Merry Christmas

Only 10 days left until Christmas, the time is flying by! I have been getting ready here - still finishing decorating, need to bake and wrap gifts but trying to enjoy the little moments. I am taking my daughter to see Santa for the first time next week :)

Before the time sneaks by I wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! I had this holiday card designed by my friend Kelli of http://digiscrapsandprintables.com/store/ I think it came out so cute! I hope you like it :)

I have some new plans for 2012 and look forward to sharing them with you soon!

New Christmas added

I added quite a few new Christmas dolls and mice... sneak peek :) They are over on my website right now! I am offering free shipping to those on my mailing list - if you want free shipping (within the US) email me to find out how!

New Pattern - Nativity and Advent Celebration

I am so excited to share my newest pattern with you! I have been wanting to do more spiritual patterns and this is the first of many more to come. A good friend was over one night and we were talking about Advent, she completely inspired me to get this one out of my head :) We both love it and I hope you do too!

You can create it with just Mary, Joseph & Baby Jesus or add the optional manger, straw and printout about doing good deeds throughout advent for a soft bed for baby Jesus. A great tradition to start with your children or to use by yourself as a gentle reminder of the true meaning of Christmas.

The pattern is on my website, here as a download (far left column) and over on Patternmart. Enjoy! and the finished set is on my website!

Oh and I will be adding more holiday items this week to my website. I've been working a bit since the last craft show and will have last minute gifts/dolls for sale shortly.

Craft show tomorrow - First Baptist Church

Just a quick post to let you know I will be at First Baptist church, 3235 Linden Street, Bethlehem, PA tomorrow from 9am-4pm. It's their annual Holiday Boutique; I have some new items not listed online yet :)

Heading over to set up in an hour, i'll be sure to share pictures.

Also please check the new items listed on my website - i've been adding all week!

Craft show pictures

Here's a picture of my booth - i have so much stuff?! I think next year I will just buy 2 tables. I want to thank all of my customers who came out on Saturday - what a messy day it ended up being!!! I left at 6:45am and it was just raining.
Snuck away from my booth and peeked out the door at 11am to this:

At 1pm, the lights started flickering (LOTS of power outages still today!); and the director came by and said it was OK to pack up so we all did. And thank goodness for the kindness of a stranger - he helped me get alot of my stuff out through the slushy, snowy, wet parking lot and into my car. I was soaked and cold by the time I got in! And prayed the whole way home because the roads were a mess. Lots of tree branches down, the roads were very slippery.

By the time I got there at about 3pm, it looked like this out our back door:

A Few hours later, this was the view out the front. My daughter's swing was touching the ground within an hour of this picture! We lost at least one tree on our property, just split right in half from the weight of the snow. Yesterday morning, i saw red leaves floating by on top of the snow, what a weird sight :)

Anyway, so this week I will be adding some new things to my website. Here's a peek of 2 bigger things that will be listed by Friday:

Psssst - I did add a bunch of dolls yesterday, go peek if you want to grab them now!

Craft show today

I guess it would have been helpful to post this a few days ago??
Today is the annual Holiday craft show at Northampton Community College, 9-3 in the Sparta Gym. I am against the far right wall, same spot as the Spring show if you came. I set up mostly last night but am heading in shortly to finish a few things, get pictures and go do a little shopping. I never get to browse so I'm hoping to do that this morning :)

OH and if you are coming, be sure to bring your snow brush as it seems we are getting a big storm today! I'll take pictures :)

Back from Letchworth Show

What a great weekend!! I can't say how LUCKY we were with the most beautiful, picture-perfect weather this weekend. The leaves in the park seemed to change colors before our eyes, and the customers were out to shop and have fun. I had good sales, I am still smiling from all the nice comments on my work.

I didn't even finish setting up Saturday morning when I was mobbed with a big crowd (yay!), so I never got good pictures of my booth - I think I have one or two on my phone but not sure how they came out. I will check later and post if I have some.

I wanted to share info on some of the other vendors that were inside the building with me - we are a very interesting group, I saw most of them last year (which was my first year). We are all different as far as what we sell but a nice group of artists to share space with for 3 days!

One guy is an author - Mark Holdren: http://www.spiritwolf.info/AboutTheAuthor.htm. He writes about his adventures in nature (something my dad writes about too) so I enjoyed talking with him.
My neighbors are awesome; they are just so nice - we have alot in common and I have enjoyed their company 2 yrs. now. I am looking into doing some more shows they do in NY - check out this website: http://www.americandollboutique.com/americangirl.html Sandie really has a niche market and she is an excellent example of how to market your business.

