Portabellopixie

Holiday Sale!

We are so excited for the arrival of the Holiday season this year and would love to pass on the excitement to you with a sale!

I mentioned a week ago that we have a new section of the website called Holiday Shop and have filled it with goodies to give and help give. We are offering 50% off of all items in the Holiday Shop section now through Wednesday at midnight MST. The Holiday Shop is full of items like our Textile Gift Boxes, Soak Wash (you really should try this product, we love it!) and our Holiday Embellishment kits.

Since we have added Soak Wash to our site, we've had some questions as to what it is for. The answer is really anything! It is designed as a gentle cleaner for handmade goods. Quilts, Knitted items, garments.. but we use it for much more. Shaving legs (totally), washing hair (helps the color stay longer!) Please do try it, the scents are fabulous and Soak is an environmentally friendly product.

Just enter the code 'Holiday' at checkout to receive your discount.

We have also discounted ALL sewing patterns 25% during this sale. A perfect time to grab the ones you might be missing and to order our two new patterns:

Just enter the code 'Holiday' at checkout to receive your discount. So stock up on our textile boxes, wrapping goodies and the other little tidbits that are in the Holiday shop.

Happy Holidays!

Candy Spools & The Blue Room

I have gone back and forth with thread organization for as long as I've been sewing.  It's not an easy thing to keep in order, especially when you have a rainbow of colors like I do!  I think I have found my method though - hoorah!

I few weeks ago I stumbled upon this wooden organizer for .99 cents at a thrift store.  I snagged it, with the intention of painting it.  But as soon as I got it home, I thought of all those pretty colors against the old wood, and so it came about.

I love it!  And these are actually photos taken from our past dwelling.  My studio isn't even set up in our new house!  I am currently working off of a kitchen table left behind here in the "blue room."  Oh the blue room..  I am guessing you will become quite familiar with it. 

I should mentioned that we love this house.  But it certainly has some areas that need help.  I present, The Blue Room:

Coming in from the deck:

From the "Blue Kitchen":

Into the "Blue Kitchen":

Where the two Blues collide:

Envy doesn't look good on anyone, so keep it in check now. 

Oh, but all jokes aside, the Blue Room has one thing that you can't create with supplies from Lowes.  Here is the view from The Blue Room:

So, yeah.  I think we can work around the blue.

We are settling in quite well actually and I find myself thriving in the creative possibilities that abound in this home and the property it sits on.  I can't wait for spring - there is a huge garden spot with crumbling rock walls that desperately need to be rescued. 

Oh, wait till you see the purple bathroom.  Oh yes.

xo

Sandi

 

Cinnamon Sticks Giveaway

If this was your comment, you are the winner!  Please contact Canela at jewelrybycanela!yahoo.com to claim your prize!

Today I am sharing a really fabulous giveaway from one of my lovely sponsors, Cinnamon Sticks.  Canela is giving away a $50 gift certificate to one lucky reader.  Leave a comment to enter.

I had the pleasure of meeting Canela in person a few months ago while I attended Spark, so I can truly tell you that she is a most generous soul and your holiday money would be going to a good home in supporting her!

In Canela's words about her business:

Hi There!
I'm Canela, wife, mom of six, jewelry artist.

I have been creating jewelry for over 16 years. I have spent the last two training myself as a metal smith.
The me behind my shop has officially be come a we, as things have become so busy! My wonderful Husband has taken on the job of packaging. all those pretty teal bows tied on your jewerly box are his handy work. Thanks babe!

~a little about my jewelry~

Everything in life seems to inspire my designs, so you will find a variety of styles from clean, simple, elegant, and modern to elecetic, whimsical, and rustic.

In Our shop you will find high quality materials that are lovingly and meticulously crafted in to beautiful designs. Our prices may be a tad higher than other shops, however the quailty and and crafstmaship are top notch and you will get what you pay for!

