2014 St. Charles Show

 This St. Charles show will be out first cash and carry show! We are located in room 418. It took about 8 hours from Ohio to get here. We actually ended up arriving an hour early because we forgot about the time change. Luckily, the hotel let us check-in early.

 

Our front window with Coffee Sampler & Yummy Treats on display.

 

This being our first show of this kind, we weren't quite sure what to bring. It's definitely a learning experience. First thing we noticed were all the beautiful banners other exhibitors had hanging off the railings outside their rooms. After a quick trip to Walmart to get some burlap, paint and ribbon, viola, we have a banner for less than $10. We are making a list as we set up of items we need to bring for the next show.

 

Spring/Easter designs on display.

Dragons & Geometric designs on display.

 Fall designs on display.

It has been a learning experience for sure. Time to go home and gear up for the Nashville show.

Getting Ready for the St. Charles Show

 

Larry cheesing it up for the camera while cutting threads for Candy Corn Buddy kits. This is the first in the line of a buddy kits.

 

Buttons for Coffee Sampler kit, Yummy Treats, and Sunflowers patterns.

 I spent at least 8 hours doing nothing but cutting fabric for the Coffee Sampler Kit. This was a show exclusive kit but is now available to everyone.

Cut threads for the Coffee Sampler Kit. The Coffee Sampler kit includes: 28 count Tea-Dyed Monaco, threads, handmade coffee bean button, needle and instructions. Pattern uses specialty stitches but instructions are given. They are packaged in an adorable coffee cup. Makes an adorable gift. We still have many of these kits left but once there gone there gone.

2014 TNNA Indianapolis Summer Show

We'll we just got back from our very first TNNA show in Indianapolis this past weekend. It was great to experience a convention center type show and meet some of the shop owners in person.

We were unsure about what to expect: Would we have enough to fill a table? What do we need to bring? Looks like we could have used a little more space after all. The table top was pretty full.

Make sure you have your badges at all times :)

Selfies at the show!

Rejoice pattern is now available!

A beautiful cross with purple sash that portrays the true meaning of Easter! Embellished with beads and Mill Hill Treasure.

Stitch Count: 49 x 49

Threads: DMC & Gentle Art

Stitched on 14ct Cream Perforated Paper from Wichelt Imports

My 30th Birthday!

Well today is my 30th Birthday! I actually ended up celebrating it early since schedules didn't want to corporate.

 

My wonderful father and mother-in-law know how obsessed with Disney I am and got me a birthday themed water globe and a 37 character charm bracelet. 

My mom surprised me a few days early with a delicious cake. Cake is diet food right?

 

Larry had to work on my birthday but he did get me a beautiful ring with our Anniversary stone in it. 

 This is turning out to be a great year for Flowers 2 Flowers as well. We joined the TNNA this year and plan on attending a trade show sometime this year.

Overall turning 30 really wasn't that bad!

Hamilton Beach Breakfast

One of the things I wanted for Christmas was a Hamilton Beach breakfast sandwich maker. My aunt got one of these marvelous inventions a while back and said the sandwiches were way better than fast food. Ever since then I have really wanted to try one. (She is also the reason I had to have a Keurig maker :) Plus it's so stinking cute! I love small space savers! Anyway I used it for the first time the other day and it is awesome!

   Watch instructional video here.

Is that cool or what!
Here's what I have found out by trial and error. When using bagels the regular ones (Lender's is what we used) they are just a little bit too big so I took a large mouthed drinking cup and used it as a cookie cutter to trim the edges down. Now it's the right size. If you want an egg on your bagel sandwich, I found the top plate to be too short. In order to get the egg cooked thoroughly with the bagel you end up burning the top of the bagel. Instead use the bottom plate (it's a little taller) to fry the egg and half the bagel and you just get a nicely toasted bagel with no burns. Once finished with that half, set aside and fix the other half with the meat, cheese then just put the two halves together for a bagel breakfast sandwich.

I love sausage, but in the spirit of sticking to New Years resolutions to try and eat healthier, we have been using, whole wheat breads, Canadian Bacon (only 20 calories & .5 grams of fat per slice), fat free cheese, an egg, and I have been putting baby spinach on mine for an extra nutritional boost.

My Favorite Christmas Present

I just received a Christmas gift a few weeks ago, and while I love all the gifts I received, it is my favorite. Look at this quilt my Aunt Lisa made for me for Christmas!

What makes it extra special is that most of the patches are made from my Grandpa's clothes and it was loving pieced together by my Aunt. She is so creative! (She is also the one that got me hooked on cross stitch to start with) What a neat way to to keep his memory alive! 

He past away in 2006. Looking at this, I recognize a lot of the patches. This is so thoughtful. This is definitely one of those quilts that you don't use but store in a very special place or display on a quilting rack and cherish forever. Thank you Aunt Lisa!

Coming Up With a Plan

OK. I think I came up with a plan that I can follow.

Sundays-Day of Rest :)
Mondays-Bedroom
Tuesdays-Living Room & Laundry
Wednesdays-Kitchen
Thursdays-Laundry Room
Fridays-Bathroom
Saturdays-Laundry

  I think this schedule will work well for me because I have a hard time staying focused when spending a whole day cleaning the house. All I can think about is what else I need to do. I find it much easier to tackle one room in the morning and get it out of the way and have the whole day left. My hat is off to those of you who can stay focused and do it all in one day. That just doesn't work for me.

 Plus, last fall my wonderful mother-in-law got me an iPhone. I'm totally in love! I don't know how I survived without one this long. Sorry, getting off subject, the point is that I created reminders for each task and have is set to go off every morning and repeat each week. When I'm done I check it off. I really like getting reminded -"Hey do this today". 

  I can always use a little extra incentive as well. Every week that I have followed my schedule I reward myself with a gift for the house such as new rug, curtains, etc. This week I decided to get a Swiffer Bissell Steamboost Mop. We have linoleum and it has those little dips that the dirt likes to stick in and regular mopping just doesn't seem to get it up. I read the reviews on this and it sounds like the perfect "reward" for this week. I'll let you know what I think of it after I take it for it's first run.

Need a Plan!

  Designing had been put on hold til after Christmas and New Years. Now it's time to find our desk and get back to work. Over the next week or so we are going to try and get our workspace and home organized and back to normal after the holidays. Trying to keep up on house work, designing, stitching, retail sales, promoting is always a little overwhelming at times. I need to make a schedule that I can stick to. I'm going to try to come up with a game plan. I'll be sure to post pictures of the progress.
 My goal is to be more organized in 2014! Now,  I have a St. Patrick's day pattern that I need to get busy on!

Happy 2014 Everyone!

New year day is the time to get a fresh start and make all those resolutions. One of Flowers 2 Flowers resolutions this year is try to keep out blog up to date. So in sticking with that resolution here is out first post :)
  2013 was a great year for us. Here is the list of publications we were in this year:

We had our Stocking Buddy on the cover of the 2013 Christmas Ornament Preview Issue of Just Cross Stitch magazine.


We were the featured designer in the 2013 September October issue of Just Cross Stitch magazine with a 2 page article about our company. Pumpkin Spice and Bat Buddy are designs also included
.
Our Pumpkin Buddy was in the 2013 Special Halloween Issue of Just Cross Stitch Magazine.
Our Christmas Tree Buddy was in the 2013 Special Ornament Issue of Just Cross Stitch Magazine.
Plus we also got picked up by Hoffman distribution! We are so excited about this. Here is a link the the items they are currently caring.

Thank you so much for your support this past year. It means so much to us!