There is another interesting author who writes about Ghosts; you walk into the building and he has a big sign "Got Ghosts?" he draws a huge crowd -we get to hear very intersting stories all weekend. http://www.amazon.com/David-J.-Pitkin/e/B001JS1TV6/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

This artist won for his category - congrats! http://www.elephantearstudio.com/home.htm He had some neat pottery, one thing called a yarn keeper for when you knit/crochet.

These folks have been doing the show a long time: DePonceau's Aluminum trays and House of Leather.

Well, Gabrielle & I got home late yesterday afternoon - she helped me unload a little bit. Now I have about 14 orders to fill between the show & website. And 4 more craft shows left this season. I will be starting work tomorrow - if you are waiting for me, I promise to work quickly but send lots of love with my dollies :)

THANK you to all of you who visited me. I am still smiling :)

Craft show "crazies"!

Oy! I keep asking myself, do I really want to do that many craft shows/open houses? As I said yes to another today :) I really LOVE being around my customers and meeting new people, working on new projects. I LOVE it, it gets my creative juices flowing. I am just working like crazy and feeling the craft show crazies are taking over ;)


So I wanted to let you know some updates/changes to my schedule for local folks especially:
*Oct 8-10 - Letchworth in Mt. Morris, NY - GREAT 3 day outdoor show, I am inside (whew!) in a shelter.

*Oct 22 - Local home show in Easton, PA - if you want to come, email for more info!
*Oct 29 - Northampton Community College, Bethlehem PA
*Nov 5 - First Baptist Church, Bethlehem PA
* Nov 12 - conrad Weiser HS PA

If you are local and want any details on these shows to come, just email me!

In the meantime, if you don't hear from me for a few days, yes I am in craft-show-crazies!!

Reflection time today

Wow the last few weeks have just been a mess around here with flooding from 2 storms 2 weeks in a row. I've had to relocate my office/work area upstairs - thankfully we didn't have too much damage the 2nd time; first time was worse but we were able to get the water out fast with a pump. So glad my husband was home to deal with alot of that, it would have been so much worse! I was feeling aggravated/annoyed with the whole thing (clean up is a pain, moving our furniture around, drying out the flooring, etc.).

Then, I saw these pictures today and realized how lucky we were the 2nd storm. If you have time to check these out:
http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/flooding-slideshow_2011-09-08?role=
I have to point out the one of the Gander Mtn. store - on my way to upstate NY I usually stop in Johnson City to eat lunch, there's a babies R us and a few great stores there that we go to, breaking up the trip. Binghamton NY is where I was born and I drive right through it to get to my family. And that is where I am heading in 3 weeks for my big show - Mt. Morris, NY.

There are many more photos I have seen on facebook, so much devastation in northeast PA. My heart breaks for those people who have lost their homes, businesses, family, pets, etc. it's REALLY bad in some areas.

I know today is a day of remembering for those who were lost 10 years ago; Believe me, my heart is heavy remembering exactly where I was when I heard the news. I lived in NJ at the time and I will never forget driving through neighborhoods with yellow ribbons around trees up and down the streets of those who were lost that day.

I am also remembering and praying today for those who are dealing with devastation from the recent weather, please join me for a moment today to send prayers and good thoughts to those dealing with this mess.

More dolls added!

I finished adding most of what I had from the craft show - I am not done creating for the Halloween season though! I will be adding more as the weeks go by, this is my favorite time of year to create.

If you are on my email list, you got a special notice - free shipping to US customers. If you aren't on the list, go sign up and let me know so I can send you the code. I also give international customers a $5 credit towards shipping.

All orders will be processed I hope on Monday - we are waiting on hurricane Irene to arrive and have to make alot of preparations for flooding here. I am dreading it and praying we all are safe and sound when it gets out of here! If you are in the path, be safe!

Lots of new faces over on Homespun from the Heart

I am adding new Halloween and regular dolls as fast as I can this week! My kiddo is in dance camp so I've been racing home to take photo's and upload to the website :)

Here's a little sneek peek of just a few face that you will see:

AND if you see something you like and want, please sign up for my mailing list! I will be offering free shipping only to my mailing list customers after I get everything in - I hope on Friday!

