Florida!

(WARNING: picture overload!)

Yes, we were gone for 9 days and like I said in my last post, we had something planned for each day. So here's a synopsis.

Day 1: Jungle Adventures
Sophie has had an obsession with alligators for as long as I remember so my mom wanted to take her to this funky little place. I guess it's more like a zoo than like a theme park. They don't have any rides, except for the one that takes you around this foul-smelling swamp on a pontoon boat to see where the gators dwell. Here's a view of a dilapidated Spanish fort we saw during the swamp ride:



Sophie & Jon smile for a picture during the swamp ride despite the foul sulfur smell emerging from the green waters...



They also have shows, the most popular of them being the one where a young *brave* girl gets IN THE WATER WITH THE ALLIGATORS and feeds them, practically shoving pieces of meat in their mouths. There is not enough money you could pay me to do this! Although I was more than willing to do this.



AH, and then there's the show where they tell you about the jungle critters and let you pet them. You already saw me get up close & personal with the Costa Rican Zebra Tarantula. She was so soft & gentle! Sydney petted her from afar...



Here are Sophie & Sydney with a rather large ball python (I was so proud of my brave girls!)





We also all got to hold a baby alligator but they wouldn't let us take our own pictures. If we wanted to record the moment we had to buy the pricey pictures they took with a far less awesome camera and far less experienced photographer (haha) so we opted against it.

All in all it was a great time... bit too hot, humid & smelly for my taste but just watching the girls' reactions was totally worth the sacrifice! ;)

DAY 2: The Beach
Can't go to Florida without visiting the beach at least once, can you? Here are some of my favorite shots from that day...









Day 3: Disney's Magic Kingdom

Again, we can't visit FL without at least one day with Mickey & friends. The girls had an absolute BLAST that day. They got to meet and chat with their favorite princesses, Cinderella, Belle and Aurora. Here they are with Belle:



Then they spent some quality time with Mickey & Minnie...



And even more quality time with grandma...



They explored the set after Pirates of The Caribbean ride...



And even did some modeling for one of my upcoming patterns, Isabel. Not sure if I can use these photos for the booklet, though. Her bangs were so sweaty! Did I mention it was crazy hot & humid in FL?!?



We even caught a glimpse of Cinderella's Castle at night on our way out...



It was so pretty the way it changes colors every few seconds...





Then decided at the last moment to stay a few minutes longer for the Parade of Lights...







We got home at midnight that night but the memories will be unforgettable!

Days 4, 5, 6 & 7: Port St. Lucie and South Beach

Jon & I left the kids with my parents and drove South for some grown up time with my sister and her husband. We had more fun than I could even describe and decided not to lug our big 'ole camera around so we could truly enjoy our time.

We had our waitress take this picture of us with my iPhone... not too shabby, eh? If you've ever had breakfast on Ocean Drive in South Beach, Miami, you are probably dying laughing at this typical picture. For those of you who have never been... they give you these GINORMOUS drinks, like the size of your head! Caty & Jason got the Mimosas, Jon got a Bloody Mary and I opted for the Sangria, which was delicious but I couldn't even finish it. Fun times!



We shopped, drank, ate like pigs and took in the sights, which really, in South Beach, it's enough to keep you entertained for 4 days!

Day 8: The Beach... again!

Yep, we had to squeeze in another trip to the beach before we left and this time we brought my sweet niece, Asja, with us. The girls had a blast!



Day 9 was travel back home day and it was a tough one. Our first flight was delayed, the we had a layover in Atlanta. That next flight was delayed too. It's funny how tiring it can be to just wait around in airports. Must be those uncomfortable seats. By the time we got home Sydney was sick to her tummy... she threw up on her bed almost immediately after coming home. As I was changing her bedding, she threw up on the couch. And as I was wiping down the leather on the couch she threw up on the stairs. I gave up on cleaning this time and just sat with her. She didn't want to talk or eat or sleep... just sit. So we did. For a while. She slept like a baby that night and woke up the next morning happy & hungry like nothing had happened. PHEW! I wish I was as resilient as my kids!

