Living life on purpose & other inspiration

Good morning all! Thanks so much for the great response to A Christmas Goodnight:) It's always a bit nerve wracking to share even a little bit of something that I've been keeping a secret for so long. I have so much more I want to fill you in on, but until then enjoy these last few weeks of summer...I promise I won't bug you about Christmas for at least another month:)

I wanted to share a few posts with you that are floating around the www today.

Ashley of Ashely Ann Photography (LOVE her blog and photography!) posted this great post of how she turned this free downloadable quote of mine into a canvas print which she embellished with hand stitching. Doesn't it look amazing?

{All Photos, Ashley Ann Photography}

I have my print behind glass in my kitchen...always such a lovely reminder to wake up every day full of love and purpose.

I made this print several weeks ago, but it has meant even more to me the past 2 days after recovering from a could-have-been-fatal car wreck. I'll spare you the horrific details, but let's just say it involved a bouncing metal pipe coming towards me on the freeway while going 65 mph in morning rush hour traffic. My car was totaled, 3 other cars were involved, and after spinning across 3 lanes of traffic, I walked away unharmed. Needless to say, I've been recovering on all levels, as you never expect to go through something like that. But if ever there was a shake in my soul to live my life with no regrets, it's been these past 48 hours. I can honestly say that I love my children every day like it will be my last, simply because I have always been so aware how fragile this life can be. But until you go through something like what I did Tuesday morning, am I shaken into living my life for God and my family with even more love than ever. The kind of purpose I didn't even know was in me. But now I do.

So...ok...onto happier things, Ashely is hosting a giveaway to get one 16x20 canvas print which you can use to print out that same quote. Isn't that great??

And other lovely things going on in blog land, We Love French Knots hosted this great interview with me on Tuesday. Interviews are fun, because I get to share things I don't normally talk about here. Enjoy!

(Sorry I didn't link to it earlier...I was rather busy tuesday!) Bari J, a fantastic fabric designer and embroidery designer, started this fantastic Stitching Blog and has been relentless in filling us all in on all things stitching. Check it out!

{Overall Baby}

And guess what else you are making? I had to share these gorgeous photos of more wonderful projects you are making with Children at Play from my Flickr Group. You are all so talented and inspiring!

{Girl. Inspired}

{Picolli Piselli}

{Overall Baby}

{Overall Baby}

{Stolen Moments Blog}

{Skirt as Top}

{Little Toot Creations}

{Overall Baby}

Love to you all! Hug your babies. Live your life on purpose. Make your home beautiful. Inspire someone else. Be creative. Thank God every day for all his mercy. And laugh a lot. Amen.

Oh, and don't forget about the great giveaway over at Ashley Ann!

xo

sarah

Want some paper goodness?

So, today while I was browsing around the web, I hopped on to my favorite quilting blog, and found this darling idea of a friend I met at Quilt Market, who used the Children at Play catalog to make some darling sewn cards! What a great idea!

The catalog is super great quality, matte finish cardstock to be specific, eight pages of color images...and if I do say so myself, rather pretty:) My friend Melanie helped me lay them out in really nice, easy to cut out shapes! And while I loved how well it turned out, I never thought of selling them until I've been bombarded with emails asking about it. Well, I have about 250 left over. And I don't really need then any more. And according to Pamela, this catalog is much more useful in your hands than in my garage. Yes?

So, I've added it to my shop at an even $3. Have as many as you want! First come first serve.

Have fun with these!

In the shop here.

What you all are making

I'm starting to get the facebook posts and flickr photos with you sharing all your lovely creations with Children at Play! I'm having so much fun watching you create!

Left Column:

1) On Parade Dress

2) On Parade Pillow

3) Just Stay Little Aqua Blouse

Right Column:

1) Rockets Blue pants

2) Racer Stripe Green pants

3) On Parade, Playing Dolls, Just Stay Little & Dot to Dot outfit

4) On the Go Cream pants

Remember to post your images to the Sarah Jane: Children at Play Flickr Group. It's just getting started! I'd love to post more of what you are creating. I'll make a sidebar button one of these days...haven't figured out how to make one though. It's on the list!

