Confections

Back in the Saddle Again...

2009-12-10T19:38:00.000-08:00

Hello, Friends!

It's been far too long since I've blogged and I have missed it. My life has been changing a lot...in good ways.

But I'm coming back to the blogging world, looking forward to catching up with you and all my other blog buddies. I am jumping in with both feet, not just selling fabric, but re-launching my vintage-inspired children's clothing line, "Sew Sweet."

I first started embroidering on children's clothes when my eldest daughter was a baby and she is already eight! I can't believe it's been that long! I had so much fun dressing her in beautiful boutique clothing, but my budget couldn't acomodate more than the occasional boutique purchase. So, as they say, necessity became the mother of invention and I began making my own little pieces for my daughter to wear.

After a number of people asking where I got whatever it was my daughter was wearing, therefore finding out it wasn't just me that thought the pieces I made were pretty :), I decided to go out on a limb and try selling some of what I was making. I started on eBay and then gradually moved to etsy. It was after I started selling on etsy that I found blogs and decided to try making one of my own. I was shocked when people started visiting me and leaving comments!

Over the last couple years, I have made and sold hundreds of items, but perhaps more importantly, I have many dear friends, some of which I know will be life-long friends. I have been going through a divorce, making a home for my children and I and pretty much SURVIVING.

But it's time to emerge from my "cave" and get connected again. I've missed it. I think I need it.

So I'm starting by writing this post and re-opening my Sew Sweet etsy shoppe in time for Spring shopping. The pictures below are of some of the clothes I'll be custom-creating for Spring. I'm still running my website, Confections Fabric, as well as my etsy shoppe by the same name. So if you see something you like, let me know! I'm excited to fire up my sewing machine and get out my needle and embroidery thread.

But most of all, I'm excited to get re-acquainted with YOU.

HUGS,
Cheryl

Myrtle and Girdle Valentine Dress

Sweet Tweet PINK...custom

Rose Garden

Funky Licious Orange Sherbert

Mabel and Abel

Amos and Aggie Layette Set

Gilbert and Grace Layette Set

Fun New Pattern!

2009-10-04T11:52:00.000-07:00

This adorable new pattern by Jackie Clark is new to the shoppe. Find it HERE.

New Patterns in the Shoppe

2009-08-18T16:15:00.000-07:00

Just got some beautiful new sewing patterns in. You can find them HERE!

Introducing, "Knowing Bliss"

2009-08-11T16:45:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to introduce my new clothing line, "Knowing Bliss." It is near and dear to my heart and comes from a place deep inside me. It combines some of the things that makes my own heart beat faster: romantic clothing, vintage lace, comfortable wearability and simple beauty. I love pairing up unlikely elements: denim and lace, casual t-shirts and sumptous ruffles or utilitarian garments with exquisite antique details. It's that juxtaposition that makes my heart beat faster. There's a different sort of beauty about a garment that was dreamt to life, one-of-a-kind, uniquely beautiful in the way these pieces are. I rely heavily on vintage clothing but I also enjoy incorporating new pieces and making them into something that is anything but mass-produced.

My inside "knowing" has been leading me to this venture for years. I remember when I was about eight and I was given my first sewing machine, I used to lie in bed for hours imagining the clothes I would make for my doll. A child is a natural at "altered clothing" and "repurposed beauty." She thinks creatively and often quite naturally dreams up ways to use what's on hand in a new way. My own daughter took a stained canvas bag and "made it pretty" just last week by drawing all over the bag with markers so that the stain wasn't visible. She was delighted with the result...it was prettier than how it was before, she told me. And it was true!

This clothing line is something that in so many ways expresses who I am. It honors the past and respects the reality of today while it envisions ways to make something old, forgotten, unused, unappreciated or messy into something beautiful. For me, "following my bliss" is the same thing as listening to my own "knowing" and acting upon it. So for many reasons this new venture is "Knowing Bliss." If you would like to purchase pieces from the Summer/Fall collection, please visit here.

~The farmer's daughter walk with a grace the French coquette can no attempt.~

~Imagination is stifled by a pair of ill-fitting pants.~

~"I think I dreamed you into life..."~

~Things are pretty, graceful, rich, elegant, handsome, but until they speak to the imagination, not yet beautiful."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson~

~A beautiful garment is only as beautiful as the woman who wears it.~

~"We grow great by dreams." -Woodrow T. Wilson~

~"Love is a canvas pattern furnished by Nature, and embroidered by imagination."~

~A little garden in which to walk, and immensity in which to dream.~

~The seamstress' needle rose and fell

for days and nights and nights and days

and what she made was the stuff of dreams.~

~No longer shall I paint interiors with men reading and women knitting.
I will paint living people who breathe and feel and suffer and love." -Edvard Munch~

~Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,
But by the moments that take our breath away.~

A New Fabric Heirloom Book!

2009-08-10T02:17:00.000-07:00

Hello, Friends!

I am so excited to show you my latest custom fabric book, made for the very sweet Catherine Scalise of Treasured Heirlooms and Elegance and Whimsy. You can find her blog here.

