Craft Fair Countdown Has Begun

Come see me and Theresa at this year's Holiday Craft Market. We'll have bags and shrines and bags and art and bags for sale!!!

love,
~*michelle*~

Tilly & the Wall + Sesame Street = AMAZING

Tilly & the Wall on SESAME STREET from Team Love on Vimeo.

Not normally something I would post but for those of you who don't know... I have been obsessed with this band for about three years. Also Sesame Street was where I grew up! So this makes sense to me :)

love,
~*michelle*~

Just in time for the @#$%&* holidays

If you have a sense of humor at all, you have to check out these greeting cards:

Mature Holiday Gift Cards

Hilarious Gift Cards

love,
~*michelle*~

Amp Cover for Todd

Um ya, I made Todd an amp cover for his vintage '65 Ampeg Jet and it is pretty awesome. The color in the photo came out bad unfortunately. Imagine Padres colors in the 80s: gold stitching on a nutmeg color canvas. I am hoping others may be interested although I don't need to add to my list of things to do.

love,
~*michelle*~

Your Thoughts

Dearest friends,

I have a new banner at the top of my shop... any constructive criticisms? I am still playing with format and getting it from photoshop where it is crisp to the world wide web where is becomes blurry. Any useful tips on that are much appreciated.

Also, FREE SHIPPING through the new year! "OMG" is what you just said when you read that.

All purchases now come with a little special something and it is all wrapped up using recycled packaging materials and fabric scraps. Not in a janky sort of way but in a way that will make you all warm and fuzzy inside.

love,
~*michelle*~

Sew What

I have been going non-stop for the past few weeks... babysitting for five different families, work at the museum, and sewing. I can't believe I haven't got sick despite less sleep and poor eating habits.

With the craft fair quickly approaching, I am feeling the pressure and find myself dreading sitting down at my sewing machine. I try to avoid it by doing anything but sewing. This little game does not last very long seeing as there is not much to do when it rains for a week straight. I have about 20 finished bags I haven't posted on Etsy and even more cut out just waiting to be all stitched up. I am really focused on grocery/shopping totes.

In a perfect world all my bags will be sold so I can buy all the sweet items I have been collecting on my Etsy Favorites page! I have completely gone from finding things I want to get for others to selfishly looking for myself. I am sorry but I can't help it with all the cool handmade and vintage goodies.

As I mentioned it has been raining, a lot. It will pretty much rain until May with short bursts of sunshine and rainbows. On my way home the other day I saw a double rainbow over a pasture. I could see the whole thing! I pulled over to take a picture and my camera battery was dead, so sad. Here is a cheater picture I didn't take...


love,
~*michelle*~

IPA Homebrew

Some of you know we homebrew. Todd is more the mastermind and I am more the one who helps out whenever four hands are needed. The goal is always an IPA which is a hoppier version of a pale ale. Not a beer for sissies thats for sure. Super bitter and, when well balanced, perfectly sweet. Tonight we tapped another attempt at an IPA. We have made a few before but we really super charged this one. At around 90 IBUs of perfection I am not complaining. If you're lucky this will be making a trip down to San Diego for sure! ...if it lasts that long ;)

New (to me) Fabric

I went down to San Diego to visit family a few weeks ago for my brother Andre's 25th birthday! It was so so so much fun. In 72 hours we packed in birthday celebration, fabric shopping, beer, hugs, etc. I wish I could do it every weekend. Actually every day would be better.

I also had time to rummage through my Aunt Susan's sewing room for fabric. This seemed overwhelming but I was up for the challenge! In three hours or so I managed to go through maybe a third of it and scored on some awesome fabric for my purses and bags. I have already made a few and posted them in my shop. I could only get half of it on the plane so I will definitely making another trip.

Using rare fabrics gives my bags a little extra something special. Now I am on the hunt for vintage fabric with funky mod prints and patterns. I have been experimenting with new designs and am open to suggestions.

love,
~*michelle*~

I Finally Made A Shirt

This is my first real shirt. I am pretty stoked on how it turned out and it wasn't that hard at all. I pretty much just started cutting around a shirt I have that fits me well. The fabric is some sort of soft synthetic knit in a magenta color and I used my favorite fabric ever to add a little something extra. Now I have an excuse to go out, hint hint Todd ;) So I am getting ready for this craft fair. This means sleeping less and sewing more. I have never been so productive and experimental. Just today I made the tiniest little handbag just to practice some stitches and work out the kinks in a couple new techniques. So far so good! I am hoping to make some really nice totes and purses from this design.

Hmmmmm what else is going on with me...??? Oh ya last night and this morning there have been little earthquakes. Hops has not been too happy about this and seems concerned about the fact that we live on top of a pool. Not sure how it will hold up if a big earthquake was to occur. You are probably wondering, "Who is Hops?", well he is my border colllie. Just the other day the chickens got out and he helped herd them in the coop. All of his herding instincts just kicked in and from what I hear he did a good job. I am going to take him on a walk now.

What a cutie!

love,
~*michelle*~

Kids and Babies

Here are some kids and babies gift I picked out for this round of handmade goodness holiday gift giving guide ;)

Too cute

I will be adding to this list so check back!

love,
~*michelle*~