Anyway, thank you to anyone who sat through my Vacation Album. I know it was long and wordy. I am still going through all the names. Give me a little more time. I want to make sure I don't miss any... and the entries are still coming in. haha

Bye!

We're Baaaack!

We've been in Florida for the past 9 days and it was both wonderful and exhausting! We had activities planned for each and every day... not kidding! It was a blast but I'm glad to be back.

Did you guys know this is my 300th post? Of course not! I didn't even know until a few minutes ago. Seriously THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the sewing pattern name suggestions. I am not kidding you when I say that I was expecting a couple dozen suggestions but coming home to 260+ comments was truly shocking... in a good way! :) It's gonna take me a few days to read through all of them and pick my favorite 2 or 3 names. Most of you left multiple names under your comment so I'm estimating having to go through a couple thousand girlie names. Boy, maybe I should get busy and make more patterns so I can use up more of them.

I'll announce the winners as soon as I can! I did want to point out something... I noticed that the names Ava, Isabel and Julia kept popping up here & there in the comments so I am afraid I wasn't too clear in mentioning that those are names I am already using (see 4th paragraph down on the Name Game post). Just didn't want anyone to think I used their name without due credit! ;)

OK... I'd better get to work. I'll leave you with a little sneak peek from our FL vacay...

This one I call BLISS.



And this one I call FACING FEAR.



More pics (correction: TONS more pics!) coming in the very near future... brace yourselves! ;)

In the meantime, please check out my interview on TRUE UP. I talk about my inspiration for each and every design in Mezzanine. I also give a little non-visual sneak of my next fabric line.

Also, Quilt Home is featuring yours truly in their most recent e-newsletter... I'm SO flattered. (pssst, scroll down to the bottom of the newsletter to see a 15% coupon that expires this Sunday valid for my fabric & patterns!)

And last, but certainly NOT least, Better Homes & Gardens' Fall issue of Quilts & More magazine has a 6-page spread on how to make the 3 pillows I designed for my Andalucia fabric debut last Fall. On the last page, they even show you how they took the same designs and made them out of Mezzanine!! If you can't find a copy of this mag at your local bookstore, you can buy one at Fat Quarter Shop.

Be back soon...

The Name Game

WOW! Thanks so much for all your wonderful comments on my new studio. You guys are the BEST!!! We are heading out to Florida today for our annual vacay but I wanted to leave a little contest up on the blog. Just something fun for all to do while I'm away in the land of sand & sun for the next 9 days...

See, it seems I've run out of ideas for naming my sewing patterns. It's sorta like naming kids, except I only had to do that twice. And yes, I've actually brought out the "baby names" book a couple of times to help me out! The first 4 patterns came to me fairly easy. Lil' Chef was a no-brainer. Frida was named even before she was fully-drafted... really! Kyoko took a slight bit of Googling but once I saw it, that was it. Emma was just one of those pretty, feminine & delicate names that fit perfectly with a pretty, feminine & delicate dress.



Then came the Sophie and the Sydney... I'm sure by now I don't really need to explain where the inspiration came for those. (pssst... if you're new to my blog, those are my kiddos' names!)

For the Fall release I plan to have 4 - 6 new sewing patterns. I've already named Ava. The pattern is done and currently off to the testers. I've even shared some outtakes from the cover shoot. And I'll show you Isabel when we come back from vacation. I'm taking my Isabel sewn sample to FL to try to get some cool pics for the booklet. Then I have another one in the works that may or may not be called Julia. I'll share more details when I return.

So... that leaves me with needing 1 - 3 more names and I'm just running out of ideas and time. Here's where all you wonderful blog readers and creative types come in. Leave me a girlie-girl name suggestion in the comments below this post and if I choose your name you will receive a sweet little bundle of goodness. I don't know what it'll be yet (since this just occurred to me last night) but I promise it won't disappoint... and there will definitely be yummy fabric included! :)

Oh, and while you're leaving name suggestions, if you would like to give actual new sewing pattern suggestions -- anything that you'd like to see a pattern for? -- please, by all means speak up. After all, these are for YOU!

OK... we're off. I'll leave you with these two crazy girls...

Here's Sophie returning from day camp last Friday, toothless & painted.



