Friends, Family and Some Good Times

Tia Ria, Me, Felicia, Cariad and the frog at Twisted Oak

I feel like I have been trying to sit down at my computer and post something for several days now. I have written posts in my head and constructed them as I have been driving and now....Now...my mind seems to be going blank.

I just wanted to post a few pictures of the last few weeks. A couple of weekends ago the HSM's (the Hairspray moms...we are the modern day version of the Pink Ladies because we are THAT cool) took a girls trip up to Murphys CA. One of our best friends and guardian angel, Tia Ria is moving to Texas. We wanted to spend some time with her, honoring her and letting her know how much she will be missed. So...we ate, drank, gave toasts and speeches, cried and laughed.--It was a great weekend.

Mei, Me, Tia Ria, Felicia, Cariad

We went to a few local wineries and the restaurant V for dinner. --It was such a special time. One thing I said to Maria was, "I don't know why it takes a minute to say hello and a lifetime to say good bye"--Dr. Suess  Maria has been such a bright, soulful and caring force in my life. She has prayed with me on the phone, brought meals when I have had a baby or had surgery and for our group she is the heartbeat. I have had the honor of watching her blossom in her 6 years of motherhood carving out her dedicated, unwaivering style of providing such a loving, healthy, spiritually and educationally rich home for her two boys. Anyway, California is losing one of its most beautiful gems to Texas. God Bless you Tia Ria

Then, this past weekend I went back to Murphys with my family. It is so beautiful and the weather is getting warmer. We had a wonderful time. We spent time at our favorite restaurant, the Wren. It seems like everyone found their own place to sit and chill out. Annie claimed her dad as her buddy and together they sat playing babydoll at the little table...is that love or what?

And Beech found his own quiet table to hang out at while he played his DS. It was so cool to watch him because I am constantly in awe of him these days. He has ups and downs a lot because kids are often asking him what is wrong with his lip and he has yet to really understand what they are asking, but we know that it upsets him more than he talks to us about. So--there seems to be a quiet strength growing in him.

This is Beech at 5 months before his cleft lip repair (I love this picture) (photo by Pamela J)

                                Beech AKA Mr. Cool hangin out at the Wren playing his DS

And then there was me. I sat in the sun and watched the beautiful site of my little family. I love when we are all together. There was a peacefulness that came over me as I watched every one settle in to find their favorite table in the sunshine

That's me sitting in the sun taking in the sites...

We also spent time at Snowflake lodge--for us it is the happiest place on earth. We love to hang out at the pool and dig in the sand (for hours) at the lake. It is a charming, old school lodge and the ice creams are still a buck and--we love the old fashioned feel of it all.

Daddy and Annie hanging out in the Snowflake pool

Jess and Liz, my brother and sister in law were also up in the mountains. We had lots of time with them at the lake and then we spent Saturday night with them enjoying a lasagna dinner. All of our children ran themselves silly and it was mayhem! I love to have a chance to see them enjoying themselves because they both work so hard.

Jesse and Elizabeth having some quiet time by the pool

Anyway, it has been a busy May, but one filled with lovely memories...

MAD Goes to Makers

I had the honor of bringing MAD Stitches to MAKER Fair last weekend. It was amazing, overwhelming and just basically insane. Unfortunately, I had been a little under the weather last week and was playing catch up like mad until the last minute of set up time. So, I did not take many photos to capture how I felt like I had landed on another planet full of MAKERS with inventions they had made that were almost unfathomable--motorized light floats, coil light shows, funkey cars, retro jewelry, gorgeous fiber goods--you name it.

As a vendor--there were so many learning moments--goods and bads...

In a nutshell--not so good learning moments-
-I was still sewing until 4am the eve of MAKERS. Not a great idea...i was so tired.
-i panicked and cut out too many aprons--no way would I ever have finished them.
-Doubted the amount of aprons I had made for the fair
-I made no plans for relief coverage at my booth

Ok, so there are more criticisms I could come up with but those are for sure things I hope to improve on.
There was a lot of good too
Set up a nice booth
-had a lot of inventory
-got to be a part of MAKERS
-met other wonderful and creative makers

And here are a few pictures of the day--which I am still reeling from...and it is still hard to believe I got to be a part of it.

            Below are pictures from Friday Young Makers day--I did a workshop on the aprons and hand sewing. Then Saturday inside Makers, views from my booth, my MAD booth and my little box all packed up at the end of the day...

MAKERS

just a quick check in as I take a break from sewing aprons for MAKERS fair http://www.makerfaire.com/ this weekend at the san mateo expo center. If you have never been, it is time to go. The theme this year is Young Inventors. It is a mix of crafters, inventors, software experts...you name it. There are crafters of all sorts creating treasures out of recycled charms, repurposed sweaters, silk screened tees, handmade purses and cosmetic bags and...as if that is not enough... there are robotic cupcakes rolling around. --It is so neat. Last year when I went, I milled around in awe of all of the different types of talented people there. How they had found so many different ways to craft and create.

Anyway, this year I get the honor being among those crafters. I get to see what new creations they will put in their booths and MAD Stitches will be there with a booth, some aprons and hopefully a new Mommy Apron.

                                                                     Coming Soon....

