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!

Thank You and Happy Friday!

Thank you everyone who commented and read our Crafty Holiday post this week! I heard from several of the shops we featured and they said they had increased shoppers from our blog post! Thank you again for supporting handmade, it is truly appreciated, now let's do the happy dance because it's FRIDAY! 

What are you up to this weekend? My husband and I are going to be cleaning and planning for Thanksgiving. We may have 15 guests at our house! It should be interesting to say the least :) But first my brother-in-law returns from the army next Thursday and will be staying with us for several weeks. We need to get the extra bedroom ready for him and my new sewing area will be right outside of his room so I'll have to put that project on hold until after he leaves. I don't think he would appreciate the hum of the sewing machine outside of his room when he is trying to sleep! I'll keep sewing in my current cramped quarters because No Coast Craft-o-Rama is only a few short weeks away! 

And just in case you didn't see on Facebook, we had two interviews posted this week. One with Melanie from Modern Organic Fabrics and the other with Polly Danger with a giveaway!

Anything exciting on your weekend agenda? Hope it's a great one! xoxo, Jamie

Decked out!

This weekend has been fantastic! We've had sun and higher than average temperatures and I got so much accomplished! As I write this I am able to sit outside on our new deck that was finished this weekend. We enjoy the outdoors very much (both my husband and I graduated with degrees in Fisheries and Wildlife...although neither of us ended up working in that area!) and to be able to sit outside on our deck really is a dream come true. Our yard doesn't have much usable space and so we would end up sitting in our driveway with our camping chairs and the grill. I'm sure the neighbors loved that! But now we can walk right out of our living room onto the deck to grill, have a glass of wine and just hang out.

I freshened up our patio set with a coat of white paint and ordered this fabric for cushions and pillows. Hopefully I'll have another productive weekend in the future and actually get those made before the end of summer! My husband and I are headed out of town later this week to Florida to visit family and celebrate his 30th birthday, so it definitely won't get done until after that.

I'll post more pics of the new deck once I finish the patio set and new pillows. But here is a little before shot with the patio table (now painted white).

And I'll be sharing more pictures of our yard because we have big plans for it: a patio and lots of landscaping. We really need to think about where to plant things so our doggies don't tear things up while they're playing outside. They love it out here as well. They got long walks both days this weekend AND got baths today. I even cleaned the house and did laundry! And I didn't neglect our etsy shop - I added a new SALE section to make room for some new items Country Mouse and I are working on. I think I'll celebrate with a glass of wine tonight. Hope your weekend was warm and sunny!

Weekend Shopping

I must confess. I did a little shopping over the weekend. My plan was to stop by Home Depot to pick up one more round of paint colors for the bathroom. I have the shower curtain, towels and rugs already. But I have the hardest time committing to a color in that room for some reason.

Anyway, since Home Depot is very close to one of my favorite shops, it only made sense that I stop by to see what's new. And there I fell in love with him...


Isn't he perfect? He's actually a pitcher, but I figured he wouldn't mind holding some flowers as well. I found some other friends that I would like to bring home as well:

• I would be all smiles drinking coffee from this

• This guy is perfect for greeting me when I arrive home

• And I think my owls would be happy living in this habitat

So how was your weekend, did it take you off the beaten path? Did you do anything unusual?

Gone Fishing

We're packing up the dogs and heading to the lake this weekend. We'll do some boating.

Maybe even a little fishing.

I'll think about jumping in for a swim.

And we'll watch the sunset. Enjoy your weekend!

Let the Sewing Begin!

I've taken a few days off from the office job this week and started my long weekend with my mom (Country Mouse). We have lots on our to-do list and I hope there is enough time for everything! I'll share some of our weekend early next week and give you a sneak peak of what will be added to the shop. Enjoy the rest of your week!

Happy Friday!

I've got lots planned for the weekend! We are finishing up a few projects at the other house just in time for the open house on Sunday. And then I need to clean our current home that has been neglected due to the work on our old house. I can't function when the clutter starts to build up, so I am really looking forward to getting organized again.

The husband has requested new work clothes (when you have to wear red and khaki everyday, red does start to fade). I do not enjoy shopping for red, there are so many red shirts that are actually orange it's frustrating!

And I made plans to have breakfast with one of my friends that I have not seen in...well...I can't even remember. It might have been close to a year. A little overdue! So I thought I would leave you with a yummy looking breakfast (or dessert) by Eliza who has delicious food blog. You can see more of her fabulous photos here.

Have a wonderful weekend!!

photo from: notes from my food diary

The Story of Two Houses

Wow! Another weekend just whipped by! Time is going by so fast. Too fast. This weekend Country Mouse came to the city to help me get my old house ready to be put on the market. As I write this I am actually feeling somewhat emotional about it. This weekend we worked so hard painting, cleaning, and planning I didn't have time to think about it but now my emotions are catching up to me. See this was my very first house all by myself. I lived there with my first dog and first cat by myself. I painted every room in that house.

