Doohikey Designs Studio

Happy Valentines Day!

February is flying by like the wind, and before you know it Quilt Market will be here. It's been a lovely Valentines Day. It's always crazy how it's the day to celebrate how much you love each other, but I believe in celebrating our LOVE each day, don't you?!?

I framed a little artwork from Sarah Jane Studio's for my valentine's decoration's this year. Aren't they so adorable! I just love how it brings a little bit of sweet vintage appeal to my sitting room. They are simply adorable! I have challenged myself and have joined the Year of Mug's! I got my first swap from the fabulous Sharon Pernes from Craizee Corners! She sent me this cute valentines mug rug isn't it FABULOUS!!!

I created this for Jeanne Gwinn. I hope she likes it and knows that I put alot of love into this cute Mug Rug. I enjoyed the process and added my own embroidery design to it. What do you all think? And yes that is Hoo's in the Forest fabric!

I hope you all had a cozy, warm Happy Valentines Day! I love and adore all of you, and am blessed to be touched by all of you. Let's not just celebrate the love of love today, but let's make 2012 the year to show love everyday!

XOXO

Schnitzel and Boo!

Before I reveal my upcoming fabric line I wanted to express my gratitude to the support of Kristi of Schnitzel and Boo. She has partnered up with me to bring some unique patterns to the Doohikey Designs brand. She's an amazing seamstress with lots of ideas. We have had a little bit of a hiccup in our grading, but I reassure you we are working quickly to get the Fox Trails patterns out as soon as possible. I will be doing a huge announcement on the blog, facebook, and twitter. We are really excited to get these patterns into your hands!

We have already begun to brainstorm and to create patterns for Dress Up Days, and I have to say..it's going to be amazing! We will be starting the grading soon on these new patterns and will be requesting some pattern testers.

If you are interested please email me at: fabric@doohikeydesigns.com.

Back to Kristi, she's an amazing seamstress, crafter, baker, and a fantastic mom... full of humour! You have to check her blog out not only to see how fantastic she is, but to get to know about her mad crafting skills! Check out her recipes:

 

Or her fun tutorials:

You will be seeing alot of Kristi around these parts, and I hope you take sometime to get to know her and show her a little bit of LOVE! She's a mad woman at her design skills for fun sewing patterns, and if you haven't seen her felt toys, then you must go see her blog to learn about what she can make. I mean....I think she can do anything she sets out to accomplish! LOVE YOU KRISTI!!

XOXO

Hey Stranger!

This weekend I got to do the last approvals on Dress Up Days, and can I tell you how excited I am for this line! It's so fun to see it all come together, and I will be revealing more this week about this line and the story behind it.

Don't worry this isn't the coloring, I used my fun iphone app - My 365. Shelly from House of Smilths has inspired me to capture daily moments. She follows Fat Mum Slim's blog and she has come up with the photo list for the month to help you capture each day. i have to say, It's been a fun process and i will be sharing with you each month. I'm still catching up on January's photo's. 

Come back for the reveal of Dress Up Days!

XOXO

Possibilities Together

Where has January gone? I can't believe I haven't blogged this year! There is so much to share, to tell, and this year will be amazing! My husband and I have decided to pick two words this year, that will envelop all of our goals into one. Are you ready to hear what it is??? Drum....roll.......

Possibilities Together! Don't you love it? Here is the definition of Possibilities and Together:

pos·si·bil·i·ty
1.the state or fact of being possible.
2.something possible.

to·geth·er
1.(of a single thing) into or in a condition of unity,compactness, or coherence: to squeeze a thing 
   together.

We chose these two words, because we want to be unified together in everything we do. Possibilities gives us courage to achieve, to take charge of our own destiny, and hope that anything is possible. As Walt Disney says, "All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them."

There are so many good words out there, but this just fits us like a glove! What is your motto this year? Please share! This is how we can inspire each other!

If you like the piece of artwork up above, I'm giving you a free printable in hope that I can inspire you this 2012! You can download it here.

I wish you all a Happy New Year, {cheesy saying this so late}, I just really hope that you can make it amazing...it's all up to you...be empowered!

XOXO

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Dan and I had a most wonderful Christmas! We spent Christmas Eve just to the two (and our dogs) of us this year. It was so special and fun. I made a special dinner that included: Coca Cola Pork Loin, Potatoe Casserole, Cream Corned, Shrimp Cocktail, rolls, and a Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie. Yes, I did go overboard....I just wanted to cook something special for my sweet and supportive husband. Then we went and read the Nativity Story, watched a little video, sang a few songs, then played and game. Went and saw some lights, watched a little tv, and went to bed. Then we went got up ate a little breakfast ( a yummy recipe I found), and then headed to church and had a great reminder of what christmas is about.

This is a an ornament that I bought this year to add to our tree. I love that it's from Jerusalem, made out of Olive Wood by the artisians there. Isn't it gorgeous! We also had a sweet neighbor do the twelve days of christmas, and they gave us a piece of a nativity set each night, and Christmas morning we opened up the final piece, which was Jesus in a crib. So when we got home, we opened the presents under the tree from Santa!

That quilt was the the last gift open, that I made for Dan. Thanks to Cindy for letting us go up to their cabin and have a weekend to do it. Let's just say Dan is excited to cuddle into it and feel the warmth, the back is all Minky and very cuddly. Here is a closer look:

Thanks to Jina for providing us with a fun pattern, it turned out pretty manly don't you think? I thought I would share a few pictures of what our Christmas looked like before I take it down. I am ready to get back to normal life, even though I LOVE Christmas I'm taking them down this week! 

How I decorate my piano with all my vintage styled Ornaments, and some are from my mom's house from when I was growing up as a kid.

