Dear Lizzie Soiree

We are getting so excited for Spark this year! We decided to have a Soiree at Dear Lizzie like we did last year. Everyone is invited. Please come. Mingle. Laugh. Eat a cupcake and start the sparking!

hear ye hear ye!

A call has gone out to all the land from our dear sweet Rhonna Farrer for talented people, like you Spark girls, to join her design team!

Rhonna will be launching her new website in just a little while and she is really ready to get her designers in place.  You can read all the specifics on her blog.

Also, make sure that you click on over to her Facebook page and like Rhonna Designs.

We love our little sass pipe. Here's hoping some Sparksters can become her designers!

What sparks You? Katy Dill

There have probably been a handful of times when I have fallen asleep before Ryan in our 11 years of marriage.  Post-surgery and post delivering a baby are among those times.  Those few minutes that I truly have to myself, when I know our 5 girls are asleep and Ryan has just dozed off are packed.  That's when the blueprints for my projects are initially created--in my mind.  I imagine sewing details, how I'm going to construct something, what colors I envision it, the details right down to the buttons and handwork.  

ruffled bloomer tutorial

Once I have a clear vision of what I'd like to produce, it's hard to keep my mind (or hands!) on anything else.  If my hands aren't doing something, I fell unproductive.  Even sitting down to read a book, I'll think, If I could just listen to an audio book I could enjoy literature and be productive!  I've always been that way.  I used to crochet during recess in elementary school (that and play tether ball).

ruffled cLOVEr dress tutorial

Of course, not everything I conjure in my mind during those quiet moments at night come to fruition.  I have had my share of "failures".  Recently I started making myself a Maxi dress.  It was in white linen, and I could imagine myself and my 8 month pregnant belly in it, with photos on the beach and how I would cherish having those photos.  The further into it I got, the more I knew it wasn't going to work out...for me.

all in the details sundress tutorial

And it was disappointing, like seeing a beautifully photographed cake and attempting to recreate it, only to end up with a crumbly, bland mess.  So, I altered my plans and it turned out to be a darling summer dress for my oldest.  I think that's part of the creative process that gets overlooked sometimes.  We see other people's creations, the finished and polished projects and assume the road there was a straight and smooth one.  Creativity, like anything else worth doing in life, takes work, perseverance, and sometimes alternate thinking.

a biased skirt tutorial

I don't think I'll ever outgrow the need to create.  Once my five girls (and whomever I am carrying right now) are grown and gone...I'll have grand children that will need me to sew for them, right?

hand pieced and dyed lace skirt

Ryan and I are the parents of 5 girls with another little one on the way.  I don't have any formal training in clothing design, just trial and error and a couple of high school sewing classes.  When my hands aren't busy sewing or taking care of my family, I enjoy baking and playing the harp.  We hope to sell everything we own (except the harp and sewing machine) and move abroad one day with our baby Dills.

Katy Dill is the amazing blogger/mom/seamstress behind the successful blog No Big Dill. She is one of those women that inspires on so many different levels you just wish you lived next door to her so that you can suck up some of her creativity through osmosis.

Class preview: Stamp Carving

Just in case I haven't screamed it loud enough, I'M TEACHING AT SPARK!!!!

Finally, I get to teach stamp carving. I've wanted to teach it the last couple of years and it just hasn't worked out for one reason or another.

So this year, as a creative partner, I said, "By damn, I'm teaching stamp carving." And Margie said, "So let it be done."

I'm a wee bit passionate about stamp carving. It's so relaxing and rewarding.  It's easy enough to do with your kids. You can take it along on trips because the supplies are small. It isn't expensive.

So, if you are still sitting on the fence about coming to Spark, this is me, yelling for everyone to hear, Come! Please come! We are going to rock the cazbah. We are going to laugh and create and commune. 

You need this. Really. You do.

And I want to teach you to create your own custom stamps. 

Also, everyone needs to hop on over to Margie's blog today. She has big news. She needs some Sparky love. Let's smoother her.

today...

Today our one and only Margie Romney-Aslett was on Studio 5. She shared ideas for creating "Sparkish" garlands.

Check her out. Isn't she just too cute in her hot pink and glasses?

annnnnd we're back

The fourth of July brought about an impromptu blogging break.  Summer is so busy. The days are long and seem lazy, but there is so much to do with family and friends.  There is just too much fun to to be had. The beach needs going to. Snowcones need eating. Roadtrips beckon.

And then there are crafts to be made. With children. Without.

Margie sent me her new line of papers. Have you seen them? She is designing for a new company called Authentique. They haven't launched the website just yet, but you can get first glances on their Facebook page.

I used some of the die cuts to make soldered charms. And I made a little gift box to go along with it.

Everytime Margie releases a new line of products I think she has outdone herself again. She is ever evolving. She is full of Spark.

Sometimes when we are together I literally feel like I'm sitting next to a sparkler. Her creative spirit rains down on you like little twinkles.

Now, enough mush mush. Time for a bit of business.

Our Handmade Market is full! 

Overflowing really.  We are busting at the seams with amazing artisans. So, if you didn't get a chance to apply in time, try again next year. We will be showcasing all our vendors prior to the event so you know just how great it is going to be and you can start stashing away spending money.  This year the market will be open to the public on Saturday Oct. 22nd from 11-5 pm.


Happy Monday!

april