Violette Field Threads and Bartimaeus Project

We've been quite busy these past few days! I finally finished up several different projects I've been working on but the biggest one was part one of building Lola a little toddler bed. She loves it. It's so cute seeing how excited she is about it but a little sad too. =(  I took some photos of it in her room yesterday and also took photos as I was building it so I will have a tutorial for it at some point once I get the photos onto my computer and edited. 

Anyway, I wanted to pop in this weekend to let you know about a couple of things. First, I wanted to introduce our newest sponsor, Violette Field Threads. They make patterns and tutorials for the most darling children's clothing and accessories. Violette Field Threads is the creation of two best friends, Ericka and Jessica, who have a passion for design and sewing. They orginally each created their own boutique clothing line and the demand quickly outgrew what they could supply on our own. Because their real passion was in the design and creative side of their work, they joined forces and Violette Field Threads PDF Patterns and Tutorials was born. Their patterns are thoughtfully written down to smallest detail. This allows for even beginning sewers to create designer looks. Here are a few of my favorite patterns from their website:

The Emmaline Dress Pattern:

The Josephine Blouse and Dress Pattern:

They also have accessory patterns like this Felicity Flower Pattern:

Be sure to visit their shop, blog and facebook page!

And second, we wanted to share with you what we are choosing for our January Donation. A portion of each sale during the month of January will go to the Bartimaeus Project.

"The Bartimaeus Project is a collaborative effort between doctors, host parents, field missionaries in The Philippines, donors and our board of directors. The project seeks to glorify God by serving visually impaired orphans.  We are not an adoption agency but we work in close connection with an agency accredited to place Filipino children into permanent homes. We provide opportunities for visually impaired orphans to receive sight-restoring surgery in the United States and to be hosted by families who feel drawn toward adoption. We also provide hands-on therapy to children in orphanage care at no cost to the orphanage."

You can read more about the Bartimaeus Project by clicking here.

I hope you all have a blessed weekend!

Introducing a New Ruffled Stocking, Free Download, and the Stupey Family

Just popping in super quickly to let you know we are excited to be introducing our newest stocking today our Script Ruffled Stocking. These stockings are lined with muslin and feature a large cotton ruffle on the top. The ruffle is made from the same fabric we use on our screenprinted pillows although for some reason it appears a bit lighter in these photos. The edges of the ruffles are stitched for an added touch and to prevent fraying. In this batch, the ruffle overlaps itself in the back. It is hard to tell in this photo but it will not be the case in future listings (although the ruffle will always fully circle the rim of the stocking).

 

And we also wanted to remind you that our free October download is available (just click on it and it will bring you to the page to download the full PDF file):

I don't have any photos of it in our home so far this year because we've been out of town but here it is last year in our family room:

I also wanted to share the family who a portion of each sale this month will be donated to. One of our readers shared with us how their 30 year old cousin, Randy Stupey passed away last month. It was unexpected and happened during a hiking outing.  You can read more about it here. He leaves behind a wife and two young boys ages 2 and 3 (Irish twins). My heart absolutely breaks for his family and they will be in our prayers!

A trust has been set up for his sons:

"JSL Trust"

for Landon and Parker Stupey

P.O. Box 1887

Everett, WA 98206

September Quote and the Johnson Family

Can you believe September is here? I hope you all are having a lovely labor day weekend! We've been pretty busy here changing things out for autumn and moving our dining room table out to the porch (after a not so fun time of stripping, sanding and repainting it - ugh!) and then building a new table for our dining room. I hopefully will have some time to take some photos soon of both the table and our fall accents. Right now it's not a whole lot different than last year so I am hoping I'll be able to get some things at the Farmer's Market today to help mix it up a bit. Also, we have officially been doing these monthly downloads for a year now. Here is September's from last year. I won't be doing new ones this year but I do plan on doing some seasonal ones. I just finished up the one for fall that I will share this coming week once I've printed and framed it.

Just click here or on the image below and it will bring you to the PDF file that you can download for FREE and then print at whatever size you would like!

Each month we donate a portion of each sale on our website a family/cause/organization in need. This month we will be donating to the Johnsons, a beautiful family from Sugar Land, Texas, who have just suffered an unthinkable tragedy. A few weeks ago, Pearlette Johnson and four of her and her husband's six children were traveling to Utah to pick up a missionary when they suffered a severe car accident on the interstate. The two youngest daughters, Tristen and Madeline, passed away on the scene. The third youngest daughter, Maegan, has been in critical condition ever since.Their cousins, Heather and Crystal, set up a website and held an online action last month to help with medical and flight-for-life expenses. Our hearts and prayers go out to this family.

