I am loving this new iphone app, camera+. And I am loving this new fabric line and I am loving the combo of both, haha! I just mailed off a bunch of sewn up goodies to Timeless Treasures about an hour ago for Spring Quilt Market. Isn’t this a cute bag? The pattern came from The Perfect Made Handbag by Clare Youngs and it turned out just like the picture. I am super happy with it (full disclosure, my girlfriend Patti sewed it up! She is such a professional) I added the vintage pins, love, sigh! This “effect” is from the camera+ app and it is called fashion, you apply all the effects right on your phone. This is what the bag looks like without the effect added, cool, right? Kind of a bummer to package it up the same day that I got it! I am such a vintage glam, girl. What do you think, fashion effect or the real thing?

I am getting ready for Quilt Market and Surtex, which naturally fall on the same weekend (again). Fortunately, I am not exhibiting at either show. My new fabric collection will debut at Quilt Market but Timeless Treasures has that all wrapped up. I am managing the projects that are being sewn up and may tackle one or two  myself but I am blissfully calm this year. So when someone is blissfully calm and seems to have a handle on time management,t what do they do? Take on another project, of course. I decided to have some silk scarves made up with the art from the new City Girl collection. That way I could wear them, play with them and use them as a mini marketing tool around my neck. I just love scarves, wear them every single day and I thought this would just be plain fun. I posted these images on my FB page to see which ones everyone liked the best. I was only going to choose one to have made up but alas…what is a girl without plenty of accessoires? So these are what they look like (sans logo). I am sure  will get the most use out of the white Dear John print. I will also probably wear the pink panty one (with a little smile on my face) as well.  The glove print was a favorite in the comments on FB and it seemed so retro, I couldn’t leave it out! I will take snapshots and let you know how these turned out. If you run into me at one of these shows, make me show you them in person and give me your thoughts!! If you would like to follow me on my Monica Lee facebook page, please do. I seem to be getting pretty gabby over there!

This just arrived from the man in brown. Should I be panicking with such a short time to create stuff before Quilt Market? Probably. I will have some help (ok, a lot of help!)  But I do have one special project up my sleeve. There is a tiny spot in the back of my brain that is a tad worried it may come out like a bad Home Ec project, so please wish me the best, pray for me, do whatever you do. Me and my handy iphone will keep you updated as I move along, then you will know how much to pray, haha!  Gotta love the girly stuff though, right?

Happy Monday, if it is as dreary where you as it is here maybe this watercolor will cheer you up. Even if it is sunny where you are (jealous) maybe it will get you through a Monday morning. One of the things that I promised myself as I launched Smart Creative Women is that I would take time to create and paint for fun. I had planned on carving out time on Sunday’s to unplug and take out my paints and just play. Since I decided that, I think I have done it all of two times! Well, hey, sometimes the hardest promises to keep are the ones that you make to yourself. But instead of beating myself up about it, I am going to sink in and  really feel the pleasure that doing this gave me. Hopefully that emotion will prompt me back to my art table next Sunday. It is sort of funny to me that I am making a new distinction between “art for pleasure” and “art for work.” It makes me feel decadent,  luxurious and joyful all at the same time.  Weird, right? I thought only chocolate could make me feel like that! These are new emotions around my art and I am excited to see where it leads me. Do you have anything that makes you feel decadent, luxurious and joyful?

