Did you miss out on some of our tutorials

and printable freebies in May?
Here they are!

Father's Day Subway Art

Patriotic Subway Art

Moms of Multiples Subway Art

Angel Mommy Subway Art

Teacher Subway Art

Business Card Holder Tutorial

Coffee/Drink Cozy Tutorial

Adding Rick Rack

Adding Flat Trim

Gauze Swaddle Blanket Tutorial

Wow!

We did a lot this month.

I hope you find something you would like to create!

And you can always share on our Facebook Fan Page!

Have a great weekend!

Well, I didn't think I would post about it.

But I am.

 Because I am frustrated.

Because I am losing business.

Because I can only do so much in advertising as a small business.

Now, let me tell you something about {SIG}.

{SIG} is MY DREAM.

I have worked so hard to build it.

I realized with the triplets, I wanted to stay home but also have earning potential.

And I knew I could never afford the cute clothes for the kids
that I wanted them to wear without making it myself.

It has been 4 years since I started.
2.5 years of actually sewing clothes.
Almost 2 years since we have had a Facebook fan page.
1 year that {SIG} has been an official tax paying company.

Through that time, I have worked my BUTT off to get what I have.
Couldn't have done it for the past 15 months without my sidekick, Andrea.
She is just as invested in to {SIG} as I am.
My partner in sewing crime.

Both Andrea and I have worked HARD to get as many fans as we can on FB.
We wanted to "interact" with our customers.
Not just sell items through FB.
But to let people get to know us.

And now it has changed.
I know {SIG} isn't the only small company taking the hit.
We use to have so much interaction.
I know we reached many more of our fans before.

Now, with the "changes", we are losing our face time with our fans.
They say the posts reach the same amount of people.
I don't believe it for a minute.

Now they want us to PAY to reach our fans.

How is this fair?
I would have to at least $15 to ensure all my fans saw my post.
EVERY.SINGLE.TIME.

As much as I post on the wall,
the numbers add up quickly.
Let's just say I post 10 times a day.
That is $150 per day.

Sorry, Mark...I don't have that kind of money.
Must be nice to be worth $11 BILLION because that would
just be chump change for you.

These changes are slowing driving a knife through {SIG}'s beating heart.
It makes me sad to think I have to start all over again.
I am my own advertising exec, CEO, photographer, money manager,
marketing director, secretary, seamstress, and house cleaning.
Let's add mommy to four year old triplets and wife.

Mark, listen to those of us that are outraged.
Stop this nonsense.
Return Facebook back to the way we all loved so dearly!
What made Facebook become the single most
successful business to date WITHOUT making
Peter, Paul, and Mary pay out the waazoo to post
to our wonderful fans, family, and friends.

Get your head out of your rear end.
Facebook will end up becoming obsolete just
like MySpace has become.
Someone will come up with a free social site
and steal everyone away.
Get smart, my dear Mark.

For those interested in keeping up with us,
please stay active on our page by liking or commenting.
Sign up for our newsletter which will start going out weekly.
Follow the blog as I continue to make it grow.

Most importantly,
know we are still in business and not going anywhere!

Now, I get off my soap box.
Haven't felt this passionate about a topic in quite some time.
Happy Friday Peeps!

Many moons ago, when Mr. SIG and I first got married,

we were excited to have children.

Right out of the gate, we were pregnant.

A honeymoon baby.

It was a surprise, in a way.

I mean, how many people get pregnant the first time they try?

We did!

And we were in love w/ our little "onesie".

Boy, were we ever in love.

Life was perfect.

For the next 3 weeks anyway.

Then I started to spot.

We got to see our "onesie" and nothing seemed wrong.

So I was put on bed rest.

But the spotting didn't stop.

And so another ultrasound was ordered.

This time, we heard news we didn't like.

The baby's sac was too small.

It was likely that we would lose "onesie".

As luck would have it, only 8 hours later,

I began to cramp severely.

We rushed to the ER.

We hoped.

We prayed.

We cried.

And we waited.

Waited for another ultrasound.

When it finally happened,

our sweet "onesie" no longer had a heartbeat.

Devastation.

Pure, complete unadulterated sadness.

I had never loved something so deeply.

And he was gone.

I was 8 weeks along.

Not enough time.

Nothing I could do to save my baby.

The coming months were very difficult for us.

We kept trying and trying to get pregnant again.

It didn't happen.

Meds and other medical interventions were tried.

Finally, after 20 months, we chose to do invitro.

And we prayed to be given two babies,

one to fill the place of our beloved "onesie".

Alas, our prayers were answered,

in the form of THREE.

Not in my wildest dreams would I have imagined this.

But I wouldn't have it any other way.

