Archives for June 2012

Jun

Sewing Patterns Blog Tour: Elizabeth and Liz from Simple Simon & Co.

Today we have the talented duo of Elizabeth and Liz from Simple Simon & Co. These ladies are probably two of my absolute favorite bloggers. I just kind of feel like we are kindred spirits….. I love their style, personalities and overall loveliness. I was so excited when they chose to sew up the Run Around Romper pattern for their little guy. I know I’m a little bit biased, but I can’t get enough of my own little man wearing the rompers I’ve made for him ~ it is so. darn. cute. (if I do say so myself). There is something so unique about seeing a little boy wearing handmade clothing in such a timeless style.

Here is a little look at the creation from Simple Simon & Co.:

If you’d like to check out more pictures of the Run Around Romper created by Simple Simon & Co., head on over to their blog. Plus, you can enter to win your very own The Cottage Mama Sewing Pattern!

Click HERE to enter to win!

Jun

Where Women Create – Top 25 Educational and Inspiration Blogs

I’m so excited to share with you that The Cottage Home was recently name in the Top 25 Educational and Inspirational Blogs in Where Women Create magazine.

My mother-in-law (MIL) turned me onto this publication about two years ago and I have been hooked ever since. I’m always searching for the latest copy over at my MIL’s house since she seems to get every single one. I pour over the pages and pages of inspiring, creative spaces and love reading the stories of these incredibly talented women. I love hearing where they’ve come from and how they’ve built their businesses into what they are today. If you’ve never picked up this magazine, you should definitely check it out at your local Barnes & Noble, Joann’s, Hancock’s and I believe you can order it online as well.

I have always thought it would be so neat to be in this specific magazine and now I can officially say I have. This is honestly probably one of my biggest publication honors to date.

Ever since January 1st of this year, I have been saying that ‘2012 is going to be a great year!’ (as much as my husband loves to roll his eyes at this one). But I truly believe that you must put this kind of positive energy out into the world in order to receive positivity in return. And though I may sound kind of cheesy from time to time, I think it’s working. 2012 is proving to be the best year yet!

Jun

Sewing Pattern Blog Tour: Maureen from Maureen Cracknell Handmade

To kick off week 2 of The Cottage Mama Sewing Patterns blog tour, we have the super-talented Maureen from Maureen Cracknell Handmade. I met Maureen through the Riley Blake Designs Project Design Team. We are part of the few on the team that live outside of Utah and we just instantly became online blogging buddies. While she focuses more on quilting and I’m more into clothing, we can both relate with our love of combining patterned fabrics and bold color.

I was so excited when Maureen accepted the invitation to be part of this tour. She chose to sew up the Charlotte Apron Dress, which I think is a great choice for her. The Charlotte offers many ways to combine patterned fabrics and has some great basic sewing techniques (i.e. gathering, lined bodice and buttonholes). This was actually the first dress she’s sewn and I think I might have gotten her hooked on sewing clothing. She has certainly inspired me in the world of artistic quilting.

Head over to Maureen’s blog to view more pictures of her version of the Charlotte Apron Dress and enter to win your very own copy of a Cottage Mama Sewing Pattern. While you’re there, poke around her blog, you are sure to be inspired!

Click HERE to enter to win!

Jun

June Giveaway Winners!

And the winners of our June Giveaway Day are the following………

Fat Quarter Shop:

Fairytale Frocks & Lollipops:

Birdsong Bows:

Shabby Fabrics:

Heartsong Quilts:

Modern Fabric Studio:

Thank you so much to everyone for entering. Check back on July 1st for our next giveaway day! If you are one of the winners, please email me at thecottagemama[at]gmail[dot]com with your contact information and we will get you your prize as soon as possible.

You can find all of The Cottage Home blog sponsors in the right side-bar of the blog. If you are looking for many of the fabrics and trims you see used here on the blog, check out these lovely sponsors for online purchasing!

Have a great week!

Jun

Father’s Day Brunch Casserole

Happy Father’s Day to all the amazing daddies out there!

My husband, Brett, and his dad are out fishing this afternoon, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to share what we made this morning for my kids super-wonderful, totally awesome daddy for breakfast.

Father’s Day Brunch Casserole

I wanted to make something hearty for my hubby but I also wanted it to be something the girls could help me with in the kitchen. This casserole was perfect! I gave the girls the task of tearing up a large french baguette of bread into chunks and they had a ball.

This casserole turned out to be so tasty! I found this recipe here and tweaked it just a little bit. The casserole has a whole loaf of crusty bread, bulk Italian sausage, red bell pepper, onions and is soaked with an egg, milk, heavy cream, cheese and chives mixture. Are you hungry yet? You should be because this is so good!

I used Monterrey jack cheese instead of the swiss because I thought that would be more appealing to the kids. But unfortunately the girls didn’t even want to try it. No biggie, though…..I’m sure my hubby and I will have no problem polishing this off all by ourselves! I think next time I’ll go with the swiss. Italian sausage and swiss cheese is always a winning combination.

This is a great make ahead dish because you can assemble it the night before and just pop it in the oven in the morning. It takes about an hour to bake and is ready to go when it is puffed and golden and when a knife inserted comes out clean. I also garnished the casserole with extra fresh chives from our garden.