 So...back to work I go---

MAD About STaRS and the Samaritan House

Before MAD Stitches was MAD Stitches, it was officially Stitches and Seams. I had set up the studio to teach sewing. However, I struggled with wanting to divide my time between sewing and volunteering and I knew I wanted to use my sewing to “make a difference”—which is how MAD Stitches was born and… how the little aprons came about.

Almost 3 years later and I am making my first "bi-yearly" donation to the two causes near and dear to my heart—Samaritan House in San Mateo— a housing agency that helps out low income families with basic necessities like—food, clothes and shelter. The other cause is STaRs; a non profit organization that picks a new country every three years to go to and perform reconstructive surgery on children with facial abnormalities. They also use the opportunity to educate medical staff in that host country about the latest medical techniques. If such state of the art teams were not willing to donate their time to these countries, children born with cleft lip and palates (like myself) would not be able to receive the medical treatment they desperately need.

I am so happy to share that MAD Stitches doubled its donation this year. That was last years goal and now this years goal is to donate bi-yearly. I COULD NOT make this donations without the generous support of a few local people—Isabelle at TOO Cute in Burlingame for allowing me to sell my aprons at her shop. Michelle Murphy and Jennifer Rayborn at Baywood school for letting me be a vendor at the Vintage Holiday Boutique and to Nicole Vasbinder, Proprietress of Stitchcraft in Petaluma for teaching me about growing, developing and staying focused on a business. Also, to my wonderful husband, local friends and family for babysitting while I have been at craft shows or madly sewing aprons. –I DID NOT make these donations alone—it was truly with your generous support that I can continue to sew and sell!

Recently MAD Stitches made a donation of $200.00 to the Samaritan House in San Mateo and $250.00 to STaRS Foundation. So what does this money do…? Well for STaRS—it can buy necessary medical supplies such as gauze, surgical tape, and ibuprofen. For Some organizations such as Wide Smiles or Smile Train a simple donation of roughly $250.00 can mean a cleft affected child can receive one surgery. For MAD Stitches purposes that equals 13 aprons that I need to sew and sell. Awesome huh? As for the Samaritan House, a $10 donation can be turned into approximately $40 worth of food for one family—so, one apron can buy roughly $40 worth of food—super cool! Anyway, I have been so lucky to have people in my life willing to be so supportive of seeing MAD make a difference--THANK YOU

martinis, wine, good friends and a MAD clean up

crazy weekend....I am someone who lays low usually. our weekends are pretty quiet, lots of kids activities, MAD Stitches catch up and family time. but this weekend was different. It was laced with lots of time with new and old friends. friday night a good mom friend in Beech's class had a follow up gathering to Jenns shower and to honor baby Jacob(who is so adorable), it was a martini party. i have some mild social anxiety, so i have to really mentally gear myself up to go out sometimes. it was so fun and she did a lovely job. we sat around eating lovely food and drinking fab martinins(I don't drink...so I had water) our hostess Patti is such a darling lady and it was a wonderful ladies night out!

Jazz and Shaneel

Chris and Jen (our lady of honor)

good eats and fab martinis

Sadly, I had to leave a bit early to head down town to meet up for our annual S&B..stitch and bitch..but lately it seems to be more B than S at B Street and Vine. it was so nice to hang out and catch up with sara and Alicia--they are so talented and we go through the whole gamet of conversation from kids, to husbands to what we are all sewing. it was so great to see them

me, Alicia, Sara

I was a great evening. i am so lucky to have such beautiful, creative friends

Saturday was nice and quiet. I cleaned up my studio and caught up on lots of computer work for MAD--updating flikr, learning Picasa. it was so strange to take time to look back over the last year in pix--to see how my studio has changed--it seems to morph as I tumble along with MAD

this is the MAD studio before it was MAD--it was Stitches and Seams( 2008) I was making stroller covers for a local store and was planning to teach private lessons, I never ended up doing either because I did not feel comfortable with the stroller cover pattern--and my second baby was still too young to carve out a solid teaching schedule.

MAD Stitches 2009. I had started making aprons for Annie at school and selling them here and there. Shortly after, I started selling them out of Too Cute and at craft shows. I made hot pink my theme color(to this day I am very sorry I made this choice) I like soft, muted colors and the hot pink has stuck--but it is not me. but it has helped to keep my marketing for MAD consistent because I do all of the print and packaging in hot pink. so this brings me to saturday where I cleaned up the studio, did some organizing. The studio 2010

this is outside the studio. the kids have a play area that I can watch them play in as I sew. there are some pink cottage roses growing outside and they are so pretty.

the inside is not lookin too shabby either. I got a hold of a label maker and some new shelves for my birthday and finally put them too good use. Since I am all over the map and staying organized is so, SO tough for me--I am hoping this new system will help. everything labled and put into plastic bins--packaged, out going, in progress, pre cut....so let's hope

the custom sign i had made--notice the hot pink and the black was not my idea--it was the sign makers...and here are some snippets of corners of the studio

pattern books and sommer set studio mags

my new shelves and bins--love my new label maker!

my work stations sewing table, cutting area

book shelves and project shelves with MAD projects and my own personal projects--hemming, 12 dresses..

the small shelves on the left have stamps, glues, vintage buttons ribbons and my to do wall

this is a pic from outside the studio looking in. I love this little room not because it is my MAD studio, but because it is mine and I can just be me in there