{the Toy Society}

I got a few emails asking about the Toy Society ~ just your average, basic questions, so I thought I'd address them here!

1) Is it easy?

Yup! If you like to sew or craft and have a few minutes of spare time, it's SEW easy!!

Just find your favorite softie (what my generation called "stuffed animals") pattern ~ or you can find one online ~ they're {everywhere}! Then, get sewing, knitting, or crafting! It doesn't even {have} to be a stuffed animal ~ it can be a small toy or crayon holder!

2) If I join the Toy Society, am I obligated to make a softie ASAP?!

Nope. Truth be told, because of my assorted health issues, it took me about 3 months or so after contacting them for info to actually do my drops!

3) How many do I {have} to do?!

How many do you {WANT} to do?! I did 7 drops on one day! Once you get making softies, they're pretty addictive ... and the best part's the dropping! We did our 7 drops in 3 different places all in about 1 hour!

4) If I sign up, will the Toy Society send me loads of SPAM?

Nope! In fact, other than their "Welcome" email when I first signed up, I've gotten no other unsolicited mail from them! They really do respect your privacy!

When it comes right down to it, the Toy Society is just for ... fun. For spreading some goodwill and love to others. And {especially} in this economic climate, what else could do so much for so little commitment or cost?

In fact, once I began letting the ladies that work at my fabric sources know about my purpose in buying the fabric, they scrounged up extra coupons and discounts to make it even easier for me! At one store, I got the "Wild and Wonderful Fleece Animals" book (by Linda Carr) AND about 8 yards of fleece fabric for $25!!

{good softie patterns}

Speaking of the "Wild and Wonderful Fleece Animals" book, I added it to my {books i love} sidebar. It's really an awesome book! The patterns are super easy to follow and go together so quickly! The critters are really super-cute, too!! And if you didn't know, Linda Carr (the author) has designed a few of the Muppets, too!! :)

Look for this book to be included in a giveaway, soon!! :)

If you'd rather support the Handmade movement, I'd {highly} recommend Vintage Ric-Rac'sEtsy store patterns. She is absolutely {A-MAZING}. If you can't tell, I'm a HUGE fan of hers. Her creations are so wonderful, so precious, so adorable, so ... awesome!!

And you {have} to stop by her blog if you haven't already (what am I saying?! Everyone knows Ric-Rac (AKA Jodie)!! But on the off-chance that you don't already know this amazing woman/crafter/sewist/mom/teacher/business woman/speaker ... you {have} to read the awesome stories and biographies that she concocts for her sweet softies.

And BTW, she has several freebie patterns at her blog!! And these aren't your average-no-wonder-it's-a-freebie kinda patterns ... they're AWESOME and oh, sew lovely!! Check them out!! :)

{the "blahs", the Toy Society and a giveaway!}

{the blahs}
Since my last bloggy blurb, a LOT has changed (TMI warning). We've (meaning, "I") found it necessary to (at least temporarily) take a "vacation" from my MIL ~ whom I believe I've mentioned here oodles of times. She was beginning to say inappropriate things to my kids ~ I can take a LOT of abuse, but I wasn't gonna sit back and watch the poop spill over and affect my kiddos.

So far, I'm sad to say, it's helped a lot. A LOT. There's more laughter in the house, less stress, and less ... drama. And even if it IS only temporary, and we invite Janie back in our lives (DH is still free to see her as he likes, obviously), we really and truly needed this "vacation." I think that this "vacation" really helped bring us together as a family (not trying to imply that my MIL isn't part of our family ~ I just meant our little corner of the family) and helped us to realize that life is good.

Since we took a sabbatical from my MIL, I came to the realization that life really IS good. To that end, I've sought treatment for my depression. Not the movie-of-the-week kind of depression ~ although it really was affecting my creativity ~ just the "enh-blah-blurgh" kinda depression. Where it's every bit as easy to sleep the day away as it is to sit and sew. So, a couple of visits to the doctor and three prescriptions later, I have a good anti-depressant medication that's making all the difference in the world. It's not a "magic pill" ~ it doesn't erase the depression, it just ... makes it easier to be happy. If that makes sense?!

My doctor (whom I adore ~ seriously, the man is awesome!) has also found the perfect blend of headache medications (I've suffered from migraines almost all my life ~ I remember having my first migraine when I was 6 years old). That, too, makes life much more ... Good.

{the Toy Society}
All of those things, all mushed up together and stirred well ~ along with a healthy, heaping dose of Toy Society softies making with my dearest daughter ~ has really made for a wonderful sabbatical from my bloggy-life. I feel refreshed, renewed ~ and for the first time in a LONG time: {creative!!}

{giveaway coming up!}
So, to celebrate, I'm going to come up with a giveaway. I dunno what it will be just yet ~ probably a squishy of some kind, plus a pattern or two. Maybe even a book. During my sabbatical, I've been going bonkers buying crafty books (and learning machine embroidery ~ but that's gist for another post!) ~ so I've got several {awesome} titles to choose from.

