The Holiday Rush Begins ...

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... and I haven't even started decorating for fall yet!  Hello, blogworld.  I miss you.  Two things keep me from spending time here:  1)  Studio and transcription work are steady, steady.  Thank the Lord!  2)  Due to #1, I am behind in my One Block Over blocks and just cannot allow myself the pleasure of blogging about anything until that commitment is fulfilled!  I'm really strict about those things, and I have to tow my own line!  I've only just finished June, so ...
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You can see my progress at my OBO Flickr set.  The ladies have had some fantastic ideas, the latest being the light/dark block for June. 

I do have so much to chat about, including going to The Country Living Fair in Atlanta last month.  Alas, that's nearly old news now, but it was so nice and fun to meet and greet folks we craft bloggers know from our little world.  LOVED the Earth Angels tent. 

Well, I must keep my promise and use my free time to sew blocks.  I nearly have Love in the Mist complete.  Straightening the half-square triangles is giving my eyes lots of exercise! 

Moving Right Along!

calicodaisy handmade

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September! It has started out well. The days of August to the present have been filled with so many varied events, I felt like I was going through the weeks in a fog. Not sure things have slowed down any this month; however, my girl is a freshman in college locally and we are sharing my car, so I have a bit of forced time management while being home bound a lot through the week, and that does me a lot of good.

Once again, all my transcription work is done at home now and just in time for car sharing. We’ve been moving rooms around and shuffling the extraneous items place to place while setting up new work and living areas. 
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Over Labor Day Weekend, I made the big choice to pull up the horrible, stinking, totally shameful carpet from the family room. It is better to live on the plain sublfoor than that mess. Once that was done, the fireplace was painted! It looks beautiful. Eight and a half years I wrestled with that choice, and I love it. Just the rest of the decisions to make now. That's just the primer you see in the photo.  The final color is Lowe's Valspar Cream Delight.  Will show soon.  We were just going to paint the subfloor as noted around the web until we could put down hardwoods (you must check out that link!), but this isn’t the first floor of the house, and the noise and echoing is pretty crazy. You can see what the room looks like in better days - nice and pretty on this set. 

A surprising discovery by my husband, though. As our home was custom built 33 years ago by the builder who lived here, the workmanship is pretty awesome and thoughtful. We knew the paneling is real wood, however, after taking a door frame off , Michael found that it is about 3/4” pine. We think we have discovered our very own, reclaimed hardwoods! Michael can taken the paneling down, cut up into various sized lengths, and lay the floor. Is that amazing? It certainly is to our budget. Now I can use that savings for furniture! First, though, when the paneling is removed, drywall must go up, and then color choices. My head hurts! My plan of action, though, is to just open a favorite magazine, find a look that I like, and copy. At least it gets done, and I can always make decorative changes later. 
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In the studio, things have been buzzing right along. Nothing very new to show, since sewing embroidered pillow covers has become my forte! I’m so pleased. Square items that I am familiar with makes the multiple orders go fast!   The pillow covers above are the largest I have made so far at 20".  They are living happy in their new home on pretty sofas.  Thankfully, my friend, Liz, is back this fall to help keep me organized and use her sewing and creative skills to move the orders along.  Oh, I have a coupon code to use in my calicodaisy etsy shop, as noted at the top of the post. It's received some usage already!  Please pass along to any interested parties you know.  Start thinking about holiday orders! I’m on a 3-week turnaround at this point, so if you hope to shop with calicodaisy for gifts, early is definitely better!   Especially with free shipping on orders of $50.00 or more. 
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My only time regret at this point is not keeping up with my One Block Over Bee squares. They are a forgiving group of ladies, but I don’t want to disappoint, especially because my blocks started off the year! I can’t allow myself to sign up next year, unless (hopefully they read this with good thoughts), they let me participate by being the coordinated embroidered block person. I could be the 13th on the team, I thought, creating a quilt label or embellished block that fits in to the chosen quilt design. We’ll see what their tolerance level for me is when the time comes.  The block above is the Maverick Star.  It was fun and works out great with not much precision required!  Anyway, I probably need to take a day off from ALL work and get those done.  I've completed through June, though.  The shame of it all is, once I get started, a block may take as little as an hour to put together. 

