Craft Project Complete!

So I've been wanting to make this for months and I finally got around to it this weekend. If you remember back in June I had a list of my favorite baby DIY projects and this breast feeding cover was one of them. Well here is my finished version and just in time for fall shows and grandma's visit in October!

While I'm at it...Here is a pic of my beautiful baby Gabe who is now two and a half months old.  He is all giggles and smiles lately especially around the camera. He has started cooing and is desperately trying to crawl or stand on my lap any chance he gets.

PS. As you can imagine I've been busy, busy with baby and getting ready for fall shows along with my Austin Craft Riot duties. The blog tends to come last to all those things and I apologize because I enjoy sharing these projects with you. I've got lots of new stuff I'm working on that I'll try and post soon as well as a long overdue recap of my sisters visit to Austin. All for now.

Get Organized!

With a newborn baby, getting ready for fall shows and trying to keep up with my Austin Craft Riot duties I've been been scribbling notes and lists on anything I can get my hands on. I need to get organized so I can better time manage my day (Example: I'm writing this at 4:30am while trying to coax a two month old back to sleep). So, I created this little weekly check list based on one Etsy put out at last years Craft Party {click HERE to see Etsy version}.


I love planners, especially this ONE from Robo Roku, but I liked the idea of being able to fold this into a pocket size piece that I can easily take in my purse or pocket to run errands, etc. That and I had just downloaded a ton of fun fonts I wanted to play with. :)

The version below is a little different then mine. I generalized the daily checklists for the average crafter/shop owner. Click on the image to download a copy from Google Docs. Enjoy!

And There Were Three...

So the blog may be a little slim again this week because my two awesome little sisters are coming to visit! I'm sure I'll have some adventures to share next week as we intend to explore all things Austin yet again. We'll also be doing a little consignment shop tour and craft day so I'll hopefully have some fun new projects to share as well.

I've always been fond of this old picture of the three of us with my grandpa at the ranch in Nevada so I thought I would share it with you.

Happy Monday, have a great week everyone!

Get Hammered @ The WonderCraft

Newborn baby and family made their second outing into the real world (outside of hospitals and shopping at Target) last night to visit the WonderCraft fashion event "Get Hammered". Our first venture was Austin Flea at the Highball back in July. We figured being a crafty family we better start the kid off early. For a few hours last night new mom and dad were able to enjoy a few cocktails with friends while baby Gabe enjoyed the stimuli of new sounds and color.

Gabe sported a mustache onsie by Beth of Paired Hearts in support of the handmade goods sold at the WonderCraft.

The WonderCraft hosted artist Teresa Basa and her beautiful collection of jewelry for Austin fashion week. Teresa was originally born in Chili, then moved to California and currently has a studio in Round Rock, TX. Her jewelry is made of traditionally dyed Chilean horsehair, copper, brass, recycled silver and re-purposed leathers. You can find her products online at teresabasa.com, at Parts & Labor or the Mexic-Arte-Museum here in Austin.

The "Get Hammered" event allowed guests to create their own personalized metal stamped jewelry in demonstration of the WonderCraft's new Craft Bar menu of make-and-take projects now available to the public. You can find a full list of the standard make-and-take projects available at the WonderCraft HERE.

This is the adorable metal stamped necklace I made. It is a play off my son's and my initials, TG and GT. I love how it turned out with the letters highlighted in marker giving it an antique look.

In addition to Teresa Basa the event featured several other vendors and artists including specialty sodas by Rollerfeet Sodas (now available at the WonderCraft), CHOCBite build your own candy bars, and Christie Mathis Ultralicious Photography.

Hubby and baby hanging out while I made jewelry and chatted with friends. I had to laugh at the fact Gabe kept himself content by eating his fist half the night because we forgot his pacifier. His dad went home with a huge slobber spot on his nice shirt.

Here is a preview of the awesome goodies available for sale at The WonderCraft including my recycled license plate ornaments and our new CD coaster sets featured below. Make sure to stop by and check out all the amazing handmade products available for sale from artists such as GemJunkie, Polished Two, Craft Chi, Paired Hearts, Baby Bolt, Lip Glossery and many more.

Being a Mom...