So, hopefully, my TMI post didn't turn you off so much that you won't stay tuned for details.

{more Toy Society}
But first {and this is ALWAYS great for inspiration}, my daughter and I will be playing "Secret Squirrel" tomorrow. We've got 7, count'em SEVEN, softies to hide for some sweet child to discover. Three penguins, two froggies, one piggie and one lamb that will hopefully find new, loving homes tomorrow.

So, if anyone's reading this in the Panama City Beach area and has small children {or just loves softies}, be sure to sneak over to Frank Brown Park, Hobby Lobby (on 23rd Street ~ at the Fabric Counter/Patterns Corner) and the PCB library tomorrow afternoon ~ those are the first three places we're going to go all Secret Squirrel at.

And if you've got more ideas on where great places are to leave stuffed critters needing a nice Forever Home, holler at me!! I have several more softies all cut out to sew up tomorrow!!

For now, though, I'm going to bed. Hopefully, I'll have a cute pixie of the softies we made ready for this post in the morning. I hate not having a neat pixie for my posts!!

Anywho, love to you all ~ and great BIG sew-y craft-y hugs!!!

xoxoxo
Connie

{give-away winners}

Okay, it's only been what? two weeks nearly? since I gave the deadline for the give-away (and have been promising to announce the winners) and {finally} here I am!

Before we get to the winners (if any of you still actually *remember* that there was a give-away here), here's my excuses in no specific order:

1. Wanted my dear daughter to be in the pix-ies showing the drawn names. Since she's really been an super-eager supporter of all of my sewy-crafty pursuits, I really wanted her to be a part of it. Alas, though, she's been spending all of her free time either with her friends or preparing for her upcoming SCUBA diving class (Yay for her!).
   
   
2. Me be in the pix-ies?! You gotta be kidding. Bad, bad, bad, bad hair year. 'Nuff said.
   
   
3. MIL issues. Driving. Me. Crazy. Good thing FL has decent gun control laws. Otherwise, I'd be blogging from a 6x6 cell in our local pokey, wearing lovely orange overalls.
   
   
4. {and the NICE excuse} I just can't seem to stop looking for little add-ons. Every single time we went out these past two weeks, I have been obsessively hunting for cute 'n' funky add-ons to the give-away. I even put Mr Creative on "cute alert." And no, he wasn't happy about it.

Okay, so now that I've begged for forgiveness for being behind, may we have a drum roll, please?!

* ba-da-ba-da-ba-da-ba-da ... DUM*

The winners are:

suesueb (who said: "found you through one pretty thing. darling embroidery patterns! Easter will be here too soon!!)
{suesueb wins the red-y-orange Anna Maria Horner FQ bundle}

mushyhed (who said: Love, love, lor new embroidery patterns!)
{mushyhed wins the greenish-blue Amy Butler FQ bundle}

YAY!!! Darlin' winners, if you please, send me your addies and I'll get these squishies (though, perhaps a bit stiffer than the average squishy) off to you tout de suite! :)

In just a bit, I'll see if I can't give you a teaser of what your "squishies" will look like! ;)

{next up .... spring embroidery patterns}

{updates x2}

{excuses, excuse, excuses ...}

As ya'll remember, I had a give-away going here. Two FQ bundles of Anna Marie Horner's "Good Folks" and Amy Butler's "Daisy Chain."

Well, I got majorly distracted over the weekend, starting Saturday. Hubby went to the local nursery we love and bought some sea-grapes (didn't even know you could buy them), a funky plant called a "Troubichina" (which has the coolest leaves -- huge with a felt-like texture -- they'll also have ginormous purple flowers, too!), and bought me some tulip plants ('cause he *knows* I loves the tulips!). Along with the new "babies" he bought 14 bags of soil and 8 bags of mulch. Great, right? I congratted him on his awesome purchases and ducked back into my studio. We've been together long enough to know that if he can *see* you, he can put you to work.

Twenty minutes later, 3 things happen.

1. My pre-teen son comes into my studio, taps me on the shoulder and says quietly "Um ... I'm going to go help Dad in the yard." What?! My son was happily playing video games in the living room (he's been around long enough to know the whole "see you, put you to work" thing, too). My son is about as into yard work as he is into voluntary amputation. Already, I know this is Not Good.
2. I hear cursing in the yard (my studio window faces our backyard and pool - awesome for inspiration, terrible for guilt when DH is doing yard work) and "chop-chip-chop" sounds.
3. I drag my eyes off the compie screen (and pull the earbuds out of my ears) to see my dear hubby chopping our azalea bushes as though they had slapped his momma. We had five in the backyard when I started my project. Within moments, we had 3 1/2 -- one was already *gone* and the other casualty was quickly following. I'm serious, you could almost see terror on the little azalea flowers' faces.

(Azalea's *were* hurt during the course of this story, but not only were they already w-a-a-a-y past the prime of their lives, I had **nothing** to do with their early demise. I can say, however, they are living a "second life" in the form of compost and will go on to help make beautiful flowers, trees, and veggies)

So ... of course, at this point, I go out to not only see if I can help, but to render first aid if necessary. Trust me, I was not only groaning as I walked outside, I was also mentally preparing excuses for why I could only "stay for a moment."

