That girl is crafty like ice is cold!

Remember my friend Dash?

Well, not only did she WIN the National Geographic Society "Expedition Granted" competition to run off to the Hawaiian Islands and help save the endangered (and super-adorable) Hawaiian Monk Seal, she's also expecting her first baby at the end of May.

She's having a good year, don't you think?

The other day, she and her husband came into the shop to show off some crafty sewing she had been doing (with help from her fellow Yankee Crafty Katie) and I thought the project was so durned cute I should share it with you.

We have a very popular pattern here at the shop called "Effie and Ollie Elephant" by Heather Bailey.

Perhaps you've heard of it?

Well, the elephant in question is very cute, but very small: just enough elephant to fit in the palm of your hand, as a matter of fact.

And Dash, having an entire nursery to decorate and lots of elephant-making experience under her belt, decided this pattern would be a good candidate for enlarging.

By quite a bit.

So went to the local copy shop and that's just what she did.

And then she enlarged it again!

Dash very kindly gave me permission to share these photos from her blog, and I think you'll agree she made a very special family of elephants and this nursery is going to be properly tricked-out.

Congratulations, Dash... on both your fabulous year, your elephant family and your new baby... we can't wait to meet him or her!

XO,

Rhea

Summersville!

Oh, I've been waiting for these to arrive for a loooong time!

Congratulations, Lucie, on a fabulous debut collection!

Summersville is available both as yardage and as charm packs in our new fabrics section here.

Now, what am I going to make from these? Something fabulous, I think, yes?

XO,

Rhea

Thank you and a winner!

Thanks for all your birthday wishes and for your kind and lovely comments about the discount policy...

My stepdad has this awesome saying about "consistency is the mother of ... something not so good." (I can't remember the punchline, but it always makes me feel better when I need to change my mind, particularly in business situations.)

In other news, I had a very nice birthday but I have been sick as a dog. I guess I caught the flu, which usually happens once every year or so, usually coinciding with the most fabulous days, weather wise.

I shoulda known, because the last few days have been gorge-ous.

I'm still in a stay-at-home situation but feeling much better.

And Ollie got me a new camera for my birthday, which I will be able to use on this here blog once I am feeling better.

In the meantime, I'm sure you'd like to know who won the Flea Market Fancy Itty Bitty Bundle, right?

Well, the random number generator chose lucky number 4...

Pamela S. said...

Well it sure is sweet of you to give one of us a present on your birthday. Thanks for the opportunity to win and enjoy your special day!

Pam, I don't have your e-mail address but I have a sneaking suspicion that you are local and I know who you are...

If this is the case, just stop by the shop for your bundle.

If this is not the case, please send me an e-mail (rhea@alewivesfabrics.com) with your address and I will ship your bundle out right away.

Thanks again to everyone who entered and I will be back soon with some nice, new pictures.

XO,

Rhea

Some good news and some bad news

Hi all,

I will hurry up and get the bad news out of the way first so we can talk about more fun things (i.e. KEEP READING... hint, hint).

Everyone likes the bad news first, right? And I hope this news isn't too bad...

Effective starting May 1st, we will no longer be able to permanently offer the "Soulemama" discount to our online customers, nor our in-store customers.

About a year ago, I had made an announcement that the "Soulemama" discount would be permanent, but unfortunately I find myself in the position of having to retract that promise.

The reasons behind this decision actually have a lot to do with our in-store discount policy.

We have always, for years and years, offered a 10% discount to guild members, but also to "frequent flyers," small-business owners and recently, to Soulemama readers who knew about the promotional code as well.

Our intentions with this discount policy were good.

But you know what they say about good intentions...

The discount unfortunately caused some hard feelings and confusion with our in-store customers, and after a lot of thought and discussion, my business associate (Mom) and I decided it would be best to discontinue all 10% discounts.

So there's the bad news.

Cat's out of the bag.

Are you ready for the GOOD news?

The good news is as follows:

• We are currently working on a discount program that puts everyone on an even playing field... something like a "punch card" that all of our customers can partake in, whether they are local, online, guild members, small business owners, "frequent flyers," Soulemama readers or what have you.

• We are not *quite* ready to put this new plan into action: we still have some "tweaking" to do, but it's gonna be good for all concerned.

• We will also still be offering the Soulemama discount on a promotional basis, probably for a period of about one week after a featured giveaway on Amanda's blog.

• Even though the in-store discounts already ended on April 1st, you can still use the promotional code "Soulemama" until May 1st to get 10% off your entire online order (does not apply to shipping), so use it 'til you lose it!

• Tomorrow is my birthday (#33) and as I am in a particularly good mood and haven't done a giveaway in a while, I thought I would give you, my readers, a present because I am that kind of a girl...

Leave a comment on this post (I will close comments on Tuesday, April 17th) and you will be entered to win one of our new "Itty Bitty Bundles" of Flea Market Fancy... (21) 9" by 11" cuts, one of each print from the collection.

























I love the Itty Bitty Bundles... I like making them, I like using them, I like looking at them.

They are just so darn cute (and perfect if you like scrappy projects and/or paper-piecing hexagons like I do).

So please forgive me for the bad news and if you have any questions and/or suggestions please do let me know.

Good luck with the giveaway!

XO,

Rhea

I can't wait...

...until my garden looks like this again:




















































































































































































Right now in the garden there are just some Lily sprouts and the Forsythia is about to bloom. The Quince is thinking about it.

I'm not the most passionate gardener in the world but I did plant some new stuff last year and I'm excited to see how it does this year.

It's always a surprise.

And in the meantime I am working on a quilt that I can't show you.

There has been progress made on my Superstar quilt, too. I got my sewing mojo back!

And speaking of...

There's a cup of tea and a stack of little rectangles that need to be sorted calling my name at the moment... got to go!

XO,

Rhea

Extreme Makeover: Chair Edition!

My friend Judy was in the shop the other day buying some Amy Butler home-decorator weight fabrics and she sent me a picture of her finished project, wherein she used said fabrics... look at how amazing this chair is!

Here's the before:
























And here's the after:
















































Totes adorbs, Judy!

(Anyone who tackles re-upholstery has my complete and utter lifelong admiration).

See you again soon...

XO,

Rhea