WWC's 12 Days of Christmas

MODKID is thrilled to be participating in Where Women Create's 12 Days of Christmas for the third year in a row. Last year we donated a bunch of sewing goodies, but this year we decided to give away something that EVERYONE could enjoy, whether they sew or not... and what's better than one of our MEGAN purses, already sewn, packaged up and ready to ship?!





This is the exact purse featured in the cover of our MEGAN pattern, designed by my mom and sewn here in the studio by Emalee using Grand Bazaar fabrics and ribbons. To enter the giveaway go HERE and leave a comment on the WWC Blog to be entered to win this and several other prizes donated by the wonderful women featured these 12 days.



Best of luck, everyone! Stay tuned this week as we recap our busiest weekend of the season... including our December First Fridays event (you have to see these pictures!) and Sophie's Harry Potter Birthday Party (so much fun!!). See you soon!!

Bags, totes and purses... oh my!

I love purses so much I could easily be nicknamed The Bag Lady. But I'm sure I'm not alone so I wanted to pop in here today and share a few fun finds of cool bags made with my Sanctuary line.

First off, check out this great big tote made by my friend, Dana Rainwater at Bug A Boo Baby. I have known Dana for nearly two decades (oh my, how time flies!) and she never ceases to amaze me with her creativity. Dana currently owns her own business here in Bloomington, IL designing custom bags like this one and baby items galore!





Dana also designs these super stylish clutches...





Speaking of clutches, I ran across these photos in my Sanctuary Flickr group and couldn't help but share. I had to do a little digging but I finally found the Etsy store where Tickled Paisley sells these.





I also love this other find from my Flickr group, a gorgeous Dahlia Lama purse from Mama Roux.





Have you guys seen this Sanctuary version of our popular Stella purse pattern that my mom has for sale in her Etsy store? This is a one-of-a-kind creation, so if you don't grab it now, it'll be gone for sure! :)



My mom designed this pattern for me last year, based on a simple sketch I emailed her. How cool is that? She got it spot on! :)



If you're wondering what's kept me so quiet and distant for the past few days, well let's see if I can sum it up. I've been...

• Reviewing strike offs for my next fabric collection. I am so in love with this one! (and yes, I know I always say that but that's how it goes!) Rich, exotic, happy colors. So different and yet, so me. Can't wait to show you.
• Sending out tester packages for the next round of MODKID patterns... Girls, Tweens, Misses and Women's Plus. It's all there! No, no boy stuff yet, but I promise I will tackle that in a future release. I need more time.
• Finishing up the final chapters of my book for Wiley. Yes, I can't believe I said FINAL. I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel... it's getting brighter and brighter (hope that doesn't mean I'm dying!)
• Preparing and finalizing artwork for 3 new licensed products that I am over the moon excited about. I can't spill the beans till it's all a done deal (I know! That kills me more than you know!) but all I can say is that my mom will LOVE the first two but my dad will SQUEAL when he sees the third! (well, that is, if my dad's way of showing excitement was by squealing. In reality he will probably just smile and say "WOW! That's great. Can I have one?"
• Working on a FREE tutorial for this quilt. Yes, I know I promised that tute like 5 months ago. I usually don't stall like that (well, you know) but as you see, I've been a little busy. I hope you guys still want it...

Now it's back to work for me. But, while I'm here (since I don't know when I'll get the chance to pop back in) I wanted to tell you guys about a fun game going on over at FatQuarterly. It's the fabric aficionados version of March Madness... called Modern Madness. I had to have Jon explain the whole brackets and predictions thing to me, haha. Instead of basketball teams, they have the top 64 fabric lines on a board (or do they call those brackets? I dunno!) All I know is that I am thrilled and honored to be included twice: Flora & Fauna and Sanctuary made the cut. WOOHOO!



Round 1 Region 1 is on right now, with Flora & Fauna in the running! So fans, please pop on over and vote for your adorable hummingbirds, bees and moths... oh and don't forget those sweet daisies, blossoms and dandelions. heeheee If you need a refresher, click.

Oh, Stella!