I especially want to see more of your Boy creations. The boy collections were actually the top selling, and I'd love to see what you've created! Have fun!

xo

sarah

shop till you drop.

Hello!

Thanks for all the birthday wishes it was a fantastic weekend. Wasn't Harry Potter so satisfying? I love thinking that in 20 years I can remember how cool it was to see the  final  film's opening night on my birthday. I'm sentimental like that.

So, there's lots I want to say.... and if you know me, you'll know that if I have lots to say, it takes forever and get all jumbled. So, I'm resorting to bullet points! (This might be better for all of us.)

• Fabric. Fabric. Fabric. I have mentioned on Facebook and twitter that Children at Play sold out of its first wave before it even shipped from the factories, but I don't think I've mentioned it here. What that means is lots and lots of stores are getting it, but lots and lots of stores are still waiting. It also means that I'm getting email after email that certain stores even sold out of a lot of their stock within 24 hours of listing it this weekend! While that is really cool for me to hear, it's also really aggravating since I know what it's like when you are trying to get your hands on something, especially when deadlines are involved (like fun sewing dates with yourself:)

• Since I have decided NOT to sell my own fabric (that's a conversation we'll have later...it has a lot to wanting to keep other wonderfully dedicated store owners in business) I stayed up until the very wee hours of the night (eh-hem...morning) last night slaving over a super-giganto list  of stores that have currently purchased Children at Play. You can search by state, but there are also two lists that allow you to search online: both web exclusive stores as well as brick and mortar stores that offer online shopping as well. But here's where I'd love to hear from you: I'm rather new to the community of fabric, and I think that a lot of stores were a little shocked with how fast they've been selling it. If you find a store that carries the fabric, but hasn't posted it online, feel free to encourage them to post it so that we all can get our hands on it! You can also encourage your local store to carry it as well!

• I also need your help in the international community. The list that I made includes all the distributors that have been selling it, but not the actual stores. If you know of a particular store internationally that is carrying Children at Play, can you PLEASE let me know? I want so badly to help my friends over seas get their hands on it, and I wish that I could do more! But, if you call your favorite and local stores and inquire about it, it will help us all!

• Also, if you aren't already following me on twitter or facebook, do. I'll be sure to post and re-post any info I have about which stores are carrying it, and when.

• And speaking of things you've been waiting for: I have embroidery iron-on transfer patterns ready to ship! I'll be showing them to you tomorrow. So come by!

• Oh. And you'll want to come by every day this week actually. I know. Overkill. But there's lots of stuff I want to show you!

• But I'll give you a hint. It has a lot to do with the requests you all made during the survey I offered a while back. Stay tuned!

• And that picture above does fit into this post. Lot's of changes have been going on in the studio (you'll be getting bits and pieces in the next several days) and lots of changes have been happening on a personal level too. I'm officially gluten & lactose intolerant. And I have been for a while now...I just never knew it. If you saw me at quilt market, I was swollen and puffy and well, I am not usually swollen and puffy looking. It was all from being sick, and everyone around here is happy to know the reason.  And one way I am still clean inside is because I have a marvelous baker husband who hasn't minded switching ingredients. You'd never guess that this gorgeous tart was made from rice flour. Life can be beautiful even when living without.

Well, I don't know if bullet points helped keep all this straight, but just remember this:

• CHECK OUT this updated list of fabric stores carrying my fabric

• CONTACT ME if you know of international stores that will be carrying it.

• COME BACK TOMORROW to see the iron-on transfers

• COME BACK the next day to see more fun and wonderful things that I've been waiting years to show you!

• FOLLOW ME on twitter and facebook if you want updates when stores have orders ready to take

• WISH you were gluten intolerant so you could get tarts like this :) OK. Just kidding.

• HARRY POTTER has officially made for a great 14 year experience.

Love to you all!

xo

sarah

"Hi! Come play at my {doll}house!"