~My Blog~

Stop by for a peek into our busy often crazy little life, as well as for sneak peeks of designs, and occationaly you can win great jewelry!

~Customs~

I love creating custom designs and it would be a joy to create something special for you!

------------------

Thanks to Canela for providing such beauty and a generous giveaway!  Winner will be announced by Wednesday in this post.

New Patterns!

Meet the Berry Picker Skirt and the Saturday Skirts patterns:

Berry Picker:

 

And

Saturday Skirts:

Both patterns are on pre-order right now and will be shipping on December 6th.  

It's been a long time since I released any sewing patterns and there is a good reason for it.  We were, frankly, really overwhelmed by the response to the first set of patterns and kind of blindsided in how to handle it and take it further.  So I took a good long time and gave the first set of patterns a longevity test to see what people really liked about them and what comments we recieved in response to thing people might like devoloped further. 

The most common question?

Q:  Will you put this into an adult size? 

A:  Both of these patterns (as well as all future patterns, if we can do it) are in both child & adult size.  You don't have to buy a separate pattern for each size group, both sizes come in the same pattern.

I started working with an awesome illustrator to help with the technical aspects of the pattern process.  If I may humbly say so, these illustrations rock.  They are so easy to understand and bright and pretty, to keep you going through the project.  I can't recall if I have talked about it before, but learning to sew was really difficult for me because I am SO visual.  I would open up a pattern and find a lot of technical drawings and lingo and be turned off and not finish the project.  So it was really important to me to make the pattern pretty to look at, all the way through.

Here is a sample from the inside of one of the new patterns:

Pretty, huh?  But not overdone at the same time.

So thank you for the support in the past.  We truly appreciate it and are excited to be bringing you some new projects.  (more to come in the next few weeks.)  Again, these are on pre-order and will be shipped out on December 6th in the order they were recieved.

Much love to you all-

Sandi

 

He thinks he lacks Creativity

Let me say, it must be difficult to be married to me.  I am an extremist - I can't do anything halfway and I suffer from complete OCD.  If I am passionate about something, it is never in a slight way.  It's all or nothing.  So for someone like Dustin, who is a much gentler being, viewing my extreme attitute towards my craft & interests often makes him feel as if he lacks creativity.  Not so!

A few weeks ago, I wanted to try my hand at painting.  It all started when I went to a garage sale and saw this:

I can't leave something like this untouched.  I must MUST MUST look inside to see if there is anything there.  99% of the time, nothing.  But then every now and then..  you will open pandora's box to find:

Paint!  Most of it really nice paint, the kind that is $30 per tiny tube.  So I said "how much?"  and he said "a dollar?"and I said "okey dokey."

Then I came home and looked over my existing art supply to find that I did have some brushes and some canvas even but no easel.  And that just doesn't work obviously.  I lamented for a day or so, looking at different easel's online to the tune of several hundred dollars until Dustin offered to build me one.  I believe his words were "it won't be anything fabulous or anything, but I'll do it for you."

He spent an afternoon in the garage with some leftover trade show bits and pieces and presented me with this:

And the man thinks he lacks creativity!  Look at THIS:

And This:  the mason jars are actually unscrewable for cleaning.

I had these little trays on hand that I picked up for free on the side of the road (yep, that's how I roll) that I wanted to use for the paint so he built the tray specifically to fit them.

So there you have it.  Amazing huh?  A custom made art easel with custom carving and paintbrush tray.  In an afternoon, to the total of about $3 for the chain he needed.  Everything else was salvaged from past trade show booths, which I love. 

Help me sing his praises?

xo

Sandi

PS:  the move is going well!  thank you to those who have inquired.  We are not completely moved, but getting there.  We chose to do it slowly, as I am in the process of finishing a few rather large projects.  I'll share pictures of the new house in my next post.

Also, please welcome our newest sponsor, The Blueberry Hill.  They have the MOST adorable hats for children.  Please go look!