Cathy was opening up her Marie-Antoinette-themed website, so when we brainstormed together about the theme of her book, we came up with a few ideas: Marie Antoinette, decadent sweets and special memories.

This book was both challenging and enjoyable for me. I have never done anything quite like this one, but, similar to the other custom books I've made for customers, the book sort of created itself under my hands. Things I didn't plan in the beginning and were added sort of spontaneously became my favorite elements in the book.

So without further ado, here's a million gazillion trillion photos of the book!
Fabric "cake" made of ivory lace, vintage tatted lace and dozens of tiny vintage millinery flowers...
Sitting on top is a miniature vintage figurine reminiscent of Marie Antoinette...

Vintage miniature dresden lace figurine that looks like Marie in all of her finery...

Cathy's Little Pink House, as featured in Romantic Homes...
I hand-embroidered this Southern Belle from a vintage embroidery pattern and added a tiny pink house in the background...
Hand-glittered crown from Sugar Sugar...

Pink gown with a paper "bustle" that buttons up into the dress. It can be written on, photos fixed to it or any number of other possibilities. Vintage lace trims the bustle and peeks out from under the dress.
A new technique for me...stamping on muslin.The beautiful Cathy and her husband on their wedding day...

I hand-embroidered this vintage motif on old ivory linen. The pattern was of a "Gibson Girl" but she looks like Marie in her corset and fancy up-do!
Another lovely gown. I added some "grubby" vintage lace to the top, which made the entire dress look old.
One of my favorite pages, this next one is a "corset" made of vintage blue satin fabric and vintage lace. It laces up like a real corset! If you unlace the corset, a paper portion is revealed inside on which to write or fix a photo....

Yummy little velvet bloom from Sugar Sugar...
The many faces of Marie, printed on fabric, become tiny little pockets for keeping sweet treasures...
Another of my favorite pages, this page has a pocket trimmed in the grubbiest and most delightful heavy lace trim. I sewed an image of Marie to the pocket and then used vintage millinery flowers and grubby blue seam binding (ruched by hand) from Memrie Mare on etsy, to frame it.
Piece of lovely vintage wallpaper...

Another hand-glittered crown by Sugar Sugar, layered on top of vintage wallpaper and new scrapbook paper. Gruny tags by Memrie Mare.

One of my favorite paper spreads...French sheet music, lovely images from a Paper Bella collage sheet and yummy blue velvet bow...
Delicate vintage lace....
One of the paper pages I enjoyed making most...torn pink book pages (Memrie Mare), vintage sheet music, new vintage-inspired scrapbook pages and more. Just layered them on! So easy and a beautiful effect.
Another vintage embroider pattern was the starting point for this page. Originally a 1920's lingerie girl, complete with bullet bra, I turned this beauty into Marie by adding long curls and plates full of sweets on the floor beside her....
This next page was fashioned from a vintage Southern Belle pillowcase...a really special one. It was already "shaded" so I simply embroidered outline stitches all over and then made French knot flowers. I cut her out of the pillowcase and then hand-embroidered her to the white lace pocket.
Hope you've enjoyed peeking into this book! If you are interested in ordering a custom-created book for yourself or someone close to you, please contact me at roseyposeyclothes@yahoo.com and we can discuss it. I am about to start on a book for someone's baby but I can put you on the waiting list after her if you would like! :)

Big AUGUST SALE in our etsy shoppe & a Giveaway!

2009-08-08T12:58:00.001-07:00

Hello, Friends! Kids are going back to school this week and I am getting back into the groove after a busy summer. So I am going to have an AUGUST SALE in my etsy fabric store! If you buy 4 or more yards of fabric, either continuous cuts or however many smaller cuts to make up 4 yards (whatever combo you wish!), you will pay only $24, which is $6 per yard. Normally our fabric is $8/yard so this is a really big sale. I will be running this sale through the month of August.

Also for the next 2 weeks, patterns will be will be on sale, as well!

And last but not least....I will be giving away this "Fabricaholic Birthday Bag" to one of my customers who spends $25 or more in my etsy shoppe this month. I will look at all sales made in August, put the names in a hat and send the yumminess to whoever's name I draw. Remember, this is not a drawing for commenters here on my blog, Friends! This is for customers only who spend $25 or more in my etsy shoppe this month. :)
Go HERE to purchase some of our yummy products! Here is just a sampling...

and some of our yummy patterns....

Zumwalt Meadow

2009-07-18T18:05:00.001-07:00

Spent a beutiful day last week at at Zumwalt Meadow, high in King's Canyone Nat'l Park. We had a fun time!

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Art Quilting Studio

2009-06-11T15:43:00.000-07:00

Earlier in the year I heard about a new publication that Stampington & Co. was releasing, called "Art Quilting Studio," and immediately I was intrigued! I love sewing. I love art. My favorite things to make these days are things that combine my love for these two things. So this publication seemed right up my alley! I submitted a piece that was my response to a quotation that Stampington published as a "prompt" for quilters to respond to:

"One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes. "
-The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

My submission is called "I Saw You" and I was THRILLED to see it featured in the premier issue of Art Quilting Studio (June 2009...it's on newstands right now)! Here's the first page of the article and there's a "blurb" about me/my piece down at the bottom right of the page.... And here's the page with my piece on it! It's the piece on the bottom. :)

Here are some more pics of the piece that I took before I sent it in and a bit about how I created it...

