Happy Halloween! Printable Masks

Hello! 

If anyone out there is like me & needs a last minute get-up for Halloween - check out these super cute masks from Mr. Printables.  We've got our pirate & baby lamb all set to go, but I need to add to my "black scratchy kitty" (thanks Jack, for the adjectives :)  costume and thought this mask would be perfect.  

Hoping to share more photos later. Happy & safe day everyone! 

Sewing Social - Come Sew With Me!

{UPDATE Oct. 29th  8:45 am, All eight fabric bundles have been claimed! If you'd like to play along you're welcome to purchase my designs in my Spoonflower shop & still submit photos!} 

I miss Boston in the fall. Not just for the gorgeous leaves or the crisp afternoons, but because every other Sunday, a few fellow teachers and I met up to sew and create. Add a few mochas and vegan pumpkin cupcakes and it was the best way to end a week...and enjoy our friendships.

So now I'm in Oregon and I've still got the coffee thing going, but my friends all share our creations long distance. For November, I'd love to create a virtual meeting place here to sew and share! 

Here's the twist. 

I provide the fabric to eight lovely readers, a few prints from my Chevron and Carlsbad collections. 

You whip up something lovely. I'm thinking something gifty with the holidays coming up. (Want to make a tutorial? Even better!)  

Share with us your final creation and I'll post them all together here, linking back to you. 

Details: 
If you're interested just let me know by leaving a comment or sending a message with your email address. I've only got 8 fabric packs to ship out though!  Want to play along but didn't make the 8? You're welcome to purchase fabric from my Spoonflower shop and still share your creations! 

High quality photos of finished projects need to be submitted to me by November 20th.  I'll post them here on the blog, with links to you, and also share all this goodness with my twitter, Facebook, & pinterest pals.

You keep the finished project, we admire from afar :) 



If you've got questions, please send them my way. I look forward to meeting up and sewing with you! 

allisa.jacobs {at} gmail {dot} com 

Color Me Happy - Vintage Color Charts

You know I love me some color. Thrilled when I found these vintage color charts on through vintage printables (oh my goodness, I could spend hours on that site). I'm think these would be awesome printed out and framed for the studio, or even the kid's playroom. Heck, they'd be lovely anywhere.  Of course, I pinned a gazillion of these but here are a few of my favorites.

I'll be printing and framing and costume-making this weekend. Hope you have a wonderful weekend too! Oh, and I loved reading about everything you've been up to, if you haven't shared, send me links of what you've been making/creating/planning so I can see into your world! 

And, if you need more pins (who doesn't?!) check out my pinterest boards

{all image credit via vintage printables, believed to be within the public domain for free use,  except the first watercolor print, I am unable to locate a source. 

Fun, fun, fun! Send me your links!

Me. End of the day crazy hair and tired eyes. But that's me.  Playing with the self timer, practice shot before trying to capture me & the boys.

Hello! It's been a busy week and it's still just Thursday! So much good stuff going on around here...this I was a panelist for the amazing Mothers of Reinvention event (will have to share more from that later, still processing....), ordered a huge batch of iPhone cases in some of my (and your!) favorites designs (those down there), became one of emmaline bride's featured vendors, and found myself in a hurricane of chiffon and satin and pearls, creating a few bridal accessories for a super star wedding guru (oh yes, I'll be sharing more about this soon!).  Oh, and a few Halloween costumes in the works too....

Whew. I'm tired just writing all of that. 

Part of all this craziness means I've missed out a bit on what others have been doing. So, What's new?  What's going on in your world, what you've been making or scheming? Tell me, share your links! Whether it's something new in your shop, a recent get-to-know-ya kind of blog post, or a whole new venture, I'd love to hear about it. 

iphone designs, these were the top as voted on here & on Facebook!

a little blush + gray, I can't help it. 

{side note, last time I put a call out for links, I discovered some amazing work and even connected with a new Portland friend. Amazing what a little link lovin can do!} 

Triumph, Gladness & Light - Inspirational Printable

It's been a tough couple of years seeing one of my very best friends battle lymphoma... she's got more strength & courage than anyone I think I've ever met. And now she faces another challenge.  This is why I wish Oregon & Arizona were closer (I guess two little boys on the plane is what makes it seem even farther!)  But, I did take one of the quotes she likes and created this printable. I hope it's a lovely reminder of the glory that comes out of difficult times.  