Holiday Shop & Giveaway 2010

Just a quick one to let you know that we have created a special Holiday Shop section of the website that features great gift items and supplies for either a loved one, or for you to use to make gift for your loved one!

I am also going to be doing the 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway again this year.  If you are interested in being part of the Giveaway this year, please send me an email to dustin@sandihendersondesign.com with a good, clear photo of the item you would like to offer, and a link to your shop or info on your business location.  Please be willing to ship the item(s) yourself to the winner.  Please also be willing to ship internationally if needed.  The giveaway last year was all I had hoped it would be and I recieved a lot of heart felt emails and letters from the people that were able to benefit from the gifts.  The giveaway also took a lot of time and organization, so I am recruiting Dustin to help this year.  (Get this, he doesn't know it yet! ha!)  So please send him the emails and we will read them together.  I am very afraid that if the emails come to my inbox, I will miss some of them.  My inbox is in a scary state after having no internet access for the better part of a week.

Also, a winner for the Lanie Jane Meadowsweet Giveaway has been announced in the post!  If you weren't the winner, there is another chance to win a great selection of goodies tomorrow on Soule Mama.  When I made the decision to take sponsors on my blog, I also decided to help sponsor some other great women out there that I feel are making a difference.  Amanda was the first one that came to mind, and I feel good knowing that I am helping their family, and she is helping me meet new internet friends.  (cuz, like-she's waaay more popular than me)  So head on over to Amanda's on Saturday to enter to win this:

Lanie Jane Giveaway

Thank you so much for your entries!  If this was your comment, you are the winner!

Emily, please email JoAnne at joanne@laniejane.com  to claim your prize!

Hello everyone!  I have been a wee bit incommunicato as we moved over the weekend, and won't have internet back until tomorrow.  I have crashed my brothers computer (haha) to bring you this fabulous giveaway from one of our wonderful sponsor's, Lanie Jane.  Lanie Jane is a fabulous online shop for the best fabrics, sewing patterns and a place to share your projects for inspiration.  JoAnne is generously donating a half yard bundle of prints from the Meadowsweet collection, the sewing pattern of you choice from her shop, and candy to sew to!  Here, in JoAnne's words:

I've been thinking that a 1/2 yard bundle of

Sandi Henderson's Meadow Sweet Fabrics

would make someone out there very happy. 

My only hesitation is that I might sell out and I won't have any left for me.

Kind of selfish I know, but I just love these colors.  

  
 

I have started a quilt with this fabric

and I have been saving my pennies

to get some more of it for the backing and binding.

 

I am thinking that I want to back it with the strawberries.

What do you think?

I am using the "Quilt Smart" method.

I have some friends that are also doing the same.

When we are all finished we are going to blog about them all with lots of pictures.   

Well, back to the giveaway:

 
 Just to sweeten things up a bit, I want to tell you about a  place

that is far too close to my house.

Just a few miles up the road is a world renowned candy making business.

It is between my house and my daughters home.

Yes, you guessed it, I have to pass it every time I go to visit my daughter.

I am finding that the older I get my self control gets weaker.

In light of this little bit of info, a surprise from the

"Peppermint Place"

would couple nicely with the Meadow Sweet fabric,

don't you think?

One last thing to go along with the fabric and candy. 

The winner can choose any pattern that they want from the Lanie Jane store.

 -------------------------

To enter, just leave a comment in this post and I will announce the winner when our new internet is up and running.  :)  Thank you Lanie Jane for stepping in for me!

Who Wouldn't Want to work with these People?

I consider myself truly blessed to work with the great group of people that make up Michael Miller Fabrics.  Check out this video to see why.  (Or to laugh at me prancing around in a red wig around the 1:45 mark.  That totally works too.)

 

New*

Firstly, thank you for the comments on my last post.  I was a little worried that people would think I was chastising anyone who made the decision to exhibit at market this time around, and I didn't get a single piece of negative mail about it!  Hoorah!  :)  I really just wanted to share my experience and shed a little light into some of the decisions that have to be made when you are a working mom.  Sometimes, I think it can look a little too "perfect" and the reality is far from that.  As I said though, it's worth it.  Thank you for understanding my post.  (Or at least not emailing me if you didn't.)