I started with the idea that the piece would be in a frame (minus the glass) so I cut a piece of vintage linen to the appropriate size, just larger than the frame so that it could be held in by the little metal tabs on the back of the frame. I sewed quilt batting to the back to give it some "body" and then sewed new and vintage lace and vintage sheet music (yes, you can sew paper to fabric!) to the linen.

I printed out a vintage photo of a group of girl onto a fabulous product by The Vintage Workshop: Inkjet Linen Fabric Sheets. You can find this product HERE. I have used a lot of fabric sheets that you can print in your inkjet printer but this is my very favorite product, especially when working on "vintage-looking" projects. The linen adds to the "aged" appearance and gives it a marvelous texture. I can't use anything else now!!

I used a Ziggy photo marker to "color" the dress of the girl in the front row and then sewed the photo on linen fabric sheet to the piece.

A vintage 1920's love letter I bought on eBay a few years ago has gotten lots of mileage. I cut this snippet out that reads "I saw you" because it perfectly encapsulated my interpretation of the quote from The Little Prince. I wanted to show how, throught the eyes of love, even a "black and white" girl pops into color!

I added lots of vintage favorites...vintage millinery roses, a button I covered with a rose I embroidered on linen, a new heart-shaped "buckle," vintage lace, vintage tickets, a piece of vintage jewelry, very old buttons and delicious vintage tatting. Each piece represented the "dance-theme" of the photo and the feeling of a deep, nostalgic love.

My husband, James, distressed the frame for me, as well as some simple wood "appliques" I bought at the craft store. Putting the finished piece in the frame was one of those wonderful moments where I saw a picture in my head jump into real life. I live for those moments!

So that's it! I just had to share this exciting news. I'm already planning some new things to submit for the next issue!

En Le Jardin....an Alfresco Art Event

2009-06-11T11:02:00.000-07:00

Some of you may have already seen some of the lovely posts some of my fellow even attendees have posted but in case you haven't, I MUST share with you the incredible weekend I had last month in Georgia! I'm a little late posting about this, but better late than never!

I have to start by explaining that the hostess of this event, Jennifer Hayslip, of Sweet Eye Candy Creations, is one of my dearest blogland-friend-turned-real-life-friends! I met her in the first few weeks of blogging, when she also was a newbie to blogging. We hit it off almost right away and have been friends ever since!

I had the opportunity to meet Jennifer in real life at Silver Bella last year, along with several other friends I've made online. It was surreal and wonderful to embrace these amazing women in real life!

Jennifer decided to host her very first art event in her beautiful home in Macon, Georgia, and of course attending wasn't even a question for me! It was called En Le Jardin: An Alfresco Art Event. My dear friend, Analise Sledd (another bloggy pal who lives about 20 minutes away and is one of my very closest buddies in real life!) and I got on a plane and flew to Georgia!

Here's Analise and I...this photo was taken by Tiffany (Shabby Scraps) and I LOVE it! What an amazing weekend. I'm going to pack this post FULL of photos and try to keep descriptions brief!

First of all, I have to tell you, if you've seen photos of Jenn Hayslip's home, you know it is BEAUTIFUL. But believe me, it is even MORE beautiful in person!

Here is her daughter Vivian's room that Analise and I slept in. It is full of so many precious details!

Jenn is the perfect hostess. She even left these bundles of towels on our beds, complete with our initials!

After a wonderful night of sleep, we got up Thursday morning, had breakfast and coffee. We were ALL ready ON TIME, which is pretty remarkable considering how many women were getting ready in one house! Me looking waaaaaay more awake than I felt... Lorraine and I...we're trying to get her to start a blog, but you may have heard some sweet peeps about her from dear Amy Powers. She has an amazing pink palace of a home that we learned the incredible background story of...After coffee and breakfast, a HUGE limo came and picked us up for shopping in beautiful Savannah. These are photos outside Jenn's house while we waited for the limo to arrive. You can see it the background. In the foreground are Tiffany and I in front of the gorgeous fountain in front of Jen's house.

The limo ride...Savannah was GORGEOUS. We had lunch at a historical home-turned-restaurant, The Olde Pink House.
We did some shopping at some lovely places, including Vintage General and Paris Market. Incredible "square" in the middle of downtown Savannah that surrounds this breathtakingly beautiful fountain...Back in the Day Bakery was a sweet surprise and the owner, Cheryl Day, was delightful! Here's an AMAZING sign hanging on the wall of the bakery. It's huge!

Tiffany captured this sweet shot from among the delicious confections offered there!

Tiffany with Cheryl Day, the owner of Back in the Day!

Here we are, enjoying the delicious desserts and coffees we selected.

The next morning was the morning of the art workshop and none of us had ANY idea just how many magical details Jenn had created. We were just in awe of all she had planned! Here are shots from the incredibly beautiful and delicious lunch we had, followed by the workshops.