It's been almost two years that my husband and I bought a house together thinking we would be able to sell my first house. Well, two years later and two sets of renters later we still have not been able to sell it. The thing that is hard for me is that I see the house that I fell in love with: hardwood floors, the coziness of a small house, sunshine gleaming through the windows. And it's difficult when I see that others have not loved it the way I have. But we gave it some love this weekend and I think it's feeling better...


Alright, I am through being emotional. For the moment! We did manage a trip to Ikea (oh and the fabric store, but sshhh don't tell my husband) and I found the most lovely painting! Here is is waiting for it's home on the wall:

I also ordered this chair from Target online. I had been looking for something like this and I thought the price was pretty reasonable and you can't beat free shipping plus an employee discount (thanks to my husband!). I figure I'll be able to use both in our new house. I thought my husband would not totally be opposed to the painting, but the first thing he said was that he didn't want it in the man room (our lower level living room). That's ok. I think I want to get our spare room set up exactly how I want it for our crafty business. I feel a little disorganized with pretty much all of my sewing room furniture going over to the extra house for staging. And I saw some furniture I would really love to have for my sewing room at Ikea this weekend. Maybe someday it can be mine.

We did have some excitement with the shop this weekend. Crafty Planet (the most wonderful fabric store!) included us as their Customer Spotlight in their newsletter. And our ironing board cover was part of Etsy's Finds: Crafting A Cozy Studio. We are so thrilled!

Thanks for listening to my emotional ranting. I do feel better. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Back to the day job tomorrow!

Weekend Plans

I am SO looking forward to the weekend. My sweet office boss is letting us leave the desk job 2 hours early today, so at about 2pm I'll be free!! I'm so excited!!! Country Mouse should arrive shortly after 3pm and then let the sewing marathon begin! I'm so excited! Wait did I say that already? Here is how I envision the weekend:

Friday: give Country Mouse her Mother's Day gift, open my purchases (owl mirror and mouse) from HelloVictory which Country Mouse so kindly picked up for me yesterday, make a game plan for which sewing projects to tackle first, and finally relax with some dinner and wine. I plan to use this dressing from fresh365 for a salad and as a marinade for some chicken to go with it.

Saturday: Start the day with a full pot of coffee. Country Mouse needs her fuel to get going in the morning as do I. Also going to try to make a Pannu Kakku (a Finnish baked pancake). If this turns out, I'll share the recipe with you from my dear great aunt. After completing the custom orders to have them ready for the mail, we'll take a little walk with the dogs. Some of us need exercise to gain control over the winter weight, not naming anyone specifically... Then its cut out, sew, iron, sew...and more until we are too hungry to operate effectively. Eat a quick dinner, finish up the projects and plan for the next days projects.

Sunday will be much like Saturday, but we'll be even more serious about what we can get accomplished because the weekend is running out! Oh no! Hurry up!

Monday: Country Mouse will pack up all her bins with less fabric to take home than what she came with and we'll say goodbye :( Then I'll start snapping pictures of all the new goodies to get them ready for the shop. The husband will arrive home from the BWCA man trip where they stay in cabins with no electricity and sit out in boats trying to catch the big one all day. We will most likely have walleye for dinner if all went well. And I'll have to listen to all the fishing stories and he'll have to listen to all the sewing stories.

Now do you understand why I'm so excited?! What are your plans for the long weekend? I hope you all have a great one!

image by: City Chic

Hello Victory!

I came across the most wonderful vintage shop the other day and wanted to share! The lovely shop is Hello Victory on Etsy. Don't you just love the name? After snooping around her profile I see she has already been mentioned on some major blogs including decor8, so I don't know why on earth I had not hearted her yet. And to top it off she is located in Northern Minnesota where I grew up! Our hockey teams were actually rivals. But we are grown ups and I think we can be friends now, right Kate? I covet many, many items in her shop including...

this lovely pink hairdryer would be a gorgeous display in a girlie room

how about this cutesy party decor for a little one's big day?

I'd love a little company from this guy on my desk, might just make my office day job tolerable

and last but certainly not least, a little mouse. Can he come live at my house please?

Seriously, where does she find these treasures??? I would like to know. For those who can't wait to see what is added next to the shop, visit the Hello Victory blog.

Don't her photos show just how stylish vintage can be? I'm inspired to map out some sales for a treasure hunt one of these upcoming weekends. Anyone else? My husband has not learned to appreciate how much fun my weekend treasure hunts can be. Like the time there was this terrific estate sale down the block form us and I figured I could easily walk back any purchase I made. I ended up with a whole trash bag full of vintage fabrics and could hardly handle walking back home. Some people drove by and laughed at my bag lady self, but I kept smiling about my treasures. My husband on the other hand wanted to get me in the house ASAP so the neighbors wouldn't see the true bag lady treasure hunter I am.

If you don't have time to treasure hunt this weekend, be sure to head on over to Hello Victory and check out her shop treasures. Happy treasure hunting to all and to all a great weekend! Jamie

images by Hello Victory

Happy Friday!

I just wanted to drop a Happy Friday note to everyone! The sun is shining and new fabric has arrived, what more could we ask for? I'm busy in the studio with Country Mouse this weekend working on some exciting projects that I hope to share with you soon. I hope you enjoy your Friday and have a wonderful weekend! xo, Jamie