Thompson Family-Life

nice press!

UK based Mollie Makes has been so good to me and to Kitschy Digitals! I absolutely love working with them... in fact, I'm working on some fun projects for them as we speak. If you haven't checked it out already, it's a gorgeous magazine - they do such a fantastic job with it, with so many topics covered - from crafts, to home interiors inspiration, travel and more.

I was so honored that my home studio was included in their special HOME issue (I was shocked to see myself on the cover!) If you are a sucker for beautiful and colorful interiors, this is a MUST buy! I'm a little late sharing this with you, so it's been hard to find still in stores, but I heard it's still available at some Joann's and Barnes and Noble stores in some states over the past few weeks. You can also subscribe to the US edition of the magazine here and it's also available in digital format.

They also featured Kitschy Digitals designer, Heather Davulcu, and her gorgeous Downton Abbey Embroidery Patterns in their newest issue. Congrats to Heather!

a stitchy gift

I have been stitching this gift over the past couple weeks (the cross-stitch pattern is available here at Kitschy Digitals!) You might have seen my progress on Instagram? I haven't cross-stitched in a while! But it's totally addictive! So much fun. The pattern was designed by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery. They've created several country themed patterns (you can find Italy, Japan, England in our shop, and they will have more coming soon!). I think doing a bunch of these, especially if you've traveled to these places, and incorporating them into a quilt would be so crazy cute! 

I knew I wanted to make this pattern for my Mother-in-Law who's half Irish (her Mother was born in Ireland!) and is also visiting there this summer. I also knew I wanted to make the design into a pocket on the outside of a tote bag... because I don't know about you guys, but around our house, there are never enough totes. We use them for everything. I was thinking she could use it for all sorts of things, to carry books or keep a knitting or smocking project in (she's a seasoned sewer and knitter!). I tend to have totes the hold all sorts of different projects I'm working on. They're a great way to keep your project all together in one place so you can grab it on the go if you need a project to work on outside of the house.

The cross-stitching took the longest... the bag was super easy and quick! What took the longest on the bag is attaching the binding to create the two pockets. (I used this tutorial if you need a good bias tape tutorial.) And you can tell I was rushing to finish this in time for her birthday party because my bias tape stitching is wonky in places (oops!). I used a piece of a blue floral Liberty of London fabric I bought at Purl Soho while in NYC many years ago, for the other front pocket. 

And speaking of Purl Soho, I used their 20-minute tote bag tutorial to make the bag! What makes it so fast is that you use webbing for the straps and you don't have to make a lining for the bag because you're using upholstery fabric (yes.) (I bought this upholstery fabric at Joanns.) You can again tell I was in a rush to finish it because the bottom corners are uneven (double oops), but you won't be able to tell when it's full. ; ) I definitely recommend this tutorial as an easy beginner project.

Aren't the pens cute? Those are more of my loot that I picked up in Little Tokyo, LA.

I'm excited to start another project. There's nothing like having a project waiting in the wings. We creative types thrive on this, am I right?

What's Happening at Kitschy Digitals

April is almost over and we can't believe it! There are some lovely holidays coming up in May: Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with this gorgeous Frida Kahlo Embroidery Pattern. The felt flowers add such a beautiful and unique touch. You could have a get-together, May 5th, with your crafty friends and stitch up lovely Frida in celebration of this holiday!


And let's not forget Mom! We have some charming printable Mother's Day cards (one with a girl, one with a boy!). Around 25 skin tone and hair color combinations included!


There's definitely something to be said for the classic, simple games, like this very retro printable memory game designed for you to print and make!

Is doesn't get more charming than this "Cute Butt Club" printable garland by Mel Stringer. 'Nuff said.

What makes donuts even better? DONUTS WITH FACES. : ) Donut Shop Journaling Cards: print them out (perfect size for your Project Life Albums) or use the PNG files in your digital art. You could also print these out for gift tags! Coordinates with the Donut Shop Embroidery Pattern.


Looking for a new stitchy project? Look no further than this very kawaii cross-stitch pattern featuring Japan! Or what about Ireland, Italy or England?


Firefly fans unite! An embroidery pattern set dedicated to this cult classic.


Welcome a little Sunshine into your home with this printable garland! Perfect for parties or everyday use.


Looking for a unique take on the classic Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Donkey game? What about Pin-the-Tiny-Arms-on-the-T-Rex?! Dino fans will love it!


We've got another FREEBIE for you! This is from Wild Olive. Springtime Printable Journaling Cards! 

Be sure to sign up for our Newsletter! Newsletter subcribers get the most exclusive coupon codes and discounts. You never know when one might pop up in your inbox! Also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for product updates, project inspiration and more.