"A moment" became 10 HOURS. I kid you NOT. We dug up the Azaleas, planted the sea grapes in their place, spread "cottage garden" wildflowers seeds (pulling up the azaleas left LOTS to real estate to plant new stuff), and potted the Troubichina and tulips. And then, in the way we gals will often wrangle new drapes to go with new carpet or furniture, DH had me scrubbing the oogie grime off our concrete pool "skirt"/patio.

So, out of that 10 hours, I spent 2 scrubbing the patio to a lovely gleaming shine (I kid you not). But once I did that, I noticed how lonely and sad (and utterly UNattractive) our patio was. So I cleaned our patio furniture, put the potted plants next to the door (which is my studio door, too, so I *did* have a vested interest in how it looks), pulled a potting table (for lack of a better word) of the poolhouse and gave the patio a makeover. So far, I've been getting compliments - though I don't think that my imaginary friends count for *that* much, do they?

Sunday: I'm sure there's *OODLES* of women out there who can commisserate, my MIL came for dinner. At least, I *think* it was dinner. Felt more like Hell but with stories about her childhood. I think I was more worn out once she left than I was after scrubbing our patio on my hands and knees for two hours. I dunno.

Monday: I napped. 'Nuff said.

Tuesday: Laundry, dishes, entertaining dear daughter's friends, made dinner, cleaned out the fridge, cleaned our *&^%$# hardwood floors, did the big shopping trip ... had to make up for Monday, yannow.

Today: Took car into shop (makes a *really* embarrassing grind-y rattl-y noise) so our awesome mechanic could order me a new catalytic converter.

All the spaces in between: I can't STAND nekkid fabric squishies. I'm not criticizing others who're fine with them ... I just can't stand it myself. So, everytime I did an errand, I'd take a pit stop to look for small goodies to add in the give-away squishies. Vintage buttons, new buttons, bookmarks, notepads ... greens/blues for the Amy Butler fabs, and pinks/reds for the Anna Marie fabs.

I'm going for the big, fun kinda giveaway. Where for each give-away (and I do have more coming up), the excitement isn't just for the fabs you'll get, but the little add-ons, too. Just ... kitschy fun stuff. Silly stuff. Just so maybe you'll take a sec and remember that the biggest inspiration for creativity is FUN. Not deadlines (took me YEARS to understand that), but pure, silly, goofy, dorky, FUN.

And I know I had dorky, silly, goofy fun picking out the add-ons! So I've got THAT! :)

Okay, I'm going to go officially close the comments section for that post and then I'm going to print out all the names so my dear daughter can draw the names. I'll take pix-ies, too, so ya'll can actually see my dear sweet daughter's face! ;)

{Easter embroidery}

To go along with the placecards (mainly because my sweet daughter insisted -- she and her BFF *love* the birdies! Aren't I lucky?!), I've created these embroidery patterns for them. One's a boy chick (*giggle*) and one's a girlie chick (you can see her right up there). Both have places to put a cute little message (like "I luv you" or "Who are you again?"). And both are turning out to be oodles of fun to embroider.

{you can click on the girlie birdie up there to quickie download the patterns!}

Speaking of which, I'm still going to try my hardest to take some pix-ies today. The weather is just {not} cooperating. Still rainy. Still thundery and lighteningy. Even if I couldn't tell by looking out the window (my studio has the most windows in the whole house), I could tell by the fact that Buddy-the-Wonderdog is huddling against my legs. Lord help the poor pooch if I have to get up for a potty emergency. I'm sure he'd end up with me as a hood ornament!

{give-away}

... is still going strong, so please, take a sec and leave a comment if you'd like to win some yumm-O fabs. Anna Marie Horner's Good Folks and Amy Butler's Daisy Chain FQs are up for grabs. Only "string" is that you have to leave a comment here.

I'm honestly {hoping} for at least 20 comments on my {give-away} post. I may even end up dragging it out (hoping not, though) until I {do} get at least 20. Just doesn't seem like much of a contest/give-away if I don't have more contestants. :(

Have a few more freebies to roll out ... keep an eye out if you're interested! :)

{sewy-crafty hugs!}

{give-away!}

To "celebrate" my comeback to the bloggy world, I'm giving away two FQ bundles (just ordered from two of my fave Etsy shops)! Yay!

The bundle on top is 3 fat quarters from the Amy Butler "Daisy Chain" collection (yum!). The bundle on the bottom is 4 fat quarters from the Anna Marie Horner "Good Folks" collection (dah-rool!).

For a chance to win, just leave a comment here between now and Friday, April 3rd. It doesn't have to be a l-o-o-n-g comment - just a "hey-hawdya-do" will be fine! I'll announce both winners Saturday morning, bright and early. And then, just a few days later, you'll have these luscious fabs in your hot, little hands!

Here's hoping that you'll take a sec and say "hi!" :)