Category Archives: Everything Else

Stash Building

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I’m counting down the days until the 24th, my first Farmer’s Market and the first time I’ve ever sold my creations.  Funny, because I was super excited about it and now I’m nervous!  Aaagh!  I know I’ll be ‘fine’ – no different, really.  Just trying to make a buck selling stuff I make so I can stay at home with my baby boy.  Nothing to be nervous about.  I’m not losing sleep over it, yet.  While I’m veering off subject anyway (and related to losing sleep), I’d like to mention my sudden OCD’ness about the tenacity of life.  I am suddenly burdened by thoughts of ‘worst case scenarios’ that I never used to think of when it was ‘just me’.  Now that I have a baby, a husband, a family – I think frequently about how good things can come and go so quickly.  It has me kinda freaked out.  I know with time I will adapt to being in a family, and life carrying on as usual, without any of the freakish thoughts I so quickly find myself thinking about actually coming to fruition.  But for now I am finding myself quite fascinating, and quite annoying, especially since I’ve become the most obnoxious back seat driver ever!  Ha!  Anyway.  Maybe now me admitting it will make it stop.  Plenty of other good stuff to distract me, though…

Like … BIBS!  I have made a lot of bibs lately.  One of the products I intend on selling at the market.  That, and burp cloths to match. Plus changing mats and wet bags.  Tag blankets, and change purses.  Possibly some sun hats and maybe a couple other fun, simple items.  And QUILTS. Except the tension is off on my machine. Good timing right (hah, the irony of that)?  I have an appointment with the Bernina shop on the 19th.  They’ll fix it and I can do my finish work after that.  Wow.  Not my couple of weeks, I guess!  But here’s a sneak peak at my stash:

That’s just about 1/2 of what I’ve done.  Each bib has a matching burp cloth that is flannel backed.  I am trying to make ‘matching’ sets- so that all the various product goes together.  Plus, it’ll look nicely displayed together.

In other news, my last day of work is the 27th of June.  I am excited and nervous.  Looking forward to a change of pace, and spending more time with my little one.  There’s already so many things I’d like to do with him – take a sign language class, a music class, go for hikes and walks and runs.  Picnics, adventures.  Playdates with his friends.  I think Finn has more friends than I do!  It was the right decision and I look forward to what the next year will bring.  Good things, I know.

And here’s my little guy, who just turned 5 months on the 1st of June.  Over the last 5 months … wow, the fastest 5 months ever!  And the happiest I’ve ever been. Love that boy!  Have a great week and weekend all.

The move and other news

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Sure enough, a couple of days after getting a new start at this blog, and deciding to quit my job after over 9 years – we had a major mishap at the house, which – long story short, led to us moving out of our house (a nearly 20 room house) for the summer.  Major water damage during a renovation project was the cause.  For the last 2 weeks I’ve been on overdrive, singlehandedly managing to find 5 month old baby, dog, and family a new home (if you want the full story, call me). And finally we are settled into a furnished condo on the other side of the river from our home.  We are calling it our summer house.  It’s pretty darn nice, I have to say. And I had to move my studio, in the midst of trying to prep all my inventory for my first Farmer’s Market date at the end of June.  Just a wee bit of stress… !  But – my ‘new’ studio overlooks the river, and has a deck, a bathroom and a bed, in case I need a nap during my stressful sewing days. Ha!  At least I’m back up and running, working on production for my much anticipated debut.  I must say I’m a bit nervous – about whether I’m making the right product, whether my sewing is a standard worthy of sale… the list could go on and on – but I’ll spare you.

Here’s a little glimpse into what I’ve been up to, in all the chaos.

Here’s our new view (yes, that’s our deck):

Here’s the view of our poor house:

Here’s my ‘new’ temporary studio:

And if you want these quilts, come to the Newburyport Farmer’s Market on June 24th:

 

 

Oh, and of course – baby Finn – he sits up all on his own now (at least for a few minutes here and there). Absolutely LOVE him.  He’s also my product tester, tried and true!