I've been itching to have my own purse pattern since I started MODKID. I am a bag freak – own several dozens of them — but there was just one problem: I'm not a bag maker. I had (note: past tense) never made a purse, mostly because my mom always made them for me, so why bother, right? So, naturally, I turned to the expert for this one. Many of you have purchased Marieliz Creations purse designs on Etsy and have been clamoring for a pattern from her. Well here it is!



My mom and I stayed up late one night chatting on the phone about purse designs ideas. And if you know me, you know I was talking a million miles an hour and jumping from one thing to the other. Our conversation went something like this:

ME: I want it to be a structured bag... ya know... the kind that stand on their own... not slouchy.
MOM: OK.
ME: And... I want it to have a cell phone pocket... on the outside... so I don't have to dig in my purse to find the phone every time it rings.
MOM: Uh-huh
ME: Oh, but I also want it to have some pockets on the inside... at least 2... so I can put my car keys and my chapstick and other things in them...
MOM: Yup.
ME: I also want it to have only 1 handle because when I wear purses with 2 handles, one of them always falls of the shoulder and it is so annoying...
MOM: OK, listen, sounds like you really know what you want, so why don't you just send me a drawing and some dimensions and I'll go from there...

So, I did. I sent her this...



And then I thought we should offer some more options so I also sent her this...



Mom went to work on this idea. There was silence for about a week and then she resurfaced with an awesome pattern that just made me tear up in excitement. AND... this sewn sample:



I couldn't believe how my drawing had come to life, not one detail overlooked! The handle, the pockets, the shape, the size... all was there, just right! I digitized all of her drawings in Illustrator and typeset her instructions in inDesign and then the inevitable... I was gonna have to sew up my very first purse. SCARY! I needed to (whether I wanted to or not) because I had to make the step-by-step mechanical drawings and how could I draw them if I didn't even know how the darn thing went together? So I did.

I made my very first purse (so friggin' proud!):



And the other side showing the patchwork design:



Then the true test came... my pattern testers. I sent the test pattern to Valerie Haberer, and she sent me this beauty back:



Then I sent it to Amy Priddy and I got this gorgeousness back:



What more could I ask for? Sooooo gorgeous! And just how I envisioned it, down to the very last detail! I went to work on finishing up the pattern edits based on my testers' awesome feedback, played around with a few cover shot options...



... and VOILA! May I present to you STELLA: Modern Handbag sewing pattern.



This, and all of our new patterns, are currently up for pre-order on the wholesale portion of our website only (new patterns are only viewable after you log in). Retailers, log in using your email and password to place your order. New patterns will be in stock the first week of May. Consumers, please check with your favorite retailer and see if they've ordered the new MODKID patterns. See the bottom of this page for a list of retailers that currently stock MODKID patterns.

Next up... Mini-Nina! :)

**UPDATE** Forgot to show a top view of the bags. They close up with a zipper. :) Thanks to Rebecca for reminding me in the comments section.

Get Your Own!

haha... I didn't mean that title to sound mean. ;) I just get so many compliments every time I go out with one of my mom's purses that I thought I'd share my source with you so you can get one too. See? Isn't that nice?!

My mom has been at it again and this time she has loaded up her Etsy store with all kinds of new goodies... all made with Michael Miller fabrics.

(click on each photo to be taken to the Etsy listing)

First up is her most popular purse design, this time made with my ModBlooms baby wale corduroy...



She also played around with Laura Gunn's Lantern Bloom fabrics and made a couple of gorgeous purses...





Another version of her most popular design, this time with Michael Miller's Dandy Damask...



A large tote made with corduroy and my Andalucia Mod Dots ribbon...



And finally this sweet little tote, made with lots of Mezzanine, that would be great to take along as a craft purse for those who love to knit or embroider. I also thought this would be perfect as a sleepover bag for a little girl... with plenty of pockets to store her toiletries, toys and treasures!



OH, and she even re-listed her most popular design yet... HERE!

