Here She Is...

More details here.

The Project Kit will be coming soon! (Around May 15th)

Tag Backs!

So, I realized after everyone and their mom posted on their blogs yesterday about being tagged, that the point is to keep tagging. I promise I'm not that kid that always just wants to be it to not have to relenquish the power of being 'it'. I'm not trying to be the 'IT' girl. ;) That suit wouldn't fit me.

I'm tagging only a few so we don't become redundant.

Brezomayo
Opaque Skies
I Do...What?

You're it!

Also, I hope you guys are saving your pennies.

The RVA Kit Club is launching on May 1 on our RVA blog... 'Lord, willin' and the creek don't rise!'

We're actually going to be putting the blog address on our RVA blog this weekend so check back.

I'm pretty excited to see the response. I hope you girls love it. The first three months are pretty diverse but all fit within RVA style.

Until then...

Enquiring Minds Want To Know...

Some pretty, pretty burp rags to add some color to this post.








I've been tagged by Charin (pronounced 'Karin').
You know the drill. Here's the list.

1. I ask a lot of questions about the details of the details. Sometimes I think its a disorder :) If you told me you had gone to the mall yesterday, I would ask, "Which mall did you go to?"; "Did you need something or were you just 'fun' shopping?"; "Was it busy?"; "Do you like shopping for hours or are you an 'in and out' person?", etc....I don't know why I do this but its how the small talk part of my brain works. I have to be careful not to ask too many questions with strangers. The problem is, when I get nervous, I just ask more questions.

2. I always leave the visor down in the car. This annoys Brett to no end. He's tall.

3. I can't go to bed before 10:30p.m. unless I'm really sick. It feels wrong.

4. I have to have a lot of light in whatever room I'm in.

5. I have a weak place in my heart for Silk, Chocolate Soy Milk.

6. I am a terrible singer.

7. I secretly wish for straight hair with lots of body.

8. I'd wear my red, mary jane's everywhere if they were that comfy.

9. Sometimes I stutter when I get excited.

10. I like things organized but I can't stand to take the time to organize. Why waste time on cleaning when you can be sewing?

If anyone says, "Me, too", in their head when they read this...show some love and leave a comment. I know there are more visor offenders out there.

Sunday Morning Tea and Rain

Last night, as I was upstairs washing my face and brushing my teeth, I heard some noise coming from my backyard. It had been raining a little off and on and was pretty late. I turned off my bathroom light, like a smart little investigator, and opened my bathroom window. I heard laughing and music and glasses clanging together. Then I heard some rather interesting comments about removing clothing and running to the Bar-B-Q and back. One of those voices was a girls and the others a boys. They were not mature voices. So, I did the polite thing and closed the window and went back to my own business. No, I didn't. I listened for about 10 minutes! After nixing the idea that I had the right to climb onto the fence and tell them to quiet down so I could get some sleep, and debating whether or not I should embarass them in order to keep things from getting too wild at such a young age, I retired to my bedroom and woke up my sleeping husband to inform him of the naughtiness going on outside. (I'd better clear the air here...there was a large tree blocking any naughty views, thank goodness.)
Well, I couldn't sleep for about two hours. This has been happening lately and is making me angry. I got up to use the bathroom again and could hear more noise! I'll spare you the details but I doubt they'll remember what they were doing in the morning.
Talk about a wild night.
I"m really surprised my husband was able to go back to sleep. I half expected him to suggest we join them or something:)

What would you make out of a few of these pretties?

I was wandering around on ReproDepotFabrics.com for an exciting reason, of which I'm not telling, and found some eye candy to tempt you all with. At least two of these are going to be featured in the first Red Velvet Art "ART KIT". We are starting out with both a Scrap Kit and an Art Kit to provide some variety. The Art Kit will include a sewing project easy enough for a beginner but still satisfying enough for the seasoned seamstress. OK, I told you a little bit.
We'll be posting more on the RVA blog soon so stay posted.

Be Back Soon!

Almost too many exciting things to choose from. Kit Club organizing, quilt commissioning, quiet book start ups, a canceled Festival to figure out, parenting class homework, tutoring, a baby to take care of and a husband to love on and none of it in that order. Not complaining, just putting it out there. Lots of fun pics to come.

Green love

A few Green artisans and their craft. These were spotted in this week's Time: Style & Design issue.

