Cotton Spice Blog

Hello everyone! I trust you’ve found some great yarn shops so far! This could also be labeled “Karen’s Favorite Yarn Places”

Well, today we are heading over to Scarves for All Reasons owned by Karen Austin. All of the really creative people are named Karen, have you noticed that? Well, go on over and visit her blog - she’s got some awesome things going on!

Lucy, if you click on the last picture of the Flower Faire Shawl, it’ll take you to the page on Laura’s site where you can see it in really great detail

Today we’ll be going to Fiber Dreams Laura has an awesome shop and blog. Oops - Here is her blog link She has such a creative mind, and a real talent for writting patterns you can understand! I have a couple favorite lace designers and Laura is right up there at the top of my list. She just got a great distributor for her patterns and they’ll be showing up in yarn shops all over the country! Remember this name!!!

Here’s a picture of a one of her shawls that’s I’m knitting.

This is called Flower Faire and is presented in 3 widths - scarf, wide scarf and shawl. I’m doing the shawl version and I’m working on side 2 now - this picture was taken a few months ago.

Happy Knitting!

Karen

Correction on the $100 drawing: I got my wires crossed - what’s new? :/ The $100 drawing is on the Dodge Creations blog! 

It’s time for Sweet Summer Knitting! Our first stop on our Tour is Dodge Creations. The owner of this online shop is Debbie Dodge and she has a fantastic yarn shop! I’ve ordered some yarn and a kit from her, and even though she is in Canada and I’m in Missouri - it got here lickety-split and for only $5!

Debbie will be holding a drawing on her blog  You must leave a comment on her blog to be entered into the drawing.

At the end of the Blog Tour, we hold a drawing for a Grand Prize Goodie Bag worth $100! It contains goodies donate by all the participating shops. We will draw a name from ALL the blog commenter’s to determine a winner for that Goodie Bag.

So, be sure to comment here and on the different blogs - you’ll LOVE this Grand Prize!

Here is our itinerary!

Please be sure to visit the other online stores that are part of this tour. I know they have surprises in store for you!

July 2nd - Laura - Fiber Dreams
July 3rd -Karen - Scarves for all reasons
July 4th -Jean - Desert Rose Designs
July 5th -Sandrasingh - Knittingwithsandrasingh.sandrasingh.com
July 6th -Miss Babs - Miss Babs.com

“A free copy would be wonderful…I am interested as I read all the wonderful things that are inside the magazine. Dianntha”

Dianntha is the winner of a free issue of Ruby - the premiere issue of Ruby! Congrats Dianntha!!! I’ll be emailing that to you as soon as it’s ready!

And I ‘m working like a madwomen to get it done and available by tomorrow… could somebody come over and cook dinner for my poor family?

Well you can! Just leave a comment on this post and on June 28 I’ll draw one name and you’ll receive the premeire July issue - FREE!!!!!!

You can visit the Ruby blog HERE  and you can even leave a comment there - but only comments on THIS blog here will be entered into the drawing.

I’m happy to hear from you no matter where!

karen

July 1 is our target date and we are on schedule! We have subscribers waiting for the first issue, and the Ruby Editors are posting on their blogs about Ruby and their departments. This is a magazine unlike any you’ve ever seen!

When was the last time you saw paper dolls in a magazine? And coloring pages for kids AND Moms!?!?!?!? Mom’s like to color too!

We have Editors covering 14 departments - Cooking, Home, Devotions, Hobbies, Paper Dolls, Flat Sydney Adventures, Music, Continuing Story, Friends, Charity, Coloring Pages, Puzzles, Humor Column for Moms, Gardening, Homeschool, Stationery, and WAHM’s! (and more than I haven’t mentioned, you’ll just have to be surprised)

We have NO advertising EXCEPT the ads from WAHM’s - and your ads are FREE! If you’re a WAHM (or Grandma or woman or sister or aunt) send me your ad. It should be 4 x 4 and it can contain text, graphic and a link to your site/blog. It should be a PDF or a jpg. Preferably a PDF.

Visit the Ruby blog by clicking on the graphic above. Here is another graphic if you’d like to help us spread the word -

link it to http://magazineruby.wordpress.com

You can subscribe to Ruby right here -

A 1-year subscription is 13.75 and includes 6 issues - July, Sept, Nov, Jan, Mar, and May. They will also be available by single issue for 2.75 once the July issue is out. A subscription saves you some money.

We budgeted right down to the penny, with absolutely NO extra money in order to give you the lowest possible price. Things are tough now, economically, and you need all the help you can get! Ruby has a point of view that starts at frugal and builds on that. It’s assumed that we are going to be frugal - but frugal can be fun and we show you all those ways and more.

Come and join us!

Barb, my new organizing friend, requested pictures of the handmade goodies that came in my Vintage box - so here they are -

The tea purse - even comes with tea and sweetners!

The sewing caddy - LOVE that wool!

This was my current bookmark! (How did Janet know I needed one?)

And my new one!

Thank you Janet!

