I love Arkansas

This weekend, a few friends and I took part in the first annual Tour duh Sunkenlands.... a tour through the flat-lands and small museums of Northeast Arkansas. It was a beautiful fall day, although the wind was brutal which is par for a warm November day, the traffic was low, and the company was fantastic. The highlight of the ride was the rest stop at The Painted House Museum (of John Grisham fame). The picture above is the barn where they house the movie memorabilia, and the actual house is next door. The folks there were super happy to have us (as all the stops were). They welcomed us with homemade lemonade and brownies and were just as welcoming as they could be.... but, ya gotta love Arkansas.

warp speed

Ok, maybe its tacky, but I really need a boast-y post. Last week, I had a meeting with our mayor about bike stuff.  Not only was he supportive, he put my group's plans into warp speed. In one fell swoop, he decided that at the next city council meeting he would proclaim May "Bike Month" in Jonesboro, announce that he would have the city install "Share the Road" signs if we would provide them,  announce that the signs are for sale, and buy the first one. If that wasn't enough, he wants to do the rounds with all the local media showing his support for our "Share the Road" program and attend our Bike to Work day. He even got us a police escort for the ride! I am just so totally thrilled about how things are going. And, I'm so so glad that I have Jason to keep me from freaking out too much! 

Anyway, these are the things that I've been up to and the only creative things I've done in the past couple of weeks have been to make that poster and make Taylor a headband. I have been thinking about crafty things if that counts. 

So Not a Crafty Post

Today's a big day. Today, I founded the Northeast Arkansas Bicycle Coalition (or NEABC for short). It's an advocacy group that is dedicated to raising cycling awareness and making Northeast Arkansas a great, safe place to ride a bike. It's something I've been wanting to do for a while, but one thing after another has come up forcing me to put it off... stomach flu, then holidays, yadayada. But, today it was born - in sort of the unofficial official sense. I created an official Facebook page for it, contacted a few key people (there are real live members!), and will be setting the date and time for our first meeting of the minds. There are many many many details to work out, but the important thing is that they are being worked on and not a moment too soon as there are some really exciting cycling related projects in the works in this area that really need some community support. Like I said, this is so not a crafty post, but man I'm excited.

More Etsy Bicycle Goodness

In honor of the temps coming down a wee bit so that riding is fun again, I thought I'd do another round of cycling accessories found on etsy.

First up is this super duper cute cycling cap from

KoziePrery's shop:

Her shop is full of really stylish caps that appear incredibly well constructed.  Many of her caps are made with reclaimed fabric, a wonderful little bonus feature!

This next product just rocks my socks!

These are Ear Toasties from Matel Makes.

They fit around your helmet straps to keep your ears warm. Brilliant!  I never have much luck with keeping beanies down over my ears with a helmet, so this is just the thing.

Can you tell I'm ready for cooler weather?

I love this track jacket from Red Boot Design! 

I Heart Custom Orders

1. Custom Sling Bag, 2. More custom jewelry rolls, 3. More custom jewelry rolls, 4. Custom Jewelry Rolls, 5. Mondo custom seat bag, 6. custom top tube tote

So, this is what I've been up to this week!  I have been glued to my sewing machine all week long.  I still have a couple more custom orders to work on, but I am taking the weekend off. Hooray!  I really do love custom work, though.  It's always fun to see what my customers will come up with.  The jewelry rolls are all for brides. (Congrats Nicole and Amanda!)  The seat bag looks normal, but it is actually much bigger than my normal ones.  I had a customer who just needed to carry more stuff, so....  The top tube tote was for a gal who has the cutest cruiser ever!  And, the sling bag... It looks so simple, yet that was one heck of a challenge.  I'm really diggin' it and sorta thinking of making one for myself.

Crafty Bike Stuff on Etsy

As of now, there's no cycling specific category on etsy.  However, I've been told by admin that they'll look into adding a section for cycling in the subcategory of sports (in the toys category)... yeah we'll still be buried, but it's a something, right?  Anyway, until then, I thought I'd highlight some of the many fabulous cycling related items on etsy.  For starters....

"The Badger" by rattrappress

This is one for the hardcore cycling fans.  Rattrappress is making one in orange for my husband who NEEDED this the moment he saw it.  Check out their shop for other cycling inspired designs.

