starting on the quilt.

One of my goals this year is to make a quilt. I decided it'd be fun to make a quilt for our little one (who will be here in a couple months!). I've been collecting little girl clothes from consignment shops, Goodwill, thrift stores, etc. to put into the quilt. Gently used clothes, fabric pieces, etc. that are too worn in some places, or have a stain here or there, but still perfectly great for using the rest of the fabric.

I've made a  few quilts in the past (including this one for my hubby when we were then dating :)), but am by no means an expert, or expert sewer for that matter. So basically I'm just cutting out rectangular strips -- some 3" wide, some 4" wide, but all are varying lengths. It definitely takes awhile to cut the pieces apart, to work around buttons, seams and such, so I'm doing a little at a time, here and there. We'll see how long it takes :) 

Any tips or ideas from any expert sewers out there? Any recommendations for super sharp scissors? I'm using a Fiskars rotary blade which is working well for the majority of the cutting into pieces. But as for using scissors to take the clothes apart - I'm using Fiskars scissors, and they are definitely not made for lots of fabric cutting. As I'm not sewing a whole lot, I don't want to make a huge investment in cutting tools, but it would be nice to know of some well priced options for where I am at with my sewing :) Any advice is well appreciated! :)

sponsorship spots

I am so excited to offer sponsorship spots here at The Creative Place blog!

I began this blog almost three years ago to share crafty goodness, tutorials, recipes, and little snippets from my family and my faith. Since then, it has grown tremendously. Go here to see some of my FAQs and to get a feel of what I'm all about with this blog :)

I love, love, love sharing DIY projects, crafty goodness, recipes, other inspiration, and little glimpses of my family and faith.  I post 4-5 times a week (weekdays). I share DIY projects that are easy to create on a budget and with easily found and inexpensive materials. The Creative Place blog was named one of Babble.com's Top 50 Mom Craft Blogs of 2011 and many of my tutorials have been featured on bigger blogs including Sew, Mama, Sew!, How About Orange, Tipjunkie, Everything Etsy, Mod Podge Rocks, and many more.

Currently, this blog receives about 50,000+ visitors per month, with an average of 95,000-125,000 pageviews per month. RSS followers, FB followers, and email subscriptions are 4200+ and "Members" (Google Friend Connect) on this blog are 1700+.  All of these make The Creative Place an excellent advertising opportunity for your business or blog :)

The sponsorship spots will begin March 1, 2012. The price for a sponsorship spot at this time is $25/month, payable through paypal. This includes a static ad with dimensions of 220px x 110px that will be located on the right sidebar (directly below the "Find Me Here" flags) of this blog. Also available are spots to advertise within a post (at the bottom of the post), which are visible to RSS and email subscriptions. The price for a one-time post advertisement is $10. If you are interested in sponsoring, have questions, or would like more information, please email me at thecreativeplace(at)gmail(dot)com. I reserve the right to refuse a sponsorship spot if I do not feel it is in line with this blog.

Sponsoring a giveaway:
If you have a shop that sells products that relate to feel of this blog (paper, fabric, craft, supplies) and are interested in sponsoring a giveaway of a product from your shop or site, please email me for more information.

Thank you for your support and for reading this blog :)

*Image background is from Oh, Hello Friend - 

downloadable vintage backgrounds available here.

2012 Goals

I was so excited to read all of you great "One Little Word" comments (and emails!) yesterday. It's so inspiring and encouraging to hear so many people focusing on a word for this year! Thank you all for sharing :)

I have completed my 2012 Goals for myself. I have 4 goals this year, and I feel like they are all do-able. A challenge, but not unrealistic. These goals are for myself personally, my blog, and my shop.

1. Develop, create, and release 10 new products in my shop. Last year my goal was 15. I released nine. Given my family priorities (as well as just having had a new baby at the beginning of last year), 15 was a big number (probably too big a number). Ten will still be a challenge, but I am glad to have something to work towards.

2. Create and update a monthly album. I love having my different seasonal journals, but I would like to have a more basic album of my family, and my blog and shop work. My boys are growing (fast), and I like the idea of documenting my family/personal life along with my blog and shop. It's the season of life I am in right now and want to capture glimpses into it. I know I will enjoy looking back through it later on. This will also be a great project to share on my blog along the way, so really this goal is two-fold - a personal documentation and a fun project to share here.

3. Launch sponsorship spots on my blog. Yep. I am putting together sponsorship info to begin taking sponsors. I shared this late last year when I redesigned my blog, and am finishing up the details. This blog has grown tremendously (thanks to you, awesome readers!) over the past year, and I am excited to offer spots to other small business and blog owners to share their talents and goods.

4. Work on and complete 3-5 sewing projects. Including a quilt. I have been itching to make another quilt. I have made 4 in my lifetime, but am wanting to make another. I have several other projects I am wanting to work on as well, including a fabric-pieced decorative pillow cover, and a skirt. 

So there you have it :) I am excited to dive in to 2012 and start making progress on these.