Free August Download, Cozy Home Interiors and This Month's Donation

I just wanted to pop in with August's free download. With the addition of August we now have all 12 months available in our shop that you can download for FREE! Just click here or on the photo above and it will bring you to the page to download the full PDF file.

I also wanted to introduce you to our newest sponsor:

Cozy Home Interiors is run by Allison! For those living in the Dallas area she offers an array of services from design consultations to the fine art of curb appeal and also has a fun blog! Here is what she has to say about herself:

"Hi!! I’m Allison at Cozy Home Interiors. I started my blog, Cozy Home Interiors, about two years ago. I’ve been a design enthusiast my whole life. Growing up, I was always changing my room around, rearranging friend’s bedrooms, or organizing their closets. If I didn’t have hardwood floors and my parents weren’t as supportive, things might have turned out differently. Pushing furniture around was fun for me!

As an adult, it was only natural to follow my passion for interior design and start my blog, Cozy Home Interiors & Design Studio. When I first discovered blogging and got a sense for the visionaries behind their blogs, it inspired me to start my own blog, and begin to really start growing my design business. I knew I wanted to be part of the blogging community, gain inspiration through others with similar interests, share ideas, create, and hope to inspire some along the way, just like I’d been inspired."


And finally, as many of you know, each month a portion of every sale on our website goes to a family, organization or cause. This month a portion of each sale will be donated to the Amber Roussel Memorial Fund.

 This is a photo of Amber's youngest two children.

 This is from the website:

"On July 30, 2012, Amber Roussel was tragically killed in a car accident on I10 in Beaumont, Texas. She leaves behind her beloved husband, Ryan, and three cherished children... Lauren, (12), Emmory, (3) and Ryan, (1). We cannot ease their heavy hearts, but we can try to relieve some of the inevitable financial burden of a little family suddenly without a wife and mother. Ryan travels extensively for work, and their children will need full-time care, at times around the clock. This will be no small need in the years to come. Amber was a beautiful soul and a generous spirit many grew to love, no matter the distance between many of us. She will be greatly missed and forever remembered." 


My heart just breaks thinking about this family and they are in my prayers!

The Alma Project

I am a little late in posting this but I wanted to share with you all where our July donation will be going. Each month a portion of every sale on our website goes to a family, organization or cause. This month a portion of each sale will be donated to The Alma Project which you can read all about over at Kate's blog, Centsational Girl. Here is a direct quote from Kate's blog about what The Alma Project is:

“Whenever someone asks me where I see myself in five years, the first answer that I give is ‘fixing up spaces for those who really need it, not those who can afford it’. I feel in my heart that I want to spend part of my time giving back some of what’s been given to me. The mantra I have heard over and over in my head for months now is ‘there are real people with real needs who need real solutions.’ I talked it over with my hub, and we came to an agreement that we were going to reach out into our own community and find somewhere to help.

We called the Committee on the Shelterless (or COTS) to offer our services, and as with all non-profits, they welcome all the help they can get. We gave them some information, and told them what we had to offer. They ran a background check, and a week later, we adopted a house. The Alma House.

Historically, the act of almsgiving is a material donation to the needy. ‘Alma’ in Spanish means ‘spirit’ or ‘soul’. The name of the street where our first adopted house is located is Alma Drive. We deemed it a sign, and The Alma Project was born.

The Alma Project is the transformation of a fixer upper house into a comfortable functional home for women who desperately need it. Living inside the Alma House are single mothers, previously homeless, who reside for free on the condition that they are learning skills, stabilizing their lives, attending counseling, and remain drug and alcohol free. These mothers are saving their money from their part time jobs and raising their children as best as they can. They have no time or money to fix up this house. They are real women with real needs who need real solutions.”

You can read Kate's full post on year two by clicking here. I absolutely LOVE what Kate's doing and would love to find a way to do something similar in Williamsburg.

Look what they have already done with the kitchen:

 This is what it looked like before.

How gorgeous is that? And can you believe that they did it for just $3680! Head on over to Kate's post where she has lots more photos of the transformation and also includes a cost breakdown.

They also have already transformed the playroom. Here's the before:

And here's the after:

And they did this transformation for just $885! How impressive is that?

You can see Kate's full post with all the details of this room and lots more photos by clicking here.

If you would like to donate directly to the Alma Project just head on over to Kate's Blog and on the sidebar on the right scroll down and you will find a link where you can donate through paypal. Or you can click here.

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

Free June Download and Alice Hansen

I hope you all are enjoying June so far! Oh how I love this time of year! We are off to the farmer's market this morning and hopefully will be having a little lemonade stand this afternoon. We had planned on doing it yesterday but it rained pretty much all afternoon and evening. Oh well, hopefully we will have better luck today. Lillie is quite excited about it!  

