I am fully aware of the futility of saying things like "Sorry I've been an absent blogger lately" and "I swear I'll be better". Most of the time when I read things that that on other blogs, I'm not even aware that they've been posting any less than usual. As much as it pains me to say, a lack of posting generally means I'm happy and busy with, you know, things not involving a computer. My interest and commitment to internet has been waning. Real life can be so.... enticing? Distracting? Exhausting?

Also, a few weeks back I found of that there is a certain subset of grown men who are obsessed with amputee girls (no matter how small the um.. loss?). The swarming hive found me and it's sort of turned me off blogging for a bit. All's rectified, the point of entry had been taken down, but it still makes me feel a little uncomfortable. Talking about it makes it more bemusing/bizarre and less terrifying. Sorry Dad. Just needed to get that off my chest.

We're on to blizzard number 2 in Brooklyn and I've been making soup like it's my job. I finally bought a shovel to dig out my car and I'd probably still be spinning my tires if I hadn't gotten a 20 minute coaching session from a older Russian man who, through my rolled down window, gave me his philosophy on driving in the snow. When a man with a beard and a Russian accent tells you about snow, you listen.

My neighborhood is charming. Full of characters- hipsters and grandparents and tony soprano types. We all share one thing in common and one thing only. Vinyl siding. Sometime in the 1960s, everyone got together and decided to cover every house on every block with it. My house is 100 years old and it has it. So does everyone else's.

But the snow makes even vinyl siding look delicious. It turns a neighborhood with a face only a mother could love into a John Hughes movie set, but with more cultural diversity and higher rents. Girls with snowflakes and pinks cheeks are helped out by boys wielding shovels. Snow gets pushed into mountains and I get an excuse to sit in bed on a Saturday night. Cynics will be cynics, but I refuse to stop loving the snow.

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I "wonder" what YOU are crafting up this weekend...??

We are keeping it a surprise! stop by next week to see!.........we can't wait to show you! 

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New Pattern...Maddie Bee

Please welcome The Maddie Bee Pattern as the newest addition to our pattern line!

Maddie Bee - Pint sized fashion that creates a buzzzzzzz..........

The Maddie Bee girls Apron style top is the stylish solution for every little girls wardrobe! The design wears comfortably over a blouse or a simple t-shirt. Sew it up to be dressy, casual and even playful for whatever the event or daily happenings require. Then, simply slip off the Maddie Bee Top when school is over, at meal time or for rough and tumble play time if you want! It's easy to pull an outfit together that will get noticed with the Maddie Bee Top!

A HUGE shout out to my friend Susan for the yet again, FABULOUS photos!

The Maddie Bee Pattern is available for PRE-ORDER only at this time. It will be ready and available to ship in the middle of March.

This is our first girls pattern but not our last! and just WAIT until you see all the cute variations of this top that our pattern testers created! Stop back by on Monday to see those!

We'd love to hear what you think! Jot down a quick comment before you leave....

take a peek at our pattern tester photos too! here and here....

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Crafting with two is better than one....

I love to sit down and create something with my hands - it's especially fun when it has nothing to do with "work". It's great to gather a group of friends, gab, eat goodies and get crafty!

In relation to this post I did about a "crafting secret", pull creativity and ideas from your pool of friends and family and organize a craft night!

Just pick one project to do, when, where and what is needed for supplies. I charged a small fee and supplied everything for the project. Mainly because I had most of it on hand already. (back to that crafting secret......) I was able to spend an evening with people I enjoyed being around, taught them a fun new skill and everyone went home with hands full of beautiful goodies they had created! I smell a monthly get together coming on....... ;) Maybe one of the other girls will host and teach something fun! (hint, hint.....)

Fabric flowers and rosettes seem to be everywhere and they are being crafted up in all sort of materials in all sort of different ways! Our group hopped on the band wagon and we got crafting!

Remember this photo from last week?

It was a clue about the crafty girls night I was organizing! Refabulous has a great tutorial on how to create the style of flowers I love. And think outside of the box......they aren't just for hair! Clip on your handbag, cardigan, jacket, create a choker, wrist corsage and more! When wearing them in your hair I love the look of clustering them together or wearing a med-large sized one low behind my ear. They are SO fun and great for ages newborn on up! Here are a few I crafted up to help inspire you!

So get a group together and craft up something fun! and if you do, let me know!! :) Happy Crafting!!

*take a peek at a giveaway from me (girls DIY kit) on the Priddy Creations Blog*

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My Top 5 Super Bowl Ads

Google

Google really transformed how we think about search system and now Google has truly transformed how we think about Super Bowl adverts. Without any famous celebrities, unusual effects or other jokes, Google did what Google does best. It showed to all world how Google had changed the world. The advert is unlikely to win any creativity awards but unlike usual adverts I think it made a real powerful impact in the mind on consumers.

Budweiser

In general, I was underwhelmed with Anheuser-Busch’s advert this year. Frequently Budweiser dominates the game and very easily delivers among the really best in the bowl. While Budweiser did not have its best year, but absolutely average for Budweiser is still real good.
They formally own the Super Bowl and Budweiser are still the great King of Beers. As usual, the very best advert used the Clydesdales, the iconic symbol of the Trade Mark. But the ad itself was not as nice as the Clydesdale adverts of past years. If they would stop line-extended Bud Light, then maybe they would have considerably more time to work on the adverts.

Doritos

Who really needs a fancy award-winning agency when you can hold a contest and get your unique adverts for free? For a cool, spicy, fun, youth-oriented TM the great strategy paid off truly big time. The charming dog with the bark collar was hilarious and had a real TM payoff at the end.

