shade.

I used a light kit from ikea to hang above my work table. There was no direct lighting over the table which is a must for late night projects! This last picture was taken at night so you can see how pretty the doilies show through the glowing shade. 

Hope you find time for something creative this weekend!

Happy Fabrics and Happy Weekend!

The UPS truck has made several stops this week (the dogs go crazy every time they hear the truck!). The deliveries included lots of new and restocked fabric for the shop. 

Country Mouse and I will be busy sewing and celebrating one of my best friend's golden birthday this weekend. Hopefully we will have some fun birthday pictures to share - we are in charge of decorating! There will be cupcakes, tissue poms, butterflies and lots of fun =) 

Hope you are doing something fun with your loved ones this weekend!

Enjoying Summer

Summer always flies by and this one is going to be no exception. We're trying to make the most of it with evening fires, summer drinks, and visiting new places with old and new friends...

 

 

 

Hope you are enjoying every bit of summer!

Ikea Chair - Before and After

This week I started my new Summer schedule at my day job.  I'll be working 3 10-hour days per week and having 4 day weekends! I am so happy that I made this change. I had been thinking about it for so long and finally decided I needed to take the opportunity and use the time to focus on things that are more important to me than pushing paperwork and punching numbers all day in a dysfunctional office environment!

So for the next 10 weeks I'll be spending my extra time working on things for City Chic Country Mouse and enjoying Summer! Of course, I have a long list of projects I would like to work on including giving some of my furniture pieces a facelift.  

Last time Country Mouse was here, we tackled my red ikea chair that desperately needed a new cover. 

Before...

After...

 

 

What do you think? Do you have any fun Summer projects you'd like to tackle? Summer is the perfect time to bring jars, frames, and furniture outside and give them a facelift with some pretty colored spray paint.  I'm hoping to do that this weekend if the weather cooperates! Hope your Summer is off to a great start!

Featured in Fresh Style Magazine!

Are you enjoying the long weekend? I am and I don't want it to end! My husband was away on his annual fishing trip to the BWCA with his friends so I spent time with my magazines and craft supplies which have felt a bit neglected lately :) 

One of the magazines is Fresh Style and Country Mouse & I are thrilled to be featured! I spent lots of time on the phone with Country Mouse this weekend describing everything in the magazine, because she has been at the lake up North and hasn't been to the city to pick up her copy yet (she is very jealous!).

I love the layout and styling of the magazine, there are lots of diy projects and creative spaces to get you inspired. In fact two of our favorite fabric designers are featured: Amy Butler and Heather Bailey! There are lots of other talented artists and bloggers featured as well including Ashley Ann Campbell.

 

I was at Barnes & Nobel this weekend and wanted to show everyone in the magazine aisle our feature but restrained myself. So I know they carry it, but you can also order yours online here. Definitely pick one up for some easy diy projects and reading on decorating & creating! 

A special thank you to Karen who contacted us about this feature, she is a total sweetheart and joy to work with! And also to our talented friend Shanon who took the photo of Country Mouse & I; her buttons photo is next to our ironing board in the picture.

Weekend Photos

Last week flew by with Country Mouse. Here's a little recap...

Craftstravaganza! So many wonderful vendors and shoppers!

Spring Soiree in North Saint Paul with Design Vertigo, a fabulous shop!

 

Just a few of the items I purchased at the shows and local shops. We even got to have our picture taken at the Spring Soiree, we loved this idea! 

 

I took Country Mouse to a wine bar in Afton, yum!

 

 Just a few of the projects we worked on. My chair has a new cover :) And the quilt we started for my 30th birthday (back in January!) is almost complete!

Sewing and Shows

Some of us have been very busy. Others seem to tire out just watching the busy ones :) Country Mouse has been here since last weekend's Craftstravaganza show and we have been sewing, sewing, sewing! We are getting ready for one more show tomorrow, at the Spring Soiree in Saint Paul.  And we are trying out some new ideas and even sewing a few things for ourselves. We'll share more with you soon! Happy Friday and have a wonderful weekend!