So, I have two kids in college now. I’ve also been in a bit of a funk realizing how fleeting life is, and my baby girl is now me -- 29 (??) years ago. I started university at 17!  Really, I did!  October birthdates will do that.  I’m feeling a bit old and worn out; only 47 next month, so not that old, but calculating "29 years ago" as starting college seems crazy! I feel more ill about that than dealing with the horrible carpet! I have plans to pull myself together, though, now that I’m not running kids around anymore. Time to pretend like I’m 19 again with my whole life ahead of me (but with all my hard-earned wisdom!) and pay attention, within reason, to my own self. That encompasses so many things, but obviously a healthy lifestyle plan (so I can allow myself to appear in photos), traveling -- that starts in October when BFF Lynda comes to visit and we go to Atlanta for the Country Living Fair, learning new things -- I want to take some classes on web design and graphic design so I can do a better job with my own website and maybe create some calicodaisy fabrics, and exchanging the time spent on the kids to time spent building calicodaisy handmade up a couple of notches -- just up far enough to sustain the budget and ensure good savings and investment for the future. So, all good things, right?

Well, time to get back to the homekeeping part of healthy living. I allow myself to lose hours in the laptop!   Music by Pandora hypnotizes me as well, I think.  Must clean the kitchen and get to the studio for sewing. 

A New Chapter Begins

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Today is the first day in 18 years that I don't have a child ready for the first day of school!  I need a new hobby now to fill the time.  Well, I just have to get through the paying of the tuition and books and all that goes with kids in college, and then I can see what's left over! 

First up, though, in October, one of my BFFs will come in from Memphis to visit for a week.  We plan to have a little sewing retreat together here and then head over to Atlanta for the Country Living Fair!  So excited to actually go to the fair I've read about for years and to go with Lynda!  Two more BFFs and a favorite SIL live in the Atlanta area, so I will be reveling in lots of sisterly and gal-pal love for a few days!  Maybe I'll meet some blog friends, too.  Let me know if you're going. 

There have been a lot of embroidered pillow covers flying out of the studio.  Did I tell you that I finally learned to use the six needle machine?  Maybe I did, but it deserves to be mentioned again.  It's like having an employee.  The machine is sewing out designs while I'm sewing up the piping and pillow covers at the same time. 

A client request came for a large-scale embroidered monogram.  After about a month of searching out quality large-scale fonts, we both fell for the one pictured at the top.  The design is very lush and substantial.  Thanks to Mallory there is a new product for the calicodaisy shop. 

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Links to the Serena & Lily Kate bedding and requests for matching pillow covers have been coming my way.  Pink and limey green damask.  So serene and lovely, and I'm glad to accommodate! 

The One Where calicodaisy Goes Toddlers and Tiaras!

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Now that I can post again, I have a few months of catching up to do!  There are a number of things to show and tell, but the most darling of all is the custom dress that went to the Lollipop pageant last month.  The mama of the little 3-year-old darling sent me a photo a few months ago, and we created our own version of the dress. 

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Not that I want to get all caught up in this, but, I have to say, when it was over and I received a photo of the Little Miss all sassy in her dress and pink rubber boots (!), I'm pretty pleased.  Going down to the studio now to sew up two more outfits for this weekend's pageant.  The little one above and her friend will be the prize presenters, and their mamas have requested matching outfits in a casual boutique style.  Nothing like waiting to the last minute, but there was no way around it with the schedule.   

Free At Last!

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Can't stay signed into blogger.  Cannot comment on blogger. 

Sign In / Sign Out loop.  

Phrases above for those who google them.  Thank goodness, I think I am out of the blogger loop sign-in / sign-out nightmare!  I haven't been able to comment for months since Blogger had the glitch in the spring.  I've barely been able to stay signed in to post or make changes on the blog.  I have been so upset, I even began a wordpress blog just in case, but, really, I don't have the brains to figure that out right now!  Later.  

Anyway, if you googled yourself here, this is what I did:  After reading a post on Blog Guidebook yesterday as well as countless other things I don't understand, a little thought came to mind to google "enabling third party cookies."  I found these instructions on Feedjit, followed them, and it seems to have done the trick!  I have commented and am now posting without signing in, signing out.  It's a good day!  A banner day! 

Okay, I don't know anything else about it, so don't ask me.  I only hope I have truly left this loop of despair!       