 

Ok, folks – more to come, LOTS of new creations and patterns to share.  Time to sign off for tonight.  Have a great week!

 

Big Changes!

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Coming soon … to an outdated blog … is an UPDATE.  A face lift and a name change.  And that will signify the launching of my crafting business.  A long time overdue.  I suppose that’s what having a baby will do – it’ll whip you into shape and make you realize the important things in life!  The only way to be successful at something is to TRY. So – I am going to give it a whirl, while I’m working part-time at my job.  And who knows – maybe it will lead me down a new path or maybe I’ll keep on the same one.  But either way, I am looking forward to a challenge, and new possibilities.  Please stand by.  (I will have a blog plan with this update, too. I promise!)  

Overwhelmed mind = neglect

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I have not forgotten about this blog – in fact I have more to share than ever before!  But I’ve been a little mentally overwhelmed and really unable to break into small ‘posts’ the updates I’ve meant to make.  Not to mention, I’ve been putting of THIS post until the long-awaited arrival of my new iPhone 4S, which will enable me to easily post better photos – a problem that I’ve need to solve for a while.  But it’s overdue, so you’re getting it anyway, with or without the new iPhone.  Humph.  So just to give you and idea of the posts that will be trickling in over the next couple months, here’s where I’m at:

  • I got married!  And it was a DIY wedding – so I’ll share some of the various ideas we used for design, and chat about the wedding planning related to a number of issues that arose.
  • We are having a baby!  I’ll share the various items I’ve been sewing & knitting in the studio for this little guy.
  • We are moving downstairs, and doing a major house renovation! So – redecorating photos will be abound.
  • That means my studio is also moving, to a much bigger space.  Uh oh – will I ever move back upstairs?
  • Lots of other adventures, trips, etc. happening on this end.  Photos aplenty.
http://www.emilydelamaterphotography.com/
So – I’ll gather my thoughts, and be back very soon with plenty more photos, crafty, outdoorsy and wedding-y, and lots of ideas for new projects!

Sunshine and Flowers

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Not much happening here in the crafting world.  I think there’s too much going on elsewhere for me to really get focused in my studio.  It’s kind of driving me nuts.  I head upstairs every night, only to find myself standing in the closet doorway to my fabric, just looking.  Imagining all that I could, should and want to be creating.  Or, I will take out every skein of yarn that I own and lay it out on the floor, sniff it, touch it and then put it back again.  And then I find myself sitting at the computer, browsing the web for more wedding ideas, more information about wedding planning, more more more wedding wedding wedding.  It’s all good.  I have to say. All is going swimmingly in the planning department.  I am on the very tail end of getting a caterer, which has been – by far – the most painful part of this process.  So – that is good news. Then the fun can begin, and I can start making stuff for the wedding!  I did settle on a fabric for the wedding, and it’s not the Liz Scott line as I mentioned prior.  I went with Valori Wells Jenaveve linen line – all greens.  My inspiration came the other morning on my drive to work.  Last week was pretty dreary – but suddenly on Friday, the skies cleared and the sun came out.  Not only did the sun come out, but all the leaves were beginning to pop on all the trees and bushes, it was just a spectacular vision of beautiful new greens.  And I decided to go back to my original idea of greens as my colors.  Not one single green, but many various ones, like you would see on a sunny spring day.  That was a nice conclusion to come to.  Here’s a photo of some of the fabrics:

Loving the various greens to work with.

In other news, spring is here.  Mesa got her first haircut – she looks silly.  She also has been diagnosed with Lyme Disease – (grrrr, how I HATE ticks!!).  She had her first boat ride, her first sniff of flowers, taste of New England grass.  She’s a happy girl.

And, my gardens are going off!  A sure sign that spring is here to stay.  My tulips are painting my gardens with gorgeous colors, and yesterday I planted my beets, radishes, mesclun mix, lettuce, and swiss chard.  Pretty exciting.  So glad that spring is here to stay.  I hope all your gardens are thriving too!