Jenn's dining room, decorated beautifully...so fun to see this room in person after ogling it in flickr pics for so long! Natasha couldn't attend the workshop but she sent a "paper doll" of herself to enjoy the festivities with us! Jen and I are making sure she gets some of the champagne here....Gorgeous white tent in Jenn's backyard, which she transformed into a magical fairyland!
A banner that Kris Hurst made for Jenn. One of the wonderful surprises from the day was that Kris Hurst herself came! It was so wonderful to meet her in person. She is as delightful and sweet as she is talented.A gift for each of us, from Jenn, at each place setting. The "napkin" was a vintage hankie!Each chair had a vintage pillowcase on the back... Incredible tablescapes full of vintage charm...
Kim Caldwell and I...Lorraine and I...We had a mini vendor-faire and I had a little spot on the table but there are no pics of my stuff! But here I am very intently working on price stickers.... Andrea Singarella and I...Amazing centerpieces! That's my head in the background.Tiffany and Andrea...We each made/put together something for each atendee and then Andrea Singarella put each of the gifts in a bag for each of us. Holy cow...you wouldn't believe the treasures I received. Me being a silly coquette with my "vintage hankie" napkin! A charming vignette Jenn created in a corner of the yard...And that was just the lunch! Jenn had prepared incredible projects for us to do. One was a flower pot. Mine isn't finished but this is a gorgeous photo Tiffany took of her and Andrea's pots:

This was the other project: a darling "fairy ball." Here are a few of them hanging from a tree in Jen's yard. Aren't they magical?

That night we went to Jen's friend, Suzanne's house, for cocktails and dinner. Suzanne and her husband were wonderful hosts and it was a delicious good time!

Jen, Jessi and I unintentionally all wore floral dresses that looked cute together! It was an amazing weekend and one I won't forget. I needed (very badly!) to get away and have some "me" time. I got to take off my mommy hat, be silly, be creative, laugh, cry, eat good food and so much more. There is something so special about spending "real time" with other creative women who "get" me. Silver Bella was great in that way, too, but there is something EXTRA special about the intimacy of a small workshop like this. I REALLY got to know these women. Priceless! I hope Jenn does another workshop next year!

A Happy Imbalance

2009-05-10T17:43:00.000-07:00

Motherhood, for me, as a young mama of three kids seven and under, is a balancing act. Picture a tightrope walker in a cute pink tutu, gingerly navigating a rope. That's me!

Swaying, bending, righting myself....

Over-compensating...leaning too far in the opposite direction...

A step or two seem perfect, but then comes the near-fall...

Teetering, leaning, concentrating, with the sweat of my exertion wetting my brow...

A balancing act: My needs on one side and my children's needs on the other.

If you're anything like me, your pre-baby self imagined motherhood more like organizing the pantry than as a treacherous tightrope. The pantry in your mind had clean shelves on each side, prettily covered in pink and blue floral shelf paper. You (wearing a PRECIOUS retro apron, hair in a cute ponytail) would gracefully take each can or box or carton and put it on the appropriate shelf. Label side out. In alphabetical order.

The Pantry Shelf Mother shopped carefully before her baby showers, registering for items that would make this carefully-ordered life with her new baby simpler, cleaner, neater and more convenient.

Then Baby arrived. If you are a young mom I needn't spell out the fallacy of Pantry Shelf Motherhood. We know that we aren't dealing with cans of peas.

Tightrope-Walker Motherhood replaces neat and tidy visions of domesticity. Baby quickly teaches us that part of us must....well, DIE (you don't find that gem on a Hallmark card, now do you??). Our goals, plans, dreams and even needs take a back-seat to the ever-present, immediate needs of this tiny person we are responsible for keeping alive. Very soon we experience the "pull" between our own needs and those of our children. The tightrope walk begins. And we feel guilty that we are on it.

But Mom, here's the deal: the fact that you are ON that tightrope at all means YOU are a good mom. Read that again; let it soak in; believe it. You are striving for balance. You are wisely considering the needs of your precious children and your precious self. We all know moms, or perhaps are one ourselves, who have believed that a "good mom" means every bit of ourselves, our time and our energy must be spent on our children, or we are "bad" or "selfish" moms. We are afraid of becoming one of those moms and terrified we already are one.

But of course total selflessness is impossible; no one accomplishes it. So each and every one of us fails miserably, every day, at being the perfectly unselfish mother we are afraid we are supposed to be. To not fail, and often, is impossible. Deep in your "knowing place" you know this to be true; we all do.

And yet, it feels like "either/or" with our own needs on one side (impossible to ignore) and our children's on the other. This means that when we take care of ourselves, we feel we don't deserve it and that we've somehow taken something from our children's mouths to feed ourselves. It becomes an impossible, guilt-laced choice.

Who is taking care of you, though? Hopefully you have a true Partner that gives you a chance to get off the tightrope sometimes. But who knows what you need and takes care of your needs best, at the end of the day? Who makes sure you don't go "hungry"? You know, deep within you, that that role can only be filled by...you.

