Craft Saturday!

This weekend is once again time for Craft Saturday!

There's lots of amazing new vendors and I can't wait to see everyone's goods!

If you're local to the central Iowa area, I hope to see you there!

Can't stop, won't stop.

The pouch craze continues and there's no sign of slowing down. I just hope I get a chance to squeeze in some new things after the holidays between these and all of my handmade gifts. I'm planning to update the shop in early January but until then... Have a joyous and merry holiday filled with family + friends + delicious food!

Busy, busy, busy!

Hello! I've been running at full speed since the last time I updated (well, since August really..), hence the lack of blog postings. There's been so many things I've wanted to blog about lately but by the time I usually have time to write a post, sleep ends up winning. There are big exciting changes coming up and an exciting new project, but those will have to wait for another post. This whole week has been spent doing all kinds of last minute prep for Craft Saturday this weekend. It's hard to believe we're already in year three! If you live in the Des Moines/Ames/Central Iowa area and still have Christmas gifts to buy - we better see you tomorrow! Even if you're an early shopper and have all your gifts you should come and find something for yourself: You can get a peek at vendors here. I have been sewing up a storm in preparation for tomorrow and in getting items restocked in stores for the holidays. Here's a peek at just how much sewing - these are the empty spools from just one week! I'll leave you with a small sneak peek into some of the items I will have at Craft Saturday tomorrow. Iowa Love pouches - these went out to a store so I won't have as many but quite a few. And.... I'm bringing back the wristlets from last fall/winter! I did a very limited run of these last year and they were a huge hit at all of the holiday craft fairs. The colors are a little more mellow this year and I added 2 inside pockets for credit cards, lip balm, etc! Happy Friday!

Handmade Nation

Another clip for Handmade Nation is up!! Like many others, I have been patiently waiting for this documentary for the past two years and these little teaser YouTube clips just make me all the more excited. Haven't heard of Handmade Nation yet? Check it out here. You can also head over to their Etsy shop and buy an item to support the film - I highly recommend the heavyweight tote or the Craftifesto print. There's also a Handmade Nation book which is a companion to the movie and it just happened to come out this week. I decided to not order it from Amazon and buy from my local bookstore, but they don't have it out on the shelf yet!

You could win!

This vinyl apple brooch and vintage fabric clutch are headed out in the mail tomorrow to be part of the prize package for the 3rd Annual Indie Parade Giveaway coming up soon!

Lightning shot from the sky

A rainy night here in Ames. For me rain actually makes the perfect working weather if I'm already working. If not, it's not the greatest motivator to get things done. I have spent at least 10 hours sewing today in preparation for this weekend, so I don't have much to blog about. The only time I left the house was to grab dinner and some gelato with Joe. Tomorrow is another full day of sewing! I'm working on new wallet ideas I've been waiting to play around with and stitching up a custom wallet for a super sweet Des Moines girl. Tonight calls for finishing up some fancy zipper pouches and tagging everything that's already ready to go. Back to work!

Is it really the first day of fall?

Well I can say that I have totally fallen off the blogging wagon. I was planning on updating more often but of course life has a way of sneaking in and stealing most of my time. These days it's a challenge just to keep up with email and a blog or two if I'm lucky. My recent Twitter addiction does not help things either. Since we've been home from California we've made a few larger home repairs in our home and worked on getting it ready to sell, put in a bid on a dream house and lost to someone else, taken another vacation to visit my family, and taken some time to talk, think and follow our hearts in where we really want to live next. There's changes on the horizon and most of them are exciting, some are scary, and some may even be surprising. But until some things work themselves out I am going to be glued to my sewing machine this week prepping for Craft Saturday this weekend. Shoppers at Art Fence a couple weeks ago wiped me out a little more than I thought they would, but I can't complain. It just means I get to make even more new and exciting things! I bought a stack of fall colored fabrics this morning to help me get inspired. I've also got a new sewing machine to help ease the burden on my regular machine - a lucky score for only $5 a few weeks ago at a church rummage sale. My goal for this week is to blog every day in the hopes of trying to post regularly. I'll have plenty of new Monster Fashion items to share and I still have photos from a special destination in California to upload!