CONFESSION: the tooth fairy completely forgot to leave money under the pillow that night. But the next morning I logged on to Twitter and found out she had a tough time the night before due to storms and was still working on collections (yes, the Tooth Fairy IS on Twitter) so as the kids were mesmerized reading her tweets, the tooth fairy snuck in and left the money. PHEW! Twitter saves the day again!

And here is Sydney, also returning from day camp a few weeks ago. A camp counselor had French-braided her hair and when we took the braids out it looked like Mermaid hair so I couldn't resisted a picture.



CONFESSION: I've never learned how to French braid but always wanted too. I've attempted it a few times and failed miserably!

Adios!

(P.S. Our Web Store will remain open while we are traveling but all orders will ship on the 19th or later. Thank you for your understanding!)

My Studio

It took us a little bit to get it to this point but I'm finally ready and excited to show you guys what we've been working on for the past few weeks... the MODKID Studio! I apologize in advance for the lighting. This is a basement studio with only one smallish window so natural lighting is practically non-existent and studio lighting is hard to position when you have so many elements to block the flow of light.

Anyway, ready for your virtual tour? As you first enter the room, you see this:



The cutting table is the piéce-de-resistance. I dreamt it up one night and Jon made it happen for me. We took two Expedit bookcases from IKEA, turned them on their side and butted them together to create the base of the table. That was the easy part. The shelves are hollow at the back which is great because I can store long items that span from one side to the other. Then I told Jon I wanted a 1.5" gap in between the tabletop and the base to store flat pattern sheets and other large paper drawings. Jon built me a tabletop out of MDF with dry-erase board on the top (perfect for jotting quick measurements or notes!) then mounted it on top of the bookcases with two 1.5" spacers in between. PERFECT!

Here's a closer look at the cutting table:



As you walk toward the back side of the table, you see a better view of my fabric shelves (which are just two Billy bookcases from IKEA side by side) and a little sneak peek of my sewing table.



Around the other end of the room is my extra long sewing table. Believe it or not I used to have these 3 machines on a table that was about 1/3 shorter than this one. Now that I've been working with this much elbow room I have no idea how I ever sewed anything before. From back to front you see my 31-year old Bernina Record (my prized possession), my BabyLock Imagine serger and my White SpeedyLock serger (always set to the rolled hems function). The table and chairs are also from IKEA (yes, we shop there a lot!)



Turning around and facing the other side of the room, you get the left side of my cutting table. Here is where I store all of my sewing supplies... anything from cutting tools, to interfacings, tracing papers, you name it. I also have several bins that hold ribbons, fabric scraps and miscellaneous office supplies.



On the far right of the studio is my computer desk. This is an old desk that I purchased back in Orlando 10 or so years ago and has moved with me from house to house and State to State. It does the job. My new MacBook Pro sits up there on the half shelf and is hooked up to a 24" Cinema Display because this old lady has failing eyes and needs to see things BIG on the screen. The sweet little red task chair is from (you guessed it!) IKEA. (By the way, this is my interim chair until I can afford to get my dream chair. Hopefully my back won't be broken before then.)



Adjacent to my computer desk you will find this colorful little bookcase which houses some of my favorite things: sewing books, trade magazines, music CDs, kitschy toys and collectibles. Everything is at arm's reach in case I need to reference something or just play...



And last, but certainly not least, is the most comfortable spot in the studio. I have fallen asleep on this couch many a night when I'm just way too tired to get my butt up the stairs to my own bed. But, hey, I'm not complaining...

Outtakes

There's never a dull moment when I do photoshoots with Sydney. Like any typical 4-year old, she's all over the place. Yesterday's shoot was no exception. I got some amazingly good shots (which I will reveal later with the pattern info) but the outtakes were so funny I couldn't resist sharing some of them...









Many photos did make the cut and the chosen cover shot is so awesome it actually makes me teary eyed. I'll share soon! Promise!

And speaking of sharing soon... the studio redux is about 98% complete. Jon built me a new tabletop for my cutting table and I've been busy putting the little finishing touches in every last corner and empty wall space. Stay tuned for the full reveal in a couple of days...

