Hi everyone, happy spring!  I've managed to get through the hustle and bustle of hosting Easter and now I'm onto spring cleaning.  I'll try to make a better post when I get a chance, but for now I'm busy going through stuff and trying to declutter a bit.  I have a bin of bibs and onesies I set aside for the farmer's market this year, but I've decided not to do it this year.  I did pretty well there but it is a lot of work setting up the tent and tables and displays, and then breaking it all down.
Anyone who makes things knows you hardly get paid for your time, so all in all I was debating whether to do it or not.  Then I found out I would have to take out an insurance policy (that would cost $500) for liability insurance on my booth, so that was the deciding factor. No thanks!

What to do with the bibs and onesies?  Well, I'm going to post some of the things I have for sale here in case anyone is interested.  They are also on my website, www.fanniejane.com, but I'll just post them here for anyone that doesn't know about the site.

I also have a girl monster bib and onesie, equally adorable! These are all my original designs, created from characters in the children's books I'm writing. 

I can make the onesie for you in sizes Newborn through 24 months.  Please share this with anyone you think might be interested.  And please visit the website, it's more than just a store.  I'm creating an online home to promote handmade and have combined that with the store. I think you'll like it!  

If you buy on the website they are a bit more, but I'm offering them to my blog friends at $15.00. Let me know and I'll create a special listing for you on Etsy or you can send me a check and I'll mail it out to you.

Ay Chihuahua!!!!

If you've read my last post you'll remember I was trying to keep busy while drinking that horrible prep liquid for my colonoscopy.  Well, one good thing came of it.  Actually two.
1.   My results are good, and I don't have to do it again for ten years!
2.  I designed an adorable quilt that I am in love with!  

I wanted to share a picture with you so you can see the end result.  I still have one partially finished on a blue background, but here's what I have done so far!

 The second pic is just a close up of that sweet face.  This quilt was inspired by a little chihuahua named Winslow who visited me recently!

I put the quilt in my shop on my website, www.fanniejane.com  
Even if you don't want to see the quilt again, please stop by the website and visit.  I'll be posting there as well and offering tutorials, stories, freebies,  and all kinds of fun things!  Don't forget to join the mailing list so I can keep you up to date!

I hope you enjoyed the quilt, I sure had fun making it!    PLEASE share, pin, post, any kind of social media you do.  I'm trying hard to be seen and finding out it's not easy!!  I would appreciate it.

Ughhhhh

I'm trying to think of a word that would adequately describe the feelings I was having last night.  Yuk isn't quite strong enough, life-ending is a bit of an exaggeration, so for lack of anything better I'll just stick with "ughhh".  If that is even a word.

Have any of you had the pleasure of that really fun medical screening, the one you get when you are getting old? Yep, you guessed it.  Colonoscopy.  It hurts me just to type the word. I've put it off for far too long, and after losing my mom recently I was thinking how I don't want my kids to go through losing their mom any time soon. My dad died too young.  My kids remember him more through pictures and stories than actual memories.  I wish they could have known him better, longer. Sad.

Last night I began drinking the liquid prep at 7:00 as instructed, but didn't finish till 3:00 a.m.  It said to drink an 8 ounce glass every 10 minutes.  I got the first few glasses down, not easily, but down.  After that it wanted to come back up.  I had that feeling you get when you have a stomach flu and the worst is about to happen.  My husband kept encouraging me to just chug it, and I tried to explain to him if I didn't go slowly I would lose it all.  Seriously, just typing this is making me nauseous.  Ughhh.  Yuk.  Badness. 



I was feeling quite sorry for myself, wondering what cruel and inhumane person decided this was the best way to prepare. I finally got to sleep at around 4:00.  I know it is a lifesaving screening and I should have done it sooner, but I was dreading it.  People talk you know, and it didn't sound like fun!
  
Let me go on record admitting I am a big baby when it comes to medical things (and dental as well), but I'm trying to put on my big girl panties and deal with it! 

On a cheerier note, I knew the only way I could survive this prep was to be distracted, so I put on some good shows (not my beloved Pioneer Woman this time because the sight of food was not a good thing) and decided to make something new, which always makes the time pass quickly for me.  

My son's girlfriend was over the other day with her little chihuahua, Winslow, and I thought it would be fun to make a little baby quilt with a chihuahua. I sketched it out on brown craft paper, picked out fabrics, arranged them, working till almost 4:00.  Somehow my obsession with creating helped me to survive the night. 

Here's a picture of what I have finished so far.  I'm thinking I'll make two baby quilts, one for a boy, one for a girl.  Or maybe just two different color backgrounds and leave the dogs gender neutral.   Usually I decide as I go, it's always fun to see what I end up with.  I have a couple hours to kill before I leave for the procedure so I'm going to keep working so I don't just sit and think about it.