Summer Stitchin'

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Lots of this going on since last we spoke.  Drum roll, please:  I finally learned to use the 6-needle embroidery machine!  Such a burden off the shoulders!  It's marvelous and very fast.  Must keep fingers out of the way.  New shelving is up in the crazy, messy sewing room, which is actually less crazy and messy. 
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Here is a fun block I sewed today for the One Block Over Bee, the Japanese x / + block.  Jump to the description and tutorial on this post.  You'll love it. 
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.Can you believe this little confection?  A custom dress for a 3-year-old princess to wear in a pageant last weekend.  If you click over to the calicodaisy FB page, you can see the dress in action -- all dressed up with pink rubber boots! 
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A number of these have gone out through the shop in the last couple of months.  It's so much fun to be part of clients' home dec designs.  This set flew off to NYC last week.  The "k" is made to match the Serena and Lily Kate bedding set.  So pretty! 

To cap off the summer, my boy is on his way home from his year in Germany!  If all flights arrive on time, I'll have both my chicks under one roof on Friday.  Of course, the year flew by, and it's hard to believe that this time last year, we were wondering how we were going to manage getting him everything he needed to live abroad.  Now he is just a world traveler.  Hoping my turn is next! 

Fresh Eyes - Fresh Design

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A new client dropped by calicodaisy requesting an initial monogrammed pillow cover.  When she sent a photo of her nursery decor so I could match colors, I was happy to tell her that I actually had the coordinating colorway of the same fabric.  What a shrewd pre-shopper am I!  After she looked through my gallery of products past, she came up with the wonderful idea of combining the birdcage embroidery with her daughter's name and the coordinating home dec fabric as the piping.  It is so nice to get a fresh look at my own designs through another's eyes.  I'm so bombarded by new fabrics and embroidery designs and projects, that once one idea is accomplished, I've moved on to the next forgetting about what's in the files.  Thanks to yet another client's awesome idea, The Birdcage with Name design, there's a fresh new idea on the books. 

Costa Rica Missions - Helping Some Friends

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Blog friends:  I couldn't figure out how to post this on my personal FB page, so the next best thing was the blog.  Of course, feel free to participate, but mostly I am posting here so the parents of the teens going on the missions trip have a spot to link their contacts. 

A little calicodaisy handmade fundraiser for my young friends, Taylor and Anna, who are off to Costa Rica on a missions trip to help spread the Good News teaching the Bible in Costa Rican public schools and minister to children through all sorts of activities. They've done loads of fundraising with the help of their parents, but now we're hoping to top off the remaining balance, so all they'll have left to do is pack!

Because everything is handmade by yours truly, we have to keep it simple! I'm sticking to embroidered initial / monogrammed pillow covers, because they are squares and I can move through them fairly quickly.

There are four sizes listed: 12" square, 14" square, 16" square, 18" square. 

All calicodaisy handmade shop pillow cover sales using the coupon code TAYLORANNA2011 will glean the girls 25% of the proceeds plus give YOU free 1st class shipping in the US. It's a deal all around! 

50 sales at the 14" size should do the trick. 

Please do not use the coupon code for anything else in the shop.  Because my work is labor intensive, I can't help the girls with any other product but the Letter - Initial It pillow covers.  So, if you do use the coupon code on any other product, I'll just send you a little message, so we can straighten things out. 

Because I'm just one person, it is a first-ordered, first-scheduled process! Right now, I've got about a 2.5-week turnaround, but that may increase based on the response. When you order, I'll give you a send-out date with a request for a little grace time should this be a wildly popular campaign. 

Be sure to Be A Fan and "like" the calicodaisy handmade FB fanpage, and you can keep up with our progress.  

If you have any questions, please contact me through the calicodaisy FB page, the calicodaisy etsy shop, or the girls' parents.  

Late Night Charms

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manly / all boy charm packs

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Progress is slow, but I have surprised myself with a few very cleaned-out rooms in the apartment / studio.  I have been able to deal with each item rather than just packing it away.  You know, keep, give, trash.  The shame of it is it really doesn't take too long when one just decides to do the job. 

The gal who manages a dress shop nearby told me she has a degree in Interior Design and bemoaned the fact she was managing a dress shop.  Immediately, I invited her to use the apartment as a canvas if she likes to show off.  Hope she takes me up on it; I really need new ideas.  (If you are reading this, K, I really mean it!  Anytime.)   

