Limited Commercial License for Pencil Shaped Pouch

I mentioned this in my post last night; here are some of the details and links:

I have decided to start selling a Limited Commercial License for my pencil shaped pouch tutorial. This is a license to make and sell handmade items using the Gwenny Penny pencil pouch tutorial. If you have a home sewing business and purchase this license, you are entitled to make and sell these pouches for profit. The license is good for as many pencil pouches as you are capable of making by hand, and all items must be handmade by the purchaser. Factory or mass production is strictly prohibited. The fee for the license is $10.

I am asking sellers to agree to follow a few specific guidelines. If you are interested, please read the complete terms and conditions, found HERE. There you will also find a link to pay for the license and a form to register your business with me as a licensed seller.

This is a great back-to-school item and my most popular tutorial. I love providing my free tutorials here on my blog for personal use (which includes making items as gifts), but I have spent a lot of time working on my tutorials, and I feel the license is the best way to be fair in regards to profiting from my design. I want to thank everyone who has already expressed an interest in purchasing the license. I really appreciate it! Please let me know if you have any questions.

What I've Been Up To

It's hard to believe that I haven't posted anything here in six months. Would you believe that I haven't even sewn anything in almost six months?!? It makes me a little sad when I think about that, but I'm getting ready to start sewing again! I have two good reasons: a new baby coming in the next month (my sister's) and my need for a new bag (always a good reason to sew ;).

I'm planning on my usual family baby gift for my sister: a baby quilt, one of my embroidery hoop birth announcements, and my tumbler stripe blanket.

My go-to baby gift for my family members.

I need to get started, but I'm thinking I'm going to have to wait another month until the new school year begins. I'm ready to get going as soon as time allows... I already have the fabric for the quilt. My sister is a big fan of purple and blue, so I decided on Tula Pink's Fox Field in Dusk:

image via Hawthorne Threads

I haven't decided on a pattern yet, but I'm partial to patchwork, so I have a feeling that may be the direction I'm heading.

As for a bag for me, I wasn't interested in making one for myself (even though I've been looking and looking for a bag to buy and haven't been able to find just the right one) until I saw the Sidekick Tote that AnneMarie of Gen X Quilters made, then I got a little giddy about the idea of sewing a new bag. I even picked up some gray mochi dot linen just in case the mood strikes and I feel like getting started. I think I'm even going to pull out some of the fabric I've been hoarding and use it on this bag.

In other news, I've recently been contacted by two home-based sewists who are interested in selling my pencil-shaped pouches at craft fairs, in their Etsy shops, etc. I have decided that I will be selling a Limited Commercial License to people who are interested in using my pencil pouch tutorial to make pouches to sell for profit. I will be posting the details and a link to the terms and information tomorrow morning.

Thanks to everyone who is still out there reading my posts. I know they are infrequent, but I still love this blogging community and miss the interaction and my friends.

Taking the Instagram Leap

I was finally convinced to take the leap and join Instagram. I know, I know... I'm a little late to the party :) Its only been a few days, and I'm already loving it! Over on Instagram, I'll be sharing some behind the scenes pics, bento lunch pics, a little of this and a little of that.

I recently shared a picture of some knit shirts I've been working on for the girls...



And Friday's bento lunch...



And my youngest "sewing" with me Friday morning...



If you're on Instagram, I would love it if you would follow me. My username is gwennypenny2. Looking forward to seeing some of you over there!

It's Back... It's My Party and I'll Craft if I Want To!

Things have been quiet around here for the last couple months, but I'm back today to tell you that this Wednesday and Friday, Amy (from Ameroonie Designs) and I will be celebrating our birthdays by co-hosting our 3rd annual It's My Party and I'll Craft if I Want To!


I really look forward to doing this each year, not only because Amy is one of my best friends, but also because it gives me a guilt-free excuse to do some selfish sewing. Amy and I will be sharing projects that we are making just for us... no kids, no family, no friends... just things that we have been wanting and meaning to make for ourselves but haven't had (or made) the time to do. So make sure you stick around and see what we've been up to :)

A Little of This, A Little of That: Holiday Edition

I've got a few little things I want to share with you, so I thought I'd throw them together in one big post.

