The Joy Cottage

Design Work

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Joy) — Mon, 21 May 2012 06:34:53 PDT

Took a couple of pictures of my design work.

My typography book. This was my favorite page.

"Simply" magazine. My made up home decor magazine. This was our "special edition". I have more of this project but my professor decided to keep it over summer. I'll take more pictures of my project in the fall.

And then promo materials from Peachick Pacifier Pouch. Love seeing my designs in real life! It makes me feel like a "real" designer.

One of my best friends from my way earlier or "normal" college years, her husband, and her best friend are in a band together called The Cover Band. They are simply amazing. I've been listening to the demo over and over and over this weekend. They wrote all the songs and music. I am completely amazed by their talent. I designed their logo for them over the weekend. It came together so quickly and feels perfect. Love it when things work out like that!

Listen to their music here!

And last but not least, Polkadot Pretties new blog has been launched! It was such a pleasure to work with Claire. I had so much fun designing one of the cutest blogs in town! Here's a view of her logo. Click here to see the blog!

I truly love my job. :)

xo,

Anna

In A Day

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Joy) — Wed, 16 May 2012 07:02:44 PDT

My phone pics of what I do during the day!

Look for a sewing pattern for these SOON!

The great part of apartment living: A huge pool you never have to clean.

Running shoes.

On my morning run.

Ben made me breakfast tacos for Mother's Day. Yummy yummersons.

The boy who made me a mommy.

My crazy boys.

Happy Wednesday!

xo,

Anna

M.I.A.

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Joy) — Mon, 14 May 2012 09:16:52 PDT

It's been quiet on the blog front. Not on purpose though. My computer charger broke and I had been saving all my battery to work on design things.

I don't have much to say except I'm enjoying my summer off. I have been blessed with lots of new design work and my mind has been so occupied on that. Of course, doing my usual custom orders for the shop. But most of all, I'm just kicking back and enjoying my time with my son. It's nice to wake up and not have to be somewhere right away.

The Lord has been laying a lot of things on my heart lately and I'm still praying over them. Mostly things that have to do with the shop. I'm still trying to understand what my next step is for my business so I can't really say what all is going on in my mind. I just know that running this shop full time for the last year and a half has been such a privilege. Not everyone can really do what they love and love what they do but I did. Whatever the new chapter is for the shop, I know will be a great one. :)

Have a great Monday.

xo,
Anna

Let's Celebrate.

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Joy) — Fri, 04 May 2012 07:11:06 PDT

Semester is over and Cinco De Mayo is here! A coupon is in order, am I right?

Enter "MAYFIFTH" in the coupon code during check out to receive 20% off your order for this weekend.

You know what this coupon would work really great with? The amazing pillow and boppy cover packages I created!

Buy 1 pillow, get 1 half off OR Buy 2 pillows, get 1 half off.

The best deal though? Buy 3 pillows, get 1 FREE! Plus another 20% off? It's a steal, I tell ya.

I have the same packages for boppy covers too.

So if you either have a gaggle of children, have many baby showers to go to over the summer, or just want to have 1 or 2 for yourself and bless your friends with the other, these deals will help you afford that!

Psst...if you ever need more, just know that there is a price break. :)

xoxo,
Anna

And done.

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Joy) — Wed, 02 May 2012 06:40:59 PDT

Finally. The end of my spring semester. It's been crazy around here trying to finish projects as well as work and taking care of my family. Thank God it's all done...for the summer at least!

Some custom orders I finished the past couple of weeks. Such pretty girly things. :)

I'm so excited for summer. I have many projects planned for myself. Quilt patterns, free sewing tutorials, free prints, freelance design work...there's just so much! Each week I plan on having something new to show you whether it'd be a new free print or a sewing pattern. It's exciting!

Have a great Wednesday!

xo,
Anna

Hey Batter, Batter

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Joy) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 08:13:26 PDT

My Honey got us tickets to a Rangers game for last night. It was a nice break from school/work to spend a couple hours watching our favorite baseball team. And it was extra special since it was G's first Rangers game!

Papa and Son. What a special moment!

His first hotdog at the ballgame. Mommy's most favorite food to get at the ballgame.

Eating his first ever cotton candy and watching his first ever homerun. This was his expression when the fireworks went off! Classic.

The Mr. and Mrs.

I love spring time at the ballpark!

xo,
Anna

Quiet

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Joy) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 06:11:22 PDT

Good morning. Things are busy at home which is why the blog has been rather quiet. It's approaching the end of the semester which means I gotta wrap up all those projects. And I've been working so hard to finish a lot of custom orders this week. Definitely counting the days til summer!

Only a couple days left to purchase the Mom Hoop before it goes away for another year. Get it while you still can!

And guess what came back in the shop???

