Oh deer!

I have been working on some things for the up coming events. The little deer are one of the new
items I will be showing this weekend. If you are in the area come on out to the first East Nashville Arts Fest happening this Saturday and Sunday 11am-7pm. . Not only will you see your local favs but a lot of new faces never before seen in Nashville. GO check out the facebook page here.
We will have over 50 vendors!



If you have other plans and just cannot make it this weekend then next weekend May 29th I will be at the Hands together in Flatrock Music & Atrs Festival in Coleman Park 10am-4pm. This is the 3rd year for this festival with over 50 artist participating. Here is where you will find more information as well as the music line up.





I am soooo excited! Stop by and say hello, I'd love to meet you.

German town Street Festival

Last week end was the German town Street Festival and here are some pictures of all the crafty goodness. The photos are courtesy of my favorite artist and friend Jodi Reeves. Jodi was attending as a patron not a vendor! However she did assist in setting up my booth and did some interviews with other crafters as well as taking over 100 photos. I'm sure you will be seeing more of the festival on her blog.

The pillows are something new for me and I have been having a lot if fun with them. The pillows are like little pieces of art with so many possibilities. It's easy to get carried away, for example the flower power pillow. I'm not sure I will ever make another, it was so tedious. That flower has 50 hand cut, hand sewn petals! I'd keep it myself but alas I have Boris (destructor of pillows) and Thomas the cat...the pillow would never last in my home. However the "Woodland" series is pulling me into the world of forest creatures, mushrooms, trees and flowers. I'm loving the burlap and suede combination.

Hopefully I will have another event soon, I'll know by next week end. Meanwhile you may find me locally at Art & Invention here in the hood...East Nashville on Woodland across from the post office near 5 points.

Hooties are flying out the door!

I have packaged the hooties and they are on the way to their new homes. Tonight I will see Jodi at her opening in Riverside Village and will not need to mail, but wanted her to get a pretty package as well. I wrapped them in old unused pattern sheets, tied with tulle and stamped tag.

Yesterday I visited Great Stuff here in East Nashville as the owner Elizabeth had contacted me after seeing my wares in Art & Invention. Elizabeth also has a store in Franklin so now another place to buy White Cottage locally. Both Art & Invention and Great Stuff will carry cutie hooties, sweet tweets and shadowboxes.

If you are local come on out to the show tonight, find details here. If you haven't seen The Creative Jar's new stuff you are really missing out, go check it out NOW! A very hippie chick vibe happening! LOVE IT!

I live in my jammies somedays

Whew, what a weekend! I am actually kind of glad for the cold rainy day today as I have an excuse to stay in my jammies. I thought I could be real low key and no one would ever be the wiser to this fact....hmmm WRONG! First my pal Jodi dropped by, that is no biggie as she is more like family than company. But while we sat on the porch (again it's 1:00 pm and I'm in jammies and a polar bear robe) the mailman came and my next door neighbor pulled up. I was so busted! Now you know and a few of the neighbors know that I may or may not get dressed by noon. I consider that one of the perks of the stay at home creator.

The Centennial Holiday Show was a great success for me being the highest $$$ event of the year. If you are considering this event I must say it is very very organized and everyone was extremely polite. Some of the perks were the teachers lounge that provided snacks and a quite place for the vendors, also the students and volunteers came around several times each hour to check to see if we needed anything from the concession booth or would watch the booth if we needed a break. They also provide unloading/loading assistance (for a fee).
I would give this event 4 out of 5 stars. Several returning vendors did say they did about half of what they did last year. The economy is effecting businesses at all levels, which makes it hard to judge events. This is a show I would probably do again next year. I do plan on cutting back on the events next year and be selective, and put focus on local shops and etsy.

Here are some pictures of the "indoor" set up. Note the fixture behind the tables with the aprons hanging? That's the result of several emails and pics from Erika of Kitsch Designs. It was a life saver and now I see many possibilities with this fixture. Erika did stop by the show and gave the thumbs up on the fixture and adopted a owl to take home. Thanks so much Erika!