{download printable}

Happy Friday, Pins from the Week

from the creative life of gracie french

Is that not some of the best advice ever?  Blows me away how we (me!) can be timid about what we're good at.  Trusting them feels so liberating, a little scary, but exciting yes? 

Anyhow, I'm marking the beginning with some of my favorite pins of the week; a little bit inspiration, a DIY, and a few things to covet. 

Have a lovely weekend! 

                                              

                                         pretty envelope tutorial from design & nonsense

botanical assembly, ina luxe

rifle paper co. calendar via anthropologie

check out more of pinning addiction here: http://pinterest.com/allisajacobs/

New designs + One Day Pre Holiday Sale!

Here's your chance to start holiday shopping early! You know, earlier this week I revised my 'about me' page and it made me realize one of the joys I've found is the opportunity to create things people will treasure...and I hope you do! The shop is stocked up with lots of organizers, card cases, cosmetic bags, and clutches - perfect for moms, friends, sisters & teachers.  Remember, my signature poppy brooches can be pinned on anything, so when you order a bag with a flower it's like two gifts together.  A lot of the bags also feature my very own fabric designs (like all of these here) - which I'm so excited to finally share.  For today only, Thursday October 18th, enjoy 25% off your entire purchase (including custom fabric requests, excluding bridal orders) with code GOODNESS in the shop until 12:00pm PST.  Have a lovely day,  Allisa

Rock the Vote! Which Prints Do You Love?

{UPDATE} Thanks for all the votes, the iPhone cases are in the shop! 

Ok, major planning mode over here! Not just for my awesome one day sale tomorrow, but for new iPhone card cases featuring my designs :)  The other day I tucked my phone into one of my zipper clutches and thought, surely there must be something to pretty this up - something that I can design. So, hopefully just in time for the holidays, there will be some super fun phone cases in the shop! 

Now, I'm having a hard time narrowing down the choices, I thought you guys might be able to help me decide. Which prints do you like best for an iPhone case?

I really appreciate your feedback! Have a lovely day :)  

Oh, and I almost forgot this little beauty: 

Just some good stuff

Hello & happy Monday! I've been busy filling up the shop; adding more choices and prints. Now offering my own fabric for all of the clutches, cosmetic bags, and organizers too! 

{psst. planning something big for the early bird shoppers, keep on the look for details coming soon!} 

A little instagram lovin' --sporting one of my signature poppy flowers last week, aren't they cute pinned on sweaters too? 

Have a lovely week!

Simple Napkins - Tutorial

I love making gifts for friends and last week I whipped up a set of simple napkins for one of my best gals.  We've all been trying to use more cloth napkins so I made these with a flower print perfect for autumn. I plan on making dozens more for our home, a mix of prints and colors to brighten up the table. 

It's a super simple, one hour project. But you know, sometimes simple - done right- is best! I think this is an awesome beginner sewing project. 

Start with four pieces of 18" x 18" fabric (you could obviously go bigger, but this size is good if you're using a yard of fabric). I like to prewash mine, just to ensure they're not all wonky after the first wash. 

Fold over and press two, opposite sides about 1/2".  The trick here is to make these even and pressed.  

Then, fold over those same to sides to create a clean edge. Again, press, press, press. 

Now, top stitch along those two sides. I like to get fairly close to the fold edge, so it's not going to have an extra little flap. If that makes sense.

Ok, here's my special little trick. You've got two opposite sides folded, pressed, and stitched. Now, we need to do the two *other* opposite sides. If we just folded those over then a little raw edge would peek out the corner, so to prevent this, I fold in the edge, to make a perfect little right triangle. Press & Press! 

Now folder over those sides, just like you did with the first two. See, no straggly raw edges peeking out! Now, top stitch along those sides as you did with the other two.

All stitched :) 

Press again & enjoy!

These would be great to sew up for Thanksgiving dinner, don't you think? What's your favorite simple sewing project? 

DIY Pumpkins

Popping in for a quick hello...Hello! Crazy busy today and my mom is coming by with pumpkins she grew for each of the boys. She's got a ridiculously huge garden, but I guess that's what you do on a farm ;)  Jack is super excited for his pumpkin and wants to decorate it "something new" - I found this incredibly round up from Emily Henderson, with these ideas above...and gobs more! 

Chevron Goodness is Here!