Yep. That’s what I have been up to. It has been an interesting journey over at Smart Creative Women, an exciting one for sure. I am thrilled at how the idea has taken off. I am shocked at how much time I spend emailing people. I am happy  because recently two magazines have asked for me to write for them.  They couldn’t be more different in terms of audience and I think that is what makes it  fun. One of them is Webcents Magazine, part of The Fabric Shop Network. I really like this publication, it’s mission is to serve online retailers.  It is a unique and well planned niche. Hopefully, I can add some good commentary! My first 2 articles had to do with social media and blogging. Truthfully, those 2 topics could fill about 100 articles. The landscape of social media can change in an instant but I believe if your mission is pure and not completely self serving, it can genuinely help your business. It can be hard not to simply talk about what your business is doing all the time. I am a huge proponent of mixing things up and promoting other people and their businesses but I get caught in the, “See me! See what  I am doing!” trap more than I am care to admit. I am enjoying working with Teareas Coates at Webcents, I like a young woman with vision! I sometimes wish I had as much vision when I was younger. I wrote a blog post about What advice I would give to my younger self, the question really got me thinking. If I were to really make a list, it might include: Be nicer to my parents, use sunscreen, appreciate my high school figure more…and seek out what my most natural gifts are and develop them at a young age. I suppose the problem with that is sometimes our youthful insecurities get in the way of having any idea what our most natural gifts truly are!

It was a bit of a crazy town week this past week, it even involved me accidentally deleting a good portion of my new website. Through all the rush, and misplaced clicking, I managed  to realize that I am very comfortable speaking in public. (I decided that not even breaking a sweat had to be a good thing) And I finally landed on a bright creative idea where I could channel the art part of my creativity. Did you even know I was looking for something like that? I think it I was looking for a new way to express myself with color, pattern and drawing and painting  skills. As excited as I am to interview, speak, write and email…(ok maybe not email…) I still need an outlet to paint that did NOT place me under unreasonable deadlines. I can’t wait to share more…but for now I think I will let the idea stew a bit longer. I guess the good news is, that even when you are  juggling crazy busy, you get an answer to something that has been nagging you in the back of your mind. That is a good reason to power through what may seem like a bad day!

I just love these images from Claudine Hellmuth! They are so tongue and cheek, Leave it to Beaverish.  I do like homemaking, or certain things about homemaking-like baking….but ironing? Please! Fo’gedda about it !

I just interviewed Claudine over at Smart Creative Women and I thought she was just terrific, charming and super down to earth!

Hi from Monica Lee, Host of Smart Creative Women! Welcome to the Expressionery Blog Launch Party & Hop!  You should be joining us from  http://www.psastampcamp.blogspot.com.   (If you aren’t hop over there and then hop back here!) Hop along through the blog for great inspiration and a chance to win great party planning prizes! You have untilApril 11th to win!

Woot! What fun! My sister, Michelle, and I  commiserated for about and hour yesterday about my post! Good thing she was sick and home from work. Just kidding. Maybe. My sister and I are big gift givers and we love giving themed gifts. I had all these ideas about giving a gift with a bookish theme.

She had all these ideas around a tea theme. Note to self, get Michelle tea accessories for her next birthday! I think people often give what they really want themselves in a round about way. Does that mean if your husband gives you an appliance that he wants an appliance? Hmmmm…I think that just means you haven’t trained him yet. Anyhoo, here are 4 ways that you might think about coming up with a clever gift idea.

1) Consider something that the person might need replaced. Someone might already have  garden tools  but it always nice to get a nice new shiny set.  Plus, gloves can always be replaced..so can umbrellas, rain boots, you get the idea.

2) Think of life’s little luxuries that someone might not buy for themselves. Cashmere socks anyone? A silver letter opener?

3) Really ask yourself what that person is “into” and I am not thinking about The Hunger Gamers here! Well, maybe, maybe not… my husband is obsessed, I digress. Maybe your person loves quilting or guitars. I can guarantee there is a coffee table book written on just about every single subject you can think of! Hunting down something that is directly associated with their passions and tastes  means that you thought of them and are paying attention.

4) Personalize it! You can see at Expressionery.com there are all sorts of ways to personalize gifts. What I like about this is, it says that you planned ahead and got them some thing special! It means it was not tucked in a closet just waiting for any random gift giving occasion (Gasp! You would never do that, right!?)