I have three more times to show this year and then I will be done! A big part of me wishes it was over, I can't go to the shows in my jammies you know.

Centennial Holiday Show

The last big show of the year is this Saturday and Sunday. Whew! I have made a few new goodies....sweet tweets, peeps, aprons and owl shadow boxes. Here is a little preview.
As said in last post I am nervous about this event so send all your good vibes my way this week end. I did get some support from Erika of Kitsch Designs about indoor set up, thanks so much! If you don't know Erika I urge you to check out her sites, she uses vintage fabric to create the coolest things. Plus she is a super duper nice person.

Several of you have inquired about the owl shadow boxes and want to know when they will be available in the store. At this time I'm holding off on until after the events. My last show will be December 19th at Cummins Station downtown Nashville. I did this event last year and really enjoyed it. It is a little different from most events as it is held the first three Fridays in December from 11:00-4:00 in the afternoon. Mostly the employees of the various businesses and the lunch crowd are the customers, but they are very supportive.


Hope to see you this weekend :)

More Hoots!

The final two hoots have been completed before the show. Again sorry for the glare in the picture, but I think you can still see.
I am working on the free standing hoot as well...see? Not where I want to be right now but getting closer :)

Don't forget I'll be at McGavock High School here in Nashville tomorrow from 9-4!
Handbags, aprons, kids art books, tweets, peeps and hoots will all be there too!

Babushka and owls

I have been creating for another you guessed it upcoming event. Actually this week I learned of acceptance to two events this month. The first one is this Saturday at McGavock High School from 9:00-4:00, more info here. The second event will be November 22 & 23 at Centennial High School, more info here. I have never participated in either of these events but have heard nice things about both. At this time indoor events are particularly appealing.
Last year I was doing weekly events at the Nashville Farmers Market...it got very cold and rained more than not. YUCK!

Here are some of the things I've been working on, the owls are hand painted on a full canvas apron. I only have three of these aprons and am tempted to keep one. I still have to paint the other two and am not certain of what I will paint. I really want to do more owls, as I am comfortable painting them at this point. But I will try something different maybe trees or birds?

The babushka move from room to room, I think they miss Amber playing with them. They settled on the dining room table to be my muse.I was inspired by the babushka fabric from etsy and made as much as I could with the four fat eights that I ordered. I have a ton of hair bobby pins, three eye masks and four cup cuffs. I hope these sell...I could never use all those babushka hair pins!

Well I need to start cranking out some more goodies for the shows. Check back I'm sure I'll have more craftiness to share soon.

Artist or Creator

Here are some of the new things I have brewing in the cottage. The owl shadowbox is not exactly new but I have upgraded to a larger size. This is an 8x10 frame and the owl is larger than the last bunch. I was a little overwhelmed at the response to the owl shadowboxes and sold all but one at their debut event. FYI I do plan to list some in the store this week. The blackbird is something I've had in my head for awhile and the bird was drawn about a year ago. As soon as I sketched him out I thought of the song "Blackbird" by Paul McCartney, I love that song.Not sure the bird is complete, I need to change the ribbon for sure and I was thinking of adding some tags to the key. You'll see soon. I thought of putting the bird onto a hand painted Nashville bag and still may do so yet.

I do need to thank my friend and booth partner Jodi Reeves for giving me the encouragement to "branch out". My stash contains paint, brushes, mod podge, wire and a whole lot more. A year ago you would find mostly fabric, thread and buttons. Which brings me back to the title "Artist or Creator"? I have never considered myself an artist, although I know art is not exclusive to a painted canvas. I have been comfortable with creator and think I will stick to that. As women we have the ability to create life! It doesn't get any better than that. I know for myself after I became a mom my creative button clicked and life has never been the same since.

So now that I am putting paint to canvas and "branching out" I think I'll stick to the creator label.

I do have to put a word in about the Webb School of Design event in Bell Buckle......
I helped Jodi the first day (I did not show) and she was interviewed by the Shelbyville paper!
Then she won a ribbon ! Her art was purchased to hang in Webb School! Jodi was the Diva of the Day! Go check her out and get the scoop here.