Please get your medical screening tests done. . . if not for yourself, for those who love you!

Ta-da!!!!

I truly never thought I would be saying these words, but my website is finally done!  That's what the "ta-da" was all about.  It's named after my great-grandmother, fannie jane.  

Here's the link if you want to visit: fanniejane.com

I've been trying to get this up for so long, but life kept getting in the way. That sounds like an excuse, but it really did.  Things that I had no control over took priority over the website.  

Anyhow, here we are.  The website is up, and far from finished, but so far I'm pretty happy with it. I have a lot of content to add, but for now I think you will see where I'm going with it.

I was bound and determined not to be a store; yet I needed to be able to sell my handmade items.  Hmmmmm, I figured the best thing to do was make it a blog/teaching/inspiring website and oh, by the way, I do have a few products for sale if you're interested!

My dream for all these years has been to promote handmade.  To teach, encourage, motivate, and showcase both old and new handmade treasures. I'll be making tutorials on all kinds of handcrafts and put them up, hopefully encouraging others to try something new. Originally I planned on just selling patterns for the designs, but I've decided to start with the finished products and see how it goes. 

I feel like I did a pretty good job of being very true to myself.  It is hard not to be influenced by other websites, but I just designed it so that if I happened upon it randomly I would absolutely love it. There are plenty of us out there, and the common thread is we love handmade.  We love to collect it, we love to create it, we love to share it.  

By the way, the absolutely adorable little girl on the home page is my granddaughter.  She's standing on a handmade quilt from my grandma and her sisters from downhome.  The outfit little Ellie has on is one of my original designs.  All the adorable props are vintage, some with a makeover by yours truly, like the buggies.  

I hope you can visit. If you believe in handmade, like I do, then you should enjoy it.  If you love it please join my mailing list and I'll keep you updated.  

I'm so excited I actually squealed this morning.  Have a wonderful day!!

Stop the clock please

Oh my goodness, time just keeps marching on doesn't it?  

I really can't believe it's 2017.  I think back to all my resolutions from last year and am trying to see if I kept any.  As usual, I made a little progress here and there but all in all I fell short. 

This year I am kind of forced to make some changes.  Bloodwork revealed extremely high cholesterol - and I refuse to take drugs unless there are no other options - so I have to change the way I eat, exercise, and drop 10 pounds.  In a way, this lifestyle change will pretty much accomplish all my usual resolutions so I guess there's that.  I'm just trying to find some positive in the negative here friends.

Another change is my husband's Parkinsons is slowing him down to the point where he needs to retire, like yesterday.  So, this means I need to start bringing in some money - especially since waiting for disability to be approved could take a year.

Again, let's look for the positive in the negative.  I have always dreamed of resurrecting my pattern design business, and now I must do it.  I've kind of been working on it for years, but now I feel a sense of urgency.  I tried working on it over the years but taking care of mom was a priority. 
Sadly, mom passed late summer.  I'm still grieving and adjusting to her being gone.  When I think of her I still tear up.  I have no regrets about putting her first, but now I'm ready to devote my time to what I want and need to do.   

Here's what I've done so far: 
I've turned some of my designs into PDF patterns. It might not sound like a big deal but it took me over a year to learn Illustrator well enough to create a really good pattern.  I'm patting myself on the back because I'm super proud of what I've done in that department.  Being a perfectionist tends to slow me down, but I'm happy with the patterns and feel they're good enough to put out there.

My main love is dreaming up new creations, quilts, bibs, dolls, embroidery, etc.,  but I would say my obsession is "handmade" in general.  I really want to promote handmade - the passing down of skills nd encouraging others to try. I want them to have the joy and pride I feel as they create their own heirlooms.  I want to promote the appreciation of handmade things as well. I'm hoping this next generation won't look at an antique crocheted doily as some $2.00 item they will get rid of at a garage sale.

It didn't take but a second to figure out the best way to reach a lot of people is to create an online community where people like me can gather. I want it to be a place where we can meet new people, learn new skills, support each other with our projects, and appreciate handmade things overall.  Not just sewing, I'm talking about gardening, baking, cooking, you name it!

Hopefully I'll be able to launch my website by the end of the month, and boy am I excited!  It has been a good distraction for me - keeping me from dwelling on sad things.  

My website (and business) is called fannie jane. Here's the link:  fanniejane.com 

I already have some things in my Etsy shop for now, but I'll also have an online shop on my website.

I'm on facebook as fanniejane.handmade 

pinterest as fannie jane.  

I also am going to give myself time to go visit blogs of friends I've met over the years.  I've met so many wonderful people who I truly cared about, but let life keep me so distracted that I lost touch.  So don't be surprised if you all start seeing my stop by your blogs.  I'm super excited to see what everyone has been up to!

I wish a happy and healthy new year to every single one of you!  I can't wait to see what this year holds for all of us.