Some Funner Stuff

Enough about crime and criminals--let's get back to fun and creative subjects, shall we?

My little pattern business is humming along nicely. Not huge, mind you, but manageable. I just filled my second order of Bette Bunny patterns for Bearpaws and Hollyhocks--they sold most of the first 12 between last weekend and Wednesday night and wanted 12 more, so I was happy to oblige. Lindy, the shop owner, told me her granddaughter (who's around 11, I think, and is quite the quilter already) HAD to make Bette, and she finished all but the embroidery and embellishments in about two hours. Then there's been the Etsy sales too, which have been going pretty well. I found a bit more of the border fabric and pink wool for Bette Bunny, so I'll be able to put together a couple more kits this weekend--I only have one left! So that's all been good.

On the down side, though, is the fact that my house is a complete disaster with quilting stuff, quilt teaching stuff, and pattern business stuff spread from one room to the next. I think the only places in the house that haven't been taken over are the master bedroom and the two bathrooms! Part of the disorganization has come about as a result of our attempts to turn my son's former bedroom into an office. The "boys" (Hubby and Soccer Son) just finished building a long desk/counter top--I wanted to show you what a nice job they did. Soccer Son's skills as a cabinet refacer are paying off--for us anyway!

This weekend, assuming all goes well, the computer will be moving to the "office," and soon the "boys" will get busy building some shelves and things for storage. I can hardly wait!

About a week ago, I received an email from Nathan at Better Homes and Gardens. Nathan complimented me on the applique tutorial and gave me a link to their website where they have all kinds of crafty holiday ideas. After checking it out, I thought it was worth sharing with you. If you click HERE, you can find a bunch of ideas for Easter.

When I was browsing the site, I came across an idea for an Easter Sweets Tiered Tray. I have a two-tiered serving piece for fall/winter, but nothing for spring, so I was excited to see this project. Well, you know I love thrift store shopping, so on Saturday, Hubby and I visited Goodwill--I was specifically looking for suitable plates and candlesticks I could use to make a tiered serving piece like theirs without taking the time and getting the materials to hand paint the clear dishes. (And THAT, by the way, is why I went to JoAnn's looking for the E-6000 adhesive!) So, starting with the BH&G idea and adding my own spin, I came up with this:

Cute, yes? And SOOOO simple! I'm planning a little tea party/quilt class in May, and I think this will be perfect for serving treats to my ladies!

I also found this Mary Engelbreit tea party clock at the thrift store last week for $1.99--I LUV ME!

Finally, I ordered and received a couple books on the Photoshop Elements program I recently got for the computer, and I was playing around a little tonight with the photo above. (Actually, the photo above had a little playing done to it too--my photography skills still suck, but Photoshop helps!)

What do you think? I still have no idea what I'm doing and I only spent about a half hour flipping through the books so far (which I left at work), but I think this isn't too bad. I took part of the shadow out of the upper right corner and added the lettering. Actually I think that shadow was the pillow, so somehow I managed to continue the pattern of the quilt into that space. No idea, really, how I did it though!

I hope you've made time for some fun stuff in your day! If you haven't lately, make sure you DO soon!