Back from Lititz

I had a great day at Lititz again this year! I am still smiling from all of the talk and people loving my dolls :) It keeps me going on the days when I am here by myself talking to those dolls, wondering if anyone will like them. Thank you to my customers who visited me!

I am showing a few booth pictures. I never had a moment without a customer inside my booth - starting by about 6:30am. Which is good because.......

We did have some icky weather - around noon, it started sprinkling a little; doesn't sound bad but I use all the tent sides to hang things up so my dolls were exposed and everyone grabbed some and ran for cover! A little water will ruin them. UGH that was stressful! Then, at about 3ish the wind started picking up, we were looking at the dark gloomy sky and I called "DONE" haha. We packed up - I had 4 helpers, so it was in record time. I got the truck (got yelled at too for coming in early) and loaded FAST. We were in our cars when the sky opened up and dumped. I am so grateful I had so much help that we were able to get out before anything was damaged.

This is the awesome banner my friend Joanne made me - she's so talented! I actually got it hung up on time this year, YAY!!!!

This beautiful sign is something my friend Ree made, I had to put it in my booth, show our pride!

Something new this year, I had alot of different "theme" trees; suprisingly I sold Easter stuff! I will be sure to bring some next year too.

This is my Halloween tree, I love it - it's black, hard to see with the picture.

All the Halloween ornies I had for sale!

This little girl will be on my website VERY soon :)

Last week of epattern giveaway!

Well, since I am in the last week of getting ready for the show and working ALL hours of the day starting early in the morning ;) I want to keep this week's drawing simple too. All you have to do to enter is be a follower of this blog - then, if you are interested in winning, just post a simple comment. Hi, I'd love to win a pattern; that's enough for me. If you have your own blog and would like to add a link to it in your comment for me and others to see, you can do that too. (but don't have to for entry, just a little promotion for you!)

This week's winner will be picked on Thursday night, so have your replies in by 5pm EST on Thursday. We will be crazy busy on Friday packing up.

I want to show pictures of some things I have for the show, maybe later in the week when Gramma gets here. Happy Sunday!

Winner for this week

Is Dawn aka AuntDeeDee :) Congrats Dawn, go pick your pattern & email me!

I will post the last week of free giveaway contest on Sunday. Enjoy your weekend!

This week's entry

In case you are just tuning in, I am doing one free epattern giveaway each week leading up to my big craft show on August 13th. Each week, I am posting how to enter to win - so for this week, simply post a comment and tell me what your favorite movie is. Easy, right?

I will draw a name on Friday morning and notify the winner - winner gets her choice of any epattern of mine.

Good luck :)

OH and I am working on a quick and fun new pattern too! It may be ready for next week?! Let's hope so!

Today's winner!

Is Kavetta, a long time loyal customer of mine! Congrats Kavetta, pick your pattern and email me :)

I will post the next contest entry on Sunday - I'm a busy bee today working; 15 days left til the big show, so alot of sewing to do. Enjoy the weekend!

Week 2 entry

Just in case you missed the entry info, it was part of the last post with the winner in it:

OK so week #2 - entry is simple again. What is your favorite Homespun From the Heart pattern? it can be one you have and made or just one that you like. I'll pick another epattern winner next Friday - everyone is eligible to enter (except the winners of this contest)!

I only saw a handful of comments, so I thought I'd repost. Drawing will be Friday morning :)

First week's winner!

................. is Jessica! Just emailed you :)

Thanks for playing and I loved reading your comments - sounds like we are all balancing work and play this summer. Sometimes that's so hard to do, but I know for my own soul I need a little of each :)

OK so week #2 - entry is simple again. What is your favorite Homespun From the Heart pattern? it can be one you have and made or just one that you like. I'll pick another epattern winner next Friday - everyone is eligible to enter (except the winners of this contest)!

One month of FUN!!

Since I have one month left until my biggest craft show, i thought I would have a little fun during that time :) I am going to give away one free e-pattern a week for the next month - leading right up til my craft show. I know I am not the only one crafting like crazy this time of year so why not share some of my designs with you?!

OK each week I will post the winner and how to enter for the upcoming week... VERY simple! This week, just reply and post a comment - how is your summer so far? Doing anything fun? Vacations? Swimming in the pool or just working? I will pick the first winner on Friday - July 22nd. Then announce the next week's question. SIMPLE and fun. Let's have some fun during our crazy time, I do love your comments so post away.

Oh yeah, you can pick ANY e-pattern I have - new or old. It's up to you :)

Awesome fun in Lancaster!!!