Choosing your children's needs above your own is something we moms DO. But since we can never give to ourselves without guilt, we often ignore our needs even when we don't have to. We think going without and the accompanying loss, is better somehow than the scary proposition of trying to meet both well.

Your children need you. But they need a mama who is healthy, whole and...happy. They need (desperately) for you to not need them to be happy for your own happiness. They need you to mother you, as well as them.

So hop up on that tightrope, Sweet Mama. Walk that tightrope with confidence...not that you will ever achieve that illusory perfect balance. But have confidence that that's o.k.! Perfect balance is a myth, after all. You will teeter, lean one way and then the other, always in motion, always striving for but never perfect achieving, balance. And in doing so you will find a happy imbalance in which a child and a mother can live messily and joyfully together. Most of the time...

***Photos by MissWhit a.k.a. Aunt Whitney

Yummy New Stuff!

2009-03-18T16:23:00.000-07:00

Just a few new yummies in the shoppe....now don't drool on the merchandise! ;) You can find them HERE.

A new Fabricaholic Bag...these are so fun to put together and they don't last long in the shoppe, so hurry over if you want one!

A cupcake applique kit...this is the same cupcake I offer in my Yummy Pocket Pillow Kit, but this is just the cupcake. You can put it on a pillow, a t-shirt, or whatever your heart desires! You get the top and bottom of the cupcake (pre-treated to not fray!), a circle of ticking to make the "yo-yo," matching embroidery thread on cute little wooden spools and even a needle. I have COMPLETE instruction (with photos of me doing EACH step) available if you purchase this kit.
Delicious pink pom-pom trim. I love this stuff and use it a lot, so I thought I'd offer it to you, too.

A yummy bundle of aqua goodness...

Midnight Breeze: A Summer Quilt Pattern

2009-03-17T14:24:00.000-07:00

New to the shoppe! Isn't this exquisite? I love the romantic feel of it. I am planning to make one of these for my bed! This incredible pattern by Jackie Clark includes instructions for making this in 3 sizes: twin, queen or king.

You can purchase this pattern HERE.

A Sneak Peek

2009-03-14T23:16:00.000-07:00

I've been hinting a bit here and there about some new things I've been doing lately. I'm working on a fabric book for a dear customer (still!) that is nearly done...can't wait to show it to you. But here and there, over the last few months, I've been working on something else...something totally different than I've ever done before. I've been working on some altered clothing pieces and it has been such a joy. I've got a lot more up my sleeve and will give you more info soon, but I couldn't resist showing you a few "sneak peeks" from the photo shoot today. Thank you to my sister, Laura Joy, who is the beautiful blonde model! :) And thank you to my sister, Whitney, who edited/texturized these photos. And last but not least, thank you to my husband, James, who took the photos! :)

Nummy Nums

2009-03-05T13:23:00.000-08:00

Some yummy new things in the shoppe!

Inspiration

2009-03-03T20:11:00.000-08:00

Bricks and mortar make a house,

but the laughter of children makes a home.

- Irish Proverb

But what is happiness
Except the simple harmony
Between a woman and the life she leads.
-Albert Camus

No one has ever had an idea in a dress suit.
-Sir Frederick G. Banting

Beauty of whatever kind,
In its supreme development,
Invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears. – Edgar Allan Poe

I am beginning to learn
that it is the sweet, simple things of life
which are the real ones after all.
–Laura Ingalls Wilder

Yummy Stuff

2009-02-09T15:56:00.000-08:00

Some new Fabricaholic Bags are in the Confections Fabric etsy shoppe HERE.

And some amazing vintage ribbon, as well! You can find it HERE. This is one of my very favorite finds...HUGE, really beautiful ribbon. Almost 2.5" wide and perfect for so many yummy, pretty projects...

More new yummies coming soon!!

love,

Cheryl

More Messy/Beautiful

2009-02-05T10:48:00.000-08:00

This morning a sweet customer just told me that she found me via one of my favorite blogs, Brocante Home. If you've never read it, you must. She is clever, hillarious and wise in a way that reminds me of my sisters and my best friends. I haven't visited in awhile and was curious...was I in her sidebar, or what? And I was pleasantly surprised to see THIS post from a few days ago. Of course I like that she likes something I made but I also love what she writes about it.

Her post really rang true with me. It made me think of my "messy philosophy" (I talked about it here) and that song that might be playing in my sidebar right this minute that I haven't been able to stop loving for a few months now ("Whatever You're Doing").

And of course, as you've probably gathered, I'm not talking about "Mess" and "Beauty" simply as adjectives to describe my crazy house full of embroidery thread clippings, tiny matchbox cars and Polly Pocket shoes, but also as a way I live after years of living in a totally different way that just plain didn't work. The Neat & Tidy way I lived for so long was about everyone else: what I thought they wanted to see, what I guessed they expected of me, what would cause them to nod in approval. And fear. A lot of fear.

Neat & Tidy is pretty miserable, as you know if you've ever lived there or perhaps visit there too often. It's not real life. It's as if the director points at you and that's your cue to step out on the stage and live one more day in the spotlight, playing the part of "The Girl You're Supposed to Be." It's black and white. Color sucked out.