In the meantime you may want to check out this site and bookmark it for future reference. During the months of August and September they will be featuring a baker's dozen tutorials of awesome projects made with Andalucia.

I sewed a little...

...this weekend and it felt great! These gorgeous Lantern Bloom fabrics by Laura Gunn had been burning a hole in my new fabric shelves and I'm so glad I finally figured out what to make with them. It needed to be something that showcased the gorgeous painterly designs like a canvas. First I made myself the skirt on the far left Friday morning and took it for a test drive when I met some friends for a late lunch. It was super comfy and fun to wear!



Then Saturday morning I decided to make some for the girls. They picked their own fabric combos. How fun is that?! I hemmed mine with some coordinating bias tape I had sitting around the studio but for theirs, I decided on a contrasting rolled hem and I *LOVE* how they turned out.



The extra wide shirred waistband makes for a super comfy fit... never too tight, never too loose! These will be great for our Florida vacation in a couple of weeks! YAY! :)



Also, earlier in the week I made myself some patchwork curtains for my new studio. In case these fabrics look somewhat familiar to you, yes, these were made using the rejected strike-offs from Mezzanine. We always pitch lots of colors and even subtle variations within the colors. Some may have a cream ground versus a white ground. Some may just have a darker green tone than others. There's even full colorways that may be experimented with that never make it to the final round. This is pretty much the only way we can see how the finished product will look. And then the toughest part comes... the guillotine!

I always have a soft spot in my heart for the so-called 'rejects'. I truly love all of them, so here goes my tribute to the almost-Mezzanines...



I'm not sure if this curtain will stay in the studio or if it will make its way into another naked window in our house. I'll make my final decision next week before the full studio reveal. :)

A little bit of this. A little bit of that...

Boy, it's been a looong time since I last blogged. I apologize! But see... I've been a little busy. Guess who showed up last week? The Sophie & Sydney patterns that is! Yep, I won't repeat the picture here on the blog, but just know that our house once again looked like this and this (maybe a tad messier, LOL!)



We spent days taking patterns out of big boxes and putting them into smaller boxes... or in some cases, bigger boxes, depending on the size of the order. And the rest of my week looked a little like this...



and like this...



and like this...



Sooooo, if you're looking to purchase the Sydney & Sophie patterns, they will be up on my consumer site soon, but for now, please check out our lovely retailers at the bottom of this page (Retailers: if your store link is not on here yet, please shoot me an email and I'll add it a.s.a.p.). Lots have already received their shipments and have them up on their site for purchase.

[WARNING: This post is about to get really random.]

Remember when I broke up with FaceBook a while back? Well, we've decided to be just friends. I did make a promise to spend more time getting to know FB better so I took the plunge and started a FaceBook Fan Page for MODKID. Hey, that's making an effort, right? Please show your support and join us! :)



Let's see, what else is going on? Have you guys checked out Kristen's Etsy store lately? That crazy lady's been at it again! And this time she's created a whole new collection of sweet twirly skirts all made out of Mezzanine. Aren't these fun?




Oh, my day was brightened last Friday with this lovely flower arrangement. Isn't it sweet? Nope, it's not from Jon. ;) It was from this sweet lady.



Thank you, friend! It's still holding up well and beautifying my new studio. What? New studio, you say? Yep, Jon and I decided to do a little heavy lifting and rearranging this past weekend. The MODKID studio now takes over almost our entire basement and I am just LOVING all the new furniture & details (and the spacious quarters!). If you follow me on Twitter, I did upload a few crappy iPhone photos of the computer station, new cutting table, fabric shelves, etc. but for the rest of you, here is a sneak.



I will be sewing up some curtains today and hanging up some artwork. We also need to attach some spacers to the bottom of the tabletop on the new cutting table. I want a little area underneath the tabletop where I can store pattern pieces and other large, flat papers. Ooooh, so many ideas swimming in this crazy head of mine.

Give me a few days and I promise to give you a full reveal of the new studio space... it'll be like a virtual tour. I'll show you every nook & cranny and give you sources and background info on each piece.

Until then...

P.S. This just in... in keeping with the "random" theme and all: check out my interview at Fat Quarter Shop's THE JOLLY JABBER!