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It's pretty hard to miss that my Paperie fabric collection lends itself really well to Valentine's Day. So of course I had to take some of those sweet motifs to make some tags and seals for us. Get the free Valentine Gift Tag printable here. It looks like this:
Print on cardstock or sticker paper ~ cut ~ and enjoy!
xo amy
Very excited today is the start of the Paperie Blog Tour! Twenty-one old and new friends sewing with my first fabric collection to inspire you (and me!)
And we're kicking off with the very talented Heidi Staples of Fabric Mutt, author of the book, Sew Organized For the Busy Girl. Go see what she stitched up and enter for your chance to win a Paperie love letter!
January 25 ~ Heidi Staples of fabricmutt.blogspot.com
January 26 ~ Kerry Goulder of kidgiddy.com
January 27 ~ Cheri Lehnow of tinkerwiththis.blogspot.com
January 28 ~ Sharon Holland of SharonHollandDesigns.com
January 29 ~ Jemima Flendt of tiedwitharibbon.com
January 30 ~ Michelle Curtis of chellesquilts.com
February 1 ~ Christina Egner of onelittlepooh.net
February 2 ~ Ali Brorsen of BecauseofBrennaClothing.com
February 3 ~ Kristine Lempriere of townmouse.typepad.com
February 4 ~ Nicole Young of lillyella.com
February 5 ~ Lori Landenburger of sewpsyched.blogspot.com
February 6 ~ Jennifer Chon of sunnyincal.com
February 8 ~ Melissa LeRay of ohhowsweet.com
February 9 ~ Megan Jimanez of quiltstory.blogspot.com
February 10 ~ Faith Essenburg of saranaave.wordpress.com
February 11 ~ Renee Lange of sewnwithgrace.com
February 12 ~ Sedef Imer of downgrapevinelane.com
February 13 ~ Kristyne Czepuryk of prettybyhand.com
February 15 ~ Heather Andrus of quiltstory.blogspot.com
February 16 ~ Stacy Olson of stacyolsondesign.com
February 17 ~ Erin Cox of whynotsew.blogspot.com
February 18 ~ Amy Sinibaldi of nanaCompany.typepad.com
{ the cutest handmade mouse quilt and buttons and lovely things sent to me by Alisha Orlando. If you love the buttons as much as I do, contact Alisha at Instagram: ministryoffabric }
{ "Love is All Around Coaster" sent to me by the lovely Anorina, who graciously offers the pattern free on her blog: Samelia's Mum }
{ gifts from Chiara including pretty buttons on button cards I designed for eHow. You can find the button card printable here. }
{ beautiful new AGF fabrics arriving just in time, as I write my second book. }
{ Paperie Log Cabin Mini inspired by this one: made by Christopher, the Tattooed Quilter }
{ my desk, after being tidied up }
{ inspiration pic for a project just wrapping up }
{ when you've only got 5 minutes to sew... take it. }
xo amy
Patchwork is fun but garments make me nervous. Sooo this year I've decided to tackle garment making head-on. I mean, yes, I've made a few dresses for the girls in the past ~ but this year I want to try sewing sleeves, shorts, more complex frocks, and even something for myself. (eek!) How serendipitous that I recently "met" Dana of The Freckled Pear on etsy ~ she creates beautiful PDF sewing patterns for kids. The dresses in this post were sewn by Dana and what a treat it was for me to see the quality of her craftsmanship ~ beautiful garments straight from the designer's hands. (Something to aspire to!)
She used my "Cosette" print from #PaperieFabrics and this dress (which was actually a prototype) came out simply beautiful.
Those pin tucks add just the right amount of detail and charm. There's even a little tuck at the hemline as well.
The Penelope Pin Tuck Dress pattern is available for sale now.
One of the most popular dresses at Dana's shop is the Emma Rose Dress. Here is one sewn up by Dana using my "Eponine" print from #PaperieFabrics in voile.
This was Livi's favorite. She couldn't stop twirling!
Don't you just love that ruffle collar? Psst. Want to see the dress I'm going to try making? It's called the Vintage Kate Dress ~ it has sleeves and a peter pan collar. Go check out The Freckled Pear to see what you like best!
If you're interested, I hope you'll join me this year in conquering that fear of sewing garments. And if garments don't make you nervous ~ what is the sewing skill you want to tackle this year? I'd love to hear!
xo amy
I was really excited about my Tall Tall Trees bed runner ~ made exclusively with Paperie fabrics and Pure Elements. I added the borders and a few extra shots of color. But after several minutes of quilting I immediately began to feel uneasy. I was pretty sure I should rip out my stitches and start over, but it was already too much. Too dense, too swirly, too... I don't know. I wish I'd straight lined quilted it but it was too late, so I carried on ~ falling completely out of love. (Don't you hate that? When you ruin a perfectly wonderful quilt top with the wrong quilting?!) I decided to give it a wash and see if I would like it better then?
