Happy Monday To You

We had a fabulous time at the Grand Opening event at Red Velvet Art! It was packed from the ribbon cutting ceremony until closing time and such a fun gathering of old friends, blog friends, and new customers. Silje and her friend, Irene, were able to make it down for the party and brought their cute doggies. We were looking forward to a whole weekend visit but it got cut short when Silje ate some bad Sonic and got food poisoning. NO FUN. (Silje, I hope you're feeling better!) It would've been the perfect night had Emma been there, too.


Sebastian mingled with the pretty girls and got away with licking the frosting off of four cupcakes. He ate his first one with me, his second two with Brett, and the last one with me again. We both assumed that he'd only had two and since it was a special night, two were okay. Ha! He was nice enough to set them back on the table when he was done with the good part so others could enjoy them. He's a thoughtful boy.


All in all, it was a thrill to be a part of this dream come true for Elsie and to know how much love and support family, friends, and online connections have been offering. Thanks for all the well wishes! (Above photos by Will, borrowed from Elsie.)

This weekend was my official Recovery Weekend. We spent a lot of time at home enjoying each others' company outside in the backyard and cleaning various parts of the house that have been targets of massive crafting without any clean up for the past three weeks. I'm still changing out the kit club set up and leftover supplies to accommodate my new product organization. To the untrained eye, it may appear worse than it was before. Slow progress is still progress.


Two of my last projects for the store opening were really fun to make. I did a series of five embroidered Tipi hoops that are currently hanging up in the shop. I used a vintage, gingham bed sheet for three, a vintage gingham cloth napkin for one, and a new blue gingham for the last one. I can't get over tipis. I love them. I've got some big plans for tipis.

The other project was making simple plushie dolls that were as gender neutral as possible without being too generic. Meet Henry the bear. He's made from a vintage woven fabric that is as soft and thick as little arms would need for squeezing at bedtime and has a little embroidered 'XO' on his backside. He is currently available in store and coming soon to the website.


Lastly, Elsie and I have decided to open up sign ups for our Spring Online Class after many, many e-mail requests to allow people to join in the fun. We are less than a week away now and my excitement is growing daily! As much as this class is for you to learn new techniques and come away with 30 new projects to enjoy, it has been just as inspiring for us to create these projects and test out ideas we've been thinking up. It has filled my notebook with even more design ideas and projects that I'm excited to turn into product for RVA or for future online classes.

You can purchase a slot for the class by clicking on the 'BUY NOW' button in the left hand column. You'll receive an e-mail upon payment with the information to our private blog so you can review the supply list and class dates and read up on classmates interviews. I'm really looking forward to getting to know some of you even better in the next eight weeks. It's going to be SO MUCH FUN!

Happy, Happy Monday!