Customize your own TIE pillow

I recently made a pillow for an Etsy customer out of her grandfather's neckties. He had passed away last fall and she wanted to give the pillow to her mother on her mother's birthday. The tie pillow turned out so well and was such a neat idea that I am going to start offering custom tie pillows as a regular product in my Etsy shop. It's a great way to remember or honor someone special like a father, grandfather, brother, boyfriend, or husband. (By the way,the little embroidered 22 in the corner is for his lucky number.)

Here's what my customer said about her pillow:

Hi, I just wanted to let you know that I gave my mom the pillow yesterday and she LOVES it. There were a lot of tears. And a lot of thanks yous. So my hat's off to you for all the great work. -Kendra

Spring Pillows at Helix

I just took a new batch of Shutterstitch pillows to Helix, a hip gift store in downtown Athens that sells my work. Go check them out before they are all gone. One of my most popular pillows is the "Athens map" pillow or "UGA map" pillow. The maps are printed on fabric, quilted so that they puff up, and are washable.

Favorite Artist of the Week: The House of Mouse

Who doesn't love miniatures? This adorable Frida Kahlo Mouse comes with a photo of herself and Diego Rivera as well as her signature unibrow.

The House of Mouse, on Etsy, hand sews each mouse using felt, silks, ribbon, glue, paper, card, wire, beads, monofilament and stuffs them with polyfil.

Too cute!

Cards for Africa

Here is another great non-profit called Cards for Africa. This helps families affected by AIDS and genocide in Rwanda. There are all types of cards from birthday and thank you cards to wedding and valentine cards.

Global Mamas

My Mom just introduced me to this wonderful non-profit called Global Mamas. They help women in Africa earn a fair, sustainable livelihood by making clothing, accessories, and home decor. All proceeds go directly to the women and to non-profit programs that assist them with business development.

I loved so many things on their website, but finally ended up purchasing a bag, shirt, and skirt. I can't wait for them to arrive in the mail!

Favorite Artist of the Week: Satisfactory

I LOVE these cozy jersey cotton scarves by Satisfactory. This one is printed with an image of horses on it. Can't you imagine cuddling up in it on a cold day?

The Making of a Quilted Shutterstitch Pillow

Step 1- I pick out harmonious colored fabrics and cut them into strips with my rotary cutter.

Step 2- I arrange the strips so they create a nice composition with well balanced colors and patterns.

Step 3- The strips are sewn together.

Step 4- I machine quilt batting onto the back of the pillow top to make it "puff out".

Step 5- The envelope style backing is sewn on.

Step 6- Wa-la! The pillowcase is finished. I will then stuff it with a pillow insert and it will be on its merry way to its new owner.

Recycled Fabric Cards

I am trying to recycle as much as possible and have been making these cute fabric cards out of the scraps of fabric leftover from my pillows. I was inspired by a Pippi Longstocking book with fabric illustrations that I saw at my school. The cards are available on my Etsy shop.

Favorite Artist of the Week: Jennifer Maestre

As an art teacher, this pendant is straight after my own heart. I am so curious to see how jenmaestre slices these thin layers of colored pencil to make her beautiful pendants, pins, and earrings!

Carrot Cake Muffins

I am in love with my new cookbook called Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld (Jerry Seinfeld's wife). The book is chock full of recipes that teach you how to hide pureed fruits and vegetables in everyday foods. It's great for families with picky kids (or picky husbands!)

I made these carrot cake muffins with cream cheese frosting this morning and my husband and I have been chowing down on them. They actually have cauliflower puree, carrot puree, chopped apricots, chopped prunes, and orange juice in them (among other things)... and they are actually really good!

The book also has some other great recipes that I've tried from mac and cheese (butternut squash puree), french toast (pumpkin puree), meatball soup (carrot and sweet potato puree), peanut butter and jelly muffins (carrot puree), and chicken nuggets (spinach puree). This is the first cookbook I've ever had where I think I might actually try all the recipes.

Favorite Artist of the Week: Plum Creek Mercantile

I've been trying hard to not use as many plastic baggies and containers in an effort to reduce my impact on the environment. That's one reason I like Plum Creek Mercantile's fabric snack bags. They are machine washable and easy for little hands to open. Check out all of her reusable bags on Etsy.

New Website

I am so excited to have launched my new website this week! http://www.shutterstitch.com/

I've been busily creating it over the holidays and have added some new wedding photos from Jason and Elizabeth's wedding to it too. Check it out!

Favorite Artist of the Week: Craft Pudding

What's not to love about these whimsical hand-carved stamps by Craft Pudding? I know I want one!

Wedding Photography

These are a few of the photographs I made of Jason and Elizabeth's beautiful wedding last week. Congrats guys! The rest of their wedding images will be posted on my website in a few weeks when I'm finished with all of them.

Favorite Artist of the Week: Elloh

I'm in love with the whimsical prints and paintings by artist, Elloh. This Presidential Facial Hair Hall of Fame print set is hilarious. Check out more of her art about popular movies and tv characters on her Etsy site.

Favorite Artist of the Week: Christy Wooke

Christy Wooke's little wooden pins are so darn cute. They remind me of storybooks I read as a kid. I can't resist the rain boots. Check out her work on her Etsy shop.

Sculpture

This fall I did a massive project with my elementary art students. Jeff Mather, a resident artist from the Woodruff Arts Center in Atlanta, spent a month in my class teaching my kids about sculpture. The students learned about perspective and made a design for a sculpture to go on our school grounds. Then Jeff and I collaboratively merged the drawings together to create one sculpture design. The art classes, parent volunteers, and I spent 6 days digging post holes, pouring concrete, sanding, painting, and drilling to create our permanent work of art. Once it was completed there was a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the event. The kids had a ball learning to use all the power tools and saw that when we all work together we really can accomplish something big!

Athens Magazine

My pillows are featured in Athens Magazine's "Handmade for the Holidays" article that came out in December. There is an interview with me and a photo of my pillow and another photo of me. Check it out before the end of the month

Buy 2, Get 1 FREE!

Special Holiday Offer 12/11- 12/18 only...

Buy 2 pillows or 2 photos (or one pillow and one photo) and get a matted 5x7 photo FREE! This special offer is available on my Etsy site. When you check-out, just tell me which 5x7 photo you want for free.

Engagement Photos

I am looking forward to shooting Jason and Elizabeth's wedding 2 days after Christmas. Here are some of my faves from the engagement portrait session I did with them.