Just about every year, a whole group of us get together (whoever can make it that year) -- we've been to MO, IN and PA so far. Twice in Lancaster and we just got back from there again last weekend! We've met online through a community and most of us have online businesses or did at some point, remaining friends for a long time!

Here we are at In Grandma's Attic in Kinzers, PA - a must-stop on our list. Patti has lots of antiques, handmades, primitives, furniture and now a made-in-the-USA handmade wholesale room. We started here on Sat. morning and went on to lots of great places!

There's so much shopping to do in Lancaster, I never feel like we have enough time but I sure put a dent in my credit card ;)

I have more pictures to share when we get home from the beach. We left right for a family vacation!

Anyone working on Halloween yet?

I have been working on Halloween and Fall for a while now getting ready for Lititz. I had this idea in my sketch book for at least a year now, well I finally put it to the test and am happy to say it's my newest pattern!

Meet Salem and Little Spook - thanks to my friends Cedara of Thru the Attic Door and Sherry of Annie's Cupboards for helping me name them :) So glad I have creative friends - I actually am surrounded by creativity and love it!! They inspire me!

Available today as an epattern from my website or over on Pattern Mart for instant download. I'll have the printed pattern available June 14th.

I'm working on several more patterns too - I forgot how much fun this is!

Have a great weekend!

I'm still here!

I know I've been MIA - been so busy filling orders, stocking In Grandma's Attic in Lancaster.... and getting the sad news that my favorite local country/prim shop is closing. I've been selling at Country Roots for almost 5 years and last year, they were going to close and decided to give it another shot. Well I went back in January, and then they made the announcement in March. I am so sad, not just to lose an avenue for selling, but I will MISS the folks that work there and make me smile each time I drop off my items. I will keep in touch I know, but just feeling a bit blue.

I am also working on stockpiling for the BIG LITITZ show, I have a countdown on my phone for it... lol 85 days left. EEEK! I am revving it up a bit, since I haven't been putting stuff away for it.

Anyway, I wanted you to know I am around - you can always email me to see what is new! I hope to have a fun July promotion this year :) Some new plans are in the works for Homespun from the Heart!

TWO new patterns, not an April Fool's joke ;)

It's been a while since I've released a pattern so I can joke about it right?! OK for my crafters who like to make Bunnies these 2 patterns are for you!

First is "Easter Tree" which includes a new bunny tree topper AND the ornies patterns to decorate your tree! I took this with me to a craft show and it was a big hit, most of those ornies are gone ;) This is fun for personal creation, a gift or to stock up for spring shows.

These two girls are Bunny Buddies - one in brown Chocolate and one in White Chocolate. So cute, I thought of at least 2 new outfits for the next set I make! They are 13" not including ears (which are poseable, so fun to create that way!).

You can find them on my website under Patterns or on Pattern Mart if you want instant download.

Now I am getting in the groove, let's see what comes out of my mess of a studio next week! Happy April 1st everyone!

Winners!!

OK I made my hubby draw the winners. There are 2 winners - one from my mailing list that is Donna and the other from here and that is Mary. Congratulations to both of you! I emailed you for more information just in case you see this post first, check your email!

THANK you to all of you who signed up to follow my blog and for playing along with the contest.

Last few days to enter to win!

Just in case you missed it! You can still enter to win - only a few days left tho ;) Read this post to get full details on what I am talking about.



Also I've gotten a few emails asking when I will have new patterns and some more new dolls available. Well.... the best laid plans just never work out right?


Last week, while my husband was traveling (of course!), my daughter got really sick. Then my main computer where I do all my design work, have my software for creating patterns and editing photo's, etc. - the monitor blew. UGH! I haven't been able to figure out what was wrong with it in between taking care of the little one. So he is home now and promises to look at it this week. I do have a pattern in the making, one in my head, and a few Easter items to add. Soon I hope, soon!


I am desparately trying to get myself in the mood for spring, it's awful hard when you wake up to temps of 18* and a HIGH of 34? YUK! I will keep making bunnies and other spring things, hoping one day our weather will change (soon right??).

March is National Craft Month - giveaway!!!

In honor of National Craft month, I am giving away one of my shabby pin keeps. It is made from hand-dyed wool and is very large, mounted on top of a candlestick base. You will love how many pins and needles you can keep organized in one place!