But of course living there means life is about platitudes and roles, not experiencing or being. It means being perpetually afraid...afraid of being found out, disapproved of or even abandoned. The colors of life are muted, emotions are what your face does at the "right" time and relationships are just the interaction you have with another actor or actress on the stage you're acting upon. Faith becomes a religion. A place you keep going because you're afraid of what might happen if you leave. Like continuing to grocery shop at the mini mart because you think that's where you're "supposed to" shop, when all the while there is a freaking Winco right around the corner. Stale crackers from 2002 instead of steak.

Perhaps the saddest part is that if you think this way long enough, you start to think that's all there is. You mistake this crazy, stale production of a life for LIFE. I think the One who made my stomach with steak in mind might be saddest of all about this...just as I would be if I watched my kids choose stale bread over steak every day, thinking I wanted them to eat nothing but stale bread because some idiots told them so.

This is getting really philisophical. "Where's the pink and blue cupcakes, Cheryl???" you may be asking. Ha. Well that's what this is all about, I guess. I like pink and blue cupcakes but I also like hundred-year-old cabinet cards and combining words from crumbling, vintage love letters into something that is deep and true.

Messy.

Beautiful.

Maybe beautiful because it's messy.

So here it is again...still true after how many months? Maybe more true?

(my post, August 15th, 2008)

"So the Deep Truth About Messes has all of a sudden become very real to me. It's changing me. And it's not just about physical Messes that involve paint on the rug, gooey cake batter or cupcake-icing in crevices it should have been physically impossible for it to get in, although that would actually be a really great lesson in the particular phase of life I'm in.

Making Messes means facing feelings head-on, greeting them, finding a good spot for them to sit and entertaining them until they are ready to leave.

Making Messes means letting my old "stuff" resurface and gasp for air, throwing them a life-preserver and reeling them into the dock.

Sometimes it might even mean giving them CPR, handing them a warm, fluffy towel and sitting by the fire with them.

Sometimes it even means letting that rescued-"stuff" kick the crap out of me.

Making Messes means getting out a good pair of pruning shears, taking a good look at the thoughts, priorities and habits I've got growing and cutting the hell out of em', even some of the pretty ones, because I know this will leave room for something even better.

Making Messses means taking a risk. Climbing up that ladder to the highest of really high high-dives that I can't even look at without feeling like puking. Looking down through the air between the me that's standing here and the me I want to be...impossible amounts of air. Stepping forward, toes hanging off, knees shaking, stomach flip-flopping and...

Jumping.

These messes are....messy. I like to avoid them, pretend they're not there, hide them under that big rug no one looks under, dress them up in pretty clothes and generally just not deal. I'm a clean kinda' girl. Don't enjoy dirt. Hate to feel greasy and grimy. Like to be put together when I face the world. Know what I mean? So the prospect of all this mess is definitely not something I relish.

But there's a lot of work to be done. And the results are always so wonderful. So here I go.

Let's get messy."

Yup. Messy. Andrew is sitting at my studio table scribbling happily in large, sweeping circles. And he smells funny. Oh...that's a mess that does need to be cleaned up!

Hope you have a messy day.

Love,

Cheryl

An Irish Lass

2009-02-04T17:55:00.000-08:00

I just have to show you what my friend, Pat, has made using some of the Barefoot Roses fabric she bought from me! Oh my gosh...it is just toooooo darling!

Are you ready???

This is a BEAUTIFUL pillow and tote bag that she is offering together in one auction...

Here's the reverse side of the pillow...those beautiful Barefoot Roses!

So beautiful hanging....

Here's the sweet pink tote with the same lovely vintage image on it...

You can find this precious creation HERE in Pat's eBay store. She is summersdarling on eBay and my very favorite seller. We met through eBay and have been good friends ever since....going on 5 years now, I believe! She wrote me to compliment me on my very first auction on eBay ever...the first thing I ever sold on eBay, actually. It was a little pair of overalls that I altered by making a bib out of a vintage Southern Belle pillowcase. I just spent 20 minutes looking for the photos and can't find them.

Anyway my model was my Emily, who was about 2 at the time. She is now 7!

Since then, I have bought many beautiful things from Pat, some of her pillows among them. I have bought DOZENS of beautiful vintage images on fabric from her, which you can also find in her eBay store, and I am continually amazed and delighted by her artful offerings and precious vintage images.

Pat has been my cheerleader as I've grown in both confidence and ability the last few years. She is the reason I am doing all of this today! Hundreds of emails have gone back and forth over the years between us and she has been both coach, counselor, friend and even mother, at times! I am so grateful for her. She is truly one in a million and one of the few people I've met through the internet that I am confident I will ALWAYS be friends with. Someday I hope to take my family to visit she and her husband...it makes me teary just thinking about hugging her in person!

James is doing his night classes tonight and my incredible mother-in-law has taken the children for the evening. So I am going to enjoy the quiet and get a little work done!

Hope you are having a lovely evening....