All of the purses shown above are READY MADE and ready to ship. So, go ahead... get your own! :)

Oh, and if you've been wondering what's going on with The Name Game, we're still working on it. This week we've been a little busy but I promise to choose the winners soon. Contest isn't closed yet, so if you still have suggestions... go ahead and leave them under the Name Game post.

A World Of Thanks...

I've been meaning to write this post for days now but between last days of school, work, work and more work, time just seems to be running away from me constantly. But rest assured I've been thinking about all you amazing women who went above and beyond to help me with my Mezzanine and MODKID debut at Quilt Market.

First and foremost, I'd like to a send HUGE virtual hug & kiss to my mom, who not only came all the way from Florida to take care of the kids, house and everything in between for 13 days, but also came loaded up with gorgeous goodies made with Mezzanine. All of the items below can be found on her Esty store, by the way, in case you wanted one for yourself.

This first one happens to be the purse I carry as my everyday purse. It holds EVERYTHING and I'm not kidding! If you know me well, you know how much junk I like to carry all the time with me and this purse does the trick (by the way, this is the 3rd purse I've owned in this style... I just love it!)

How 'bout this gorgeous and petite cocktail purse?


And on the other end of the spectrum, an extra-large tote, perfect for going to the beach, day camps, shopping, you name it!


Another special person I'd like to send a virtual hug & kiss to is Amy Priddy of priddycreations. Amy made this amazing camera bag for me in record time. And when I say record time I mean: she got the fabric on the Saturday before I left for Market, made the bag on Sunday (which just happened to be Mother's Day... yah!) and had it in the mail Monday morning... on the way to Pittsburgh, because it wouldn't have gotten here on time. My dear friend, Ronda Opipery, was nice enough to receive the package for me and deliver it to my hotel in Pittsburgh. The gorgeous camera bag was there waiting for me at the front desk when I checked in on Wednesday. How sweet is that! Thanks a million Amy & Ronda!

If you desire a bag just like this one, check this out, Amy is offering it in her Etsy store!

Next, I'd like to thank my dear friend Heather Kaeb, of thepolkadottotspot, for making me a whole new slew of adorable fabric jingle balls. These were a huge hit at Market again, and she is offering them in her Etsy store along with a few other sweet goodies made with Mezzanine.


And last, but certainly not least, a HUGE HUGE thank you hug to my dear friends Kristen Hallagan (gocksfrocks) and Myrinda Dixon (fabrichound) for staying late after the show ended and practically dismantling my entire booth by themselves. What was I doing? Taking pictures, of course! ;) And Jon? Stuck in traffic with the trailer! Seriously, these ladies didn't waste a second and as soon as the show was over they grabbed screwdriver & hammer and got to work...


Thank you all SO MUCH for going above & beyond in so many ways! LOVE YA!!!

A new bag and a new do

I'm carrying a new Marieliz original on my shoulder as of yesterday! Not that my old one wasn't good enough anymore, cause it so is! But with all the hand-beading and special details, I thought my Birdie Damask purse was better suited for special occasions. My new ModBlooms purse will be my everyday bag... big enough to carry all my junk (and those of you who know me well know what I mean!) but still stylish enough to turn heads. Get your own here.



I'm also sporting a new do as of this morning. I cut off all my red tips, which were not even red anymore but some kind of yucky, faded, in-between shade, and made it more of a blunt cut. No layers this time... long and straight in the front and a tad shorter in the back. Sorry about the blurry picture... best I could do in a bathroom mirror with terrible lighting...



If you're wondering who's jewelry I'm wearing, my necklace was custom-made by Erin of The Vintage Pearl using Andalucia fabric scraps and my ring was also custom-made by Ash of In Full Bloom.

Support Indie artists. Buy handmade!

Hot off the Market floor...

Thanks so much for your sweet comments! I am just thrilled about the positive reception of Andalucia!!!

I received so many compliments & inquiries on the purses that my mom made for the show, that we've decided to list them on Etsy so that you too may have a chance at getting one! I just finished helping my mom list 5 Market purses on etsy, so below is the info. Two of them are ready-made and the other ones will be custom. Click on the picture to see the etsy listing:

This first one is the purse she made for Paula Prass:



The following ones are the 4 she made for me to take to Quilt Market:







And she is even offering to remake this amazing hand-beaded purse she made especially for me (I got so many compliments on this one!) Don't even ask about getting the sample... I am keeping it! mine, mine, mine ;)



Happy shopping!