Meanwhile, while winding down after hours of my other computer work, I am washing, ironing, and folding fabrics and also breaking some down into the destash and charm packs.  See my new Manly Set at the top?  There are two of those in the The Handmade Fair shop.  I keep thinking it would be great if I could make a guy quilt with the charms to show off how great the charms come together, but I can't.  I have to depend on sewists reading the blogs who show off modern quilts and then those same sewists running around the internet looking for boy and manly fabrics.  Please pass on the link to any interested parties you may know.  That would be so nice.  

Okay, off to dry the hair and get ready for work away from home today.  I'm technically "off" the next four days, so we'll see if I use my time wisely on the homefront along with the high school graduation festivities. 

Destash Weekend

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Really, I'm finally doing it and doing it the way I didn't want to do it!  What I WANT to happen is to create the dreamed-of studio space without packing up and then having to unpack.  You know, the packing up is easy; the unpacking ... well, things can get lost in a time warp when out of sight, out of mind.  However, we've lived here eight years, so I'm off to pick up boxes now. 

My biggest problem has been HOW to arrange the place.  I'm a dreamer, not an organizer.  At Barnes and Noble last week, I saw the new issue of Studios magazine and was so glad to see layouts of the ladies' work spaces.  That will be in hand in a few hours as I begin to pack up the place.  I have already warned the husband that a couple of new fabric shelving units need to be built.  Have you seen Anna Maria Horner's new addition studio?  I'm waiting for her to show photos of the furnished place. 
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Meanwhile, I must destash fabric as well, even my favorites.  Not entire lengths of fabrics but portions of like items.  The listings are at The Handmade Fair shop; sort of a crafter's garage sale.  Postings are slow, as I waste time coordinating the "perfect sets" and then must photograph and edit.  What would be faster is if I could just take a picture of a shelf, post it, and say, "Which one do you want and how much?"  Surprisingly, several All Boy Charm Sets have been ordered recently.  Nice, too, I think, that all my fabrics are washed, dried, and ironed as soon as I bring them home, so that little job is passed on in these sets. 

Thanks for your nice and helpful comments on my last post and, as always, your good advice, Jean!  You go before me in growing your children and enjoying new little grandkids, and I love your memories.  We march forward to commencement this week!  Very excited now. 

Happy Weekend. 

What Now?

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Today I drove my baby girl to her last day of high school.  As I walked out of Brueggers with her rosemary olive oil bagel, toasted with butter, (and my fizzy Diet Coke), I had a flash of her in 1st grade all dressed up in a sweet little sundress I made for her with hand-embroidered flowers and ivy across the bodice, anklet socks, and Mary Janes.  The sudden surprise of hot tears blinded me for a moment. 

What now?  This is a little reminiscent of that most difficult day a few years ago, but not the same grief.  I'm very excited for her and am looking forward to watching her grow into what she is to become.  However, I just want to hold my baby again and remember for a while. 

I heard a song the other day with the phrase, "Just five more minutes."  That's what I'd like right now.  Just five more minutes of the hot, sleepy, 2-year-old napping on my chest.  Or the 3-year-old who loved getting all muddy while dressed up in fancy dresses.  After watching "Hello, Dolly!" one evening and adoring the costumes and swirling hems, she stood naked in the bathtub YELLING at me, "You don't dress me right!"  Or the 5-year-old who wanted a wedding cake for her birthday party. 

Meanwhile, I have brownies in the oven, fudge frosting at the ready, and cold Diet Coke in which to drown my tears in for a few hours before I pick her up from school one last time. 

Fresh Ideas

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So, I had to come out to Brueggers to post on my blog today.  I still can't stay signed into blogger from my main home computer.  I tried to read about the issues but to no avail.  Any advice?  Secondly, I've been thinking about switching over to wordpress or typepad, but, again, the effort seems huge.  I'd like to attach my blog to my dot com address, as that's what folks come to from my business cards, but making the decision alone is just too much for me.  What do you think? 

In an effort to have a product I can reproduce without actually spending hours creating, I've come up with a new idea for my "The Handmade Fair" intended-college-savings shop that I hope will pump up the college fund.  Printable (print yourself) fabric labels.  My first, The No Fuss Stitch Border Label, a very simple idea is shown above.  To keep it simple, the only customizable option on the design is the customer's wording.  I have created several designs, some with color, but this is the first.  The great thing is the sewist can print off one page as needed onto transfer paper and then iron onto her chosen fabric.  It's so easy and quick.  I ironed my set out on different colors of twill and a tone-on-tone, light colored cotton.  Works great.  You just have to decide how you want to control any fraying, if you do.  Pinking shear cuts, tight zig-zag to sew on, fray check, etc.  There are more details in the listing description. 

