giving thanks

"we are likely to overlook our real blessings and fail to be thankful for them because they are small or because they appear to be trifling and ordinary. We are always richer than we think, we should cultivate the habit of being thankful for small things"

--A.W. Tozer

Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you are surrounded by family,friends and gratitude.

we heart etsy

Have you shopped on etsy yet? Well, you should because they really do have such amazing handmade gifts. I am all about making this Christmas handmade. Not just things I make so I have turned to etsy to get my list done. I can't show you everything I have gotten since you might be receiving it!! But I want to showcase some sellers that I think are tops!

Some of Olliekate's favorites: (but there are loads more wonderful sellers so go check them out, I bet you can find what you are looking for! Use the search box on the home page of Etsy)

Chocolate and Steel: silver jewelry

Say Your Piece: personalized ornaments

Bailey Doesn't Bark : pottery

YeeHaw: letterpress, cool cards

JD Wolfe Pottery: gorgeous!

Joom: very cool pillows

Pretty In Posies:Felt flower hair clips for those little girls on your list

handmade holidays

We had such a great time yesterday at our first annual handmade holidays home show! It was so great to be there with other amazingly talented women artists and crafters. The crowds turned out as well. We were quite busy and all our efforts raised almost $500 for our local women and children's shelter!

We have been doing Olliekate for almost a year now and it was really great to have local people be able to see in person what we are always gabbing about! Sewing and creating are such great outlets for me that it was rewarding to hear compliments and make some sales too!

Thank you to everyone who came and showed their support. We hope to do it again next year! We will be doing 2 more local holiday shows as well. Email us for details if you would like to come!

on the calendar

From SarahJane Studios

2009 is peaking it's head around the corner, believe it or not. I have seen some great calendars on etsy lately. Some are so pretty, they are more like works of art! Here are some of my faves. I plan to gift these to a few people on my list this holiday. Go handmade!

Ilee Papergoods

Pistachio Press

new at olliekate

Olliekate is getting cozy. We have designed new appliqued pillows to add to the line up. These would be great for a kid's room, a nursery, a playroom or even your couch perhaps?!

I just love how these are turning out. I can't wait to debut them this weekend and we will be putting them in the etsy shop soon as well.

holidays with amy butler

Amy Butler has a bunch of free holiday patterns on her site right now that are so cute, and they don't look all that hard as well. Here are a few of my favorites that I hope to try. I think this would make a fun girl's sewing day project! We could all work on them together...what do you think? Check out the site here.

tagged

A busy week behind us and another on the way. Lots of sewing getting done for the Handmade Holidays show this coming weekend and all the usual day to day as well. Kevin has been in Arizona with my camera and I miss them both! In leu of new pictures...

Lisa Leonard did a recent post where you open your photo program and choose the 6th file and then the 6th picture and see what you get. This is what I got: this was the picture I used for our Christmas card in 2005. See they really do love each other! OK, now you’re tagged!

november

We had a fun halloween and then spent the next day at a local farm just relaxing in the warm November weather. Sunday was my birthday and I got treated to an afternoon of sewing with good friends, lots of chocolate and a wonderful dinner made by my family. It was perfect.

November is off to a good start. Let's hope today proves more of the same for our country!