Zoo Inspired Animal Patches

We had a special destination for our spring break trip this year: Alabama to meet our new niece!

This is the first girl in our family.  Seriously...no matter which way you look...Boy! Boy! Boy! Boy!  There are 11 all together...and now this sweet girl.

Here she is in an ATA lamb onesie.  It is such a sweet design for newborns!



While we were down south, we got to visit the Birmingham Zoo! I grew up in Birmingham so visiting this zoo is always a trip down memory lane for me.  The train ride hasn't changed a bit! Although monkey island is no more...there are lots of new and improved exhibits. And I think the sea lions can still soak innocent bystanders so all is good.

It was great to see our boys enjoy the zoo. 


And I enjoyed taking pictures of some animal prints...



I am toying around with the idea of doing some big animal print pictures on a wall in one of the boys' rooms or in the playroom. Any favorites?


Once I was back home and in design mode again I started sketching some animal designs.  First up...some adorable animal patches.  I love how all of the animals are outgrowing (or eating!) the patch they are on!  But I also love the splash of color the patch provides. 


Although I was thinking more zoo animals when I created these...I think I might switch my design gear towards SEC  (thanks for the suggestions!)...how about a tiger patch and/or gator patch in the near future?  Any other animal patch requests?

Oh...and I have some more animals coming your way too!  The next round will be a little more rounded and pastel for possible baby items...but with a modernish twist.  That probably makes no sense...but that is my best description for now...stay tuned. :)

PS...the animal designs are now available for sale! Check out ATA Website or ATA Etsy Store!

New 4th of July Designs

With Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, Olympics, and Elections right around the corner, it is a perfect time for some Patriotic Designs!

Check out the latest Red, White, and Blue designs below:



Sometimes seeing the designs without the fabric lets your imagination see the design differently...so here are the designs with stitches only.



We have 2 SALE coupons right now:

www.allthingsapplique.com:
Use MAY30 at checkout to receive 30% off of your entire purchase!

www.etsy.com/allthingsapplique
Use MAY25 at checkout to receive 25% off of your entire purchase!

Both of these coupon codes expire May 31, 2012 so hurry on over to our website or Etsy and start shopping now!

Where have I been?

I know I sort of disappeared for a couple of months so I thought I would give you a quick recap on all that has been going on...

In January my husband accepted an offer for a new job in North Carolina with a start date of early summer.

In February we frantically did as many house projects as possible to get it ready for the market.  We painted the dining room and living room and half bathroom...mulched the yard...decluttered and loaded up a POD full of junk stuff we could live without for several months...

Our house officially hit the market on a Thursday and we were under contract the following Monday. 

I was thrilled and shocked all at the same time!  But then panic set in and I realized we needed to find a place to live because we agreed to a closing date of April 30...just 6 weeks away!

In March, we traveled to North Carolina, found a house, and made an offer. We countered back and forth and reached an agreement.  However, before the Sellers officially signed the contract, they received a better offer and rescinded the agreement we had made by e-mail.  I was devastated and pretty panicked.  Time was running out.

In late March, we made another trip.  Found another house.  Made an offer.  Countered back and forth.  Had an agreement.  Got a signed contract.  Woo hoo!  Had the inspection.  Got approved for mortgage.  Appraisal looks good.  Everything moving right along...

Fast forward to the week before we move.  We are packing and trying to get everything ready for moving day when I get a call from our Realtor.  I could tell something was wrong the minute I heard her voice.

She told us the Seller did not intend to go forward with closing.  After several days back and forth (including a letter from our attorney) it was clear we were not going to be moving into the house we thought.  So the movers came and loaded all of our belongings onto a truck and we went to North Carolina one more time to find a place to live. 

We signed a 3 month lease on a townhouse/apartment and are getting settled.  But it has truly been a roller coaster...and not the fun kind.  On the bright side...I am still thankful that the selling process went as well as it did.  If I had to choose which side of the process to have problems - the buying or the selling - I would choose the buying.  And through all of this my boys have taught me tons.  While I worried about where we would sleep and what our new home would be like...the boys never once doubted that there would be a safe and cozy place for them to go night-night with their stuffed animals and blankets and they thought the entire moving process was a fantastic adventure.  Oh to have the faith of a child...a good lesson for sure.