Please consider ordering PDF for yourself or as a gift or ask about the other designs I'm developing. 

If you don't sew, another great and probably obvious use is just ironing directly onto clothing items for kids going to camp or the elderly who need to stay in nursing or residential homes.  I have found great resources for digital art; it's just a step-by-step learning process that has to be fit into my sewing and embroidery schedule.  One very good thing about working with digital art, though, is, as I become more comfortable with the concept, I also have the ability to turn digital art into embroidery designs.  However, I can't even allow myself to go there yet! 

Anyway, I am on a mission to seriously PUMP up the college savings account and try to do that with the the proceeds from THF; I am trying to help the kids not start out life already in tuition debt.  My girl graduates in a few weeks, and art school is looming in the future!  

My Diet Coke is running out, the Brueggers clerks keep walking by checking out my (clean) stocking feet up on the opposite booth, the dog needs to be picked up from the groomers, and I have initial pillow cover orders to fill -- all before heading back to the hospital to work this evening.  AND I need to find a new dress to wear to a wedding on Saturday and to my daughter's graduation.  Ugh, taking care of myself ... that might be the hardest job there is to take on yet! 

A Banner Day!

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Just a pun to show off my new banner made in Picnik.  Every four months or so, I learn one more thing.  My first attempt was using this pretty red and cream chevron; however, I thought it was too holiday-ish, so I moved on to my most favorite floral design for my final choice.  So excited to know how to layer now -- without having to learn Photoshop. 

Thanks to the lovely digital creations of Ink Obsession Designs, I have loads of "papers" and clip art to play with.  Thanks, too, to everyone who shares Picnik knowledge on the blogs and makes fun videos that demonstrate exactly what to do. 

I tried to make a personalized FB calicodaisy fanpage button (see sidebar).  It's a bit kooky, but it works.  Will have to tweak in another four months!   

Next up, a fabric label design ...

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes …

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This ball keeps turning faster and faster. I barely catch my breath, and it's back to work or onto whatever it is that needs doing next. 

However, it looks like everything changes again in a month. Seasons of life and the changing of the daily pattern. 
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My girl graduates from high school in early June and prepares for her next adventures in life. Happily, that will still be close to home right now and she will stay with us for at least the next year. As she is our second and last and her brother is in Europe, I need her here for just awhile longer. 
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My work life is busy, pretty much 24/7 right now. When I'm not working at home on the computer or in the studio, I'm getting ready to hit the road for the office at the hospital. In a few weeks, though, if all goes according to plan, a new software platform goes into effect, and I'll be working at home 100% once again, which I'm really looking forward to. Just in time, because my girl will be driving my car to college and work – if we don't get another car, and I just don't see us having another payment! So, for a little while anyway, I plan to just relish puttering away at home with no worries about being work-presentable and getting there on time and using all those freed up driving hours for much missed activities around here. 
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Have you been following Pink Chalk Studios and Kathy's One Yard Wonders Sew Along? Well, this week, they are up to my project in the book, the Beach Time Towel Tote. I'm anxious to hear the reviews on my pattern writing skills. I sent Kathy a link to my towel tote set, so she and the person who sew it up know that it's much more than just a terry towel transformed into a tote bag. 
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Well, that really sums me up right now. Lots of finished items have been mailed out the last couple of months. I love the big appliqué monogram (see above) for a little one's nursery, and my favorite project has been the "mr. and mrs." pillow cover set created just in time for the wedding season. 

Speaking of weddings ....  Loved it!  I would also love to have a backside view as nice as these girls do.  That's another (not so) little project I can work on when I'm spending more time at home!  Oh, to be young and lithe again! 

All In A Day's Work

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Oh, how I miss posting! Not sure anyone out there misses my postings, but I love to talk here. However, a lot of work is keeping me very busy and I've been reading and working toward better internet business strategies as well, so there's no real time or creative writing energy left. Above is a photo of my photo shoot area in my studio. The lights my husband rigged for me last year are getting used regularly now.  (West Elm home dec fabric on that tote up there.) 
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To me, this photo of the fabric storage bucket is just perfect. I love how clear it is, and, yet, I really don't know what the difference is that makes one picture better than another in the same environment. I'm counting on Camille to teach me that as she becomes a more fantastic photographer everyday. 
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I have to go now. Need to be at the hospital for work in just an hour. If you want to see what I've been up to most, check out the "Pillow Styles" gallery in my flickr gallery. Pillow cover sales have been marvelous! 

