Market Prep, Part 3.
Hanging out on THE GOOD side for a change...

I decided to give my fingers, eyes and ever-diminishing sanity a break and work on a fun project that definitely falls on THE GOOD category... another patchwork pillow, this time showcasing the softer shades of Andalucia.



In the "Petal" colorway, you will find soft pinks, flirty fuschias, citrusy greens and crisp whites. Bright oranges and chocolate browns make cameo appearances every now & then too, so they can play well with the deeper shades of the collection.



I got news yesterday that the sample yardage should be arriving late next week so I got brave again and put scissors to my strike-offs. You may notice that the patchwork in this pillow is not perfectly matched, which, believe me, bothers me more than it will ever bother you. But the pieces I had left of some fabrics were so tiny that I couldn't even get a perfect 4" square out of them, so I had to borrow space from others...



I love how well this medium pink baby-wale cord plays with the quilting cottons... so soft to the touch. I can totally see a girlie nursery decorated in these colors/prints.



Candy, my Papin Pullip doll, even came out to play. She thinks this pillow is hers but she may have to fight Sophie, the "Queen of Pink," for it.



I'm thinking Candy may need a new outfit made to match the rest of this décor, but I'm not good with sewing teeny-tiny things. Anyone out there up to the challenge? I'd love to bring her along with me to Market. She is excellent company... hardly ever disagrees! ;)



Finally I wanted to share a Pumpkin Fair find from this weekend. Yes, we went to a Pumpkin Fair but it was so rainy and muddy and yucky outside that I didn't dare bring my SLR with me so there are no good pictures to share, but something good did come out of our little outing. I came across a local artisan mother & daughter team selling these adorable bracelets made out of old typewriter keys... how cool is this?! I fell in love with this one immediately and clutched it close so no one would swipe it from me.





They were also selling these clever photo holders made from vintage cameras. One of these days I will share with you my extensive collection of vintage cameras. I actually had one just like this one already but was surprised to see this one come with the original flash bulb (my other one has no bulb).



Me thinks my new Andalucia Moo cards (should be here soon!) will look smashing displayed on this old Kodak Duaflex II.

Cool Finds #2
Storage Solutions in the Studio

For this installment of "Cool Finds," I will focus on cool & affordable storage solutions for the creative types. I have been working on adding functionality, organization and visual appeal to my studio for several weeks, on an indie designer's budget. I still have a long way to go, but I wanted to share some great deals I have found locally that have made my life as a designer soooo much easier.

First off, take a peek at one corner of my studio where I store my fabric, trims and books. That tall modern looking bookcase was purchased at IKEA for just around $80 and it is the perfect size for my smaller cuts of fabric... anything from 1yd. - 3yds. Any cut smaller than 1 yd. goes into a Rubbermaid container (or two or three) inside the closet. Anything larger than 3 yards goes on a bolt and stacks horizontally on the shorter shelving unit on the right. I have no idea where I purchased this second shelving unit, but I have had it since I was in college (so, a looong time!) and I'm pretty sure I bought it at some discount store and paid nearly nothing for it... after all, I was a starving art student. ;)



Oh, and I still have to spend some time re-folding and re-stacking my fabrics. If the fabulous Monica stumbles upon this posting she will be horrified. Don't look, Monica! I was so thrilled to have found her fabric folding tutorial and it is on my to-do list. You guys have to check it out... it is fantastic!

Anyway, let's take a closer look, shall we? I found these cool red boxes at Joann Fabrics and thought they would be perfect to store my patterns and trims. I normally don't use a lot of sewing patterns, but the few I do have are stored in the bottom, larger of the two boxes. Some lace trims and ric-rac and such is tucked away neatly in the smaller box. The cool thing is that these boxes are collapsible and they stack inside each other perfectly... these were originally a set of 3 boxes but I gave the smaller one away, and they cost around $14.95 for all 3 of them.



On the other side of that shelf I just have some visual candy to help me get through the day. :) My Pullip dolls, some Amy Butler books and my collection of Nightmare Before Christmas stuffies. YUM!



On the other side of the room, and at arm's reach from my sewing table, I have the more utilitarian items... woven tags, size tags, care labels, buttons, ribbons, etc. The buttons are in those little clear jars from IKEA up on the top of the shelf...



I found these awesome magnetized jars at World Market (I just adore that store!). They were $1.99 each and have a round magnet on the back of them and a clear lid so you can easily see the contents. I think they are meant to be spice jars, but they are perfect to hold my MODKID woven tags, seam inserts, size tags and care labels. These come in plain stainless steel and red... of course I had to have the red! ;) Oh, and the magnetic board was purchased at IKEA for around $15.00



My most frequently used ribbons, including the one printed with MODKID that I use to wrap my packages with, are neatly displayed on this shelf that my father-in-law helped me build last year. Want to learn how you can make one yourself? Check out my tutorial here. All materials were purchased at a local hardware store and were very affordable. :)



And last, but certainly not least, my latest purchase. I bought this Gütermann thread cabinet at Joann Fabrics a couple of weeks ago during one of their 50% off sales. It came out to be exactly $75. What an amazing deal! It comes with 100 different thread colors... and when you think about it, if you were to buy each one separately, you would be spending around $170, plus add to that the cost of this nifty storage cabinet, and I think I got a steal.



The best part... no more frantic runs to the fabric store 5 minutes before they close clutching a piece of fabric in one hand and my debit card in the other. Come on, I'm sure I'm not the only one! ;)



Don't they look like candy? Almost too pretty to use...