I do! (I also didn't look at it for a couple of days.) I still wish I'd straight line quilted it, but heck, I like it. It's crinkly, it's soft, and I like the pops of color it adds to the end of my bed. Also, it'll only be hanging out with us during the winter. (Now I'm thinking a "half-hearted" runner will be great for February! ;)
Pretty excited about all the things to come in this shiny new year... One of these is a blog tour of talented sewists who are joining me to show you so many wonderful ways to use Paperie fabrics ~ in beautiful, practical, and inspiring projects. I hope you'll follow along!
January 25 ~ Heidi Staples of fabricmutt.blogspot.com
January 26 ~ Kerry Goulder of kidgiddy.com
January 27 ~ Cheri Lehnow of tinkerwiththis.blogspot.com
January 28 ~ Sharon Holland of SharonHollandDesigns.com
January 29 ~ Jemima Flendt of tiedwitharibbon.com
January 30 ~ Michelle Curtis of chellesquilts.com
February 1 ~ Christina Egner of onelittlepooh.net
February 2 ~ Ali Brorsen of BecauseofBrennaClothing.com
February 3 ~ Kristine Lempriere of townmouse.typepad.com
February 4 ~ Nicole Young of lillyella.com
February 5 ~ Lori Landenburger of sewpsyched.blogspot.com
February 6 ~ Jennifer Chon of sunnyincal.com
February 8 ~ Melissa LeRay of ohhowsweet.com
February 9 ~ Megan Jimanez of quiltstory.blogspot.com
February 10 ~ Faith Essenburg of saranaave.wordpress.com
February 11 ~ Renee Lange of sewnwithgrace.com
February 12 ~ Sedef Imer of downgrapevinelane.com
February 13 ~ Kristyne Czepuryk of prettybyhand.com
February 15 ~ Heather Andrus of quiltstory.blogspot.com
February 16 ~ Stacy Olson of stacyolsondesign.com
February 17 ~ Erin Cox of whynotsew.blogspot.com
February 18 ~ Amy Sinibaldi of nanaCompany.typepad.com
Get inspired by the projects, meet the makers, and enter cute giveaways. It's going to be a big Paperie party!
xo amy
{ my free holiday gift tags in action. find the printable here. }
{ yummiest homemade sugar cookies from Alissa of MySweetViolette }
{ sweet Paperie fabrics gifts from Jenni of @zjsquiltymomma }
{ paperie charms made by Melissa of OhHowSweet.com }
{ Paperie ornament made by Renee of SewnWithGrace.com }
Anne came home from college for Christmas (we ate lots of soup, saw the new Star Wars, went to the Nutcracker, and then I got sick, boo) ~ and with a blink of the eye she was gone. I made these two pillow shams for her using Emmy Grace fabric by Bari J Ackerman, with yellow and grey AGF "round elements" as accents. And then I finished sewing the trees for the winter bed runner I've been slowly putting together for weeks. It's going to look great at the foot of our bed, against the soft grey gingham quilt we keep on all year long. I'm hoping to get this runner quilted asap and I can't wait to show you.
2015 was a very big year around here. A year of firsts. A year of dreams coming true. A year of hard work coming to fruition. There is so much I could say about the changes in my "work", about the path I never expected to take, and how that's affected myself and my family ~ but I'm not still enough at the moment to talk about it. There is a heap of work on my plate for the month of January. I've been joking with friends that I'll be able to rest in spring 2016, but I'm completely serious. Nobody told me how to shift gears between the stay-at-home mom who was sewing and crafting and blogging for fun, to the professional who is quite suddenly having to think like a 'business person.' To be blunt, I am the worst business person. I'm more of an artist, which is almost the polar opposite of a business person. I'm trying to wear both caps lately, and that has been the biggest transition for me. But I love the growth. I love the challenge. And I love the quote I found this year (said by the most unlikely of persons, Naomi Campbell) ~ "I am never overconfident about anything. I know I'm a work in progress." I am, and will be, a work-in-progress for the rest of my life. And I'm happy about that.
I keep these tiny jars of "sprinkle" beads on my desk ~ they're kind of dusty and ignored mostly ~ but I have them there to remind me of the start of this creative journey. I made so many "playtime" felt sugar cookies in the beginning, it was crazy. And I still think those cookies are cute, but I love the growth that has happened since then. I'm more than excited about the growth in my future. And it is never lost on me that I depended on your support, encouragement, and inspiration ~ every step of the way. I thank you so so much!
Here's a quick look back at the past year. I can never cram all my makes into one of these mosaics, so this year I've taken the liberty of doing two ~ to look back at a most amazing 2015.
{ nanaCompany makes of 2015 }
All of the pics can be seen in full at the main 'photos' link above.
"Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire!"
xo amy