Sew Mama Sew

Sew Mama Sew is an awesome online fabric shop - strictly online. They have tons of fabrics that I just love, but more than that they have a great blog and a forum area to their website. Both of these are full of giveaways, interviews, tutorials, reviews, buckets of flickr goodness and inspiration for every holiday and all sorts of projects. Such an awesome resource!

I've been considering something like this for the living room for a while. One day:













I want the guts to make one of these:














Pretty:

















Sew Mama Sew

Urrrr & Fabric Crush

Well, this weekend I came up with a new brilliant idea. And unlike the fabric shop, which will still happen down the road, I can make this one happen a little sooner. I need the hubby on board and his computer skills ASAP. But I think the idea is a good one, and giving it a go has little downside. So...I'm excited and the wheels are turning. More details to follow, promise.

Here's another brick and mortar store that I adore. Fabric Crush in Seattle, WA. They just moved into a new bigger building, spacious and great lighting.








































Fabric Crush

Inspiration - Biz Ladies

Design Sponge created by Grace Bonney is one of the first blogs I started following. Who knew all that blogging goodness was out there? I didn't until way late in the game.

For the sake of pretty pictures. A recent favorite post Grace shared of a reader's home in Greenville, SC.

























One of the really great things Grace does is a series called Biz Ladies. The posts speak directly to people interested in making a go of their own business. Lots of great contributors and compelling subjects - branding, taxes, organizing, planning, resources, advertising, and on and on. I'm so grateful for all this awesomeness on the web, I know I'd never have the guts to start my own business without people like Grace out there helping lead the way. Thank you!!
















Biz Ladies

Bolt Neighborhood

One of the of the pieces of a strong meaningful business plan is to find similar businesses that represent the concept for your own business. I don't mean competitors necessarily, but companies that have similar missions. For me, the best example I've found is Bolt Neighborhood Fabric Boutique in Portland, Oregon. Just read their mission statement on the home page:

Bolt was created out of the desire to see fabric of bright colors, bold prints, contemporary designs, and a younger style of patterns all in one place. The goal for the store is to offer a space that is welcoming to all, and provides a source of inspiration for our creative sides. We wholeheartedly encourage those of you who do not have much experience with fabric to explore this very colorful world and have fun! We are always happy to help in whatever way we can, whether it’s figuring out the dimensions to make your curtains, which fabric would look great as an apron, or how much fabric you need to reupholster those not-so-lovely hand-me-down dining room chairs.

Whether you’re new to all of this, or an old pro, we hope you feel excited, happy, encouraged and inspired by Bolt!

Yes, yes, yes. Modern, young, and helpful - check, check, and check.














They've got a few different tongs to their fork. Their blog. I love that their blog is up to date and filled with good information about classes, new fabric and projects, and local goings on. Excellent. They have recently opened up a separate shop called Modern Domestic, that is strictly for classes. Check out the class list - so much goodness. And look at the interior, yes.













The grand opening is today! I look forward to following its progress.

Obviously, Charleston is a significantly smaller market than Portland, and no doubt there are big differences between the shoppers in Portland compared with Charleston. Nonetheless. So much of what I see in Bolt really resonates with me. Road Trip!

Bolt Fabric Boutique

Inspiration - Craft Venture

Paper n Stitch is currently doing a great series of blog posts on small crafty business issues. I have found each post extremely interesting and thoughtful. Thank you!!

And a photo for fun, Anna Maria Horner Cathedral in Royal, the current color combo inspiration for my logo and marketing materials (all only in my head at this point):

















Craft Venture