When I was gathering all my little inspiration pieces for my Quilt Market Booth, I knew I wanted to find and fix up a wooden doll house and wallpaper it with my designs. I had a really strict budget, so I looked at everything from Craigslist to discounted amazon deals. I just couldn't really seem to find the right one! And weeks went by, and my weekly peek into thrift stores and my local classifieds produced nothing. And then...I found it. Forty bucks landed me this old (HUGE!) wooden dollhouse, furniture and an entire bucket of barbies.

There was A LOT of work to put into it, but that was just what I wanted: A fixer-upper. There were plexi glass windows to pop out (they were cracked, chipped and painted), trim to paint, floors to scrape and polish, and a good 3 coats of paint on the outside to hide all the dings and poor paint jobs over the years. And that still hasn't made it spic-and-span. There are more touch-ups to do, but we finished it enough for  Quilt Market. Horray!

Little did I realize that it would take 4 people on and off for 2 weeks to make this turn into the Doll House of our dreams.

Because the Children at Play collection nearly didn't arrive in time for market, I decided to design my entire booth with paper. Oh, those were scary days! A fabric-less booth for a fabric show? It was time to get creative. And wallpapering a vintage dollhouse seemed to be one of my ways out of the mess I was in.

Thankfully, the fabric arrived at my doorstep a week early, but the dollhouse was still a head turner!

At the last minute, because there are so many rooms, and I wanted to show off the wallpaper job that Lindsey spent hours doing (we literally cut strips and glued into place each print...and most rooms boast crooked corners and frames!) we decided to light it up inside. My Grandmother has the most fantastic dollhouse, and it's lit up, which makes all the difference in the world.

But we didn't have ceiling space to spare, so we found these IKEA L.E.D lights that are flat and have a long cord with a switcher attached. Ba-Bing!

This dollhouse was rather well loved when we got it, and there are some parts of it that we just won't ever really be able to fix, but that's the charm!

This is my favorite room of the house. The study. I seriously wish I could have that as wallpaper in my own house! Meadow in Green is one of my favorite prints. And making this dollhouse with the Children at Play designs on paper was so much fun! I spent hours matching the colors to the fabric, but it was all worth it! And as you can see...don't look too closely...this house was in such bad shape, it's going to take a few more weeks to get it proper for close-up photos! Part of me wants to keep is just as is to always remember the crazy sleepless nights in the weeks before market. Like a token, you know?

There were some parts of the house that were un-salvageable. Like the wool fabric that was glued to the gorgeous hard wood floors? We Old-Englished some of them, but the main rooms were completely defeated. Thank goodness for discarded carpet samples that happened to be edged in the exact size of the house!

There is still decorating to do...curtains to add...picture frames to put up....and paint to touch up. But I don't even have curtains up in my own house yet! Or picture frames for that matter! (They say it takes a good year or so to really move into a house, right?)

So thank goodness for colorful, lit up dollhouses that 3 children can play in at the same time. We're having thunderstorms and rain all week, and this dollhouse is getting just the attention it needs!

Happy Weekend!!

xo

sarah

Time to start making!

Today was one of those really productive days. The kids had a long drawn out daddy-kid date complete with petting cows, playing in a thunderstorm and swimming in the pool. Not at the same time, mind you. I, on the other hand, had the entire day to myself. This doesn't happen a lot. And when it does...watch out! The Mama goes crazy. In the studio of course. With paper and ink. Don't get any wild ideas.

On the agenda is illustration. The kind I can really only do with no interuptions. The kind that is like the dumping and explosion of ideas I've had in my head since the last time I had a visual dumping in my sketch book. It's nice. And in short breaks I allow myself on these illustration marathons, I discovered (well, I actually did something about my long-time-ago discovery) Instagram.

Bing! Now I can keep you up to date a little better with what's going on in the studio! You know...Peeping-Tom style. So if you aren't hanging out with me on Twitter or Facebook, please do! I'm on there every day, with little bits and pieces of what's going on behind the scenes.  I'd love to show you pics of the new studio. The picture above is in the shipping room, which we are retrofitting for more fabric type stuff. More on that later...but speaking of fabric...