So.  I mentioned a few posts back that we were going to be moving and that I was having a large amount of confusion over what to do.  Stay in Missoula, move somewhere else, buy, rent...  I am so happy to say that the heavens opened up and sent us some rain.  I find that when things are right, they just sort of fall into place and that is how things happened with this house.

I have long had dreams of a slightly rural, but still close to town home with a manageable amount of acreage.  Guess what?  I found it!  This home was for sale, but we are hesitant to buy right now (it's just a huge commitment, especially when the real estate market is moving so slow) so we met with the owners and they were happy to let us rent with the option to buy at the end.  They were also open to letting us paint and do all those things that really let you make a house your home.  What a huge blessing, huh?

So the last few days, we have slowly started moving our belongings into our new dwelling.  I love it.  I love this house for it's location, and the house itself for its imperfections.  The house is in really good condition, but could use a trip to the beauty parlor, if you know what I mean.  (When was the last time you saw turquoise carpet, turquoise countertops and turquoise studded kitchen flooring all in the same space?)

Um, yeah.  :)  But it's totally okay, I can't wait to rip it all out and start over again!

And look, it comes with it's own sledding hill:

The house is nestled on a acre and a half, which is perfect for what I want.  There is a large open area where we may eventually build a business office.  Or maybe a restored barn?  Ooooh..  So many options.

And what's the first thing we bought for the new house?  Penelope.

We are SO in love with this dog!  I have always wanted to be an animal person, I find that people who love animals are usually happier in general.  But I just haven't really been wild about animals before, and especially dogs.  But over the last year, I have had a growing urge for a pet and have done a lot of research on dogs and the type of dog we would like to add to our family.

Penny is an English Labrador.  My research taught me that if you are in the market for a lab, you need to be aware that there are two kinds - American and English.  English labs are bred for show, and are much more docile and usually a bit shorter.  American labs are bred for hunting and are much more high energy.

We had literally left the new house on the day that I took the above pictures and were driving down the road discussing names for this future pup, and there were some on the side of the road.  They were the exact breed we wanted and they had one female (which we wanted.)  And they were a fraction of the cost I had found of breeders online.

Could you have said no to this little face?  Egads.  She is an amazing dog, and so well behaved.  We love her to pieces already.  When I brought her home, the kids had no idea.  That was fun.

So that is what we are up to.  I'm finishing up my next fabric collection, Dustin is slowly painting rooms and moving our stuff, we're all loving on this puppy. 

It all came together.

xo

Sandi

Halloween 2010

I just returned from quilt market!  I haven't spoken too much about it, but a while back I made the decision to not exibit this fall as market falls over Halloween.  It is not an easy thing, being a working mom.  And I probably have the most ideal situation, being my own boss and all.  But it's still hard and there are always times that I wonder if I am still doing the right thing for our family.  When those times arise, I take a step back and prayerfully examine my choices.  I feel that the blessings of this little business 'o mine outweigh the challenges enormously though.  I'm always very careful in choosing the moments I have to miss (it can't be avoided) in regards to our little family, and felt that missing this holiday while our kids are so young wasn't the right choice for me. 

So I planned a little jaunt through 4 states and arrived home in time yesterday to paint faces and dress up my little water fairy and jedi.

They are the reason I started my business and so it can be a tricky balance doing it for them, but still being there for them.

They grow so fast!  When I filed these photos in my blog folder titled "Halloween", I found different photos from past Halloween's from the years this blog has been going.  Look:

And now: (wearing my wedding day headband)  How did this happen?  Look at how beautiful she is..and excuse me while I go bawl my eyes out.

 

And him:

 

And Now:

*sigh*  but, I was here to see it.  Which for me, was the right thing.

xo

sandi