Labeling Myself

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The past couple of months have been full of new ideas and organizing the old ones. You wouldn't believe the progress made in the studio apartment since January. I've gone about out that plan for years(!) now, but, finally, with the help of a couple of great friends, things are slowly coming together. I think the guy at the local thrift shop gets nervous when he sees my car pulling in -- again! However, no photos until it's done, maybe a couple more months. 
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The calicodaisy etsy shop has been buzzing with custom orders for monogrammed pillow covers. Looks like the initial-only monogrammed pillow covers are the new trend. Other than finding great fonts in large sizes to embroider out, one letter makes the job very easy. 
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What do you think about my new shop and avatar logo for calicodaisy etsy? I've been following Ink Obsessions for more than a year trying to come up with a design for the brand. None of my specific ideas have been really perfect yet, but Erin creates shop and blog graphic sets through her Erin Bradley Designs etsy shop, and I found the design above which seems just right for the shop and avatar appearance. 

Now that that's settled, I need a new fabric label design. I can go with the design at the top of the post, as Erin has an M2M service for made to match graphics in proper sizes for labels, stickers, etc. My problem is that both "calicodaisy handmade" and "calicodaisyhandmade.com" are long URL names to use on a label, and I feel like I need the ".com" address on the label so folks can find me online. I can add ".com" on the square logo somehow, but in my mind's eye, I worry that it is too heavy and ruins the pretty little square. 

I've been reading a lot of "the art of business" information lately. My head is full, but I'm trying to take one idea at a time. It seems to me that I need to figure out another URL to shorten my ".com" address and tie the two addresses to the designed website I already have (just what I need -- to own another url address). Last year I thought of using CDH dot com – for calicodaisy handmade, however, a consulting group has that one. Thinking on it, I could add a word right after CDH that means something to the business, like cdhsews dot com. If that turns out to be a good idea, my logo could be something like CDH with a whimsical flower superimposed over or around the letters and the shortened URL right underneath, and that might pull everything together. 

Do you have any ideas for me? Does a better short word come to mind to add right after CDH? 

Sweet! Couple of Weeks

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The last couple of weeks have pointed toward one moment: The moment our son returned from Germany on school break yesterday, Valentine's Day. Just perfect. The weather was gorgeous, the flights were on time, and I am so happy to have everyone home right now just where they should be! 

Do you crochet? I made up those little hearts at the top on Sunday during breaks at work. Once I got going and timed myself (I am production oriented and like to know down to the minute what my efforts are worth!), each took about six minutes. A garland should be ready for next Valentine's Day; however, now I'm thinking about a petite flag garland created out of stripey sock yarn. The heart pattern is at Skip To My Lou. She always has fun things to try. 
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Work in my studio this month has been pillows, pillows, pillows. The monogrammed pillow cover above flew off to Brussels last week. Belgium?? It's inconceivable to me that someone from Belgium where beautiful handcrafting abounds (right? lace, and I'm sure other needle arts) wanted something custom made by me. A man, no less, who was designing something for his sweetie. Sweet!  
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A new design came to me from an etsy customer. Letter pillow covers. Just the initial monogrammed with a period after. Fun. Typographical. New idea. The hardest part of this is finding substantial fonts to fill the area without looking lost. 

Well, I stayed home from Bible study tonight because I've been in the studio sewing half the day and online designing with new folks that have stopped by the shop. I never got to my transcription and must turn that in by the stroke of 12, so must move on. 
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Meanwhile, I'll be delighting in the handcrafted chocolate champagne truffles my boy brought home to his mama. Lush!  Love!  Sweet! 

For French Inspired Decor

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My studio time seemed to be all about pillow covers in January.  A couple of custom orders required that I run out to the designer home dec fabric store, and I found these great fabrics.  The one at the top is ooh la la gorgeous!  Wouldn't a chair upholstered in that be fantastic?  
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This one is such a a great find.  A feedsack design style on lovely home dec fabric.  The theme is "Tea en Provence."  Love it in the lumbar pillow style.  Going back down to sew up some more designs this evening.   