Last month I took the girls to the Wee Faerie Village exhibit at the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, Connecticut. It was fantastic. There were 33 different faerie houses scattered throughout the museum grounds. The girls loved it. Every house was designed and built by a different artist, so they were all unique. This one was by far my favorite...

"Button Up Cottage" by Chris Blackshaw and Justine Lavigne

Next up, Point of View should be happening this Friday, but we've decided to hold off until Friday, December 7th. This month's theme is "Ornaments", and I'm more than a little excited to share my project this month. I even wrote a tutorial for it! And guess what else? Next Monday (November 26th) I'm guest posting as part of Cindy's Holiday Bake, Craft and Sew Along over at Skip to my Lou, so I've got a tutorial to share for that as well. I haven't written a tutorial in seven months, and now you get two within two weeks of each other :)

In other news, I've decided not to host Haul Out the Holly this year :( I went back and forth about it... As much as I love doing it, it really is a lot of work to put together a three week series. And since I've taken a step back from the blog, I just decided that it didn't make sense for me to do it this year. I'm not ruling it out for next year, though :)

Some info for your holiday sewing: Michelle Patterns is having a "DIY for the Holidays" sale right now...

All patterns are only $5.00. Most of her projects can be finished in 1-3 hours, so they are perfect for making gifts for the holidays. I recently purchased the Pocket Clutch and Keychain Clutch patterns. I'm hoping to get a few put together for gift giving this year. The sale ends November 25th. Check it out HERE.

Also, if you're looking for a gift for yourself the sewists in your life, AccuQuilt has some great holiday deals all this week leading into Cyber Monday...

I'll finish with some big news in our house... we have our first loose tooth! I shared a roundup of tooth fairy pillow ideas a little over a year ago, and the time has finally come. I ended up going my own way with the pillow that I made, and it turned out so cute. I'll be sharing soon.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm on Prudent Baby Today!

If you've been around here a while, you might remember my Out to Eat Place Mat...

Jaime from Prudent Baby spotted it a little while back, and today it's being featured over there! Check it out!

Struggling

I've been writing and re-writing this post in my head for a good eight months. I love the blogging community and the people I have met through blogging and the constant source of inspiration that blogland is. I love that my blog has motivated me to sew my butt off for the last twenty two months and create things I never dreamed I was capable of making. But I am really struggling with blogging right now.

Here's the thing... My blog has become a chore. It causes a lot of stress for me. This is not my job. This is my hobby. It's supposed to be fun. And since it no longer is, I need to make a change. I took an unofficial step back from the blog in January, but I am now officially taking a significant step back. I'm not closing the doors completely, but I am no longer going to stress about writing posts or coming up with the next amazing project or staying up all night to get a tutorial put together. This is a bit of a selfish post... I am writing this post for me. 99% of you probably haven't noticed that I took a step back six months ago... everyone has their own life/stuff/blog to worry about. But I feel like I need to write this post to give myself permission to let it go.

The root of the problem is that I spend more time working on my blog than creating things. I feel like the blogging and networking is taking all of my creative time (and energy). What little time I do have just for me ends up being spent on all the bloggy stuff, not making stuff. The reason I started this blog almost two years ago was to motivate myself to carve out some creative time just for me. That's no longer happening. I've really been wondering why am I doing all of this? Why does it matter? When I came back from SNAP, I felt like there was something wrong with me. Don't get me wrong... I had a fantastic time, and I'd go again in a heartbeat, but there are so many bloggers who want to make a living blogging and have (or want to have) two or three blogs going at once and assistants and babysitters so they can blog and on and on. I'm not interested in that. There's so much I want to do. So many things I want to sew. So many quilts I want to make. I think I eventually want to try my hand at selling things that I make. I'd like to be able to spend my time on these things. This would make me happy.

