The Happy Pear Pincushion - In Pop Garden

This is another one of my Happy Pear pincushions that I have listed in my Etsy shop. It is made from some beautiful Heather Bailey fabric as well as felt and embroidery floss. I think this is one of my favorite pears so far. It is available here, so check it out if you'd like :).

These pincushions make great gifts and they don't have to be used as pincushions at all! They would look great made into a decorative arrangement or just set individually on a desk or windowsill. Very cute and fun!

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

A Quick Tip for Cardmaking

Have you ever been in the process of making a card when you realize that you have already put your adhesive on the back of a piece of paper and you needed to attach a brad or sew some stitches or something else like that before you put on the adhesive?

This happened to me today and I was about to become quite frustrated when I suddenly had one of those "ah-hah!" moments.

You know the filmy-paper stuff that they put on the back of sticker sheets? Well, I realized that although I didn't know of any of that just sitting around our house, I did have wax paper.

So I decided to try it... and it worked!

Just cut some strips of wax paper, place them over the adhesive runner-ed spots on your paper...

Then go ahead and flip the paper over and do whatever you needed to and the paper won't stick to whatever it touches! This technique is also good if you forgot to practice positioning it before putting on the adhesive as well.

In my case, I forgot to stitch on a piece of paper and I didn't want to do it through all the layer and end up having it show on the inside of my card.

When you are finished doing whatever it is that you forgot to do, just turn over your paper and peel off the wax paper strips and stick it on your card!

Here's my finished card:

A New mini me Apron in My Shop

I have listed a new "mini me" child-size apron in my shop and you can check it out here. These aprons are so fun to make! Just thought I would write a quick post instead of waiting another month again...sorry about that! I hope everyone is having a great day and I hope you have a great weekend!

~Rachel

For Your Spring Picnics

Hello again!
Here are some napkins made from Heather Bailey's gorgeous fabric that would be perfect to bring with you on your spring picnics. They are available in my shop here so check 'em out if you'd like! The listing is for a set of 4, 2 of each type.

This last picture is a gift idea: a couple of altered clothespins (not currently listed in my shop but if you are interested I may be able to whip a few up for you!), a re-usable produce bag, cloth napkins, and (of course!) a gift bow to top it off. The bow is not in my shop right now either, but I have it available if you ask. To "ask", just send me a convo in my Etsy shop!

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

~Rachel

New patterns in my shop!

I have finally listed all of my Portabellopixie boutique sewing patterns in my shop! It took a little while but I am glad they are listed now. I had been procrastinating for a while now and this morning I decided it would be a good thing to check off of the list today! Here are some pictures of my favorite ones: The Claire

The Cupcake Pincushion

The Gracie

Of course I like the last one, as Gracie is also my dog's name! Well, okay, so that isn't the real reason I like this pattern, but she is cute, isn't she? :).

Birthday Card

I just came across a great new blog called Card Sketch a Day - Here is my version of sketch #180:


Thanks for looking!

Good Finds at Jo-Ann's

Jo-Ann's was having a President's Day sale and I picked up these fun items! I absolutely love the Dual Duty XP thread so I had to add a few more colors to my collection. I finally remembered to snip a small amount of thread from each spool I had and brought them along so I wouldn't accidentaly buy any repeats!

The beautiful bright lemon fabric is from Alexander Henry. The first time I saw Alexander Henry fabric at Jo-Ann's I about flipped. Unfortunately I never got enough of this lemon fabric and they didn't have it for a really long time. I would always check "just in case", but was always disappointed...until this time! I just got 3 yards, but I think it will be plenty for a while. The best thing? It was on sale from its regular price of $8.99/yd. for 30% off, and I had a 10% off my entire regular and sale priced purchase! Yipee!

Hope you're having a great day!

~Rachel

Kiss a lot of Frogs

MYTH #1: You have to kiss a lot of FROGS to find your prince.

This card is available for sale here and would be perfect for Valentine's Day or to be used as an anniversary card!

Just thought I'd drop in really fast, so there you have it ;).

Snow days, Baking and Gifts Given and Received

Whew! A lot has been going on since I last posted. Let's get things started!

First off, we are finally getting some snow in our part of Virginia! Yipee!! I love snow and am so happy to see a white landscape once again.

From a week ago or so:

Currently/before it started melting:

As for baking, I made pretzels on the "week ago or so" snow/ice day:

...and I made White Chocolate Cherry Shortbread Cookies today:

Four ladies in our church are having (or have recently had!) babies, so I was sewing up a storm making baby gifts (fun!).

This little apron (a smaller version of this apron - and with different fabrics) is for the big sister of one of the babies-to-be.

A gift received from my mother who just got back from a little trip with her mother and sister:

Isn't it pretty?

Whew! I told you there was a lot! I think I will have to post some more to cover the other things I've been doing...

More coming soon! :)

I'm having an aFteR ChRisTmAs SaLe!

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted! Where does time go? My mother and I just got back from an overnight shopping trip to the D.C. area and it sure was fun! I've got one word for you: ANTHROPOLOGIE! We spent ... uh-hum... very close to 3 HOURS in that lovely awesome store! It was our very first time visiting an Anthropologie store and we took advantage of it! It was way better than I had ever expected :). Now if only they would get one closer to us... .

Anyway, back to the aFteR ChRisTmAs SaLe. I currently have a few mini It's a HOOT! owl softie ornaments left as well as some pretty handmade gift bows, some paper curl ornaments (paper curls placed inside of a clear glass ball ornament), and all of my rubber stamps are still on sale!

Last, but certainly not least, please keep in mind that after February 10th, 2009 many Etsy (and other!) sellers will not be able to afford to have their handmade childrens' items inspected, so many of us won't be able to sell handcrafted kids' items (this includes those cute outfits and burp cloths and many other items sold currently) after that date :(. Please keep this in mind and make sure you stock up on the items that you love or would like to purchase now! This is a really sad thing and there are so very many talented craftsters out there that will be losing out from this new law. I am hoping that there will be a revision soon! Check out the "save handmade" link to the right in my blog for more info.

{child size apron in my shop}

I hope you all have a wonderful and blessed new year!

~Rachel