Need to add a little cute to your cruiser?  CityStreamers makes the most fun streamers for your bike ever!  They just slip right over your grips... easy.  Who says streamers are just for kids' bikes?

How cool is this?!  Laura from Tangerine Treehouse makes these custom head badges that are just amazing!  If you can make a line drawing of it, she can turn it into a beautiful head badge.  And, if you're like me and can't draw, for a very small fee she can turn your idea into a drawing!

While putting this post together I spoke with (ok, well convo'd) all of these sellers and they are all really great folks.  I hope you will go check them all out and show your support for us cyclists on etsy.  I hope to make this a pretty regular feature here, so stay tuned... or go ride!

Diving back in

After much whining about it this morning, I dove right back into my sewing.  I really wasn't ready for the vacation to be over (it was fabulous, btw), but after I got my belly-aching over with I had pretty darn productive day.  

When I really need to sew a lot of stuff, I dedicate one day to cutting and prepping.  So, today was that day.  Now I have all ready to sew: 4 jewelry rolls (for a bride), 2 bicycle seat bags, and 4 top tube totes to match.  That bit of red and pink striped fabric is some super duper cheap knit that I picked up today at Hancocks.  I've been thinking about trying to make something fun with knits, and at like a dollar a yard, I couldn't pass that up.  I'm thinking of this really cute sleep set from BurdaStyle.  I just love that site!  I haven't tried making any of their projects yet, but I love seeing everyone else's projects.  I really do think I'll try this one.  

Oh, and more great crafty news... my application for the licensing program at Sublime Stitching was accepted!!!  Yay!  Once I get my shop all caught back up, guess what's next?  Keep your eyes peeled!  

I'm gonna leave you tonight with one more beach photo... this is one of my very favorites.

I Made a Cycling Cap

Cute, huh?

With the smokin' hot weather here, I decided it was time to make a nice breezy cycling cap for myself.  I used this great tutorial from Curiously Crafty with just a couple of modifications.  The instructions were really easy to follow, but of course, I had to go changing things.  I only made it single layer for coolness instead of lined, so I had to make sure my seams were at least a little bit finished.  (I really could use a serger.)  I made the back panels from some nylon mesh that I salvaged from an old shoe bag I found at the back of our closet.  And, I added elastic to the back so it would fit my head better for riding.  It would have been OK without the elastic if I were just going to wear it casually, but for riding I wanted it a bit more snug.  The bill was cut on the bias just for fun really and the bottom side of the bill is black to keep glare down.

Introducing....

A brand spanking new item on DogwoodLane,  the Girls' Ride Top Tube Tote!!!  It's a mouth full, but hey, it gets the point across.  These little bags are a super convenient place to keep your cell phone and keys handy while you're riding.  I just have this one listed right now, but you can bet that there will be more!  

One Crafty Rider...

As I mentioned in an earlier post this week, I've been really busy with custom orders.  Well, this lovely seat bag was one of them.   This bag was custom made with the zipper on the outside, so quick work could be made of getting flat fixin's in and out during a triathlon.  The best part... this triathlete is a fellow crafty lady!  She's Debi from the grayeyedscorpio on Etsy. She was sweet enough to take some pictures for me of her new seat bag on her bike.  When she's not riding, she's sewing up some super cute accessories for her shop.  She has some of the most fabulous headbands!  And, if you check out her feedback, they get rave reviews for having the perfect fit.   You know, not so loose that they fall right of the back of your head, but not so tight that you end up with a splitting headache after 15 minutes.  Of course, that's not all she has (there are some great totes, uber cute fabric covered pendants, aprons...) but, I've got my eye on this little number:

 

Girls' Ride

Around here, Friday mornings belong to the ladies.  My riding partner (and sometimes partners, we're not exclusive) and I  meet up on Fridays for the girls' ride.... a casual, friendly kinda ride through town and then into the country. It's really a beautiful route (the photo is one of my favorite spots) with lots of tree lined country roads and open fields.  

It's a good time and a great way for us to keep our girlish figures and it was the inspiration for the seat bags in my shop! That's my teeny cycling buddy, btw, who just can't wait to join the ride!