Out of the mouth of babes !!!

The other day, my daughter Amanda said, "Mom you never quilt anymore, all you do is make purses, diaper bags, book bags and totes !"

Well, she is some what right. I spend the majority of my times these day filling orders for my One of a Kind Bags, which I love don't get me wrong. However, my first love is quilting and that is what brought me to where I am now.

So I decided to finish the last quilt my Mom worked on.

 Kinda bittersweet.

She made me promise before she passed away that I would finish her quilt and get it quilted so that it could go on my Dad's bed. She had all the piecing done, all I had to do was put on the borders and quilt it.

It took me almost a year to be able to look at much less work on this quilt. But after Mother's Day the time just seemed right and it is now on my machine getting quilted.
It is going to be beautiful when it is finished.

Don't you just love Amy Butler !!!!

I just love designing with Amy Butler fabric.

Here is just one of the great bags I have made using Amy Butler fabric.

This is a Diaper/Book bag, what a great bag with several pockets on the inside. This bag is so versatile and can be use for so many different functions.

I love the yellow and gray combination.

Custom Diaper Bag

Here is a look at a custom Diaper Bag I did for a customer.

She really wanted the fabric to be something both her and her husband could use. After weeks of searching I found this fabric from Alexander Henry. It has great shades of Black, Gray and White. Perfect for both her and her husband to carry.

She wanted the Diaper Bag to be taller and narrower than my original style, I shortened the strap and put one pocket on the outside and several on the inside.

It really turned out nice.

Mother's Day

I have to say, I had one of the best Mother's Day ever !!!!
I wasn't looking forward to this Mother's Day, it was going to be the first Mother's Day without my Mom. The week prior to Mother's Day I was sad and dreading the day.
However, my amazing family came through once again and gave me the best Mother's Day ever.
It started with my wonderful husband bringing me these gorgeous roses on Saturday.

Then on Sunday morning Jon arrived early and they made my favorite breakfast, blueberry pancakes. They made me stay in bed, and served me on a beautiful tray Amanda decorated.

Next they gave me my gifts, Amanda made two beautiful cards in her scrapbook class and another on in her class at school. They were all very cute.

Then Jon and Amanda gave me a disk of pictures that were taking a few weeks ago by a photographer friend of Jon's.

These are just two of the many great shots taken of my beautiful kids.

After breakfast we took a drive to Barnes and Noble where we got some Starbucks and looked at books and magazines.  The three of us found books we liked.

Then if that wasn't enough, my Dad came over and we ordered Pizza from my new favorite pizza place.

What a great day I had, Thanks to my wonderful family.

The Day has arrived.

I am so excited to announce that Raising Arizona Kids did a great article on One of a Kind Purses and me !!!
They have a section in their online magazine called Mom Entrepreneurs, my sister, Kathy, (PR Manager as I like to call her) wrote them several months ago and told them about me and my business.
They called me a few weeks ago and did a phone interview and last week they sent a photographer out to take pictures.
Of course I was a nervous wreak about the pictures, who like themselves in pictures anyway? Well, after teasing the photographer about using a special lens to hide the wrinkles, gray hairs and pounds, he did a really good job.
Check it out !!!!!

http://www.raisingarizonakids.com/index.php?page=1.other.default

Big shout out to Kate Spain !!!

Before I tell you why I am doing a big shout out to Kate Spain I need to start my story from the beginning.
I started a business back in Sept. of 09, not sure if it was something that was going to take off, so I didn't want to invest a lot of money. A friend talked me into starting a Facebook page for my business, she convinced me that it was free and what would it hurt.
She was right, it was free and easy and a great way to get my product out there.
After several months and quite a few buyers of my One of a Kind Purses, I was told I needed a website. Again, not wanting to spend a lot of money another friend talked me into doing it myself with Go Daddy. Oh sure I cando that, they told me it was sooooo easy. After a week of doing nothing but sitting at the kitchen table trying to set up my web page( worst week ever!) I finally got a web site up and running.
Several months go by and I was doing a boutique with my Purses, I got to talking with the other vendors and they told me I needed to be blogging.
Soooo, here we go again, days trying to set up a cute blog and trying to figure out what goes where and which HTML to cut and paste in which gadget, I started blogging.
My friend told me to start checking out other blogs, see what other ladies are doing and blogging about and to start networking with other bloggers.
Okay, I can do this, there are thousand of us out there doing the same thing right? It shouldn't be that hard, right?
I found lots of my favorite fabric designers and other very talented women and their great blogs, so I started following them. This is where my shout out finally comes into play.
I wrote notes to several of the bloggers, telling them I love their blog, love their work, love their fabric, I even ask advice and questions to these ladies. Can I say not one of them ever responded to my notes or questions. Until Kate !!!!!! I had followed her blog and of course love her fabrics and designs. Last week I was reading her blog where her parents are in New York and are passing a Crate and Barrel, and right there in the front window are plates with Kate's designs. I sent her a note saying Congrats and that I loved Crate and Barrel before but love them even better now that they have Kate Spain. Do you know she sent me a note the same day Thanking me for my note !!!!!!  I could not believe it, I called my husband into the computer room and told him, she replied, she replied. I also told him to be for warned that when Fandango comes out I buying it all.
I hope I haven't bored you with my long story, but I wanted to let other ladies who have  reach out and maybe have been ignored, that there are really nice, thoughtful people out there, and it is so nice a refreshing when someone takes a moment to acknowledge you.
Kate, Thank You !!!!!  You are not only talented and an inspiration to others but you are kind and thoughtful !!!

Construction

I decided it was time to spruce up my blog.
I will be working on it with the help from The Cutest Blog on the Block.
So, I  apologize for the mess, but please check back from time to time to see my caterpillar turn into a beautiful butterfly.