The Cottage Mama 2016

Hi there! Happy Happy 2016. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and have had a great start to the new year! I wanted to take a moment to let you know that this year I’m going to be changing things up here on the blog a bit…….not much, but a bit. Of course you’ll still see your normal sewing posts as well as more of my new sewing video tutorials; however, this year I’m going to be sharing more interior design posts, before/after room and furniture makeover posts, organizing ideas and some additional recipes. A little more variety, if you will. These are all things that I am passionate about in my life, but have gotten away from a little in the last several years.

As you know, we moved into our new home in August 2015 and we are having a great time decorating our house. Our new home underwent a HUGE remodel / renovation over a 4.5 month period after we purchased it in April 2015. So I’m going to share lots of before and after room reveals this year. Many of the rooms aren’t fully decorated yet (that will take some time), but when I do share a room with you all, I hope to be able to provide you with some inspiration and a source list if you would like to create a similar look. (the above photos and below are from my Instagram, @thecottagemama)

I have a brand new sewing studio in the new house that I’m looking forward to sharing with you. I still haven’t hung anything on the walls, but it’s getting there. This year I’m really going to try to fit in some more sewing time. Last year was a bit crazy (in a good way) with us having an infant, trying to sell our cottage, renovating a new home and moving a family of six into a new home / new schools, etc. But now that we are more settled, I hope we can get a routine down that allows me some more time at the sewing machine. I’ve really missed creating. I think when you are a creative individual your soul just craves that creative time.

I have really been enjoying the ladies over in The Cottage Mama Patterns Group. As of January 1, 2016, there are about 12,700 ladies that are all sharing their creations made from Cottage Mama Patterns and tutorials found on the blog. I’m hoping to have a few of these ladies share some ‘pattern mash-ups’ here on the blog. Some of these ladies are so fantastic about using several patterns to create a new, unique look. I think some of you would really enjoy having tutorials to get even more use out of your Cottage Mama Sewing Patterns. If you aren’t part of The Cottage Mama Pattern Group, you can join here.

And lastly, one of my goals for this year is to blog more often. I’m going to make this one happen. So you should be hearing from me a lot more often, if not, feel free to give me a holler! And with that, I’m hoping to improve upon my photography as well by participating in the Shoot Along 2016 that I posted about on Saturday. Lots of goals for this year, but I have to put them out there to hold myself accountable.

Thank you all so much for sticking with me for the last six years. I absolutely love that I have the opportunity to work from home as the Cottage Mama. I couldn’t ask for a better dream job. I’m looking forward to all that we’ll share in 2016.