Birthday Mini Quilts! You can customize them with your child's full name, birthdate, time of birth, birth stats, city and/or state, and a verse/quote. They are originally $80 but for a limited time, they're on sale for $60! That's a great deal. This offer will expire next Friday, May 4.

And one more sale for the rest of this week and weekend. Right now, if you purchase a Child's Name Pillow, you receive the second one for half off! So for those of you out there who have been eyeing the pillows for your kiddos, this is the perfect time to get them. Or if you have lots of baby showers to come up, what better gift than to give a custom name pillow! And if you buy 3 pillows, the 4th one would be for free!

I hope you enjoy these nice deals. Happy Wednesday!

xo,

Anna

The End

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Joy) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 07:03:55 PDT

The last weeks of the semester is coming to an end which is why I've been quiet on the blog. Also, I have a ton of custom orders to finish up on! Here's what I've been sewing!

Finished the Bunny Snack Mat and made a Car Wallet for little guy for Easter. There's no tutorial for the Car Wallet but I was inspired by this shop that makes really lovely ones!

I've recently been overtaken by boppy covers. Aren't they lovely?

And of course, pillows.

And my favorite, this aqua and pink quilt.

I cannot tell ya'll how much I am ready for summer. There's so much I want to do for this blog that I just don't have time for. One of which is to start posting sewing tutorials. I have all the pictures taken...just need to write out the tutorials! And quilt patterns...sigh. I have a bunch of those I need to write up too. I want to show you what I've been making but I can't until I get everything put together. Summer, come now please!

The "Mom" hoop is still in the shop. Only one week left if you want to purchase it in time for Mother's Day! 50% of the proceeds will go to help my friend Jake's mom who was just diagnosed with Anemia, a form of lung cancer that happens to women who don't smoke. She is a mother of 7, the youngest one being 4. She doesn't have health insurance which makes it hard for her to get the best treatment that she can. With the help of family, friends, and strangers, we are trying raise money to take off the financial burden off of her and her family so that they can focus on getting better. For more information on her condition, you can visit here. Any help (prayers or otherwise) would be greatly appreciated!

xo,
Anna

The Mom Hoops Are Back

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Joy) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:30:01 PDT

What a sweet reminder for all the mothers we know. For a limited time only, the "Mom" hoops are back in the shop for Mother's Day. There's only a limit of 10 orders and this item will no longer be in the shop until Friday, April 27.

A friend of mine recently found out that his mother was diagnosed with lung cancer. She is a mother of 7 with no health insurance. I hadn't known about my friend's mother when I decided to put the hoops back in the shop but I know everything happens for a reason. 50% off the profit I make from these hoops will go to my friend's mother to help lift the burden off medical costs. You can visit here for more information.

xo,

Anna Joy

I Need To Make a Quilt

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Joy) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 07:09:14 PDT

Quilts. It's how I got started in this crazy business.

This was the first quilt I ever made. It was for Gavin and he was about 6 months old at the time. It's not pieced together that well and the binding is terrible but now at 3 years old, he loves that quilt more than any other blanket we have for him. He used to bite the corners of it when he was a toddler to soothe himself to sleep. Now he uses the quilt to cover up his Big Bear (his favorite stuffed blue bear) while he's sleeping or wants it on the ground when we have our picnics in the living room. When we tuck him in on cold nights, he wants his quilt to be on him first before we can put on the other warm blankets. Only 3 years with this quilt but already so many memories of it.

I had to incorporate his quilt with his 3 year old pictures. I will cherish these memories forever.

Photo by Aurora Photography

I also made this summer quilt for him which he also loves. It's nice and thin for those warm nights in Texas.

After I made his first quilt, I got bit by the quilting bug. Now all I ever want to do is make quilts for others. The feelings I receive with my son and his quilt is the feeling I want to be able to share with others. The feeling of joy.

I am finishing up a lot of my quilt orders this month and I will able to take more orders. Can I create this feeling of joy for you?

~~Right now, for the FIRST CUSTOMER ONLY, I am offering 30% off your quilt order.~~

~~Yes, you heard me right. 30% off. This never happen for quilt orders. Literally, ever! So do you want to be the lucky customer who takes advantage of this great deal? I would!~~

All my quilt info and prices can be found here. Contact me at thejoycottage(at)gmail.com if you are ready to order.

~~Not ready to order a quilt but want to take advantage of 30% off in the shop? Enter "APRIL30" in the coupon code box when checking out. Coupon will end on Friday, April 13.~~

The coupon has been used! Thank you to all who inquired!

Happy Wednesday!

xo,

Anna

New Custom Order Packages

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Joy) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 09:05:01 PDT

Due to popular demand, I finally created a Pillow and Blanket Combo Set and a Boppy Cover and Blanket Combo Set. Both are a savings of $10.