Being a mom definitely keeps me busy! We've had a rough couple days again without a lot of sleep but we're starting to find our routine. Its definitely a struggle to find a balance between being a full-time mom and trying to run a full-time business from home. I'm just grateful to be home and know that it only gets easier from here on out. I've had some great support from family and friends so thank you all.

I'm currently working on applying to all the upcoming fall shows along with making lots of product ahead of time as its going to be a slower process with baby around. Check out the blog and my Facebook for more info on fall shows as it becomes available.

Thank you all for your patience with my shop and blog as I continue to find balance over the next couple weeks (or months!).

Its a Pooh Bear Room!

We had a lot of fun putting together our baby room over the last couple months. Now that baby Gabe is here we are enjoying it even more! Before we knew what the sex was we decided we were going to stay neutral with our color pallet either way. I'm not a huge fan of the bright blue or pink traditional color pallets so we picked out this earthy green paint and went from there. I knew I wanted to theme the room with forest creatures and Pooh bear so our first big purchase was our classic Pooh bed set on clearance (always a thrifty shopper!). Our furniture came from Ikea, the little bear chair from a thrift store for $5, some fun Etsy posters and the rest is handmade.

The poster below came from a craft fair two years ago and the sock monkeys a friend made for me and baby. I hope to have an entire army of sock monkeys by the time he's old enough to play with them. I adore them. :) The robot painting on the right was given to us by another friend. It isn't Pooh bear but it matches our color pallet and is a nice contrast.

One of the first projects I started for the baby room was these Pooh bear wall hangings that matched the new bed set. I cut the characters out of felt and hand stitched the details along with the quote, "You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think" by Christopher Robin. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out.

Its not handmade but I love this classic Pooh cookie jar that a family member gave us. It fits in the room perfectly! Also, you can't forget about my fabric covered coffee cans I made for storage and lighting. They were so fun and easy to make. Check out HERE for a DIY tutorial.

A few of my favorite things in the room are displayed on this shelf above the changing table. They include my vintage Pooh bear that I had when I was little, an alphabet poster with woodland creatures by Green Nest, another adorable tree print I picked up from Laura George, and a collection of owls including a candle by Pommes Frites.

Hope you enjoyed taking a peak at our Pooh bear room. Happy Friday!

A Handmade Baby Shower

Thanks to all my amazing family and friends for everything you do!

I'm Back...Again!

We finally welcomed our baby boy Gabriel Thomas into the world last week! We are all happy, healthy and glad to be settling back into our routine at home. I would apologize as usual for my absence on the blog but I'm hoping you'll understand. :) In honor of our little man, expect that this weeks posts will consist of everything baby; including a sneak peak at our baby room, baby diy projects, a photo montage of our adorable baby shower and more. Enjoy your week!

I'm Back! A Little Update on Life...

Well a lot has happened since I stopped writing last August. On top of trying to run a full-time business I started a part-time job at a dog boarding facility in Georgetown, TX. It was a fun experience as I love working with animals of any shape and size. My market business on South Congress picked up drastically after partnering up with Kelly from GemJunkie and in November we found out I was pregnant! After my first big craft show, Austin Craft Riot, the next few months just flew by. I was lucky enough to spend time at home in Idaho where I spread all the good news to my family and friends over Christmas.

After a short break in January I started selling again at the Gibson Street Market on South Congress just in time to get ready for SXSW. After that it was crunch time making lots of new product for my biggest show ever...Renegade Craft Fair, an international craft fair circuit with over 200 handmade vendors. It was an amazing experience. Since Renegade I have left my part-time job at the dog boarding facility and am back to focusing full attention on my shop and getting ready to be a full-time mom. I've had fun putting the finishing touches on the baby room, relaxing in the heat of TX, and making brand new products for my shop (check them out HERE!)

Some of my current obsessions that you can look forward to seeing more of on the blog are woodland creatures great and small; babies and everything cute that comes with them; screen printing (my newest endeavor); anything vintage including bicycles, eye glasses, keys, umbrellas, books, typewriters, birdcages and I've even jumped on board the mustache craze! I look forward to bring you lots of goodies, fun DIY projects, beautiful photos and more. Have a great summer!