We Think We Can, We Think We Can

So, we here at IHTD are going a little nutty (well, nuttier) getting ready for this vendor's table. Nicole has been knitting up a storm of shrugs (shown below, visit the Flickr for a close up on the sparkly trims):


And Ally has a whole pile of embroidery ready to be made into dance bags and yoga mat carriers as soon as she gets back from Florida:


But the piece de resistance is the finished ghillie slipper! We giggle every time we see it. No, I'm not making that up! And we have a ballet version in the works due to a number of requests!


So as of now we are veering wildly back and forth between worrying that nobody will want anything and worrying equally more that we won't have enough stuff. Oh, the trauma! Leave us a reassuring comment, will you? :)

It's Official!

I Heart That! Dance is having a vendor's table at the next HDA Competition in Maple, Ontario on March 8th! Nic and I are crazy excited (or possibly just crazy :D ). We'll have a bunch of our products there of course, but also our Big Book of Tartan and Sparkly Fabrics for you to peruse if you want to make a custom order.

Anybody planning on being there that day? Please come visit, even if it's just to chat! We love to chat (surprise, surprise :) )

Welcome Sew Mama Sew-ers! :)

Just checked our blog stats and whaddaya know -- a bunch of hits from Sew Mama Sew! I am so thrilled such a great and informative site chose my Mum's quilt to be featured in the Block-A-Long. She is taking all the credit by the way, for staging the photo and picking the colours :)

For those of our readers who haven't heard of Sew Mama Sew, they are a store and crafty inspiration site with a fun blog -- February is Quilting Month! Go check them out, but hide your credit card, I'm not even kidding!

Here's the direct link to Week 2's Block-A-Long with the picture of Mum's quilt:

http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/?p=395

Embroidery Galore

Hi everyone, Ally here! Well, it's snowing again in the GTA, and I'm trying to get some work done (actual day job work) but this one thing is taking a while so I thought I'd grab a couple of minutes and post some samples of the Celtic embroidery we do here at IHTD for those readers who haven't visited our Flickr profile or Etsy shop. The idea is that you pick one of the designs here, and I do it up for you in your choice of tartan/colours on a messenger bag, tote bag, one of Nic's fabulous yoga mat bags, etc. Also feis stool covers and iPod cozies are in the works. Just contact us at

iheartthatdance@gmail.com

if you want to discuss a custom order! So first the fun stuff -- pictures!


That Dress Red Longniddry messenger bag in the bottom left corner will be for sale on Etsy soon, or you can contact us directly!


If you like what you see and think you'd like a bag, please don't hesitate to get in touch. Both styles of bag we offer (a zip top messenger bag style and a open top tote bag) are $35 (Canadian or US, since the dollar is so close). No need to wait for the website, we can take orders at any time!

And don't forget to check our Flickr for some of the great knitted and felted items we offer: shrugs, yoga bags, CD case covers, slippers and shoe bags!

It's Super Tuesday!

And therefore I, Ally, am blatantly soliciting your vote :)

So over on awesome crafty message board Craftster.org they have a monthly challenge where you craft to a particular theme and then all the members can vote and you win a t-shirt or something (although the real point, of course, is the fame and fortune, wink wink). This month's theme was New Year's resolutions, and crafting something that would help you achieve them. My resolution was to practice more so I wanted something that would remind me at the end of a long hard day how much I love to dance, and that I should go practice.

So I made a Go Practice bum bag! (bum bag because I made it out of the bum of an old pair of jeans). I wanted one side to be an old pair of dance shoes I wore through, to remind me I really can work hard, and I wanted the other side to be some inspiring quotes. Here's the quotes side, in all it's fabric-painty glory:



The "Dance" quote is Baryshnikov, and the "Dream" quote is Steven Leacock and is one of my all time faves (spoken like a true dreamer, eh? ) Here's the shoe side, pre-assembly:



Here's a close up on the ghillie -- I attached them with a zig-zag stitch, just like the pieces of argyle fleece, and kept the original laces:



The lining I made from that argyle fleece -- I bought 4 yards of that stuff when it was on sale so look for another post with all the projects I intend to make from it! This is just the first of many, really.

Here's the lining pieces, pre-assembly:



And sewn into the bag (no, I did not try to match the pattern.. who am I? Prada?):



The final touch?? A rhinestone zipper of course!! Plus the D-rings have rhinestones too although I don't think you can tell from this picture. The strap is black cotton webbing attached to the silver snap hooks.



That fabric paint is still drying (note to fabric paint makers: 12 hours is an ETERNITY!!) but I didn't want to wait to post because I am just so loving this bag, it turned out exactly how I wanted it, yay! So I will take a picture of me using it and add that tomorrow hopefully.

And yes! It DOES make me want to practice more! Hope you all enjoy it as well! Should you be interested in voting for my project (hint hint) please come visit my post:

http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=225424.0

and check out this board starting tomorrow (Feb. 6th) for instructions on how to vote! Voting runs until February 12th!

http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?board=380.0

We're in our first Treasury :)

Good morning loyal readers (that means you Mom! :) ) -- it's Ally here!

One of the coolest things about Etsy is the Treasury. For those who haven't heard of it (I sure hadn't when I started looking at the site) the way it works is this: a Treasury is a list of 12 items chosen by any Etsy user (buyer or seller) based on some theme. Maybe it's just the items that user likes, or maybe it's a bunch of orange things, or things that look like donuts (mmmm, donuts). Once the Treasury is made, it goes into a list of Treasuries accessible from the home page where folks can check it out. And it's one of these Treasuries that gets featured on the front page! That is the really great part to me -- the front page features are USER chosen.

Anyway, the Summer Roses quilt is in it's first Treasury! Chosen by QuirkynBerkeley, it's a collection of items from the street team I'm in, the Irish Rogue Artisans:

See! There we are! I'm just tickled and have been telling just everyone. Yes, I get a lot of blank stares in return but who cares? We're in a Treasury! Big thanks to SimplySusan, another team member, who kindly showed me how to get the screen shot (and who also has a gorgeous card featured in this Treasury -- top left corner!)

Please come visit the Treasury, and some of our wonderful Irish Rogue sellers!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=26624