A GREAT EVENT!

Germantown turned out to be the best $$$ event I have ever participated in. And I must say that they really had their stuff together. As you know I usually share a booth with creator Jodi of The Creative Jar, what you may not know is that Jodi is the founder of CRAFT a creative community and has coordinated many many events. Even she was impressed! Everything was a smooth process from the letter indicating they had received our application to the vendor information letter to the clearly marked set up. I would give it a 4 of 5 star rating. The only feedback is in regard to the separation of events Germantown vs Octoberfest. I believe everyone was not aware of the the event right next door? As usual I think the artist/crafters should have been promoted more....I always feel like that.

Now I find that I must produce to be ready for the next event. A good problem :)
Several tweets and peeps found new homes.
I am out of ruffled aprons and only have one owl shadowbox left. So you will be seeing some more new stuff soon.

Germantown Street Festival

Yesterday I forgot to tell you how to find me at the German town Street Festival this Saturday.
Per my vendor confirmation sheet; we will be located on 5th Ave North between Madison and Monroe. I can hardly wait! I am so excited about this event, I know it will be a blast!

I have been creating like crazy trying to prepare for this and now that I'm a few days away I feel so nervous. So sure I don't have enough inventory....I know that I do but I still have all these ideas in my head that will not be ready Saturday. I am happy that I have the owls, butterflies, new apron style, new Vandie bag, Memphis bag, the Sweet Tweets and now some cool composition book covers! I made some owls and trees last year and wanted to do some again. I always have the composition book covers and they are popular but wanted something special. I like the trees the best.....

Give a Hoot.....Get a Hoot!

Okay a little corny, but owls seem to put me into that mood. Here are three new owls and the last of these shadowboxes (hope I will be able to find more). These little hoots and new butterflies will be available at the German town Festival this Saturday.

Edgefield Uncorked Event in East Nashville

I have a last minute opportunity to show my wares at the Edgefield Uncorked Event this Saturday!
It looks like it more of a chance to have fun and not really work at all. You can find out all about the event here...
http://www.edgefielduncorked.org/

I took this picture last week end before I was aware of the event, I think it was meant to be.

So come on out have a glass of wine, grab a plate, listen to some live music and shop!
A recipe for a perfect evening! Hope to see you there

Erin McMorris Park Slope Patchwork Apron

As promised here is the new apron style....
She features a large pocket, a towel loop and is fun and flirty.
I wanted another apron style besides the ruffled one that people would be more comfortable wearing in the kitchen. But at the same time I wanted it to have my traditional style with a twist!
I think like the ruffled apron this too could/should be worn as a fashion accessory, but is totally at home baking cookies as well.

What do you think? The only suggestion for change was to do a shorter version???
This one measures about 24" long from the waist. Do I need to add another patchwork row?
I'm sure I'll mix it up a little, you never know.

As you know I name everything...cars, sewing machines, handbags
Any suggestions for this apron or ruffled apron is appreciated.
I think this one has a very casual French Country feel and the ruffled style is more uptown sophisticated. HELP!

I have to go now and whip up some more of these for the Berry Hill event this Saturday in Azalea Park.

Sweet Peeps have landed

Here is a sneak preview of one of the new items that may be found in our booth this weekend at the Berry Hill event in Azalea Park. Last show several fell in love with the Sweet Tweets but said they had no place to hang them. So here is a free standing version that I'm calling Sweet Peeps that may be placed next to your computer, sewing machine on any tabletop surface. It's funny how they all start the same but develop a unique personality as they are created. They are a lot of fun to have around, I think Thomas (our cat) is their biggest fan right now.

So if you can stop by Azalea Park in Berry Hill this Saturday and get your very own Sweet Peep.
I've got to find good homes for these guys! The Sweet Peeps will not be posted in the shop until after the show: but if you have fallen in love with a particular Peep let me know and I'm sure we can work something out.

I'm also working on a new apron style for this week end as well. Hope to have another blog update in the next couple of days. Meanwhile hope over to my crafty creative booth partners blog and check out all the new things she has been working on.