I love my babies really, 4 makes them kids but i don't care, haha

with all my heart and my soul.

I would die for them.

And although I am still sad that we never got to meet "onesie",

one day I know I will see our beautiful child again.

His sacrifice allowed us to have Sofi, Ian, and Gabi.

Our loss was also our gain.

Funny how things work?

And along the way, I met MANY other beautiful women

that have endured loss during pregnancy.

Some, over and over again.

Some actually getting to meet their angel.

Some that are still without a child to this day.

This will always be near and dear to my heart.

I would not wish this on my worst enemy.

{good thing i don't have many...or maybe any}

Loss is heartbreaking.

When I have a chance to do something to honor this,

I jump at the chance.

Whether it is to raise money for a funeral,

make a graphic "siggy" used in forums,

make blinkies,

or in this case...subway art,

I don't hesitate.

{click on image to enlarge to 8x10 printable}

Thank you Augie for the suggestion.

Thank you to all the ladies that shared this on Facebook.

I wish I didn't have to make it.

But I'm glad that I could.

For all you angel mommies out there,

whether you frame this or put it in a scrapbook of your angel,

or any other beautiful thing you want to do with it,

I hope it helps...just a wee little bit.

LOVE YOU ALL!

After a much needed 3 day weekend,

{SIG} is back to working!

Since I made the teacher's coffee/drink cozies,

I thought it would be a great little tutorial.

The best part, it only takes some scrap fabric!

Perfect for teacher gifts or stocking stuffers,

this tutorial shouldn't take longer than about 30 minutes to complete.

Ready to get moving?

Materials:

~ Your choice of fabric, must be about 11" in length

~ Rubber Hair Band (or a pack just in case you want to make more)

~ Button (I chose to cover a button)

~ Fleece, fusible fleece or any other substitute

~ Starbucks sleeve

~ Iron & ironing board

~ Sewing machine & notions

Tear open the Starbucks sleeve and lay flat on paper.

Trace around sleeve, adding about 1/4".

Cut out your pattern.

Fold fabric over so that right sides are facing.

Trace pattern on to fabric.

Trace again on to your fleece.

Cut out.

You should have 2 pieces of fabric and 1 piece of fleece.

Keeping your fabric right sides facing,

please the piece of fleece directly on top.

Also, take your rubber hair band and place between

the 2 pieces of fabric.

Sew all the way around at about a 1/4" seam allowance.

MAKE SURE to leave about a 2" opening at the bottom

so that we can turn it right side out.

Then clip your corners as shown in the photo.

Now that you have sewn around,

turn right side out.

I like to use the blunt end of a skewer stick to get

my corners nice and pretty.

Press with a hot iron.

Sew all the way around, closing your opening.

Use a 1/8" seam allowance.

Sew your button on about 1.5" from the side.

And that is all folks!

You are finished and ready to use your cozy.

Told you it was easy!

Enjoy and feel free to share your finished cozy on our Facebook page!

I know, 2 posts in one day!
Shut the front door!!!!

For all my moms of multiples, I had to make this one.

This version is FREE but I can customize it for ya for only $8.

{click on image to enlarge and print to 8x10}

Now, I am going to rack my brain for some other ideas for subway art.

I promise I'll sew again someday soon!

But this is FUN!

When I start the creative juices flowing, they don't want to stop.

I'm hooked on the subway art!

In honor of all the fallen soldiers that have fought for our country,

I decided to tackle a patriotic version.

Being from a different country (Argentina),

I sometimes think that I enjoy these particular holidays.

I know that this country is a great, FREE country.

I always honor the soldiers that have fought and are fighting

for us to enjoy the freedom they provide us.

I also like to give the families of soldiers something special.

Hopefully these families will enjoy this printable.

Totally free and ready to be printed.

{click on the image to enlarge and print to 8x10}

Thank you to all the soldiers, the families that support the soldiers,

the children that have absent parents and the sacrifice of 

everyone involved in our country being as great as it is.

Enjoy the Memorial Day weekend!

I know we will as Mr. SIG is smoking some ribs right now.

YUM!

Yep, I'm hooked.

I spent much of the morning downloading new fonts.

Glad I did.

Staci suggested I do subway art for Father's Day.

So I took the challenge.

With my new fonts on hand, I was ready to go!

Now, I am no expert but I learn pretty quickly.

I think I am getting the hang of this.

What do you think?

{click on image to make larger, should print to 8x10}

I love the colors.

The kids' daddy, Mr. SIG, will be very happy.

His favorite color is blue.

Now, if you like this, you better PIN IT!

Or share my blog with your friends.

The more followers we get, the more motivated I become!

Help me grow!

{as it is, FB has really slowed down traffic & business}

Spread the {SIG} love and have a happy Friday peeps!