Mousse and makings.

There is a lot going on in this corner of the world, and I may or may not get around to the blog much more this week.

First of all, our chickens laid their eggs!! And oh boy....let's talk about fresh. Tonight we made an amazing Mouse au Chocolate from a french book I'm illustrating (more on that later) and with fresh eggs and chocolate I about died. I'm digging this set up.

But really, I'm dashing off to an amazing conference in lovely St. Paul at The Creative Connection. Will you be there? Will you come say hi? I'll be signing early copies of my book (Ah!!!! this is going to be real!!) and I'm speaking on Friday, and would love to visit! There is also a book deadline, an interview and videography in my studio (dusting...dusting...) and some art that I'm finishing up for the shop! Whew. I need to sit down and have some more of that mousse.

Chocolate really is a wonderful invention.

Back to the studio!

UP.

The other night, I looked out my window, and all the light around the house was orange. Sunsets. They make me so happy. But this was post-sunset. Dusk. My favorite.

When we were house hunting, we had our usual specifications we were looking for. Room count, square footage, schools, etc. But on the top of my list was light. Windows and sky. And trees. It's like food for my soul. Finding a house where you could see the sky in any room of the house was as important as getting a house with a dishwasher. It took us a long time to find a house!

But we did. And today I was reminded just how much I love what happens in the "up" space of the world.

When my husband and I were dating, he mentioned to me that he had done an experiment where he spent a day walking around and always looked UP. Never looked down at his feet while he was walking, but always looked up. We must have been in college at the time, and so we were walking around a lot. But try it. When you are walking down your hallway even. Look up. It does something to your mood. And it doesn't even have to be at a gorgeous sky. Although that helps. Looking upwards has always helped me from getting too serious about stuff. It really works!

September gets me excited. There's magic in the air, and I love the fall season coming. But it also has me looking at to-do lists a lot more than I have been over the summer. Ahhh....summer. I've found it important to look up.

Well, except for when I am around little people. And then I look down. A lot. But when I look down, I see this:

And that has me feeling pretty up too.

Happy weekend!

{And thanks for all the "BE...." love! I hope to have them in the shop at the end of September as well as a bunch of other new fun things! I'll post more soon...stay tuned!}

Virtues:

School has started, which means my oldest two are in school full time. I won't go into the dilemma about how I feel about all this (Ahhhh!!! My babies are out in the world!!!!), except to say that my house is finally getting clean, and I'm finally getting artsy again. Right now, I'm in the middle of illustrating a book, fabric, new products, new designs for the fall season, and and a few other hush-hush projects. Translation: Some fun things are happening creatively here, non of which I can really spill the beans on! But I do have new designs trickling in which will be in the shop in the next couple weeks...hopefully sooner.

These are the start of a set of "virtues" I've been wanting to do for a long time. Don't know how many there will be yet, but there's more. Set a bit more retro than my older work, it's fresh, clean and happy! They are more in line with the work that I've been creating personally, and so while they are a bit different than what's in my shop right now, I think they will make a great addition! What do you think? Do you like?

I've been wanting to get new art in the shop for ages, and these are fun because they actually compliment my fabric very well...so if you are working on some bedding in your kids room...you finally have some colors to match!

{photo via Dairy of a Quilter}

More coming soon! I'm back to the drawing board...scribbling as fast as my little hands can! It's been a good 6 months since I've really filled a sketch book. It feels good. Funny how I always get a little nervous though, posting new work. It feels good to be spontaneously creating again. I'm a happier person, which makes me a happier mama, and happier everybody.  Life is good:)

Support for the creative business girl

I know a lot of you are creative people with businesses. Or if you don't have a business out of your hobby, you're interested in making it happen. Or if you are crazy enough to have a business out of your hobby, you are lonely and looking for crazy friends who do the same thing! Here's some places you need to visit:

1) Touchpoint: Startup Princess is hosting this fantastic annual event next week, and is offering a$50 off code (the code is "women") at registration for this awesome power packed conference in Salt Lake City that you don't want to miss.  And Kelly, my friend and host, just mentioned that scholarships are still available for 50% off registration. This is a steal you guys! All you need to do is contact Kelly, or email her (kelly at startupprincess dot com) and tell her why you deserve to be at the event and why you need this jumpstart in your life. Normally $275, this event is SO worth the money. Touchpoint is what got me started. There is so much support to be had, and info to glean from experienced women who are in this like you! Having a creative hobby really takes some business knowledge, and this is the place to get it!   Click here for more info.

2) Creative Collaborative: did you know that once a month super awesome people in Utah get together to eat treats and talk shop? Thursday we are picking up the schedule again from a slow summer schedule. This month: Creativity and Ethics: super bloggers C.Jane and Melissa Esplin talk about the ins and outs to having a community around your brand! And did I mention it's FREE? Click here for details.

3) The Creative Connection: It's a little late, but registration is still open! I'll be speaking in St. Paul on Friday at 4:00 pm on the "Creating Community through E-commerce." I'll be joined by some super awesome gals (Andrea, Amy, and Sandi who also do what they love and have made a business out of it! I'm super excited to be speaking...and....I'll also be doing a book signing of Christmas Goodnight which won't even be on the shelves yet. Yay!

