TOMS

 

 

 

My topic today is TOMS, have you heard of TOMS yet?  You may have seen them and not know what they are yet.  TOMS is a company invented by Blake Mycoskie and for every pair of shoes they sell, they donate a pair to a child in need.

  I love the whole story behind TOMS and the whole idea of a needy child getting a pair because I purchased a pair (what could be better?) but I have to be honest I did not want a pair when I first heard of them.  The earlier styles looked a little like a shoe a ninja would wear and they were not for me.  However, they have since come out with many different styles and they are cute.  So cute in fact I own 2 pairs! Both sparkly (see above picture) and if you know me you know I love me some bling! They are super comfortable too!

  Anyway, I just thought that if you are in the market for a new pair of shoes you should know about TOMS.  You can read more about TOMS here.

Thanks for stopping by!

The Cricket

National Cheesecake Day

 

    Did you know yesterday (7/30) was National Cheesecake Day?  I knew but only because I saw a Cheesecake Factory commercial the other day mentioning it.  I would not have thought much about it but I found a blog recently called In Katrina's Kitchen and Katrina had a recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookie Cheesecake.  

  I have to admit cheesecake is not my favorite dessert but this recipe intrigued me and the pictures Katrina has on the blog are mouth watering.  My husband and boys like cheesecake so I decided to make it for National Cheesecake Day. 

  The recipe is very easy; make your chocolate chip cookie recipe and put it in a spring form pan.

Next you mix cream cheese with sugar, vanilla and whipped heavy whipping cream.  Did I mention this is a ‘no bake’ cheesecake recipe?

Put it all together and let it set in the fridge for 4-6 hours; easy peasy. You have yourself a delicious and impressive looking dessert.

To make this cheesecake yourself click here.   Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by!

The Cricket

Home again home again, jiggity jig!

  Well, I have been home from Market for over a week now and I am finally caught up on everything sort of.   

   Market was overwhelming great!  I stayed at a really nice hotel called Melia Atlanta.  It was modern and had a Starbucks in the lobby (they had me at Starbucks!). 

  I arrived on Thursday afternoon and got off one stop too early on the Marta (Atlanta’s public transportation) and had to walk a few blocks.  I like walking but it was a balmy 95 degrees out and I worked up quite a sweat; very pretty.   I got all my stuff settled in and then went looking for a few of my industry friends.  They were having dinner at Two Urban Licks.  The food was delicious and the mojito was even better!

  Friday I went to the AmericasMart first thing in the morning (after getting my Starbucks in the lobby of course.)  I was armed with myMarketplan; thank goodness.  AmericasMart has this wonderful tool on their website called myMarketplan; you put all the exhibitors you want to visit on the list and it puts their building number, floor number and booth number.  It’s a good thing too; look at this picture!  This is just one of the three buildings!  Overload!!

So you can see why I said it was overwhelming.  I do love it though!  I did get to see all of the exhibitors I wanted to see and I found a few new ones too.  I did find some very cute Christmas stockings and will be posting them closer to the holidays. 

  I just want to show you one more picture.

Doesn’t look like much does it?   Just a nice soup and salad from Panera, right?  Guess how much it cost me.   $17.00!! And that does not include my water!  Bought my lunch in the mart and that is the price you pay for convenience; I guess.  Just had to share!  I did taste good though…

  Thanks for stopping by,

The Cricket

PS Follow me on Pinterest; send me an email for your Pinterest invite.

To Market, to Market!!!

    I’m so excited!!!  This week I am going to Atlanta to the AmericasMart for the Gift, Home & Rug Market; also known as ‘Market’.  This will be my third time attending and I can hardly wait to get there!  Why?  To shop for myself my store.

  is like a mall; a GIANT mall for stores and shops, big and little to shop for their inventory.  They have ‘Market’ twice a year; January & July.  I am small potatoes at this point so I only go once a year.  I go to see what new goodies my current vendors are offering and also to find new vendors.  I look specifically for items I can embroider.  I am looking for some new tote bags and cute Christmas stockings.   Something like this:             

    or this         

I will let you know next week what I found for you.

   I also wanted to mention you can now follow me on Pinterest.

Thanks for stopping by!

The Cricket

Applique

ap*pli*que – of French origin; a decoration or trimming of one material sewn or otherwise fixed onto another.
  This week I decided to write about something I am doing almost daily in my sewing room; applique.  What is applique??  Well not only will I tell you; I show you!
  
  I have attached some photos for you to see the applique process.

My machine is sewing an outline so I know where to put the fabric. Please disregard my little chalk marking; that is my state of the art way to mark my center point.

My machine is tacking down the fabric and then I will trim around the stitches.

Here it is sewing a pretty satin stitch to finish up the flower.  Sorry, I forgot to snap a picture when I added the gingham, but you get the idea.

Here is the end result; quite cute don’t you think????
  The thing I love about applique is it’s endless possibilities! Then there are all the cute fabrics to choose from and sometimes the design calls for a combination of fabrics. Be still my heart!! I love combining them!! I love seeing the end result!  Good way to use your scrap fabric too; no waste.
  I hope you enjoyed this little applique tutorial.  If you are interested in purchasing one of these little dresses click here
Thanks for stopping by!
The Cricket

My bright idea!

  Ugh!!  This is so hard!!  I often think about what I should write on my blog. I come up with an idea but then I second guess myself; I think "what can I write about that others would want to read"????? 

  I think I have a solution though.........I am going to write about the items I have worked on each week.  I come up with some really beautiful items (if I must say so myself.... but others say it too!) and it would be very selfish of me not to share. ;) 
  So this week I had a giveaway on my Facebook page; I was trying to get to 500 'Likes' (I liked it better when they called it "fans"; made me feel like a rock star!).  From time to time I have little giveaways; bags and stuff.  Things I would want to win!  Things you would want to win too!  Anyway, I was giving away a beautiful seersucker tote bag with an appliqued design.  The only thing you had to do to get your name entered in the drawing was to send a friend (or two; the more you send the more entries you get) to my Cricket Stitches Facebook page and have them "like" me.  Once they "liked" me they had to write on the wall who sent them.  A nice man won the drawing; his wife sent him.  Guess who gets the bag!  The wife does!  And here you get to see it before she does; lucky you!

  This bag is for sale on my website; click on the picture to get you there!  Still working on getting the appliqued designs on my site.  In the mean time if you want this design on your bag put it in the “comments” section upon checking out.
  Thanks for stopping by!

I finally did it!

Well today was finally the day!  I have been talking about it, hemming and hawing about it, complaining to my husband about it!  For months (at least 6) I have been saying I need to update my web site; there is so much to do and I am completely overwhelmed.  I kept putting it off and putting it off. I know what I want on there and how I want it to look.  Getting it there is the overwhelming part!  Where do I start!  New things need to be added!  Items that don't sell need to be removed! 
  I knew in my heart there was one thing really holding up the whole process; Fonts.  Sounds silly right?  The fonts!  Well I guess it really isn't that silly; personalization in the whole nucleus of my business so fonts are what I deal with constantly.  So choosing the right ones is very important but I don't want so many on there that it becomes overwhelming to the customer.  I was also overwhelmed with how I was going to get the fonts from my embroidery software to my site while looking professional and not like I had done it myself.  I told my husband "I know I have told you this so many times but I need to get it done".  He told me "we have nothing going on today; just sit there and do it.  And I did.  And I think it looks great!
  What was I so worried about?  I have to remember to "Eat the Toad First" and then every thing else won't seem so bad.
Thanks for stopping by!
The Cricket