Category Archives: check it out

Free Printable Holiday Tags by Sweet Jessie

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Hey, sugar snaps. I spent the day yesterday baking in the kitchen, making the Christmas Season Requisite Food Type Gifty Things. You know, like “Oh, preschool needs a dozen cookies for the pageant” and “I should really have a gift for my mailman, who is my third-best friend in this town,” and “What This House Needs Is More Saturated Fat.” Stuff like that.

So then this morning (can I get a “TYPICAL”?) I was hauling ass around the basement scrounging for Xmas cards and stickers and labels for the aforementioned gifty type things and only after I dropped said gifty things plus adorable urchin-style son off at preschool did I find these perfect, printable gift tags, which would look very nice on the printer sticker paper languishing in my supply cabinet:

So. Check it out. I love Sweet Jessie and she makes such pretty things. Okay! I’m off to do that thing where you eat the cookies in the kitchen while your kid plays in the living room and then hope he doesn’t notice the crumbs on your shirt.

Free Printable: Holiday Tags by Sweet Jessie - Home - Creature Comforts - daily inspiration, style, diy projects + freebies.

Craft book highlights

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I am working on a draft post right now about my kids and let me just say, it’s a real corker if you can make yourself cry. (Of course, on the other hand, I’m the kind of person who cries at car commercials and Pixar movies and some of the dance numbers on Glee, so it’s not actually all that difficult to wring a few drops from me.)

But anyway, as I mop my face, you can take a gander at a couple things worth pointing out at True Up: My interview with pattern designer and craft book author Meg McElwee (of Sew Liberated, formerly known as Montessori By Hand) and review of her new book; my review of Fabricate (enter to win!); and my review of Amy Karol’s Bend The Rules with Fabric.

God, I love my job.

How to close up shop for the holidays

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Closed for the holidays! Image via Meylah.com

Hallooooo, Supa Friends! I wrote a little something something for all you little-biz owners: how to close up shop for the holidays and take a vacation from your business, on Meylah.com.

I know plenty of you are on Etsy or BigCartel or your own dot-com and ready to take a breather, amirite?And lookit who’s going to help you out — Jona, owner of Fabritopia; Genevieve Gail, fabric and jewelry designer extraordinaire; the hilarious, lovely and inimitable Chair; and new friends Jemellia and Meagan Gracie, who sew like yeah.

So go ahead and flip that sign! Put your feet up! Just read this first, mmkay?

Six things I’ve learned in six years of crafty blogging

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meylahMeylah.com’s collage version of me. Sweet, huh.

Can you believe I’ve been writing Supafine for six years? Me neither.

The fine folks at Meylah.com asked me to share some tips on blogging for crafty types who are new at the game. Check it out for some inside dirt on all my tips and secrets.

Yes! I have tips and secrets! Who knew!

I’m pretty excited about Meylah: it’s a web site for helping creative folks build their businesses online, so you KNOW that is right up my street. I suspect some of you might still be learning your way around blogging, Twitter, Flickr, or other social media networks — if you are, and you want help, this is the place to go.

*Cough cough* What are you waiting for? There’ll be plenty of shortbread when you get back. Shoo.

P.S. Please come back. I want to know what you think. And if I eat all this shortbread by myself I’ll be sick.

Appalachian Dreamin’

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My dudes, I am super busy these days. I picked up a Little Lady job, working with sewing machines, and it keeps me off the streets at night. The laundry produced by two incontinent boys and two pretty clean adults keeps me off the streets in the day time. And one day, one day, this quilt is going to keep me off the streets 24/7: it’s called Hills ‘n’ Hollers, a new pattern by my longtime idol, Denyse Schmidt.

I still haven’t bought and made the Single Girl Quilt like I meant to last year, but I swear to you I will. Oh I WILL. One day, one day.

Mean time, I sure do enjoy a-thinkin’ and a-hopin’ and a-plannin’. Sorry for the radio silence; the job threw my scheduling for a loop, but I think I’m finding my footing again.
» Denyse Schmidt Studio Sale and New Quilt patterns! - Heather Ross’s journal

Meep! It’s Supafab!

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AT LAST.

orders

I feel like I have been talking about Supafab for a hundred years. I feel like I have been working on it for even longer. And I feel like I have been thinking about it for at least three or four millennia. Now I finally get to officially share with you my latest project:

etsybanner_supafab

Supafab.

This summer, my friend Jeanne asked me to create some baby items for her new online baby boutique, Old Skool Baby. So I thought and thought. I tried for weeks to get a particular prototype clothing item to work. Failure! So I went back to the drawing board, refining the design of my kids’ chef apron, and finally nailed the pattern.

recycled reversible apron

apron on display

It fits Cormac, which means a size two, and it fits Owen, which means a size four, and even Owen’s best friend, which means a size six.