Oh my goodness! I didn’t expect this box until Monday and I super duper happy it arrived early!!!! Look at the size of this box -

And of course, Lucy had to check it out for herself!

Isn’t this just the coolest suitcase? Just wait till you see what’s in it!!!!

It’s bulging at the seams!!! And yes, there is some laundry up there, waiting to be put away, just ignore that. I obviously do!

This is the contents of ONE bag! Vintage notions galore!!!

I am in love with vintage notions, but also with the packaging. When you look at the closeup, look at that green paper on the far right hand side. “3 yards of Rick Rack from Penneys for 8 cents” Now, you KNOW that has been around!

Sparkle my world!

lots and lots of new toys to play with, display with honor and totally enjoy. My friend also sent me a some things she made herself - a sewing caddy, a tea purse, and a bookmark… I could just hug her to pieces.

This is really just a fraction of what’s in there, but I can’t show it all to you. I don’t think I’d be safe in my own home - I know women who would raid my house for some of this stuff. I run with a rough crowd

I found the cutest little tins - I put some of my beads in one set.

and to give you an idea of how small they are, here is one with my pen

They have glass tops, so I can see at a glance what’s in them. You want some don’t you? :)  This is where I got them - Lee Valley Tools  If you click on the Storage link, they have so many cool things. I love storage containers of all kinds, and organization ‘things’.

I’m on a never ending quest to achieve this perfectly organized sewing room/office. I know it will never happen, but the fun is in the journey!

So, take a peek at one of my favorite new blogs - Sew Many Ways 

I Love to go to the quilt shop, the fabric store, the thrift store, flea markets and The Organization Aisle at Home Depot or Lowes or Walmart. I’ve often eyed the different hardware things, feeling an inexplicable attraction to them - metal washers, eye bolts, hooks… what would I do with them? Now I know!!!!! Check out Sew Many Ways! I love her ideas!

These little tins - have started an avalanche of organizing and re-arranging in the sewing room. You’ve all been thru this with me before

I also have a very large package coming - full of goodies galore and treats that I can’t even describe. It should be here in a week or so, and I’ll share the fun with you

karen

I’d like to introduce you to Amy Cavaness of Amy Designs and her Artfire Shop

     I’m Amy Cavaness of Amy Designs.  I live in (or just outside of) Marseilles, IL.  It’s like Mayberry RFD, but in Illinois on the Illinois River.  I’ve lived in lots of big towns and cities, and I’m loving the rural lifestyle now.  My husband and I live in a large house in the woods, overlooking a ravine.  Lots of wildlife–when our 4 dogs aren’t chasing them away!  Besides the dogs, we share our home with 2 of my 4 sons.  One just graduated from high school, the other will graduate next year.  Then both want to go off to college together.  I’ve also had 3 foreign exchange students who each stayed a year with us.  My older 2 sons share an apartment in a town about 20 min. away, and 1 of them spends weekends here.  So with the boys and all their friends coming and going, it’s a pretty busy household.
We have 2 horses boarded at a farm about a mile away.  My husband and I love trail riding and hope to start taking the horses and doing a little bit of primitive camping with them this summer.  (We just found out last summer how well they do overnight on the trail!)
My mom was extremely artistic and did all kinds of things from oil painting to making cards with pressed flowers under rice paper.  So creative adventures were supported at home.  I started sewing in about 6th grade, I’m 52 now….well, you can figure out how long that’s been!  I never liked math!
When my sons were very young I finally got a new sewing machine to replace the Kenmore I got when I was 14.  I loved doing machine embroidery and taking classes at my local Pfaff dealer.  She was extremely artistic and creative, too, so she really inspired me to explore.  I started doing silk ribbon embroidery by machine (she was writing a book) and all kinds of fun techniques.  I have a HUGE shelf of books that I peruse for ideas.  I also keep binders of things I tear out of magazines, and little journals of drawings and ideas.
Last year I started designing purses for a custom fabric handbag store–I really enjoyed doing that, but the economy has forced the recent closing of that store.  I have Wild Ginger Software (Pattern Master Boutique) that I use to design clothes that actually fit.
Occasionally over the years I’ve taught some classes, something I really love doing.  But with all the small fabric stores going out of business, it’s getting harder to find those opportunities.
My Artfire shop is my first really serious attempt to sell things and get a business going.  I’ve always wished I had more commissions, but not working outside the home, having no female relatives, and moving have all hindered me.  So this time I’m REALLY trying (picked a heck of a time to do so, tho, with the economy the way it is!!)  And starting next month I will be a vendor at a monthly French Country Market that’s starting up near here.  So I’m trying to increase my inventory, but haven’t gotten much of my new things posted in my studio yet.
If you actually read this all the way to the end, and post a comment, you could win a crazy patch handbag I created just for this tour! (Yes, it’s pink and green)  The 7th post wins it!  And thank all of you for visiting!

This is one of Amy’s quilts - just lovely! Amy’s blog has some great tutorials, check them out. And her Artfire Shop is just full of fun things for crafters.

See you tomorrow!