Back in Business!

Just wanted to drop in and share a few things of what I've been up to the last few months.  Since I last posted, I have started teaching again.  As a result, my crafting time has been severely limited these days.  I am still busy working on several cross stitch projects and hope to post some of those soon.  

I'm very excited that now that it is fall the Pinterest Parties have started again with the City of Edwardsville.  We had our first party Friday night and it was a blast.  It was nice to see familiar faces from our winter/spring parties and lots of new faces too!  We made a really cute "Boo" door or wall hanging that you guys have probably seen all over Pinterest.  They turned out great!  Hope you enjoy the pictures!

January Parties

I've always felt like January was such a dull month.  All of the lights, colors, and glitter of the Christmas season is gone and all you are left with is cold, dark winter.  You go from all of the fun holiday festivities to being shut up in the house for days on end....but not this winter!  January has been much better this year because I've had two Pinterest Parties to host over the last two weekends.  

First up was a party given by my friend Maggie for her friend's birthday.  Isn't that a good idea?  Her friend loves penguins so we made a really cute penguin ornament in her honor.  This group of ladies was tons of fun!  There was lots of singing and laughter and great food.

My next party was my very first in something new and exciting for me.  I am cooperating with the city of Edwardsville to through Pinterest Parties sponsored by the city.  It was so much fun!  This was the biggest party I've ever done.  We had 27 ladies in attendance!  I'm really not used to talking to such large group and was pretty nervous, but everyone was so nice that they put me at ease.  

We made a really cute Valentine's Day plaque and I love how they all turned out!

There were some really creative ideas that some of the ladies came up with...

I just love these!

There will be another city Pinterest Party on February 21st at 7 o'clock on the second floor of the Wildey Theater.  I'll get some more details to you later in the week!

If you would like to book your own private party for the next month, please let me know by emailing me at apetalpusher@gmail.com

Still Alive...

Just popping in to let everyone know that I'm still alive and well.  I've been pretty busy working on new patterns and of course the craziness of the Christmas season.  Here are a few pictures just to show you what I've been doing...

I busted out the felt tree that I made last year for the boy...he loves it this year!

I managed to get two new patterns in the shop...My cute Christmas Angel and

my pretty minty snowflake!  You can find both of them here.

I made this Pinterest inspired wreath...

and then had a fun time making it with these lovely ladies!

I hope to get lots done over the next few weeks (yeah right...because I won't be doing anything) and hope to have some new things to show you in the new year!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Party Time!

Now that September is fully upon us, I have been happily busy with Pinterest Parties and making letter wreaths.

So far, I've done two parties... and they were a blast!  The first one, hosted by the lovely Miss Hayley, was a Leafy Letter party.  The ladies all did a great job and their letters looked fabu.

This last weekend I did a party that was a little different than the norm.  My sister hosted a spooky mother-daughter party.  Each little girl and each mom got to make a mason jar lantern.  It took a little longer than I thought it would, but the results were well worth the effort.

I love the way these look all lit up!  Once you figure out how to make these, which is pretty simple, the possibilities are endless.  You might notice we have a not so spooky, but still cute, snowflake, palm tree, and peace sign.

One wonderful discovery at the lantern party was a super tasty fall punch.  It is made with apple juice, cranberry concentrate, orange juice, and sparkling moscato.  It was really, really, ridiculously good.  Here is a link to a similar recipe on the blog Fleur de Lolly (the pretty pic is her's too), just substitute your favorite fizzy beverage for the ginger ale...or keep it if it needs to be kid friendly.  Enjoy!

The Birds and the B

 I just realized this morning that I had not yet posted my second Fall Pinterest Party project!  If you are a Facebook fan of mine then you have already seen it.  If not, then here is it!

This is my Pinterest inspired bird silhouette painting!  It turned out really cute.  I love the look of the old book pages (although it hurt just a little to tear up a book) with the black silhouette against it.  I would say that the skill level for this project is just a tiny bit harder than the leafy letters, but don't worry, I'll help you make it.

Again, if you are interested in hosting your own Fall Pinterest Party, just let me know either via email or a message on Facebook.  I'm already booking dates in September so the earlier you reserve yours, the better!

In other news, I finished another one of my looming unfinished projects.  I finally got around to framing my cross-stitch letter B that I made for my son's room.  I don't know why I was so scared to frame it, it was really quite simple.  All I did was find some scrap white fabric ( I had some leftover white sheet from making curtains) and some quilt batting (I knew I had been saving that bag of batting from Granny for the last six years for a reason) and then made a little sandwich of them in the frame:  frame back, batting, white fabric, and cross-stitch.  The glass for this frame was broken a very long time ago, which made it perfect for my use!

Here it is in my son's room.  I think it looks pretty good.  It is hanging over his little book nook and he loves pointing at it and saying, "B!  Mama, B!"

Fall Pinterest Parties!

 It's August, the back-to-school shopping is in full swing,  and that means only one thing...Fall will be here soon!  What's not to love about this season?  The days are warm and the nights are crispy, cool, the hayrides, apple treats, and Halloween!  I'm really looking forward to taking my kids to the pumpkin patch and walking on the bike trails when the leaves turn.

Another thing I'm super excited to share with you are my Fall Pinterest Parties!  Don't know what a Pinterest Party is?  Let me fill you in!

A Pinterest Party is where you invite your friends to come over and bring a recipe that they have pinned for everyone to try.  As everyone is enjoying the treats, I will be there to help your guests create a fun Fall craft that is also from Pinterest!  I will bring everything we need to make an awesome fall decoration, wreath, artwork, etc.  By the end of the party, everyone will have something to take home, a full belly, and a smile on their face!

That's the basics, here are the logistics.  Each guest pays $20 to cover all of the crafting materials that we will need.  I will bring everything that is needed right down to the hot glue guns.  The hostess of the Pinterest party just has to invite her favorite people over and let me know how many are coming.  As an added bonus (aside from being a really cool person that hosts a party for her friends) if you host a party, you get to craft for free!

What will we make?  Well, here is the first Fall craft for a party...Leafy Letters!  These are right on trend with using letters in decor for your home.  They can be used as a welcoming Fall wreath for your front door, or as a decorative monogram on a mantle or shelf.  

To book a party, just send me an email at apetalpusher@gmail.com or send me a private message on the Petal Pusher facebook page!  Get your date reserved early so you can be all ready for fall. 

I will be back later this week with another party craft for Fall!