So that is where we are and why I have been out of touch.  Hope you will continue to follow All Things Applique...during this absence I have had lots of fun design ideas swirling around in my head. 

Thanks for reading...

New Designs & SALE

It's SALE time!  Use the code MAY30 at checkout to receive 30% off your entire order!  This coupon code expires on May 31, 2012.

Also...we have just listed several new camping designs. 

I think the boy and girl camper designs would make great sibling shirts!

And the Camp Arrows offer lots of possibilites.  The font is not included, but you could write just about anything on the arrows: Swim/Bike/Play or Sam/Camp/2012, etc.  What other ideas do you have for the Camp Arrows?

What child doesn't like to camp in a tent?

And if you go camping you have to roast those marshmallows!

This canoe design is a great ribbon starter design.  The design has a placement stitch, tackdown stitch, and redwork stitch for the water ribbon lines.  The lines are straight and simple for those of you that have been itching to try out a simple ribbon design.  I used a little bit of double sided tape to hold my rick rack in place before stitching the placement stitch.

The campfire has satin stitch stones surrounding the flames. But the flames are a raggy stitch which gives a fun dimension to the fire!



Next up a lantern...



And finally 2 simple trees to add some depth to any design. Or get these simple trees now and use them at Christmas!




To shop these new Camping designs click here: All Things Applique Nature Designs

And don't forget that coupon code: MAY30!!!

Pinned It & Did It: Mother's Day Flower Hands

First...a belated Happy Mother's Day to all mamas. I have been blessed with a caring and selfless mom as well as a generous and loving mother-in-law who have shown me continuous love over the years despite my many faults! I am also blessed to have so many friends that are mamas that teach me new lessons in motherhood every day. And I also consider myself blessed by my four grandmothers(I count my in-laws as my own!)who are wise and caring and so supportive.

And now, I have the joy of being the recipient of Mother's Day love and fun too! My boys pampered me with sleeping in...and when I came downstairs they were all busy in the kitchen making blueberry muffins. Yum. There were sweet cards...and loving flowers picked out from the Dollar Store. Ben's choice...Birds of Paradise...quite a bouquet in the dollar store version. :) Adam said they were there picking out cards (you just can't beat the 2/$1.00 price!)and Carter looked around and saw a wall of flowers and said "Let's get mommy flowers!" so they each got to pick out a stem for me. So sweet. By the end of the day all of the flowers and leaves had been pulled from the stems...but they were pretty while they lasted.

So...on to the blog title. I have decided to start a new series of posts called "Pinned It & Did It". For those of you that are unfamiliar with Pinterest...I think of it as my online stack of magazine clippings. You know how you come across a page in a magazine that inspires you for whatever reason? A good paint color? A new recipe to try? A vacation spot to check out? Well, with Pinterest, when you are browsing the Internet and find something you want to remember for later, you just click a button to "Pin" that picture to one of your Boards. Here is a snapshot of my Boards:



And here is a snapshot of some of my pictures in the Playroom Ideas Board:



Pinterest is great. I feel like I can toss that stack of magazine clippings that is getting dusty on a shelf. I can also browse the Boards of all of my friends that use Pinterest and see what inspires them.

On the other hand...Pinterest can be challenging. You see all of these people doing all of these great ideas and you think...how do they have the time? or why didn't I think of that? It is easy to compare yourself to the perfection ideals that Pinterest creates and feel that you fall short. Still...I choose to come back and I  "pin" away. Why? It is fun. And my "pins" can't collect dust on the Internet. :)

So...I am here today to show you my first "Pinned It & Did It!" I did a quick search for Mother's Day crafts and found this adorable handprint flower from Skip to My Lou:



Here are my supplies:
Poster Board White(cut into small squares)
Green Poster Board (for stem & leaves)
Paint and Brushes
Stick On Magnets
Scissors
Tape




We painted hands...



Cut out our stems and leaves...



And then taped our flowers together...



I decided to get them laminated so they might last a little bit longer... And I added the boys' names and ages...


According to the recipients this was a hit!