Love,

Cheryl

Second Post for the Day

2009-02-02T17:55:00.000-08:00

How crazy is that? Two posts in one day! I didn't think I'd get photos of what I'm going to show you until tomorrow so I blogged about the candy and not about these. But I got some photos and I'm dying to show you what I made!!!

I've had these in my mind for weeks and weeks and it was so great because they literally came together in about two days since I'd already planned them out in my head. Analise had a similar experience this weekend that she'll hopefully share, too!

All of these goodies can be found in my etsy shoppe, Stitching a Dream, HERE.

This is a little sachet I hand-stitched with the words, "I have you in my heart." A tiny antique jointed bisque doll tucks into the pocket and the sachet itself (lightly rose-scented) fits perfectly in this sweet little cigar-style box on a bed of lace.

These are three Valentines-inspired fabric collages that are lovely as a set but are wonderful by themselves, too. I had so much fun using materials I love that I haven't had a chance to incorporate into art yet: vintage linen, tiny vintage bisque dolls, a vintage bottle I picked up in a Carmel antique store, vintage tatting and THE MOST incredible vintage lace I have ever seen. I'm hoarding it but I used just a few inches of it for one of the collages.

Each collage is in a frame that sits on its own little easel. James distressed each frame and easel for me! I love how they turned out. Everything looks more "orange" in most of these photos than it really is. I enjoy the late afternoon light, especially for more romantic pieces, but it can make things a bit more yellow/orange than they actually are. "Your heart is my home."

"Grew Together"

"You hold the key to my heart."

And finally, 3 Valentine-inspired, collaged tags...

Well that's it! It's time to make dinner!

Hope you have a lovely evening...

Love,

Cheryl

I Want Candy!

2009-02-02T14:07:00.000-08:00

As in the song... :)

My newest confection at Confections Fabric... candy rolls of fabric!

Let's Play

2009-02-01T20:40:00.000-08:00

Well...the Super Bowl is over. I caught the last fifteen minutes! After church, James and the kids spent most of the day next door at my inlaws', hanging out, eating and watching the Super Bowl and I spent the day working. It's happy work, though...I have been making some Valentine's pieces that I love and can't wait to show you in a few days. I have been listening to a Celtic Music Relaxation CD, which sounds wierd but is really restful and makes my blood pressure go down within seconds! The sun coming in the studio window, my music on and fun work...it was a really nice day. And then around dinner, I joined everyone next door and got to spend an hour or so with extended family. And now the kids are in bed. So that was my day! How did you spend yours?

This week is going to be stressful. James is starting his credential courses which will be 2 nights a week. He is also going to be taking two online courses that are technically prerequisites for the ones he is starting this week, so they must be completed in 2 weeks! AND he's preparing lessons, grading and teaching all day, every day! So needless to say, Cheryl is on dinner-making duty, as well as most of the other duties that James usually takes.

But this week I am going to really focus on my word for the year. If you read that novel of a post a couple weeks ago, you'll know that I have picked a word for the year as a sort of resolution, goal or focal point. It's PLAY. I want to play more. This is the last year Rachel will be home since she is starting school in the Fall. I want to start the tea parties I used to have with the girls after Emily got home from school back up again. I want to be sillier. I want to experiment with different mediums I've never tried in my art. I want to roam around in the trees behind the house and go all the way down the block behind the other houses with the kids...the girls are sure there are fairies back there. I want to have fun with James. I want to not worry so much about how neat or clean the house is. I want to tease and laugh more and correct and grump less. I want to write more. I want to PLAY!

Remember how I said I was changing my studio, making it less like a bakery and more "me" with my artsy goodies at my fingertips and the colors that inspire me to create all around me? Well I've gotten started on that, I'm happy to say. James hauled a grungy table from out of my inlaws' shed in for me and I put the tablecloth I made for one of my Silver Bella vendor tables on it. My mom gave me these great containers that were seriously $6 each at Cost Plus...clear and with a wide mouth that opens to the front. Probably designed for cookies or candy. But I'm putting all my vintage laces and trims in one. I've got ribbons in another. And the third stands empty until I decide what to put in it. I put a vintage wedding veil I've had for YEARS up over my window and James helped me string some tiny Japanese lanterns (also from Cost Plus) with these fabulous ivory rose lights. I wish I could get a good photo at night when it's all lit up. But it's ethereal and wonderful. Curled up on my couch in here with some handwork and my Celtic music is pretty much BLISS!The photos aren't great but here's a peek at my new spot to PLAY in my studio!

My word for the year is PLAY...what's yours?
I'll be back soon with some new goodies both for my Stitching a Dream store, as well as for Confections Fabric!

Love,

Cheryl

A Blank Slate

2009-01-31T17:52:00.000-08:00

Hello! Hope you are having a restful weekend. I had a migraine today, which forced me to lie down a lot of the day, but I suppose, in a way, that's good. But I did take some photos this afternoon of something I have been wanting to show you but had to finish first! I finally did the writing in it last night and am excited to show you.