Some of you are starting to get it in your sweet little mailboxes! Which means, it's time to start keeping track of each other's projects!

Here's some pictures from Heather and Megan from Quilt Story. They got theirs in yesterday, and Wow! They've already started quilting! It's going to be so fun to see all your gorgeous projects. So, in preparation, I've added some FLICKR groups so that we can all keep up with the projects we're making.

So, come and join here and be ready! Sign up and we'll have a party. A really fun Children at Play sewing party:

Sarah Jane: Children at Play Flickr Group

Sarah Jane: Embroidery Flickr Group

Sarah Jane: Prints Flickr Group (for the non-sewing/art on the wall photos!)

So there is a list coming of all the stores you can find Children At Play...I promise. I am getting emails daily begging for a list of where you all can get it. I hope to have that in the next couple days! BUT....if you know of where, or if you are a shop...PLEASE comment below. So far, I know Fat Quarter Shop does, Hawthorne Threads, Hancocks of Paducah, and lots more...I just don't know for sure yet. It's shipping this week, and some stores have it, and some stores don't yet. So if YOU have any more info...let's share and be friends. Just comment below, and I'll add it to my list.

Well, knock yourselves out and have a blast!

Color Stories.

I think a lot about color. I think a lot about color and how it makes me feel. How it changes depending on what you combine it with. How combined colors can tell a certain story. What I love about color, is that it's something that I can record in a camera. Camera's are fast, and just like I mentioned in my last blog post...the sketchbook doesn't always make it in my diaper bag. Not to mention a complete set of colored pencils ready for action. Pa-leese.

And when I don't have a camera, color is something I can record quickly when i see it. The other day, when I was driving, I saw a woman in the greatest blouse that was orange and purple and turquoise. And what did I think about all day? Orange and purple and turquoise. I saw it everywhere I went...and I hadn't even appreciated that combination until I saw it in a random blouse.

When I start working on a fabric collection, color is often one of the first things that come to me. Once I have even just the start of a color story I want to play with, the design and composition comes so easily because I know how the colors can now interact. Maybe it's the painter in me. My high school chemistry senior essay was on the history of paint, and the chemistry of mixing colors in both mixing and applying light (Which I got an A on because my chemistry teacher knew nothing on the subject I am sure!) But anyways, I digress. Color is everywhere! I love it. I crave it. I also find it very fascinating to follow color trends and look at why people love certain colors in certain eras. Isn't it just fascinating? History reveals itself in color. People reveal themselves in color. It's a mighty fun thing to think about. And now that I'm working on my next fabric collection....dun-dun-dun...color is bursting at the seams again. I love it! And you might just be seeing some of these colors very soon. Just sayin'

xo

sarah

Soft Spaces & more Children at Play

We're starting to get more soft spaces in the house.  It's been painful for me to not decorate my kids room when we first moved in to the house. When we moved in, I was in the beginning stages of getting fabric designed, and I knew I'd want to use Children at Play to decorate their room. The walls are the ugliest color, and we've been rather make shift with the space, but good things come to those who wait! I really hope to finish their space this summer, and really make it special. But it's coming along, and it's so wonderful to have these fabrics in their room...my kids love looking at all the details in the fabric. It's really so wonderful to watch them so responsive, and it just makes all the hard work worth it.

These particular pillows were made by Susan, and I still can't get over that hexagon pillow...all hand sewn and just gorgeous. Aren't they amazing? When we moved in, I was in the beginnings of get fabric designed, and so I didn't dare touch my children's bedroom because I knew I'd just want to sew for them with Children at Play fabric. So, the walls are still brown, but it's starting to be a much more welcome space.

These fabrics are a mix of the Meadow and Playhose line, fyi.I knew you'd ask:)

And, for the update, I just got word from Michael Miller, that the fabric is shipping out next week! I'll be making a list of retailers soon, so you can get it from your favorite shop. Horray! It's finally coming...can you believe it?

xo

sarah