In addition to no longer having the creative time I'd like, my family has had to take a backseat to the blog on many occasions, and I've been struggling with a lot of guilt about this. My oldest was thrilled when I told her I wasn't going to be blogging as much because I'd be able to "play with her more". Everything became crystal clear to me recently... I just threw my oldest daughter her very first "friend" birthday party. Initially I started getting wrapped up in the party and finally came to the realization that I wasn't planning this party for my daughter - I was planning it for me. She didn't care about any of the decorations or the food presentation. She just wanted her friends and a pinata. So I stopped stressing about the party. I decided I wasn't going to blog about it. I decided that blogging the party takes the fun out of it for me. Staging everything to perfection is a killjoy. I've ruined the enjoyment of many a birthday up until this point because I was more worried about getting great pictures for the blog than the actual celebration itself. And you know what? It was the most relaxing, enjoyable birthday party we have had so far. This is how life should be lived, and this is how I'm going to start living it.

So... Thank you for reading. Thank you for being supportive. I have said it many times, and I'll say it again... I truly believe that I have some of the most loyal and supportive followers in blogland, and I am forever grateful. Things may change in the future. I may decide to start blogging regularly again at some point, but now is not the time for me. I'm going to spend the summer soaking up every minute with my oldest before she starts Kindergarten in the fall. I'm going to spend the summer breathing in every second of my two and a half year old's final months of chubby, lovable toddlerhood. I'm going to sit on the couch with my husband and enjoy the few hours I get with him at the end of each day. Because that's what life is all about. And I'm going to play with my children... and try to find some time to sew here and there :)

This isn't good-bye... I'll still be around. And I'll still be posting when I can. See you later...

My Business Cards

So I couldn't attend SNAP without some business cards to hand out, right? Apparently that's what you do at these conferences... trade business cards with everyone you meet. It was a lot of fun to see what designs and clever ideas people came up with, and they were a great conversation starter. My favorite card had to be Cindy's from Skip to my Lou. Her business card is a mini sewing kit in a matchbook! Love it!

I really wanted to put the picture of the spools of thread from my blog header on my card, but I just couldn't make it work, so I decided to go with a picture of one of my projects. Well, then I couldn't decide which project to choose, so I ended up going with four different business cards, and people kind of liked getting to choose which card they got, and it also gave me a chance to show a few of the things I've made.

I squealed when they arrived in the mail. I felt so official :) (By the way, the turkey and the Little People tote bag were the most popular card choices at SNAP.)

I got these cards through moo.com, and the quality is unbelievable. The paper is so thick and feels so nice in your hand. And if I wanted to, I could have chosen 50 different pictures to put on my cards! Highly recommend moo. They're a little pricier than some of the discount printers, but the quality is well worth it. Now to figure out what to do with the 100 cards I have left over...

It's Back... It's My Party and I'll Craft if I Want To!

I'm so excited to announce that all next week Amy (from Ameroonie Designs) and I will be celebrating our birthdays by co-hosting our 2nd annual It's My Party and I'll Craft if I Want To!

For one week Amy and I will be sharing our favorite things, projects that we are making just for us, and a big giveaway for you at the end of the week! Make sure you stick around and see what we have in store...

SNAP Conference Recap

I don't even know where to begin. If you ever have the opportunity to attend a blog conference, I highly recommend it. It is an awesome experience. Spending time with other creative bloggers who "get it" is a wonderful thing. And all of my nervousness before I left was, of course, absolutely unnecessary :)

I flew into Salt Lake City on Wednesday night, and Amy (Ameroonie Designs) picked me up at the airport. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know that Amy and I have become good friends since blogging brought us together a year and a half ago. And from the minute we found each other at the baggage carousel at the airport it was like we had known each other forever. If you had told me a year and a half ago that one of my best friends was going to be someone who lives on the other side of the country who I met over the internet, I would have told you that you were crazy. And I would have been very wrong.

Me and Amy

OK, so Wednesday night Amy and I met up with Lorene (i am just Lu) for dinner. Lorene wasn't attending the conference, so I was so excited that I got a chance to meet her while I was out there. She is so adorable! We chatted for several hours and were at the restaurant well past closing time. Luckily the employees didn't mind us hanging out while they cleaned up.

Lorene and I

Thursday morning we headed to the conference facility, Thanksgiving Point. What a beautiful place! When we registered we were given an amazing swag bag. I can't even begin to list all the awesome free stuff we got, but I will say that when I left the conference on Sunday morning, half of my giant suitcase was swag, and I am in no way exaggerating. Very cool.

The view from our hotel room... snow-covered mountains.