It's my own Silver Bella 2008 book! I saved special bits and bobs from the event and set aside vintage goodies that worked with the theme. I am a girl who likes the idea of scrapbooks but has always been dissatisfied by the end result when I have made them in the traditional way. But this was a different story! This is "my thing" and every page was simple, fun and turned out better than I'd imagined. Now that's my kind of project! I want to add some photos of my friends and I in our prom dresses, too, which I only just remembered right now as I was typing...need to do that.

Before I show you the book I made, I want to tell you about the "base" book I used. If you have followed my blog for awhile, you know that I make fabric heirloom books from scratch. They don't look much like this...they are larger, for one, and they are "quilted." This is a simple little 8" x 7" canvas book that I am happy to tell you I am going to be selling from my etsy shoppe. I am delighted with how they work. I can easily sew both fabric and paper to the pages using my sewing machine. It's a "doable" size, too, so if you're like me and get overwhelmed with big blank books, you'll be happy with this fact, as well. You can find these blank books HERE.

So here is what I made with my blank book!

I covered the outside cover with a really sweet, vintage-looking netting. I made the cover design as a separate piece, hand-stitching a photo printed on fabric to this yummy quilted scrap and then adding some vintage pretties here and there. Then I sewed the whole piece to the front cover of the book.

Inside I sewed vintage wallpaper, scrapbook paper and even a piece of muslin to the pages as writing surfaces. I was delighted that I was able to pretty easily write on the muslin with a ballpoint pen! I incorporated vintage wallpaper, muslin scraps from a bag Andrea gave me with my name stamped on it, sketches of dresses by Natasha, a beautiful photo that Jennifer gave all the Bellas and even my ticket for the vendor faire the night of the "prom." I added a little "friend" card I bought on etsy from oneripepeach. It was so fun to finally put all these pieces together! I added in some vintage photos of girls in prom dresses and other sorts of dresses, too, which I have started collecting and can't get enough of. You'll notice that I used a lot of the "decorative" stitches on my sewing machine. I love doing this, especially when sewing on paper.

So that's it! I hope you feel inspired to make something that chronicles a special event, memory or even dreams for the future. If you don't like working in a medium, DON'T! Pick a medium that you LOVE, that makes your heart beat faster when you think about it and that you enjoy every step of. And if you don't know what that medium is, experiment a little! Look up "altered art" on etsy or even Google. Pick up one of the many Somerset magazines in the bookstore or online.

There are as many different ways to create something as there are people in the world, so find what works for YOU!

Have fun PLAYING!

Love,

Cheryl

Elizabeth

2009-01-26T17:55:00.000-08:00

She clutched Elizabeth to her chest and buried her face in the doll's head, inhaling the familiar scent that made tears spring into her eyes, at the same time that it filled her with a deep comfort. Many nights she had sat at Mother's feet, stitching her own little sampler, while Mother carefully embroidered Elizabeth out of fine linen and tatting thread, rocking and humming a haunting tune from the old country. Now as she pressed her nose against Elizabeth's softness, she could just catch the scent of the lavender Mother had kept in her linen chest, the sweet aroma of Mother's hand soap and the home fire by which they had stitched together each night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meet Elizabeth....

She's been in my mind's eye for literally months and I'm so pleased with how she turned out. A friend gave me this amazing embroidery pattern and I was immediately smittened. Equally detailed front and back motifs were already "doll-sized" and needed only to be transfered to a lovely piece of ivory linen. I hand-embroidered each stitch with heavy tatting thread, just like the Mother in my story above, a little while each evening for a couple weeks.

Elizabeth holds a charming little bouquet of vintage millinery flowers, vintage velvet millinery ribbon and a bit of almond-colored antique lace. Her dress has a bit of antique tatting lace around the collar and she wears a ribbon on her head, adding a dimensional quality to her appearance. Elizabeth stands about 14" tall and is stuffed firmly.

Don't miss the details of her back...even down to the part in her hair and buttons made of French knots!
If you are interested in adopting Elizabeth, visit my etsy shoppe, Stitching a Dream.

Sweets for Sweeties!

2009-01-23T20:17:00.000-08:00

Yay! It's the weekend!

I've been a busy little bee! New dessert boxes, the new fabricaholics bags I showed you in my last post, some Sugar Shelves and Spool Cakes. And I just got a new shipment of fabric from Paris Bebe. Sooooooo yummy! I'm going to work hard to get those listed this weekend, so be watching my etsy fabric store and the website, Confections Fabric.

Dessert boxes...1/2 yard of each of 2 fabrics in each box. Sugar Shelves and Spool Cakes!Cupcake Ribbon...

Off I go, back to work!!! Hope you have a wonderful weekend. Hopefully I'll be back with pics of new Paris Bebe prints... :)

Love,

Cheryl

Attention Fabricaholics

2009-01-21T20:38:00.000-08:00

I just put 3 new "Fabricaholic Bags" in the etsy shoppe. The first one flew off the shelf and I got several requests for more, so here you go!

Fabricaholic "Birthday" Bag

Fabricaholic Valentine Bag ~ "Whimsical Fun"

Fabricaholic Valentine Bag ~ "Ticking & Roses "