So, that’s what was cookin’ over here this morning. I hope you all were able to make the special daddy’s in your life something good to eat. I firmly believe that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach and it’s a great way to show him how much you care!

Happy Father’s Day!

Jun

Sewing Patterns Blog Tour: Jess from Craftiness Is Not Optional

And to round up this first week of The Cottage Mama Sewing Patterns blog tour, we have the lovely Jess from Craftiness Is Not Optional. Jess and I definitely share a love of creating little girls clothing and she comes up with some of the most darling silhouettes for her little ladies. She’s pregnant with baby number three, so who knows…….maybe she’ll be entering the world of sewing for boys, but for now she’ll be sticking to girls clothing……

Jess chose to sew up the Ruby Ruffle Dress for Miss Sadie. I can’t believe how grown up she looks here. These kids are growing up way too fast! Head over to Craftiness Is Not Optional and check out more pictures of Jess’s creation and enter to win your very own copy of this pattern.

Click HERE to enter to win!

Jun

Sewing Patterns Blog Tour: Christina from 2 Little Hooligans

The third stop on our new sewing patterns blog tour is over at Christina’s blog, 2 Little Hooligans. I was incredibly impressed by some of the creations Christina came up with when I was judging the Project Run and Play Flickr group this past season and I knew I had to have her as part of this tour. She chose to sew up the Run Around Romper and made of three of them! Two girl versions and one for her little guy…….

Head over to 2 Little Hooligans to check out more pictures of Christina’s darling creations and enter to win your very own copy of the Run Around Romper.

Click HERE to enter to win!!

Jun

Sewing Patterns Blog Tour: Jessica from Me Sew Crazy

Today we have someone I’m sure you are familiar with ~ Jessica from Me Sew Crazy! She’s always coming up with fabulous creations for her two little ladies and baby boy. Our kids are very close in age so it is really fun to know another mama going through the same stage in life and running a creative business. I would definitely call her one of my good friends (though we’ve never actually met). Jessica chose to sew up the ‘Ruby Ruffle Dress‘ pattern…….

Head over to Me Sew Crazy to check out more pictures of this darling dress and enter to win your very own copy of the ‘Ruby Ruffle Dress‘ pattern.

Click HERE to enter to win!!

Jun

Sewing Patterns Blog Tour: Stef from Girl.Inspired

I decided we needed to start this tour off with a bang and I knew just the lady for the job. Stef over at Girl. Inspired wowed us with her Christmas variation of the Janey Jumper pattern during our first tour (click here to check it out), so I couldn’t wait to see what she would do with this new pattern. As always, she does not disappoint…..

Charlotte Apron Dress

Check out Stef’s version of the Charlotte Apron Dress Pattern. Isn’t it adorable!?! Head over to her blog to check out more eye candy photos of this adorable dress and enter to win your very own copy of this pattern!

Click HERE to visit Girl. Inspired.

Jun

New Sewing Patterns Blog Tour

The Cottage Mama Sewing Patterns

~Blog Tour~

It’s that time again! Time to start the The Cottage Mama Sewing Patterns Blog Tour!

My new patterns are all officially in-stock and available for sale in my Etsy Shop!

What is the Blog Tour all about? I have a group of incredibly talented bloggers and sewers that are going to be sewing up each of the new patterns (Ruby Ruffle Dress, Charlotte Apron Dress and the Run Around Romper) and will each be giving away one of the new patterns on their blogs. The tour will happen every day over the next three weeks and we will be giving away 12 patterns total throughout the tour. Each pattern contains three variations, but there are certainly many more ways to get creative and change it up. I can’t wait to see what kind of looks these ladies will inspire throughout the tour.

We did this last time with the release of my first two sewing patterns and I thought it would be really fun to do it again (click HERE to view the previous tour). We’ve got some great new participants this time as well as a few returning sewing super-stars, so here are the lovely ladies that will be participating in the tour……..

Week 1:
Stef from Girl. Inspired (Charlotte Pattern)
Jessica from Me Sew Crazy (Ruby Pattern)
Christina from 2LittleHooligans (Run Around Pattern)
Jess from Craftiness is not Optional (Ruby Pattern)

Week 2:
Maureen from Maureen Cracknell Handmade (Charlotte Pattern)
Liz and Elizabeth from Simple Simon (Run Around Pattern)
Andrea from The Train to Crazy (Ruby Pattern)
Destri from The Mother Huddle (Ruby Pattern)
Beverly from Flamingo Toes (Charlotte Pattern)

Week 3:
Shannon from Luvinthemommyhood (Ruby Pattern)
Mama Reita / Amy from Positively Splendid (Charlotte Pattern)
Susan from Living with Punks (Ruby Pattern)

Each day during the tour I will post one picture from each of these lovely posts to remind you to go visit their blogs and see all the details about the look they’ve created. Also, at that time, you can enter to win a specific pattern on their blogs. All patterns will ship out to the winners upon completion of the tour.

Sound like fun? I think so. I’ve already got a picture from our first guest tomorrow and I just about fell over from the cuteness that she has created!

Here are a few more pictures from the new sewing patterns…….

Ruby Ruffle Dress

Size 6 Month – 10 Years