My roommates for the weekend were Amy, Leanne (Organize and Decorate Everything), and Kara (Creations by Kara). We had such a great time together and were up until 2am on Friday night chatting and eating junk food. I think Amy was expecting an entire herd of bloggers to stay in our room with us because we didn't even begin to put a dent in the snacks that she brought :)

Riley Blake booth. Standing in the center is Paige Hill from Riley Blake... awesome lady!

I started looking for Tasha (Creation Corner) as soon as we arrived at the conference, and I eventually found her at dinner on Thursday night. We had a few opportunities to chat throughout the conference, and she is so sweet! I was so happy that I had the opportunity to meet her and discuss blogging and real life for a bit.

Me and Tasha

One of the coolest things about the SNAP conference is that all five members of Point of View were there! We got to meet, hang out, and spend a little time talking shop. I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to meet these women that I get to work with every month!

The ladies of Point of View! Back row (L to R): Ashlee, Leanne, Jonie, Me; Front: Amy

Meeting people was definitely the best part of SNAP. I mean, I actually got to talk face-to-face with bloggers I love. I met Amy from Diary of a Quilter (super nice, down-to-earth lady... love her!), Jess from Craftiness is not Optional, Kirstin from kojodesigns. I spent some time with Kari and Becky from Ucreate, had a nice conversation with Amy from The Idea Room, talked with Michelle from Someday Crafts. One of my favorite memories is a quick conversation with Ashley from Lil Blue Boo (that woman is incredible).

Amy, Kari, Becky, and Me

I need to write another post on what I took away from the conference. I'm not sure what I want to say at this point, so give me a little time to collect my thoughts, and I'll get back to you :) Overall, amazing experience, the SNAP team did a fantastic job putting this conference together, super glad that I went, and I miss Amy already!




P.S. Reminder... Point of View is this Friday. The theme for April is "Teacher Appreciation/End of School". Get those projects ready to link up!

I'm Off to SNAP!

I'm hopping on a plane this afternoon and flying out to Utah for the SNAP! creative blog conference!


I am feeling more emotions at one time than I have in a very long time. I have never left my children for more than two nights. I'm freaking out a little bit. I am super excited to be on my own with like-minded creative bloggers for the next three days, but honestly even that scares me a little. Meeting some of my blog friends for the first time in real life has me a bit nervous. I know I just need to get there and stop worrying, but my mind is racing with a million "what ifs" right now. Wish me luck, and I'll be back with all the details next week!

How to Organize Link Party Buttons in a Post

Today I'm over at Kristin's blog, A Simply Klassic Home, as a mentor in her Beginner Bloggers Club series. I'm sharing a little how-to on organizing link party buttons into a nice, neat table using HTML code.


The Beginner Bloggers Club (BBC) is a really great series that Kristin is hosting. All month long there are posts featuring new bloggers as well as posts by "mentors" giving advice and sharing tips with new bloggers. I wish the BBC had been around when I first started out! You can check out my post on building a table in HTML here and find links to the other BBC posts here. Great info for new and seasoned bloggers alike!

A DIY Blog Makeover

The new look on my blog has been up for about a week and a half, but I haven't said much about it yet. This one was a DIY project. I felt like my sidebar was getting unruly and longer and longer and longer. I also wanted the look to be a little more cohesive. I'm really happy with how things turned out, so I thought I'd give you a little tour of what's new :)

I changed the header a little bit. I took a new picture and added a darker band and lighter text. I think it makes a big difference...

Old header

New header

My "Tutorials" page is now organized into categories. I used Windows Live Writer to create this page. If you haven't downloaded it yet, I really recommend it for things like this. It's so easy to make a table and add links to all of the pictures.

See that little button all the way over on the right directly under my picture? That's where you'll find my blog buttons now, and I created a new one. Love it!

Point of View has its own page now. This is where you'll find themes and dates for upcoming collages and link parties as well as links to previous Point of View reveals.

I'd really encourage anyone with a blog to get over their fear of HTML code. If there is something you want to try, make a backup copy of your HTML template first, then try it! If it doesn't work out, you can always go back to the way it was. There are so many HTML tutorials out there. Google anything you want to learn how to do and you can find the code for it. Check out my "Blog Stuff" Pinterest board for links to some tips, tricks, icons, and HTML code stuff.