Hooray, just received my Chevron Goodness back from the printer and it is lovely!  It's a mix of grays and cool pops of color inspired by Pantone's 2013 color card. With, of course, the seemingly never -ending love for chevron ;)   I adore almost any color paired with gray and it seems like lots of my customers do too.  I can not wait to get these beauties to the cutting table and start making some clutches! 

If you'd like to scoop up some of your own, they'll be available in my Spoonflower shop :) 

I especially love the blush pink, yellow, and coral stripes. Which are your favorites?

Included some purple in there, a color I don't often move towards, but there's been a lot of requests for it! 

The basic stripe, gray + white.  

Also printed off more of the Carlsbad prints, a cool mix of geometrics & florals.  

Hope everyone has a lovely day! Off to sew.....

Arizona Blooms

Returned from a little trip last night to Arizona. I took the two boys to visit one of my best friends in the world. Some call me brave. I'm thinking crazy, maybe. Anyhow, we made it & had a blast. Little Man Jack had planned the trip with a list;  see a lizard, a cactus, and eat some guacamole. Happy to say we crossed each of those off his list...and even added a one more;  enjoying his first In & Out grilled cheese (yep, just get the hamburger without the meat ;)   

Before leaving I really planned on taking a lot of photos. Of the boys. With my friend. Of us all together. And then, I realized, that if someone's holding the camera, they can't be chasing the baby. So, I didn't snap quite as many shots as I hoped, and the ones I got were mostly when they were preoccupied with eating or exhausted from the long day. But I did catch a few of the gorgeous flowers. 

oh, the color! 

Love this shape. And you know what, this plant is huge. It's not one of those little succulents, it's like 4 feet across! 

Oh, and just can't pass up this cutie with his cactus!

Now, that I've celebrated the last hurrah of our summer, I'm ready to start enjoying chilly mornings & cozy sweaters :)

Make Something Good Today

In search of a keeper of thoughts sort of thing. (you know, a journal...) I spotted this beauty over at Chronicle Books. I hesitate to say journal because for me, a serial journal deserter, it feels like a lot of pressure.  For awhile, in college, I kept one every day (really, one of the few things I was disciplined about ;)  and when pregnant with both boys I keep a special diary for them - writing to them each day, sharing my dreams for them, my excitement, anxiety, and sometimes worry. I hope it's something they will treasure one day. 

But, I've been looking for a way - a non techy way, to keep my thoughts and ideas. I love the feel of pencil on paper, the way writing feels like you're capturing something and committing it to the test of time.  

And the notion of 'making something good today' - feels so light and possible. No pressure of lengthy entries, just a little note, a brief moment of goodness! 


I'd love to hear you keep your thoughts & dreams & ideas :)

Creative Spaces

Thrilled to share the creative space behind Beth Wade Designs! Beth's passion for animals and making shines in her jewelry shop. Plus, she's got an astounding talent for quilt animal portraits.  I've grown up so thankful for the bond I've had with animals; our countless rescue kitties, the lone bird I aptly named Apollo, neighbor's horses, our cows, and of course, my dear Boston kitty. I really appreciate and admire the work Beth does celebrating this bond! 

letter stamps for her jewelry, what wonderful tools to work with! 

happy & bright

Love how she's surrounded herself with inspiration & images of what she truly loves

hand stamped jewelry, gorgeous

how amazing is this??! 

Many thanks to Beth for sharing her space and passion! 

Check out & admire more creative spaces on my Pinterest board.  Have a room to share? Submit photos to allisa {dot} jacobs {at} gmail.com 

Halloween Tutorial Round-Up

Before heading out to Arizona (woo hoo having so much fun!) Jack called my friend to ask an ever-important, essential packing question.  

"Do you have your own Halloween decorations or should I bring some?" 

Yep, this kid loves his creepy bats and cool pumpkins. And guess what, we're brought some along ;) 

I shared this round up last year, but you know what? I think these projects are so cute they deserve another round. We made the spooky scene box & it was a hit with the kids. Personally, I'm a little partial to that pac-man garland! 

Pumpkin Pincushion from The Long Thread
Spooky Box Scene from Made by Joel
Trick or Treat Bags from Paper Crave
Ribbon Wreath from The Long Thread
You've Been Booed Sign from Tomkat Studio
Pacman Garland from Minieco
Candy Bar Wrap from Skip to My Lou

 {more awesome Halloween projects in this post and lots of tutorials and printables on my Pinterest board, for the wee ones}