Upcoming Event!

Here is an upcoming event here in the Mpls-St. Paul area that Remnants By Carrie is pleased to be participating in along with my friends from Parey Farm and AnneMarie's Crafty Creations!

Would love to see you there! And let me know if you have any questions.

New Studio Space - Part 1

Since the first of the year we have been slowly working on my new studio space. Up until now my creative space has been our dining room. It was perfect for a mom of young children as it had a great view of the back yard and was located on our main living floor. The downfall was though were there were no doors to close - no way for me to "leave work, at work". It was always right there in direct view of all our other activities. As the business grew it became apparent that I needed to be able to have a door to close to be able to leave work behind (and also get some work done sometimes without the sometimes chaotic surrounds of normal family life with 2 energetic boys and a dog :) ). So the decision was made to move my studio to our guest room. All well and good but it required lots of moving of furniture, listing of no longer needed items on Craigslist, construction of necessary work spaces and finally, going through my SEA of supplies! And I mean SEA! My business is two-fold - the handmade side and the vintage side...this leads to A LOT OF STUFF! As I am moving I am trying to be as practical as possible...will I really use this...will it sell...could someone make better use of this particular fabric then me? I have created a bag of goodies for a fellow crafter, have a box ready for the thrift store and a box of fabrics ready to donate to a church quilting group. I intend to still have a sewing machine and a few supplies downstairs because it really is a lovely place to sew but the bulk of my work will be done upstairs.

Here are a few before pictures of my dining room "studio":

Wintery view from my dining room sewing machine.

My vintage spool holder and carry-all at the end of my sewing table.

My dining room desk. This will be staying (minus all the clutter) so I can bring my laptop down there to work if need be.

 

And finally, a picture of my new "in-progress" studio:

 

 

 

 

 

We removed the doors from the double closet and my husband put in desks. Today he ran electrical in so there is not a sea of cords underneath and put trim on the edge of the desk so I don't chip the wood. We will stain it this Spring when we can open the windows. He also building shelves on either end and in the center. No wasted space (I need as much storage as I can get :)! I have a lot of organizing and sorting and still a bit more furniture moving to do (where you see the mannequin at the far left of the picture there will be a vintage cupboard full of my vintage fabrics). I will then do a little decorating and spicing up the place :)! You know - the really fun part! When I get that all done I will post finished pictures of the whole room!

 

 

Happy Sunday to you!



Lefse Making 2013

Our Holiday season was a little different than past years. With the start of "Remnants By Carrie" (update to come on that later) I didn't get any handmade gift making for my own gift list (although completed custom orders for a number of customers :)!) And with all the illness we have had in our house I didn't even make my traditional collection of Holiday cookies (sorry Uncle Paul!). We did get a real tree for the first time in 7 years, hung our stockings and set up our collection of Nativity scenes. We had fun shopping with the boys and anticipated the arrival of Santa. We watched Holiday movies in preparation of the season. Despite both boys having colds and coughs we spent Christmas Eve day with my family eating fabulous food, opening gifts and playing Scrabble. Because of said colds, though, the boys and I had to skip Daddy's family Christmas as Papa just had lung surgery and the last thing he needs is a cough. Daddy did go and brought home presents and great food!

One of the highlights of the season was the Little and I going to my mom and dad's and learning to make lefsa. What fun! We always have a Scandinavian feel to our Christmases reflecting our Norwegian, Swedish and Danish heritage. The little (being well over 1/2 Norwegian) is a lefsa lover so we decided it was time for he and I to get a lesson. The Norse in the both of us came out and we ROCKED! What fun! He can't wait to make some more at Easter time! Here are a few pictures of our morning...

 The Little learning how to roll the lefsa from Grandma.

 

The Little's favorite job: flouring the next pat of lefse dough for rolling.

 

 

  Learning to flip the lefsa from Grandpa.

 Grandpa and the Little with their flipping sticks (really need to look up the official name for them...)

 

 

 

Advent Traditions

One of my favorite traditions as a child the daily tradition of snapping the ornament on our advent calendar. My mom and her sister have matching homemade advent calendars so we new that our cousin's were doing the same thing...a fun tie to family who lived a ways away. As we all grew and left home we decided we all needed our own calendars so the soon-to-be grandmas could keep theirs (and siblings didn't fight over the coveted tradition :)!). One fall day we all met at my aunt's in northern Wisconsin to make a calendar for each cousin to have in their homes. Such fun! Now our calendar's have a bit of each of us in them. My boys love the tradition and strategically arrange the ornaments so they get to put up their favorites as they alternate days. Each ornament has a paper description that describes how it ties into the Christian observation of Advent. This year my little made a chain Advent calendar in school to also mark the days to Christmas. Now we have two wonderful ways to honor the season and our family traditions!

First Winter Storm Of The Season

Yeah! Even more exciting since it is falling on a Sunday and my husband doesn't need to commute in it! A lovely, snowy day all cozy at home! The perfect day to mak Christmas cookies, put together puzzles and knit...all with the fire burning in the background!

What's Been Happening!

So sorry I have once again been absent from this place. So much going on! Here is just a bit of the last month's activities...

Fall crafting

Game playing -Wildlife Bingo is a favorite right now as is Wildlife Matching - both games found

Christmas crafting (these have been selling well at craft shows :))

LOTS of knitting!

Cyber Monday Sale!

15% off at Remnants By Carrie on Etsy!

Coupon code:

REMNANTSMONDAY15

Have a great day!