But... if you don't want to take the time to learn or you're just too afraid to take the plunge or you want to do something that might be a little too complicated for a beginner, hire a professional. There are lots of blog designers out there with pretty reasonable prices. You can get a full makeover or just a new header or a snazzy nav bar. (This is where I'll plug my friend Kristin over at Simply Klassic Design. She did my previous blog makeover and was fantastic to work with. Check out her portfolio here.)

While I'm talking blog stuff, don't forget the Gwenny Penny Flickr Group! If you make something using or inspired by one of my tutorials, add it to the group! I would absolutely love to see it :)

One other thing that I haven't mentioned on the blog yet (even though I've had a button for it in my sidebar for a while) is that I am attending the SNAP creative blog conference out in Utah in April! I leave five weeks from today. I'm really excited to meet some of my favorite bloggers and blog friends in real life. And I'm really, really excited because I get to spend four days hanging out with this girl :)

I'll end this post with a blog-related warning/vent. About two weeks ago Blogger's automatic spam detectors mistakenly deleted my blog and about gave me a heart attack for almost 24 hours. Spam detectors are not an exact science and mistakes are made. The thing that really frosted my cookie, however, was that I didn't get an email from Blogger. I was given no notice, no explanation, and no information on how to resolve the issue. My blog just disappeared from my dashboard and the internet. Luckily I was able to do some research and figure out what hoops to jump through to get myself reinstated and prove that I'm not spammy. Let's just say that there were tears shed, but I am glad to have everything back to normal. So the warning... back-up your blog, folks. Do it now! Do it regularly. You never know...

Follow-up: Alternatives to Picnik

Back at the end of January, when I was still in shock over Picnik's impending closure, I asked people to give me an idea of what alternatives are out there. I got some really great responses, and I want to share a little bit on what I have found out about each option...

FotoFlexer: This suggestion came from Kim (Thanks!). FotoFlexer appears to be very similar to Picnik, and it's free. You can edit photos from Photobucket, Facebook, Flickr, and Picasa. The photo effects are basically the same. You can add stickers to your photos just like in Picnik, and some of the stickers are exactly the same as those on Picnik, but FotoFlexer doesn't have as wide a selection of stickers available to use. They do, however, have lots and lots of fonts that you can use to add text to photos, but I couldn't get the text function to work. One of the FotoFlexer options that I do like is that you can draw on photos, erase parts of photos, and pick a particular color right from a photo. The only touch-up features available are fix blemishes and smooth wrinkles. With FotoFlexer you can do things with layers and there are some fun distortion effects. Unfortunately, I found that a lot of the options available on FotoFlexer just wouldn't work when I tried to use them. It was frustrating. And I found it to be a little slow (double frustrating). I don't think FotoFlexer is for me, but it is definitely an option if you have a lot of patience :)

Pixlr Editor: This suggestion also came from Kim. Pixlr brands itself as "the most popular online photo editor in the world." I've never heard of them, but maybe they are :) Pixlr Editor is more of a Photoshop-like program, but it's free and online. I tried it out, and I immediately decided that I am not ready for a Photoshop-like program! I had no idea what I was doing. Kim says that there are lots of Pixlr Editor tutorials out there, and if I had the time I would love to learn more about it, but trying out Pixlr really proved to me that I need to stick with something more basic for now until I have time to really learn the ropes of a more in-depth program.

Pixlr Express: When I went to check out Pixlr, there was a link on the site that said, "Picnik Users! Try Pixlr Express." Ooooo, another possible option! I have to say that I am pretty impressed with certain aspects of Pixlr Express. I like how user-friendly it is. It's free, too. It doesn't have nearly as many editing and effects options as Picnik, but something it does have is an overlay option, where you can add color corrections, fireworks, bokeh, etc. It also has some cool borders to choose from, like a ripped paper edge. They also have some great font choices (including one that's very close to my beloved GeosansLight :) I have three issues with Pixlr Express: 1) The sticker selection is severely lacking. There are four categories: moustaches and glasses, spooky, stains (what?), and whimsy (which is stars and flowers). Like I said, lacking. 2) No collage options. 3) You cannot upload a bunch of photos at once. You have to grab them one at a time. I can live with number 1, and probably number 3, but I use collages sometimes. Otherwise, I really like Pixlr Express. It's actually pretty awesome and a worthy alternative to Picnik. UPDATE: If you check out the comments below, someone from Pixlr stopped by and had this to say, "Pixlr Express is just a couple of weeks old and stickers were added just a few days ago so there will be tons more added. Collage will also be added soon."