All you need to do to enter the drawing is sign up to follow my blog and then post a comment to this post. I will randomly draw one name on March 31st - the winner will receive their pinkeep in the mail shortly after that. I am including international friends too so please post away!

Happy Craft Month!

Craft show!!!

This Saturday, March 12, I will be at Northampton Community College for their annual Spring Craft show. The show is from 9am - 3pm and held in the big gym - they have signs up on campus to direct you for parking & to the show. If you need directions or more info, click here:
http://northampton.edu/

I have bunnies galore :) And some dressed up mice, bowl fillers like egg bunnies, chicks, and bunny shelf sitters. A few egg sets and 2 trees with tree toppers, ornaments and lots of fun goodies! Most of my items are $15 and under; a few dolls a bit higher but mostly in a good price range to pick up some gifts or add to your spring decor.

PLEASE make sure you find me if you do come to the show! I don't know where I am yet but you will know my work when you find me :)

New Pattern release - Raggedy Ann & Ellie

First design of 2011 is ready! Raggedy Ann and Ellie - just added to my website and patternmart. I hope you like her - so many possibilities with colors and finishes too. Right now, Joann's is carrying some Debbie Mumm elephant fabric that I used for dresses that works real well with this set. So have fun creating this one!

Adding free tutorials

I get alot of questions on how to do things that are in most of my patterns; I thought I'd add some tutorials I have to my blog for you. They will be listed on the left side of my blog and each one is detailed with pictures. Some are mine and some are done by a friend or two :)

Sometimes seeing something visually helps everything 'click' into place for me, so I hope it will help you on your doll-making journey too!

Cabin fever plans

We are getting another big storm today and tomorrow in the NorthEast - the funny thing is, when you watch the news pretty much everyone is affected (or was/will be) by this storm. Wow! It is huge and Mother Nature is unleashing it across the U.S. and into Canada!

I thought I'd try to beat some 'cabin fever' by making some new dolls over the next few days. My website is bare, it's embarrassing! I have neglected it - I want new dolls, new patterns, and I may have a new supply or two. I will get to work, I promise!!

Meanwhile, this is how the little one beat cabin fever during one of our last storms - playing with the kitty! That is how both of them stare at me while I work - wanting me to come play with them, which I do too :) Which is probably how nothing new is done! haha!

If you are experiencing this storm, I hope you are safe, warm and with power and loved ones for it!

Themed tree fun!

I have been meaning to post these pictures since November, but thankfully I was too busy working :) I am always thankful for that!!

In case you didn't know, I sell my work at In Grandma's Attic in Lancaster, PA. Patti, the shop owner, is very talented in setting up beautiful displays. The shop has multiple buildings and she makes the best use out of every nook and cranny. This past season, she set up themed trees - lots of my ornies and tree toppers were used! Along with other crafters handmade items, these are my favorite prim trees around.

Gingerbread tree:
Snowmen tree: (I love the sitting snowman on the chair!)

And, of course my favorite - the Annie tree! Look at all those smiley faces :)

Patti is keeping some of these up all year round so if you are in the area, be sure to stop in and visit!

I sell alot of the ornies, dolls and tree toppers on my website: www.HomespunFromTheHeart.com and if you don't see it listed email me!

Great news!

For all of my local customers, I am very excited to share that I am selling again through Country Roots in Brodheadsville, PA. You can visit them on the web: http://www.countryrootsinc.com/store/Default.asp if you are planning to be in the Poconos area of PA this is a wonderful country and primitive shop.

I sold with this store for almost 5 years; they decided last year to close all 3 of their shops. Then, thankfully the owners changed their minds and decided to just close 2 and keep this one open. I have been wanting to build enough inventory to get back in the store and yesterday I dropped off some new dollies :)

I look forward to great year with them!

January Pattern Sale

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, safe travels if you visited and are getting back into the swing of routines again. I know we are! The holidays always seem to fly by even tho I try to sit back and relax, do things I want to do. So here it is January and I'm working on my business goals for 2011.

I am having an Epattern sale for January while I work on paperwork and setting my goals. All ePatterns are buy one, get one FREE. To order, add ONE to the shopping cart and proceed to checkout; in the comments section write the one you want for free (or email me afterwards). It's that easy! No limit - buy 2 get 2 free; buy 10 get 10 free.

This is for ePatterns only (sorry, there is a set cost for printing and mailing); if you order from Pattern Mart instant downloads, please email me your freebees. Thanks and HAPPY new year!

www.homespunfromtheheart.com - click on "Patterns"