I shopped around for interesting textures and fabrics in a variety of clothes and home accessories — skirts, curtains — until I found a palette that I loved, and then set to work combining them with regular cotton yardage to make reversible aprons. After that, I started patching fabrics together to make long strips — one of which became a patchwork pillow, with a custom-made muslin cushion form, and others of which ended up as toddler belts.

patchwork pillow

Handmade belt, modeled

I have more items in the works, including patchwork coasters (which I *love* to make), but since I’m home all day with the children, the going is slow. I’m still aiming at two or three shop updates a week, though. I’m having so much fun making these things, and I feel like a.) I’m filling a niche, with the gender-neutral aprons and belts for kids and b.) it’s good for the environment, to put old clothes and things to new use. It’s a creative challenge for me. I love it. I hope other people find it useful and fun as well.

elastic belt

I’ve also revived my first etsy shop, Supafine, to take it in a new direction: vintage. Since I can’t stop myself from cruising for vintage things, I can at least share them with other people who can appreciate it.

vintage linen apron

This is surprisingly hard for me to talk about — I’m really excited about the whole venture, but I’m so bad at pimping myself! So take pity on me. I guess I just need to keep practicing. I feel so shy!

Thanks for reading this far. Phew! Tomorrow we’re back to our regularly scheduled Supa.

Supafab.etsy.com

Supafine.etsy.com.

Supafine Show and Tell home tour at Cafe Mom

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yellowchair

I’m so excited to show you guys: The fabulous Sheri Reed interviewed me for a home tour on Cafe Mom! Check it out! I am honored that she chose me and my home to feature on such a great web site — I’m now in such estimable company as Soule Mama, Buttons Magee, and Stephanie Congdon Barnes, among others, all of whom inspire me to no end.

Sheri and I used to float in the same mommyblogging circle a few years ago when Owen was wee and Mamazine was active, and now we’ve rediscovered each other again — which is one of my favorite happy-accident aspects of the modern Internet, the finding and re-finding of your simpaticos.

So check out the interview: I give some hints about decorating on a budget and decorating around children and share some never before seen pictures of my house. Go give Sheri a high five for having such great taste in blog friends. And come back later today — I will be posting  shop updates and giving the scoop on Supafab. (Finally.)

What I’ve been working on lately: Supafab

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Supafab preview

Supafab preview

The last month I’ve been working on designing a few products for a friend of mine, who’s launching a new baby boutique soon. I gathered this assortment of wools and cottons and silks and made it up into a scarf and a pillow so you can see the color palette I’m working on. I just love that citrony-mustard color.

The line is going to be called Supafab, and will involve a lot of recycled/upcycled materials and organic fabric. I’m keeping the product line very narrow at first, aiming to make a few different items for the 2-5 age range. In addition to selling in my friend’s shop (which is called Old Skool Baby), I’ll also make them available on supafab.etsy.com and supafab.bigcartel.com. My old Etsy shop will still be around, too, for sharing vintage items as I come across them — at least the ones I can bear to part with. I have this killer size 4t gingham blazer that I can’t quite bring myself to list yet.

Well! So. I wanted to fill you in on that. It’s early stages still but things are coming together. I’m still publishing daily inspiration at my Tumblr blog, also called Supafab; I’d been posting daily here on Supafine, too, but that is unadulterated crazy, so I’m reigning it in a tad. My husband is annoyed that I’ve been posting all this “boring sewing stuff.” I am being nice and refraining from telling him to stuff it. I like what I like.

I’ve also been redoing my home page at supamb.com. If you take a look at it, will you tell me if it looks weird? I haven’t been able to test it except on this Nokia phone (more on that later, too) and the mobile version looks weird. As in like not a mobile version. Argh.

I have some other ideas that I may or may not develop. More on those as I figure out what to do with them.

Mostly, I am just reveling in the fact that, as one commenter pointed out to me about two years ago, IT DOES GET EASIER. Mackie is 2, owen is 4 and a half, my chronic illness is in remission, and I love where I live and I see my family at least once or even twice a month. Sure, I’m still potty training two kids (another story for another day) but compared to even one year ago, life is so much calmer that I actually have the headspace to work on long-term projects. (The fact that we are not selling a house or trying to buy a house or moving house is helpful, as is the last year of me being unemployed, which has also made a wonderful fire alight under my fanny.)

I’ve searched and I can’t find who wrote that comment, but please know that your words and your story stuck with me and gave me hope for the two years.

All right. I feel like I’m babbling here. I’ll leave you to finish your coffee and turn in your TPS reports (or fold the laundry, depending on where it is you’re reading from). Thanks for reading. I mean it. End sappy sincere transmission.