Just click on the picture below or here and you will be able to download it for free!

 

I also wanted to introduce this month's family that we will be contributing a portion of every sale on our website to. I read this story a few weeks ago and it absolutely broke my heart. Heidi over at Honeybear Lane shared about her beautiful and amazing sister-in-law, Alice Demske Hansen who passed away shortly after giving birth, leaving behind her husband, two young sons and her newborn daughter. Please keep this family in your prayers! You can visit Heidi's blog and read more about Alice and her family by clicking here.

We also ask you all to keep last month's family, the Voelkel's in your prayers as sweet little Lily who went home to be with Jesus on May 14th.

The Lily Voelkel Foundation

Each month we donate a portion of each sale to a family or foundation. This month we want to share with you about a sweet little girl named Lily. Lily was born with several congenital defects and at just six days old she had her first major open heart surgery – a top tier level heart surgery consisting of several procedures. She is now 2 years old and in that time has spent 21 months of that in the hospital. She’s undergone about 25 different surgeries, struggled through many viruses and infections, continues to produce puzzling medical conditions – and – through it all, she continues to fight off the medical problems – continues to smile – continues to show motivation and desire to learn, and proves her strength and spirit time and time again. You can read her full story by clicking here. One of our amazing customers Kris, shared her story with us and my heart completely broke as I read what this amazing little girl has had to endure and what her family has been through. Right now she is suffering from a very bad infection and she has practically no immune system to fight it off. Please keep her and her precious family in your prayers. To learn more about this darling girl and CHARGE syndrome please visit her website, the Lily Voelkel Foundation.

And here are a few photos of the beautiful Voelkel Family taken by the talented Kris of Echo Lake Photography.

These first two shots were taken in the PICU! Can you believe that?

You can find more pictures of the Voelkel Family, here, here and here.

We hope you all have a blessed Sunday and that you will keep sweet little Lily in your prayers!

Free February Download

I don't have any photos of this download in a frame but seeing how we have been receiving quite a few requests about our February download I thought I would get it up here for you all before the month was half over. Just click here to download it for free.  It has been a really long week or so and I have to admit I was tempted to use this one below:

Also,this month we will be giving a portion of all of our sales to Team Ashley of Lil Blue Boo! I was planning on recapping everything that Ashley has been going through, but Amy over at Evy's Tree has already written a post that perfectly explains Ashley and her beautiful spirit so I will just link to that. I couldn't possibly write it any better than she already has. If you have not ever been to Ashley's blog I HIGHLY recommend it. She is such an incredible inspiration! And make sure you have some tissues ready...


Also, I ask for your continued prayers for our extended family. I will be back tomorrow to share what happened last weekend and how God has been using it.

A Magazine Shoot and our January Family

As I mentioned last week, we have some exciting news. A couple of months ago we received an e-mail from an editor about photographing our home for their Christmas issue! It was a magazine I have purchased and read in the past so I was absolutely thrilled and so excited, to say the least! They will be coming later this month to shoot everything so our Christmas stuff will remain up for another two to three weeks. In fact, I still have several projects that I still need to finish. So, the posts I do over the next few weeks will still be kind of "Christmasy" or there will probably at least still be Christmas lights in the background. =) I didn't want you all to think I was that crazy person, though, that never takes down their Christmas lights.  I will share more about it once it gets a little closer and will definitely give all of the details after they come and shoot everything. I am going crazy trying to finish all sorts of projects now - ahhhh!!!!!

We also have another new thing we are excited about. This year, each month we are going to choose a different family/organization/cause to donate a percentage of EVERY sale made that month. At the beginning of each month we will share where it will be going.

I had already planned in my head who we were going to donate a portion of all of January's sales to when I saw a Facebook post on my friend, Ashley's wall about a little boy that she had recently photographed that completely touched me. I couldn't get it out of my head all day yesterday and seeing how we hadn't announced it yet on our blog or our facebook page we decided to switch it. So, this month a portion of all our sales will be going to Ethan and his family.  Little Ethan had surgery to remove a tumor above his eye on December 22 and was diagnosed with Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis (LCH), a rare cancer-like disease that affects 1:200,000 children. Ethan will most likely be starting chemo on Friday, which is his 3rd birthday. My heart just breaks for him and his family. If you would like to know more about Ethan and his family click here. Please keep him in your prayers.

Also, we have restocked some of our Briar Hats in black:

I can't believe how young Lillie looks in these pictures. She's grown up so much!

I am finishing up a free download for January and hope to have it available tomorrow.

I hope you all have had a wonderful start to 2012!