See you there!

Upstate NY Library needs our help!

I was totally engrossed in the Hurricane Irene play by play, even though I wasn't even in it. My parents were actually visiting me and completely missed the earthquake and the hurricane, but I found myself being so concerned for the people and places I love so much. Our family has lived in DC and Boston, and I've had many favorite memories from North Carolina to Maine. Happy that the hurricane didn't turn out to be as bad as predicted, but the losses are still awful.

One in particular post that I saw on Facebook was this sweet little library, that lost it's entire children's book collection due to the flooding. The water in Upper Jay, NY came in at more 6 feet high, and damaged so much of the town.  So many homes and businesses are having to start all over. The Wells Memorial Library (such a charming library!)  lost so many books, but mostly the children's books because they were all on the lower level shelves. Can you imagine? No more picture books to check out. This little library, and the community it serves, could use your help!

They have tried to save what they could, but the only picture books untouched were the 5 books on the re-shelving cart.

I'm going to be sending them some, but I wanted to give a shout out to all my friends, knowing that if everyone just sent one book...they would be in a place to start really offering hope (especially for the children!)  to their now devistated community.

And if you know of any other libraries that need our help, comment below! I'd love to see these little libraries stand up again fast! Kate Messner is a children's book illustrator, and she was able to photograph and blog about this library yesterday, and I'm so glad she did! This town hasn't had much news coverage, and I would love to see some hope restored.

UPDATE: West Hartford Public Library in Vermont also lost it's children's book section. I'll update information as I get it, but I am sure they would appreciate donations:

The West Hartford Public Library

5133 Route 14 West Hartford, VT05084

(802) 295-7992

Here's how you can help:

1. Send a donation. Checks may be made payable to the Wells Memorial Library.

2. Send a new, hardcover children’s book. Picture books are needed most. They were all destroyed except the five waiting to be re-shelved and those that were signed out to homes that didn’t get flooded. I hear that they might be getting an AMAZON wishlist started, But in hopes to support small bookstores, they'd ask that you purchase from an indie bookstore if at all possible! And if you know of any other libraries that need our help, comment below! I'd love to see these little libraries stand up again fast!

Here’s the postal address for donations:

Wells Memorial Library

P.O. Box 57

Upper Jay, NY 12987

If you are sending via UPS, use this address:

Wells Memorial Library

12230 State Route 9N

Upper Jay, NY 12987

Just Stay Little

I've seen some pretty darn cute birthday Parties out there on pinterest, and blogs and the online land of endless ideas. But I have yet to see a Birthday party inspired by a print of Fabric.

I saw this post this morning, and I just had to share!

Maggie of Smashed Peas and Carrots designed her littler girl's birthday party around the "Just Stay Little" print of fabric, complete with cutting out all the little dresses and making the cutest decorations! You can see more pictures here.

Just stay little...please? Just last night I noticed how big my babies are in their beds. Oh dear. Does it really happen? Do they really grow up? Don't answer that question.

Sorry if you are bored with seeing other people's creations with this fabric. To be honest, it  has become a wonderful fulfillment of a dream of mine. As a designer and illustrator, I've had many opportunities to choose where I contract my work. And as i've contemplated the products and the people I work with, my vision has always been to let the end product inspire more creativity out of the consumer. Seeing photos like this make me feel like it's all worth it. Art on the wall is nice, but I love seeing pictures of your puppet theaters, fabric creations and so many other things you've shown me.

Thanks for inspiring me!!

And also, are you going to The Creative Connection? Can't wait to see you there!

xo

sarah

Oh, So Snuggly

Did you know that Children at Play has a flannel line?

When I made this Racer Stripe fabric, I was thinking "pajamas" all the way. Good old "Leave it to Beaver" button up PJ's. Aren't they perfect? My husband say's he's next in line for some.

I wasn't exactly sure when the flannels would be ready for sale, so getting a package in the mail a couple weeks ago was quite the treat!

The Flannels are in the Over the Fence colorway...so lots of orange, blue and cream.

We've been getting ready for school to start (so many mixed feelings!) and since Addie and Ian will both be going full day (in contrast to last year, when they were only gone from me some days and for 1/2 day, this is a big transition!) Right now, their school clothes are laid out of their first day tomorrow, I have made my VERY FIRST set of school lunches (I feel like  real mom now!) and I even had some new pajamas made for them to celebrate. These two were both for Ian, but Addie's nightgown isn't done yet, and she likes them just as much!

EDIT: This pattern is a 'New Look' Pattern (subcompany of Simplicity)#6746

But did you see? Oliver & S just came out with a great PJ pattern for their fall release in Sept.

We are ready for school to start! Although, I really do wish we had more lazy mornings!

And in case you think my children pose for me perfectly every time, here's proof that photoshoots take all morning.

Happy Monday!

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??

http://barij.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8347b268b53ef014e8ab28384970d-pi

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!

{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