Agree to Purchase: 6 of each products chosen (minimum total of 24). 

From the aisles (aisle 8 actually) of the River City Trading Post on Main Street in nearby Jenks, OK  I found Dorris Levasheff’s creative little pink booth calling my name! Sparling with a feminine fusion of unique handmade paper articles , romantic home decor pieces, and girlie vintage… all with a dash of the France! Above is a small visual sampling~

I learned that these little canisters are part of the secret of her paper art’s glitzy appeal~ German Glass Glitter! I bought one of silver and pink, and can’t wait to “play”!

There was little I could do to resist Dorris’s cute collection, and just had to take a little part of it home with me!
( I know you understand, right?!)

Please share your own  favorite ” finds” and locations! We’d LOVE to hear!

XOXO,

ellen

Wishing everyone a sweet day today!  Here are a few seasonal bags that just say February 14th to me! Please look for the following bag making pattern and craft sets from you local quilt shop, or at www.ellenmedlock.com.

The Coquette Bag Pattern is represented by two different bags in this shot. One with the black and white butterfly (Alexander Henry Fabric)  handbag bedecked with romantic embellishments- direct glued to the exterior with Fabri-Tac craft glue.. a super quick bag to put together! (Getting to rummage through your stash of little things is the most fun as far as I am concerned! Ha!) And not to miss the other Coquette Bag .. sewn  in red rose fabric with a tiny metal embellishement tied on..

The Preppy Mini-Tote Pattern & Handle Set is shown with the black wood handles (you may choose either black, light oak or walnut with this set.) It is sewn with fabric by Blank Textiles. The bow ornament tied on to the handle is made special with a cardboard scrapbooking tag! Very easy to engineer with a bit of patience and again, a good clear drying craft glue!

The Interchangeable1 Bag Pattern & Handle Set is the poufy bag in the foreground with the black and white Michael Miller fab floral fabric, dot bow,  and check ruffle! The secret to this bag is the clever metal purse handle that allows muliple bags to use the same handle hardware~ one handle for many bags! Perfect for the traveler.. just pack one handle, and a bag bottom to match every outfit.

The Bangle Bracelet Set is shown in the background as a tower of many bracelet samples sporting black and red! Go crazy here with your stash snippets of both fabric, ribbon, and embellishments. They all start out as creative blanks … awaiting your touch! Wrap in fabric or paint and embellish in a million ways!

-ellen
xoxo

Designing  your “Potpourri Heart” should feel awfully familiar…remembering how you made your first Valentines in grade school…folding your paper in half and drawing your half-heart!  This time just add a 1/4″ seam allowance as you cut it out.  Voila! You now have your sewing pattern. 

Feel free to click the following link, then print it out on a standard 8.5″ x 11″ piece of printer/copier paper at 100% so you will have the correct pattern proportions.  Enjoy!  [ View and Print PDF Pattern ]

XOXO,

-ellen

Wanted to share a bag I made using fabric that just said, “Valentines”, to me!  This is an example of The Preppy Mini-Tote Bag pattern, with Black Wood Handles. We offer this bag pattern with Light Oak and Walnut Finish Wood Handles as well!  Definitely one of my favorite bag patterns to make since there are very few pieces, and it uses very simple bag construction as well. Great for a bagmaking class too, now that I am thinking of it!

Just checked to see if the pattern was available as an Download in my online store, and realized it has not been added to the other bag patterns! Very sorry! ( adding this to my To Do List, asap! So please check back in a few days if interested) Do take a peek at the other bag samples available for viewing in my Flickr Photostream. I hope it will lead to a “Preppy Mini-Tote” design of your own. Please ask for this handbag sewing pattern by Ellen Medlock at your local independent fabric retailer, or Quilt Shop!

Many thanks,

-ellen

Yippee! It’s almost Spring…!!!! So please be thinking of scheduling your Quilt Shop’s Ellen Medlock Trunk Show!
Those of you who I have met at Quilt Market, know I have ALOT of darling sample bags to share for your display!
You can see many of them on my Flickr Photostream. They are gathered in Sets by bag pattern or product. Please take a peek! Flickr is awesome!

If you would like more info on hosting a Trunk Show, please drop me an email, and I will be happy to send you the details!  info@ellenmedlock.com

Thank you,

-ellen

-ellen

Talbots Jacket 2010

The Trend
Recently Pantone, ( forecasters of color trends, and inventors of one of the most widely used graphic color standards)   announced it’s choice of the color, Turquoise as the “Color of the Year”. Click here to view their press release and the color chip associated with the emerging color trend. Although it seems it has never really left us, you may have noticed its presence building in the fashion and graphic landscape!

 

Coach Francine Bag 2008

 

The Word…
After doing a bit of quick research, on the word- which I feel has such an alluring quality  of it’s own… I found that the word “turquoise” was derived around the 16th century from the French language either from the word for Turkish (Turquois) or dark-blue stone (pierre turquin)^. This may have arisen from a misconception: turquoise does not occur in Turkey but was traded at Turkish bazaars to Venetian merchants who brought it to Europe. The first recorded use of Turquoise as a color name in English was in 1573. Who knew?!

Turquoise Pebble

The Stuff
The gemstone from which this color is named, we here in the US associate chiefly with the desert Southwest, but is actually found in many other arrid regions around the world… Iran (historic Persia),  the Sinai, and a minor source in China.

The Meaning
Psychologically, we associate the color Turquoise with a  restful, relaxing, calming atmosphere which can be seen in the color of the water in the lagoons of the tropics,  swimming pools, and vacation time. Is there any wonder it was an easy choice to soothingly take us away from the chaos of our daily lives?!

The New Blue?
In color theory, Turquoise is known as a slightly greenish shade of Cyan. To fully know Turquoise,  we have to say hello it’s Momma- Cyan (blue). We all come into contact with Cyan daily as one of the main colors in our inkjet printers, along with yellow and magenta! You know- the “C” of CMYK color processing.  Artists know Cyan,  as the color halfway between blue and green on the color wheel, and is a secondary color along with magenta and yellow. Cyan is made by mixing green and blue light.

The Perception
I have always thought it so interesting how each of us has developed our own mental image of colors over our lifetimes. Say a color name to 5 people and there will undoubtedly be 5 slightly different versions of that color word  pictured! My personal image when the word, Turquoise when mentioned, is more of a Turquoise Blue than the  pure gemstone  Aqua-ish Turquoise. Do you see it the same way? What is your perception of this color?

-ellen

 

I don’t know if it is the pull of the New Year…to organize, cull, clean, etc… but I finally felt I was ready  to say “goodbye” to 26 very unique handmade bags of mine!  Believe me, my husband is thrilled to see some of my creative clutter go up for adoption!  Hate to admit, I get emotionally attached to each one! After all these  bag “ friends”  have served well as samples in quilt shops, and quilt markets past-  and have many good memories attached! All designed to give ideas on different looks, trim and fabric combinations possible on my company’s sewing pattern line.
If you have a moment, please take a peek at them in my First Ever Super Dooper “Sample Bag Sale!”, and if interested, give them another loving home! Ha!
xoxo
-ellen