Snickers

When you brand owns a magnificent, clear and excellent idea in the mind, it is a whole lot easier to make a famous commercial adv. Snickers, the №1 candy bar, is focused on adults (or positioning as adults). Having a unusual Betty White turn into a young man playing football was not only visually impressionable, but also packed a mean branding adv punch too.

Denny’s

The free-breakfast idea got average people truly excited last year. So Denny’s repeated the usual giveaway. And people most likely got even really excited about the free breakfast this year. But on high top of breakfast Denny’s delivered some of the especially top adverts of the game. Again when you have a non-standard idea, it is a lot easier to get great creative work. “It’s a good time to be an American, but a really bad time to be a chicken.” Who can forget this slogan?

Want the same success? Full Service Design Agency in New York and Florida specialises on competent and effective advertising of your projects.

Chicken Warning — Denny's Super Bowl 2010

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Dock and Go

If you are enjoying a new computer this year, the best peripheral you can add is a universal docking station. With a single USB cable you can manage and charge your USB peripherals including extra HD monitors, high quality speakers, cameras, music players and more. Dock and undock with the push of a button. It's simple expandability and complete productivity for home and office.

Try out the new mini docking station with USB virtual graphics, the Toshiba dynadock V USB Docking Station with Video is available now.

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Show us Your Desktop

"I love my multi-monitor setup. I'm currently running (2) 24" Samsung monitors off of my MacBook Pro using a ViBook+ from Village Tronic. My only wish at this point is for a 64-bit driver to use with Snow Leopard."

Michael. Thanks for showing us your desktop.

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The Mercer

About a month ago, my big sister and I drove 2 hours to Doylestown, Pa. to go to the Mercer Museum for the first time. We got stupidly lost after stopping at Terrain and pulled up 10 minutes after it closed. There may or may not have been tears, foot stamping and devastation all around.

On my day off last week (shock! joy! I had a day off!) I made it back to the Mercer and finally got to poke around. It's a history museum devoted tools and products used in early American crafts, trades and occupations. Basketry, meat preservation, coopering, cheese making, leather working, spinning, lumbering, medicine, solar salt harvesting, glass blowing and 45 other unbelievable exhibits- each in its own small alcove.

I was really overwhelmed. I've never been to a place like it and was basically floating on air for 2 hours. The museum isn't heated and we could see our breath while inside, otherwise I could have stayed weeks. Months. Years. All of eternity. Bury me inside the hearse and coffin exhibit on the 3rd floor, please.

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In the works......

So what do playing cards......

random misc. candles.....

heart picks.......

and a $1 store mop have in common??.....

They are all projects in the works here this week! Hopefully on Monday we can begin to reveal some of these projects! Until then, we will just tease you with these random photos and let your imagination roam.........

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Kindergarten.......100 days

(taking a break from business to share a bit of family news. You may like this idea!)

Does your child's Kindergarten class celebrate the 100th day of School? Ours does! Actually the 100 day was TODAY!

Last week each student was asked to bring in a collection of 100 things - string 100 cheerios on a necklace, build a tower using 100 legos, etc.....

My little guy decided he wanted to collect 100 Thumb prints from 100 different people! We crafted up a poster with 100 numbered spaces on it, bought a washable ink pad and set out to fill it up!

Of course he got to fill the first space!

Followed by several family members, friends, neighbors and classmates! We went early before school started one day and within minutes there was a LooOOOoong time of kids waiting for chance to plant their thumb print on his poster......

Our littlest thumb print from Miss M......

and our lucky #99, #100 to finish the project!

Can you get any more excited than THIS?? ha ha ha......In under 48 hours he was done! That's a lot of thumbs baby and his project was a huge hit with the class!!

There are a lot of fun and creative 100 days projects out there! If you have blogged about one, leave a link in the comments. I'd love to swing by and take a peek!

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The Everyday Hostess......new pattern!

The pattern we have created and used for years to sew up our stylish Hostess aprons is now available to YOU! Please welcome The Everyday Hostess to our line of ePatterns!

The Everyday Hostess - be stylish everyday whether you are cooking, cleaning or hosting an event! Just be you..........

The ePattern comes complete with step by step instructions and illustrations/photos to complete 2 different styles of aprons - everyday hostess apron, the shorter market/crafter style apron and lots of design options, tips and tricks including a pattern for our 4 square design option!

The Everyday Hostess Apron is only available in ePattern form at this time. Through a series of rectangular cuts you can whip up this apron easily with a rotary cutter and mat. OR construct physical pattern pieces using lightweight paper and always have them at the ready!

You can snatch up this ePattern at Above all Fabric and through our shop as well!





If you carry downloadable patterns in your fabric/quilt shop and would like to carry some of ours, please contact us here! We would love to hear from you......

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Valentines Day has been all consuming this year. Funny, my first year without a real valentine in, gag, 9 years and I've been up to my neck in beautiful flowers and chocolate and paper hearts made from 1870s wallpaper. Working in the love business will do that.

It's actually been very sweet to help boys all over the city give flowers to the girls they love. Luckily I'm not the bitter type, so I've been thoroughly enjoying my small peaks into other's relationships, while secretly feeling relieved to be alone these days.

That being said, I did receive my first ever box of beautiful chocolates from a nice boy to whom I'm not related. A chocolate cameo. I blushed. I'm always blushing a little bit, I think.

The flowers at the shop this weekend were some of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. For all of my satisfaction with my situation, oh gosh... I did slip off into dreams of receiving some of the arrangements we sent out the door. Sweetest and simplest of all were the antique medicine bottles with a single stem and a rex begonia leaf, tied with a silk ribbon.

Hoping your day was as full of beauty and love as mine- borrowed or otherwise.

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