Wow. What a whirlwind the past few weeks have been. I took Nina to the Cleveland Craft Coalition to sell some of my Bib Necklaces and Custom Baby Quilts and met some fantastic new crafty friends you have to check out! Clara of Embrace Imperfection had some fantastic woven and knitting wearables, my new favorite wall art desiger Stephanie Urban of Little Lion Designs with her amazing, earth friendly creations and Four Fish Ink with their fun and creative ink paintings were there. So proud to have been part of this event with all the creative people in my hometown of Cleveland!

Part of the preparation for this show was to help me get my creations on the market so I am very happy to announce I opened the Nina Store! That's right, now you can buy Nina products online. Keep your eye on the store as I am working on adding more products over the next few weeks. 

Our next adventure took us to CHA's Summer Supershow in Chicago. What an amazing place. I'm a big fan of paper crafting and have been making my own cards for years now. I'd like to scrapbook too, someday! I was so grateful to have my mom there as it was Liam's first airplane trip and my first official "working mom" assignment.

I got to share this time teaching with my super fabulous buddy Ellen March who was there teaching her t-shirt makeover and announced she will be hosting a new PBS series, Sew It All that begins airing early 2011! While teaching my Bib Necklace I had the awesome opportunity to connect with some fantastic people. Beth Engelman wears many hats but one of them is running a super fun site called Mommy On A Shoe String. Great tips and tricks for doing fun things for and with your family on a tiny budget. I also met Christy Nelson and look forward to having some fun with her craft challenges! You never know when some Nina creativity is going to pop up so make sure to check the site out and join in the fun. We have the Summer Creative Challenge going on right now. Just post, vote and maybe you'll be the winner!

Besides his first plane trip, July was a big month for my Little Bug. Liam, after some rather frusterated attempts, rolled over, both directions, in one day. His first giggle was an amazing event too. He can be quite the chatter box and I am so looking forward to the months ahead as he keeps learning and changing almost everyday!

I've had a post on diapers and now we're onto bibs! Bibs for big girls though. I absolutely love these new bib necklaces that are so trendy right now. I've seen them all over in the stores and online so I decided to design one myself! This is a super easy, scrappy project that requires minimal skill. My sample used Nicey Jane fabrics from Free Spirit by Heather Bailey. They were all scraps from another project I just sent to the publisher and I am sure I will be sharing on here soon! Coupled with a simple tank top or t-shirt, jeans or a skirt this little accessory adds some personality and a feminine touch to an outfit as you fly out the door. I could just be speaking for myself on that "flying out the door" part though.

I will be teaching this project at CHA in Chicago the end of July and am very excited to be in the classroom again! Only adding to the excitement is the fact I get to bring my little guy along for the ride. Liam is getting so big and at 12 weeks old now we finally have a bit of a routine. It is nice to have something reliable emerging. His smiles are to die for and when he is asleep I find myself tip-toeing in to just peek at him! He makes fun clucking and cooing sounds now and is very eager to figure out sitting up as well as some way to move. I'm preparing myself for my last summer not chasing this little guy!