Monday Mumblings

Here I am again, mumbling on Monday morning (well, I guess it's technically Monday afternoon as of 6 minutes ago, but who's counting, right?) This past weekend was quite eventful for me. We decided to have an impromptu party at our house to celebrate our child-free status. It started out as a small dinner party... only 7 of us, very quaint, but it ended up lasting ALL NIGHT... and I mean... we finally went to bed as the sun was rising... eeek! It was awesome, though. We hadn't partied like that since, well, 1999... LOL!!! Seriously, that was the year before we got married and started having kids and became... old. ;)

Showing off our "Travel Toes" (Clockwise from top: Briana, Danielle, Patty & Caty)

As an appetizer, I made ceviche (which was a HUGE hit!), guacamole and shrimp cocktail and served them with some awesome lime-flavored tortilla chips from Whole Foods Market. We also planned to grill chicken breasts and serve them with rice, salad & French bread, but the chicks all got so full from pigging out on the appetizers that we decided not to partake in dinner... so the guys decided to grill beef franks for themselves instead. Fine with us.

The party was also a way to debut Jon's newest beer brew... a Belgian-style Witte. It was awesome! His best batch yet, IMO. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that I made my Key Lime Pie for dessert but this time I poured the mixture into individual size graham cracker crusts... so cute! A great time was had by all!

I spent the rest of the weekend recovering from this and cleaning and by the time I got back to my email I had an inbox full of Cook It. Blog It! requests... which, by the way, if you guys are reading this, all new requests have been added. I don't even know how many members we have now... over 40, I'm sure. I'm too lazy to count right now, but I am thrilled nonetheless that you guys all love it so much. Most of the newer members are avid cooks, judging by the looks of your blogs, so I am so excited to have ya.

I was also thrilled to find out -- through your hilarious comments -- that there are lots of you out there who also have a "water-drinking-issue", as I like to call it. Read my last blog entry to know what I mean by this. Not that I wish this on anyone out there, but you know what I mean, it's always comforting to know that you are not the only weirdo out there. ;)

I also had a couple of new sales on my Etsy store over the weekend... WOOHOO! It's always great to come back to unexpected money in your Paypal account. This motivated me to get my butt in gear and list the 2 travel items I made for my mom (which she LOVED, by the way) on my Etsy store this morning.

I listed this super-cute sleep eye mask that reverses out to a solid navy blue in case the man in your life wants to use it too and he's to embarrased to sport Marimekko flowers on his face. ;)
Find it here.


I also listed my travel pillow design. I used it on the way down to Florida last week (shhhh... don't tell my mom!) and it was HEAVEN! Get yourself one here.


And finally, since this was such an awesome gift for my mom, I decided that some of you may want to give these as gifts too, so I listed it as a COMBO Pack with a discount... check it out here.


And as I was listing all these goodies, I remembered that I had forgotten to tell you guys about my mom's newest awesome purses! OMG, these are soooo cute. I already have my favorite in sight, but I will let you guys decide before I taint your decision.
She has created a new version of my favorite Amy Butler purse in a different colorway (which. by the way, I still get tons of compliments on every time I wear it out)... I'm not sure which I like better.


Plus added a couple of new designs to her collection. These are ready-made & ready to ship, so get yours here!

I think that is it for my Monday "Morning" Mumblings. This week I will be sewing a couple of orders from my Etsy sales, getting my packages ready for the two winners of my Anniversary Contest (sorry for the delay, girls! they will be on their way to you very soon, I promise!!!) and hopefully, hopefully (fingers & toes crossed) proofing my first round of Andalucia strike-offs. Yup, they are not here yet, but Kathy assures me they will arrive before Sophie & Sydney get back... let's hope so. I am dying to share with the world!

Happy Monday, Everyone!!!