A Downton Abbey Tea Party

Styling/Art Direction/Photography: Danielle Thompson // Downton Abbey Embroidery Patterns: April Heather Art
Towel Stitching: Katie Canavan // Models: Amber & Holly
Location: Dr. Bombay's Underwater Tea Party, Atlanta, GA // Colored Tea Towels: Embroider This 

***

Ever since Heather Davulcu took me up on my invitation to sell her amazing Downton Abbey embroidery patterns at Kitschy Digitals, I had the idea that I wanted to stitch them onto colored tea towels and do a fun little make-believe Tea Party photo shoot to show them off. And it all finally came together! I knew from the start that I wanted to shoot it at a place near and dear to my heart (for many reasons I will share in a separate blog post this week), Dr. Bombay's Underwater Tea Party. I also knew I needed a talented someone to stitch these towels up for me and I looked no further than my Palm Springs travel partner, Katie Canavan. Not only is she a gifted crafter (see her beautiful projects on her blog), she is a also a pattern designer and actress! Talk about multi-talented. She being a die-hard Downton Abbey fan, it took her all of two seconds to agree to stitch these up.

I received all of these gorgeous towels in the mail over the past couple weeks and decided that they needed a little crochet trim on the bottom, so I did that yesterday. I didn't make my way through ALL 15 charaters, but I did finish up the "royalty" ; ) I LOVE the addition of the chunky trim. (I used this tutorial for the crochet trim, but the repeat pattern I used was slip-stitch, 1 DC, 1 TR, 1 DC, slip-stitch, if you are interested) 

I love the idea of hosting your own "Downton Abbey Tea Party" (in fact, Dr. Bombay's would be the perfect place to host a "real" one!) or host it at your home! You could give the towels as party gifts, OR you could have a Downton Abbey Tea Towel Craft Party where everyone makes their own. How fun would that be? The only requirement is that you must watch DA episodes while you craft. ; ) Or if you have a loved one that is a die-hard fan, and is having a birthday or other life milestone, you could get lots of friends and family to each stitch a towel, and then give the complete set as a gift.

A big thanks to Amber and Holly who modeled for me. Photo shoots are always funny, especially when you put two people together that literally JUST met and they have to look like they've been BFF forever. ; ) Luckily Holly is a Downton Abbey fan and I must say, I swooned over her gorgeous natural red hair! She has two red-headed daughters that might be doing some "modeling" for me as well in the future. Adorable.

Also a huge thank-you to the owner of Dr. Bombay's, Katrell Christie, who not only shared her charmingly mis-matched china and tea sets for these photos, but who's story I'll be sharing more of this week. It's an incredibly inspiring story so check back soon.

Available Now! Curated No. 4, 5 & 6 & a Winner!

 

Curated No. 4 & 5 is available as a bundle, regularly 10% off if you buy them together, but today through Sunday you get an additional 20% off as a special New Release discount (total 30% off!)! Woot! That is an incredible savings on this bundled kit. You can also buy no. 4 and no. 5 separately if you are interested in just buying one or the other. They are both also 20% off individually through this Sunday.

 

 

This is Curated No. 6, an extra five pages I designed that family with No. 4 & 5. It is also 20% off through this Sunday.

And guess what? Our original Curated No. 1 is 30% off through this weekend in celebration of these new Curated releases. These very handy Layered Templates are also on sale (20% off) - they are perfect for rounding out your album spreads. I used them when creating the album I shared with you yesterday. Some pages you might just want to have photos and that's all, and these layered templates will speed up the process of arranging those pages in Photoshop.

 

THE DETAILS:

How it works: Ordinary yet beautiful objects have been gorgeously styled (or Curated), photographed, and then formatted into digital quick pages. You, then add your family photos, journaling a title (or more) and you have a completed page or album. The great thing about these quick pages is that most of the work has been done for you and your photos will blend seamlessly into these handcrafted layouts.

The End Product: Use the quick pages to create individual scrapbook pages or create a cohesive and complete album with the entire collection that you'll cherish for years to come! Do you create Project Life Albums? You can also print the individuals pages, slide them into page protectors and add them to your Project Life album.

 

LAYOUT EXAMPLES:

Here are some layout examples to give you an idea of what all you can do with these Quick Pages!

A couple of favorite spreads from the album I showed you yesterday... I think Liz's chevron paper totally MAKES this album! I'm loving bold black and white patterns lately (I think they're popping up everywhere these days).

This was the very first layout I completed with this new kit and it's definitely my favorite. Who says boys can't do pink?

Some of my favorites by Liz. This first one is definitely my absolute fav (although I have many favs of hers!). I love how she used the location markers on the circles. So awesome.

On mine and Liz's pages above, the only elements we added (for the most part) were text and photos, letting the Curated designs do the rest of the work. But you can always add more elements that you already own if you'd like! Here are some examples of that... (artwork by Liz's talented Creative Team plus Ranie O'dell and Anna Backstrom)

Below, Ranie even added more photos to this layout. It originally only had three spots for photos, but if you are savvy with Photoshop, you can trick it into looking like there were more!

You can really add as little or as much as you want. If you want to put together a quick and easy album though, this kit is for you. Thorough instructions included. Only basic Photoshop knowledge needed.

 

WE HAVE A WINNER:

Candice, send me an email at thousandclowns AT gmail and I will send you Curated No. 4, 5 & 6! :D