 

And the stockings were hung by the (Chimney with Care)...um I got creative and placed them on my wooden shelf! I bought these two years ago from Pottery Barn as a set after christmas and couldn't resist them all. We are hoping that soon we will have pitter patter's of feet to bless our family, but for now I had to hang them all up this year and I think they just added such a cozy warmth this year to our house.

We hope that you have a Happy Holiday's and will bring in the New Year with a bang! 2012 will be a great year and will be making some New Years Resolutions this year that I will complete! Speaking of New Years and organization please go over and see Kristi's cute tutorial at Riley Blake Designs Cutting Corners! It's so cute!!! She's using a little bit of Hoo's in the Forest and you won't be disappointed!

XOXO

Be Thankful

Source: Uploaded by user via Coralia on Pinterest

 

I found this quote this early morning, finding it very fitting for a Monday! I hope that you will all find something good in this day! Monday's are always the start of the week...that most people don't like. I want to challenge you all to find something good this day and come back and share what your "GOOD" was today!

Check out my friend Amy's blog Mini Quilt Party post! I wanted to join in, but with deadlines did not find time to get my quilt done.

Happy Monday!

XOXO

Traditions...

Tonight I went to a dinner at our church for the women of our church. We had a special dinner and the focus was about having gratitude through the holiday season, and to focus on the spirit and blessings we have in our lives.

My friend Leslie, shared about how she pulls out a large piece of butcher paper each year, tapes it to the wall and her family writes down what they are grateful for that year. Each year they pull it out to add more, and it's fun to go back and read what the kids have written in the past. Something they look forward to each Thanksgiving!

Then one sister shared about her struggle of having a child with Austism. She does a walk each year that she tries to reflect on how some parents or children have it harder versus what she has. She tries to remember that everyone has their daily struggles and tries to be grateful for what she has. They do the simple things throughout the holiday season by centering it around Christ.

What struck me the most...is you need to find traditions whether you have kids or not. That the holiday season is just not the one day, but it's the whole month, to month and a half starting with Thanksgiving. We should find ways to bring in the true meaning of Christmas. One tradition I want to start with my husband this year is the "Dutch Shoes." It's where you pick one day, and there is tiny gifts that mean something, or notes that center on LOVE. My husband served a mission for our church in the West Indies, and I have always wanted to find something that could be from the Dutch culture.

I even started to look at some Dutch Shoes tonight, to get a jump start on this fun tradition. So...my question to you is.. what are some of your favorite family traditions? I would love you to share, as I'm trying to start some of our own "New" traditions this year and I'm open for ideas and suggestions!

XOXO

Pinterest Love!

I have been addicted to Pinterest lately and I thought it would be fun to show and highlight some of my favorite things to start our Monday a little brighter!

Source: flickr.com via Shari on Pinterest

 

I love this little rug! The solid gray colors, the zigzag effect. It's just so modern, yet classic at the same time!

Source: farm1.static.flickr.com via Shari on Pinterest

 

I love the texture with the use of the buttons, felt and wool to make this cute and simple pincushion! Wouldn't these be great Christmas gifts for your friends and neighbors who love to sew?

Source: etsy.com via Shari on Pinterest

 

This little cutie I bought through Etsy that has my fabric and Amy Butler's paired together. Isn't she cute!!! I think I should call her Carlie or Belle... any thoughts? Check out April Foss, her store is so cute!

Source: etsy.com via Shari on Pinterest

 

What do you think of this cute quilt? Fox Trails is super cute don't you think... this is done by using those fun Rolie Polie's!

Source: flickr.com via Shari on Pinterest

 

I love this little pin. I wouldn't mind getting it to wear on my coat this winter. Or wouldn't be cute as a christmas ornament? Come join me on pinterest, it's super fun, but it's sure addicting!!! Oh and check out the interview with Follow Bunny over at We Love French Knots! Super cute FREE pattern too!

XOXO

More Revealing!

I wanted to share some more reveals on our new patterns coming to your local quilt shop very soon! This is the most adorable overall's you will ever see!

These overalls can be either long or short overalls perfect for camping, summer, fall, or a cool school outfit! They have such a fun style to them that you will want these in their wardrobe. Want to see the long version?

I love how they just fit, they are a vintage with a retro-modern feel! SO stylish don't you think? There is more to share....but how about I save that for another day! Didn't Kristy do fabulous work! I'm just in awe! Love the pattern collection for Fox Trails!

XOXO

Happy Halloween!

Today Dan and I got to enjoy the day together and enjoy the fall crisp air! I wanted to share a glimpse into what our halloween looked like at the Butler's house!

We added some spooky webbing, that was suppose to glow in the dark. Well, Target failed at this one, it had one strand that glowed in the dark at night! However, I do recommend their webbing to add some fun cool effects around the door. I will be going tomorrow to get some more on sale!

We had a little ghost to greet the trick or treaters! Isn't she cute and that jack o'lantern was lit up tonight to show some shine and glimmer since I decided not to carve our pumpkins this year! I'm saving them to decorate for thanksgiving table with my family this year.

They were just too cute...I didn't have the heart to carve them this year!

As you walk into our doorstep this is what you see! My cute little trick or treat holiday decorations!

Here's another view...then you go into my sitting room!

That shelf is full of my favorite vintagey styled halloween decorations! Oh and that wood vase, my sister and brother in law made for us for christmas one year. It's very pretty.

I kind of like my halloween decorations. Doesn't it remind you of Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas? Then we ended up at a pumpkin walk and that was super fun! I hope you all had a happy halloween! :) Oh did I mention that not only 3 days ago this room was a photo studio? Yep... just barely got it decorated in time to celebrate Halloween, just thought I'd share that tidbit!

xoxo