Karen Ryan's designs

Chris Haughton's illustrations

Anya Hindmarch's contribution

Piet Hein Eek's reclaimed materials (Shout out to our Dutch readers!)

I first heard about Fair Trade during my 9 month stay in Central England. Again, it came up during a trip to a monastery in Taize, France. It seemed so simple for me to make a few changes in the way I spent my money in order to support people who don't have the freedoms and opportunities I live with. I got on a few anti-this and that wagons and developed a cynicism for capitalism and went to the extreme of judging those that shopped at Wal-Mart (even though I snuck in to get a few things myself). Then I just dropped it and got caught up in being pregnant and moving to Seattle.

I felt a little more at home among other Fair Trade friendly Northwesterners and talking about the Green way of doing things became normal. I think I relaxed a lot. I decided that I can't worry about how any fabric I buy is probably from China because there is little I can do about that. I don't think I'm supposed to become an activist or a judger of others. I think I'm supposed to make good choices when those choices are available and spread a little awareness of those choices to others. No forcing, no finger pointing. Reuse what I can. Recycle when its available. Reduce my carbon footprint.

So here is my contribution today. Check out a few websites and see what a lot of artists are doing to make a difference. I think there are changes to be made but we have to want to do it ourselves.

Went for a walk

Shop Update

I've got too many bits and pieces cluttering up my studio area so I've decided to try my hand at a 'get started' kit. These are a few that will be posted here this weekend. The pages have been sewn together for sturdiness for a new total of 10 sides. Included are vintage trims as well as new and old fabrics. Use your fabrics to make a cover for your journal or sew them onto your pages. A great way to get started on an art journal if you've never tried one before.

In other news, my mom and I went to this huge Mennonite fundraiser at a local college and saw some beautiful quilts. Most of the detailed ones were up for auction and going for hundreds of dollars. There was a fair trade tent with items from workers in countries that don't have the human rights laws they should so all of the profit went back to paying them fair wages. I found a tea cup from Vietnam that I had ordered for Brett off a fair trade website years ago and hadn't been able to find since. I was so excited! So, I purchased a match for it and just appreciated all of the other things I would've loved to take home. Tons of cute college students and old people. It was refreshing.

Favorites

Easter Family Pics. No Laughing. We were scheduled for a studio that had moved locations since we'd been there last. So, we just went to the other end of the mall to the low end, 'no refund', no tripod studio where you can get a playboy background for an additional $5. Need I say more. This is what we got. Lets just say we have a hard time coordinating our schedules and won't be retaking one.

On a different note, this is stepping outside of the art box.

New favorite music. Camera Obscura. Andrew Bird. The Ponys.

New favorite etsy shops. Nice Face. Green Chair Press. Miss Bunny Shoes. For The Record.

Trip to the Mountains

We took a day off to visit the Sierras. We drove up about an hour from our house and landed at Shaver Lake to play on the beach for awhile. It was chilly and empty, just what we were hoping for. Still a touch of snow in the crevices but green and fresh. Back to the sewing machine tomorrow. Head over to the RVA blog to check out the ugly doll winner.

Couldn't think of a title.

I tried posting a comic from Sunday's paper (April 8th) but I can't seem to get the link to work to my source. If you're really interested, Google Baby Blues comic and check it out on the Seattle Times paper. If you're a scrapper, you'll laugh a little.
I have updated the shop with a few of these Pretties. More to come this week.
Also, check out this band.

Next

I'm so thankful for the contacts I made this weekend. It was a low sales event for all of the vendors since it coincided with Easter weekend but the weather was great and my neighbors were friendly. I saw some friends from high school that I hadn't heard from in awhile. I met two bloggers that live close by and came to say hi. Sebastian stayed with Grandma Mary and Big Poppie but stopped by both days. Sebastian got to ride his first pony! It almost shook him off when he started pulling on its mane. It was a slow Sunday and we were all glad for things to wrap up. The good news is, I still have a lot of product left for BabyFest and my Etsy shop.
I'm taking a few days off from sewing to spend some catch up time with Sebastian and Brett. I've got a few orders to fill. Bags and aprons were requested so I'm going to test out some new designs soon.
Thanks to everyone who left encouraging comments.
I have posted a few items in the Etsy shop and I'll be listing things all week.
I hope your Easter was peaceful.

Because Festivals are all about the Fun Drinks

Today was fun. More stories tomorrow. Time for family tonight.