Now hop along!   You can win 2 Peel & Stick stamp sets and PSA Stamper from PSA Essentials, 1 Fabric/mini watercolor from Monica Lee,  party supplies (cups, hats, party blowers, plastic table cloth, stickers, invitations, napkins and plates) from Simon + Kabuki , 2 scrapbooking pads of paper from Sparky & Marie,  CR Gibson Shopping list,  Expressionery note pad, 2 Sunrise greeting cards, and a sunrise magnetic note pad from Dena Designs and a stationery suite from Expressionery!   That’s a lot of great party planning stuff.  Details on how to enter at the last stop.

Make it all the way to the end and you could win this from me! Some fabric from my Neighborhood Collection and….

In keeping with the garden gift theme, I decided to paint you a little original watercolor, you can gift it or just keep as a gift from me to you…now HOP ALONG to win! Next stop is

Simon + Kabuki: http://www.simonandkabuki.com/designerdroppings

I mentioned recently that my girlfriend and I put together a photo shoot with some of the goodies sewn up with the Cardigan Girls quilt top collection and coordinating fabrics. I got Laura involved since she runs a  popular design blog, Lolalina. She is trying her hand at photo styling. I am posting some of the shots that we took along with a fun project idea that came about when this fabric collection first went to market. The quilt top was sewn up into a little girls sleeping bag. How cute is that? And easy, too! The directions for the sleeping bag are on the Timeless Treasures website here. If you can’t find the fabric and quilt top at your local fabric store, you can buy it online here at Hancocks of Paducah.

I knew that I wanted to create a globe that had the little girl holding the globe (I know…I am talking in circles here.) But this art just begged for some sort of globe craft!

So I googled around (not with very much luck) and decided to use some Mod Podge and a little imagination. This is what the globe looked like before I applied the fabric

I painted the globe all white first so the original color of the globe would not show through. I then sealed  the  backside of the fabric with fabric Mod Podge. These were the recommended directions to keep the fabric from fraying. Honestly, I think this was a wasted step. I could have just cut the fabric up and placed the adhesive on top of the fabric and there would have been no fraying.

This is how the World Girl came out, next to her stuffed cupcakes! You can also see the pillow made up from some piecing that was done out of the quilt top.

Here are some other pillow ideas from the quilt top! What do you think? If you are going to go and have a fun sleepover, you need some pillows to bring along. I think these would be just as cute in a girl’s room. Everyone needs to be reminded that they are fabulous, right?

Is it okay to be having this much fun? I know that sounds strange but I don’t think work and emails ever looked this appealing to me in my life. Weird, right? I am having an absolute blast interviewing everyone at Smart Creative Women. Today I posted and interview with Leanne Mai-ly Hilgart from Vaute Couture. It is funny how people run across each other online and on the planet. About 100 years ago (ok, not 100 but it seems like it) I entered an all call  design contest that she came up  for the look  as her very first  fashionable vegan  eco-conscious winter coat. I was an honorable mention and that was just fine for me. These pictures are some of my work ups. I can’t remember if I submitted one of them or all of them. Well, I kept track of her all these years and have watched her business grow. When I saw that she opened her very first store in Brooklyn, I popped an email over and asked her for an interview. I just love a small world. She is so together and so darn pretty! Her story is inspiring and everyone needs bit of inspiration now and then, right? If you need some or are just interested in fashion, start ups or want to know more about cruelty free fashion, go check it out!

These coats actually kind of crack me up, guess I was into embroidery that year!

Today my friend Laura Gaskill over at Lolalina posted some photos styling shoot that we did recently featuring my fabrics.  It turned out really cute. She added cute touches and props. I decided to bring Laura on board since I have realized that styling photos is tricky! I am trying to lure her over to my house to get her to help me get good shots of my house. I enjoyed talking blogging/shop with her. Sometimes you just need a different eye!

It is a cute little house. But it is also full of furniture and dogs (and boys men) Can you see my husbands feet? It may be me who can’t seem to get decent shots.

I do have 7 foot dining room table that would LOVE some attention!

It just needs a good eye, maybe a bit of love from someone who knows their way around a camera!

Laura, can you see the little faces waiting for you?