Photoshop Elements: Several people suggested purchasing Photoshop Elements (Thanks, Jenelle, Michelle, and Vanessa! By the way, Vanessa is teaching a photography class at this year's Sewing Summit, so she really knows her stuff :). After reading my Pixler Editor experience above, you can imagine that I'm not ready for Photoshop. I would love to learn some day, but I just can't do it right now. I know that a lot of people use it and love it, so if you're up for the learning curve, give it a try. You can purchase Photoshop Elements for about $75 on Amazon and older versions for around $55. Someday I will be going this route.

Picasa: Picasa was mentioned by Krista, LeAnne, Polly, and Heather D (Thanks, ladies!) I get the feeling that Picasa is more about organizing, tagging, and sharing photos than editing. It's a Google product. It requires you to download the program onto your computer. It's free, but I decided not to bother with the download. From what I've heard, it's editing capabilities are very basic, nothing fancy. One thing that I found to be pretty interesting, though, is that you can compare two different photos side by side or compare the original and edited versions of a photo simultaneously as you edit. That's a petty cool feature. And they also advertise that they have editing tools powered by the people at Picnik... effects like Vignette, Orton-ish, and Cross Process. Sorry I can't give you any further info on this option, but it seems to be a popular program for basic editing.

GIMP: This option was mentioned by Jane (Thanks!) GIMP is another free program that you download onto your computer. Again, wasn't interested in downloading a program, so I have to give you second-hand info on this option. GIMP appears to be another Photoshop-like program, so I personally am going to stay away from this option for now. One editing option that GIMP offers is fixing perspective distortion caused by lens tilt. You know when you take a picture of something square and the top comes out skinnier than the bottom? You can fix that in GIMP! Very cool feature, and it appears that GIMP has a lot to offer – especially for a free program – like painting tools, layers, and animation.

PicMonkey: OK, so out of the blue last Saturday I got an email, and I quote, "I'm part of a team of former-Picnikers. We see that Picnik's been a handy tool for your blog photos and we're so glad you've enjoyed our services. I wanted to let you know about PicMonkey. It's a new photo editing site being built (as we speak!) by a couple of the folks who brought you Picnik! I've been fortunate enough to play around with PicMonkey in it's beginning stages and if you liked Picnik, you're going to love PicMonkey! It's familiar, sleek, and very user friendly." Interested??? Um, yeah! I'm really excited about the possibilities of this option. Unfortunately, the site hasn't launched yet, but you can go over to PicMonkey now and sign up to receive an email when more information on a launch date (which I'm told is "soon") is available. UPDATE: I just got an email from my contact at PicMonkey. I asked her about making collages with PicMonkey and she said, "We're working on it as we speak. If we don't launch with it, you can expect to see it soon thereafter!"

If you have a Mac... there are probably lots of other options that I have not covered. Claire Jain mentioned that she edits with iPhoto and adds lines, etc. with a program called Skitch. Sorry I'm not much help in this department, but I'm a PC girl :)

The Final Word... I'm holding out for PicMonkey! I have high hopes that it will be very much like Picnik. If it doesn't pan out, I'm heading over to Pixlr Express, but I'll have to figure out another way to continue making photo collages (see update above).

I hope this information is helpful. I'm really thankful for all of the suggestions, and I'm glad I was able to go through and check them out. Who knew there were so many alternatives?

I'm a Sew, Mama, Sew Finalist!

Yippee!!! I'm a finalist in the Sew, Mama, Sew True Love Tutorial Contest! I entered my Mixed Media Song Lyric Hoop, and I made the top ten!

Hop on over to Sew, Mama, Sew and vote for your three favorites. Voting is open through Sunday, March 4th. There are some great tutorials entered in the contest... I had a really hard time choosing three favorites to vote for. Go check it out!

I'm Being Featured on Knock Off Decor Today!

