Baby Shower Hostess Gift

Those of you who know me, know that I have a large family, and many, many grandchildren! Number 27, a girl, is due the middle of March! This little girl is coming to my oldest son's family. They wanted another child, but it never happened!  They actually have two girls, one age 16 and one in her early twenties!  We are all so excited for this new arrival!!!!

Today is the baby shower, and I needed a hostess gift for my hostess friend!  You all know me--the scrap lady!  I took pictures of the process, because you might want to duplicate  this set of 'baby looking' coasters for your own future hostess! (Or I will have them available in my shop :)

Sew several strips of scrap fabric, then cut strips

Cutting strips

Add white trim fabric to both sides

Chose a matching backing fabric and finish!

This will be a cute keepsake for the hostess to remember the shower!  

Bird Fabrics

Yesterday, while I was working in my studio, I had the window open a  little bit to let in fresh air.  I can't stand for the room to be stuffy, even if it is cold outside.  But in reality, what I let in, besides fresh air, was the sounds of birds in the trees.  It was truly refreshing to hear the various bird calls and tweets while cutting out fabric.  It made me think of fabrics with birds on them.

I have used this fabric in the past as the owner, of  the business that I make aprons for,  loves birds.  I have also used this leftover fabric for a cover for my serger.

And, I have been looking at several more bird fabrics for future aprons. The first is a whimsical one:

Colorful "paper doll" birds:

A traditional feel:

A funky Japanese feel:

 What do you think?  Which ones do you like?

the Fog is coming in . . .

The end of December I did a blog post about fog. I come form a valley that was perpetually filled with fog for several months from late Fall thru Winter and into early Spring.  My favorite Etsy Team has a monthly challenge and I  participated with that post.  I further challenged myself to do an art piece about fog. 

Just thought you might enjoy an update on the project not finished yet:

I am in process . . . I found a picture that I thought would lend itself to an embroidery design and dove right in.  It involves embroidery floss with subtle shade gradations. I don't know if you can actually see the different gradations in my picture but they are necessary to rightly depict the fog.  This design will obviously be monochromatic in the end, with shades of gray, although there are pale shades of tan also.  Wish me luck on the completed project!

What are you trying that is a new process for you?

Linking with Create-with-Joy's Inspire me Monday link party!  (I'm on the second page--popular linky!)

Intentional Life

2014

Goals!  Seems as if bloggers are all doing posts on business and personal goals for 2014.  I've been thinking about it, but it was so hard to come to conclusions this year.  I looked up my goals for the last two years, and that didn't inspire me!  Some of those were completed and some were not!  I hesitate to write goals and not meet them, but if I don't write them down then I have nothing to work forward to!  So, here goes:

Enamel Dollar Sign charms from charmingkathyjo on Etsy

1)  I have made monetary goals for my wholesale business and my online businesses.  Last year the online business was not where I would have liked it to be, but my wholesale business took off!  I  always have a hard time analyzing the online businesses.  One shop did well, one just sort of sat there until Christmas, and the other one was rather status quo.  I think the answer is in new creative products--we'll see how that goes!?

Poinsettia Wall Art in progress

textile wrist cuff in progress

2)  Creativity--Last year I opened a new shop, a very creative one--Abigail Jayne ART!  It did not produce a return like I would have wanted, but that does not deter me from further creativity!  Onward and upward!  I still want to explore more textile art techniques and have been asked to teach a class on textile art!

Scrap quilt block in progress

3)  I am working on two books.  One is a craft tutorial book on using scraps with instruction on scrap projects.  I want to finish it and get it published later this year.  The other book is a joint effort with my husband about our lives and how they intertwined and evolved.  It is our vision to share it with our large blended family while celebrating our 25th anniversary in 2015.

Well, that's it!  Quite a list, but I am excited to begin the new year's creativity!!

Postage Rate Increase!

They're at it again!  The USPS  (and the Canadian Post) has announced rate hikes once again!  Aye-yai-yai!

Several years ago, rate hikes affected my personal life.  I had to stop sending Christmas gifts to my grandchildren, because the rates to ship were more expensive than the item being shipped--I lived on a limited budget!  It wasn't worth it to ship;  everyone said that I should send gift cards!  I really didn't want to, as these were not personal enough for me.  Besides, I enjoyed the shopping for each individual.   Then I moved closer to my grands and problem solved.

Now, the post office is raising rates again with the largest increases being at the lower end, for First class packages.  That is right where I do most of my business! I ship small items, lighter weight items, and my customers get a break over stuffing the items in a flat rate box. It feels like the Postal Service is fazing out first class packages. Again, Aye-yai-yai!  Small business owners, like me are affected tremendously by this!

So my Pruitt Creations customers will not be affected, at least until January 26th, here what I will do:

1.)  I will not raise my rates until the 25th. Obviously anything ordered on the Sunday 25th  cannot be shipped until Monday the 26th, but I will honor the old shipping rate!

2) Anything in my Marked-Down section will be Free (domestic USA) shipping, if you use the coupon code FREESHIPPING at checkout.  And if you are in the UK, Canada or elsewhere, the rates will not be raised until the 25th.  Shop NOW!

3) and if you buy items that are not on clearance, with marked-down items, you can still use the free shipping coupon code!  Remember USA domestic shipping ONLY.

I appreciate my customers and want them to get the best prices!  Remember . . . . Time is running out fast!

View my shop here!

A Christmas Gift

For Christmas, my oldest daughter gave me a gift card to my favorite fabric store!  Gift cards are so awesome because your mind just goes wild with ideas!   I always try to use them for purchasing something that I would not normally purchase with my hard earned pennies.  Usually something that I want but consider not entirely necessary at present, something that can wait till another day for purchase.  I'm sure you know the feeling!

Anyway, I was storing my ribbon stash in a drawer, and if you know my studio, you know that my space is limited and all space is premium.  Drawer space could be used a little more efficiently, for sure!  So see what I purchased!  Ribbon Storage!

Formerly this space was unused wall space.  Now my ribbon storage is vertical at the back of a plastic storage shelving unit, right alongside my tread, webbing and lace storage! Not to mention, the empty drawer space now ready for items that I use rarely and want to tuck away from view.

Thanks, Jackie!