Fallen Angel

This has been a big year for me..
Our beautiful perfect baby girl... Maranda Aurora Indigo Bieber was born last March 19 and we just celebrated her first birthday!. She is busy giving out her first lip smacking kisses, talk about Yummy
Earlier in the year I trained for and ran in a half marathon,
Started speaking again professionally on my favorite topic "Celebrating and unleashing your Creative Spirit!"
Although... I think I should name the talk to "Creating a joyful life while living in a hurricane...." It's all about staying centered and I am talking eye of the storm... Which I admit is easier said than done. Many more trials (I know... blessings in disguise) snuck up on me this year including but not limited to falling off of my staircase and badly breaking my foot ( requiring surgery and a shiny new Titanium plate with 4 screws ( my 6 year old Tristan now calls me the Erector set mom!) and spraining both of my wrists...which definitely slowed down my design plans. But I am feeling better and stronger every day and learning to fly... again.

Now that I am feeling better , have really been enjoying doing hand work and am getting ready to launch some things on etsy.....My goal is to have things for sale by Friday! Mostly little girls one of a kind dresses with vintage laces and silk ribbons etc...
Something I can do with a sweet little one at my feet....and a smile in my heart...regardless of swirling hurricanes

Confessions of a Reluctant blogger

Yes I admit it...I have avoided blogging for all the wrong reasons...You see I had the concept of blogging stuck in my mind as a "look at me...don't you think I amazing" type of concept. Which really does not make any sense as I love LOVE The blogs I check out...they are very from-the-
heart.... Yet something inside of me was confused or maybe insecure about sharing...It is not about "How cool do I think I am" But about "Look at this amazing thing, truth, blessing, idea I have discovered that I can't wait to share!!!" So Now that I have gotten that off of my chest..I am committing to be a prolific blogger and share beautiful and inspiring things of all kinds. Truths that I have learned or am learning about Life, heart, home and family!

2009 My year to shine!!! I started out this morning getting some truth off of my chest and then drove myself to the ocean and did my formerly traditional polar bear dip! It felt amazing, powerful, cleansing and pure. Not that the water in Santa Barbara was really that cold but the sky was very cloudy and the water had zero visibility! I could not see a thing. But somehow that was the great part...I trusted and dove in anyway, out of my comfort zone, trusting in God, myself and the future. The way I plan to live my life from now on.
Last year was the hardest of my life. Filled with the greatest blessings and the hardest challenges. Yet I emerged ( with Gods help) triumphant like the Phoenix from the flames. 2009 is my year (our year) to shine, to continue stepping out into the light, celebrate our creative spirits, connect with joy and be grateful for all that God has blessed us with!

This year I will be sharing a new craft tutorial, idea or project every month and I can't wait to get photos of the first one...That I have been promising forever, but right now I am off to make some raw vegan lemon bars!

SweaterElla

Enchanting Sustainable Style

from

"SweaterElla"

by Katheryn Bieber

"Be the change you want to see in the world!" Gandhi

Just as CinderElla (SweaterElla?) went from frumpy to fabulous.....The real magic in any CinderElla story is simply a shift in perspective.

I am always on the look-out for treasures waiting to be rediscovered, recycled and remade into fabulously fun felt-a-licious things...and my designs are always infused with joyful passion and a love of beauty. My latest projects and designs are created from recycled sweaters and fabrics, often lined with silk blouses and other lovelies discovered from thrift store treasure hunting adventures... and finally they are embellished with my life long stash of all things vintage

While I do have original designs available for purchase at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5066053
I am intensely passionate about creating and sharing projects, plans and inspiration. (Let's just call it my therapy). I will be sharing new ideas and tutorials on a regular basis...at least once or twice a month

After all

" We are each of us angels with only one wing,
and we can fly
only by
embracing each other!"

and speaking of flying...I am flying high that my new book

"Felt it, Stitch it, Fabulous"

got a really good review from Booklist...

Here is a copy of the review

Bieber, Katheryn Tidwell. Felt It! Stitch It! Fabulous! Creative Wearables from Flea Market Finds. May 2007. 128p. illus. index. Sterling/Lark/Chapelle, $24.95 (1-60059-067-5). 746.
This is not a knitting book, although it looks like one. Using a technique she calls “fast felting,” the author turns old, discarded sweaters found at flea markets, thrift stores, or even the back of the closet into clothes and accessories that look handmade. And at first glance, you would think this was just another felted knitting book. The projects are contemporary, creative, and stylish. The process––shrinking old sweaters to create felted materials––saves both time and money, for quick results. Bieber covers every aspect of the process, from finding appropriate feltable garments to arranging the pattern pieces to maximize the details of the felted materials. The author assumes some basic sewing experience, but the projects can be completed using either a sewing machine or by hand. Most helpful are the sections on finding the correct sweater and photographs illustrating the before and after of different types of knits so readers can see what kind of results to expect. The projects have strong appeal to knitters and sewers as well as the reuse, recycle, and repurpose craft movement. —Jennifer Palmer

You can check out my new book "Felt it, Stitch it, Fabulous"at
Amazon.comThat's all for now I've got to run to pick up my sweet kiddies from school and start preparing my first tutorial to share with you on my new blog!

Here is a hint...If you have ever seen old dusty framed needlework projects at the thrift store and felt the passion of the designer but felt sad that they were sitting there feeling lost and left behind..I have a wonderful way to give them a new purpose and great new lifeSending Creative Joy,Katheryn BieberSweaterElla's official Faerie Godmother