My Land of Nod Wall Art Knock Off is being featured on Knock Off Decor today!

Beckie (of Infarrantly Creative fame :) started Knock Off Decor as a place to
"showcase the amazing work of some seriously talented designers
while giving those with less of a budget a chance to mimic them.

Because after all 'imitation is the highest form of flattery.'"

Check out the feature here.

If you are visiting from Knock Off Decor, I'm so happy you're here today!

Hope you'll take a few minutes to look around.

Thanks for the feature, Beckie!

How Do I Live Without You, Picnik?

UPDATE: Click HERE for a follow-up to this post, including seven different alternatives to Picnik.

If you are a fan of Picnik, you have probably heard that they are closing down in April. I use Picnik all the time, and I am already starting to mourn the loss. Picnik and I are pretty tight, but it's time to get out there and find something new :) So I'm putting the question out there to all of you... is there another online option that is just as good and easy to use (or better) than Picnik? Or, do you use a purchased photo editing software program? I'd love to hear about either one, likes, dislikes, etc.

What I like about Picnik and am looking for in a new program...

• basic photo editing aspects
• photo touch up options
• ability to add words and stickers (like arrows and lines) to photos
• photo collage options
• easy to use
• relatively inexpensive (I paid for the Picnik premium membership... $25/year, but I'd rather not shell out hundreds of dollars to buy photo editing software.)

Thanks! Hopefully this will help a lot of people out :)

Hello 2012. Just checking in...

Hey, everybody! I've missed you. I know I said I was taking a break for a "couple" of weeks, but a "couple" is turning into "several". I have some non-blog stuff I'm trying to take care of right now (Like cleaning out my closets so I can actually open them without an avalanche ensuing. And trying to start exercising and eating better... you know, all that New Year's resolution stuff that I'll give up on by the end of the month :) I also have some non-blog business to attend to next week, so I am going to pin myself down right now and tell you that I will officially be back to blogging on January 23rd. You can count on it. And the first thing I'm going to share with you is one of two (yes, two) quilts that I made in the weeks leading up to Christmas. I'm so flipping proud of them :) They were a huge check mark on my to-do list... the Sherbet Pips quilts that I have been talking about since last March! I think I completely missed the boat on the Sherbet Pips craze, but I still love that fabric line, and my girls love their quilts. I guess I don't move fast enough to stay on top of the latest and greatest ;)

I love blogging. I love the people I have met through blogging and everyone who stops by here and visits. But I also love my family, and it has been so nice to spend more time with my girls and enjoy my evenings sitting on the couch watching TV with my husband for the last few weeks instead of working away at the sewing machine or at the computer all night. I think I just needed a little break from it all. It was during one of these evenings sitting on the couch that my husband asked me where his quilt is, so I guess I've got another quilt on the list for 2012 (I think I'm up to 5 that I want to make this year. If last year is any indication of how quickly they are going to get done, I'm in trouble :)

The girls working on their gingerbread house with my mom.

What else do I need to tell you? Oh, my bedroom is painted! I mentioned in a decorating post back in October that I had chosen "nimbus cloud" from the Martha Stewart Home Depot line. I love it! It turned out fantastic. It's so calming. I haven't done anything else in the room yet, but you'll be the first to know when I do.

I already posted about this just before Christmas, but in case anyone missed it, I started a Gwenny Penny Flickr group. If you have made anything using one of my tutorials, I would love it if you would add some pictures to the Flickr group.


Point of View is back! The theme for January is... LOVE! Point of View is all about your interpretation of the theme. We can't wait to see what you come up with. The reveal and link party will be Friday, January 27th.


Also, I want to let you know that my friend Kindra is hosting her 2nd annual Be Mine Bonanza over on her blog At Home With K, featuring seven Valentine's Day tutorials from seven different bloggers (including me!). The event starts next Sunday, January 22nd.


This has turned into quite the random mishmash of a post, huh? But it's like talking to a friend you haven't seen in a while, you know? So much to say, so many things to fill you in on.

OK, so I will be back soon with the quilts and some other Christmas gifts that I made. Oh, and I have a really cool giveaway lined up for the week I come back, so be on the lookout for that, too. Hope everyone is enjoying the first weeks of 2012. See you soon!