Full Start to the New Year

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The end of the January? Good night! This was a quickie. Well, except for the week everything shut down in South Carolina for snow. Now that it's over and we didn't lose power or have any ice damage, I will say it was a lovely view out my front window for two days.
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In the meantime, I've spent the month finishing up the 2010 One Block Over Bee and getting a start on the new. I'm in love with the Fairy Tale house block we all made in December. I need to track down the fabric used for the center and make one of those for my own! If not a whole quilt – when do I actually get that done? – then a wonky block as above quilted and sewn into a pillow cover.

January was full of organizing activities. The loveliest day was the day when my friend, Robyn, spent her day off helping me execute the organization two rooms in the downstairs apartment. The blue room is looking great again (it's been about two years since I could say that), and the guest room is ready for company and/or for when my son returns home from Germany and lives downstairs during his senior year of college!
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My husband has a January birthday, and I made him what I understand to be perfect Red Velvet Cake cupcakes. Now, you know me. If it's not chocolate, pretty much I don't waste my calorie intake on it. I only want rich, chocolatey cake when I eat cake; well, that or my friend, Teresa's, cream cheese pound cake, the only other best cake out there. When I told the man I was making his favorite cupcake recipe for his birthday, he said, "Why don't you just pick some up at Publix?" Uh, hello? Game on! If my first batch didn't turn out absolutely perfect, by jiminy, I would try, try again until I could be featured on Food Network. However, my combination of ideas from Martha Stewart, Paula Deen, and The Pioneer Woman recipes turned out perfecto! The frosting was lush and not too sweet.  I even took a few to work with me and had the ladies there do a Cupcake War and grade me on texture, taste, and beauty. I won! By the way, I picked up a beautiful Red Velvet Cupcake at Publix a couple of days later, so I could try their version. I'm thinking that mix is from the box. Speaking of chocolate ... I have a yen for my double layer favorite. 

The Ice Storm Cometh - Soup's On!

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Well, the current news is that it will be icing and snowing after midnight tonight.  That just shouldn't happen here in South Carolina, at least in my part.  It totally cramps my schedule!  Plus, I work this evening and will be driving home late and hope it holds off.  However, we must be prepared.  The grocery store was half empty last night, and I decided to stop in this morning to pick up some items for soup and salad, and Publix was packed!  My daughter cooked up a Publix recipe for Pasta Fagioli a week or so ago, and it is so yummy.  As I was picking up the ingredients to make it today, I decided adding meatballs would make it even better.  Recipe below. 

So, New Year, New Quilt Bee at One Block Over.  I have the January block again, but my excitement of planning the block and sending out the packages to everyone is completely dimmed by the fact that I have two blocks left to complete for 2010.  My shame hangs heavy on me, and I would have traded out January to someone else but didn't want to mess up the planned order.  The photo at the top of the post is the October 2010 block I completed last week.  Those fabrics are lovely together. 

Drats!  I just checked the OBO site to grab the link, and wouldn't you know, Linda has already sewn my block (please go to OBO and see).  It is just gorgeous!  I collected the Meadowsweet fabric set last year, and it has sat nicely washed, ironed, folded, and stacked waiting for me to get on with something.  The bee is the perfect way to use all the designs well and get the job done.  My favorite block from last year was a patchy log cabin, and I chose that style for mine this month.  This has the potential to be a truly gorgeous quilt.  Based on my history, though, I should probably hire out the sashing and quilting so it gets done in a timely fashion. 
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So, what's for Sunday dinner at your place?  If you have no idea but want something warm, cozy, and very quick to put together, check out the recipe for the Pasta Fagioli at this link.  My tinkering included: 

1.  Pasta on the side for the wheat-free people here to choose whether they want it or not.  I like "stoup," as Rachael Ray would say, so my bowl will be loaded appropriately. 

2.  Bag of small meatballs -- because I love them so.  

3.  No sundried tomato pesto at the store, so I used sundried tomato spread found right next to all the pasta sauce jars at the grocery.  

4.  I drain the canned beans.    

Well, stay warm and safe.  Pray with me that Jack Frost stays away, if not completely, at least until I'm back safe and cozy at home.  Oh, yes, and a note to the electric company:  Please put a blanket over the transformer that powers my older neighborhood and send a warm blast through all our above-ground power lines.  We really need the electricity to stay ON during the storm.