Check them out!

xo,
Anna

FTLOJ Custom Orders

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Joy) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 10:04:54 PDT

Hope everyone had a great Easter. We had a wonderful time at church and then at Ben's mom's house for a feast and some egg hunting. Here's a picture of G and his cousin. Aren't they the cutest? They look like they could be siblings!

And here's what I've been creating this last week.

My room was incredibly full this week. :)

Have a great Monday everyone!

xo,
Anna

Easter

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Joy) — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 07:18:56 PDT

Easter is special to us at home. It is the fact that Jesus Christ defeated death and came back from the grave to give us new life is why we believe in Him. I didn't grow up believing in the Easter Bunny (Or Santa, gasp!) and Ben and I decided that we were going to raise Gavin the same way. Not because we don't like to have imagination (trust me, this is coming from the biggest Harry Potter fans ever) but we don't want to steal the meaning of this holiday away by bringing in fictional characters. And I know a lot of parents might freak out over this (both Christians and non) but coming from an adult who never believed in these characters, I survived and never felt regret over what my parents did. I'm actually very thankful that they stuck to what they believed in and didn't feel pressure from our culture to follow along.

This year we made Resurrection Rolls (or Jesus Biscuits as Ben likes to call them). Gavin was excited to open up the "tomb" to see Jesus was gone and we celebrated that He has risen.

Here's another project that we will be doing today.

Source: ashleyannphotography.com via Anna on Pinterest

And I made a print to giveaway to celebrate Easter too. A verse I've been meditating on this week.

Just click here to download.

Of course, just because the Easter bunny doesn't come "visit", we still do Easter baskets, dying eggs, and going on an egg hunt. Gavin just knows that his mom and dad pack his Easter basket the night before...and he's still very excited to receive it!

And I close with this video today. It's a favorite of mine to watch over Easter.

xo,
Anna Joy

Tutorial : Bunny Snack Mats

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Joy) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 18:57:50 PDT

Thanks for all your kind comments regarding the storm. It still feels like a dream it happened! Oh, to live in tornado alley...

Also, you only have 3 days to purchase my 3 Item Combo which is a savings of $45 (in other words, a FREE boppy cover!). After Easter, I will change the pricing on this combo so hurry hurry!

So I wasn't able to finish these snack mats yet. The tornado threw me off schedule a bit but I wanted to show the tutorial just in case someone wanted to make these before Easter! These mats were inspired by Nanacompany's Easter Garland. I'm telling you, this girl inspires me to do a lot of things!

Materials:
6.5"x6.5" fabric square (I used linen)
6 - 1.5" x 7" alternating fabrics
2 - 1.5" x 6.5" patterned strips
2 - 1.5"x 8.5" patterned strips
2 - 1.5"x 8.5" solid strips
2 - 1.5"x10.5" solid strips
Fusible paper (I use Wonder Under but you can also use Steam A Seam)
Bunny Template - download here

1. Print your bunny template and cut your fabrics.

2. Trace the bunny on your fusible paper.

3. Use the square from your bunny template to lay your fabric on top. Pin it down so it won't move around.

4. Use a lightbox or your window and align your fusible paper to the bunny template to the fabric so it will be in the middle. Iron it down.

5. Carefully cut out your bunny.

6. Sew using a 1/4" seam your fabric strips together.

7. Put your bunny on top and iron it down. Square off the extra fabric.

8. Take your patterned strips and sew around your bunny block. Repeat with the solid strips. There's a little bit of space under the bunny where I'm going to embroider each kid's name on there. Then quilt and finish your mats however you'd like!

And that's it! I have one more thing to show ya'll for Easter so come back tomorrow!

xo,
Anna

Tornadoes in North Texas

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Joy) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 09:28:43 PDT

So yesterday was very eventful.

Source

Around 12:30 pm, I heard the emergency broadcast on my TV. The news was reporting that my county was under a Tornado Warning.

Source

I continued watching the news, wondering if I should take this warning lightly or not...until I saw a tornado forming right there on the screen.

Source

I watched the tornado pick up 18 wheeler trailers like they were nothing and throw them across the road. At this time, the tornadoes were south of us but they were approaching.

Source

I have to say, I was really scared. I took Gavin and my computer down to the storage closet under our stairs and hid down there for 30-45 minutes. I repeatedly checked FB status updates from friends and kept watching the radar from the news website. I was on the phone with Ben while he was at work. I was suppose to be in school yesterday but at the last minute decided to stay home. Thank God for that. I would've been so worried going through this with Gavin at school.

Luckily, the storm passed over us and our area was not hit with any tornadoes...but a lot of neighborhoods were not as fortunate as us. Hundreds of homes have been destroyed. There was damage in Arlington where I used to live as a teenager. It's very surreal to watch the videos and see the photos of these homes completely destroyed and know these homes were only miles away from us. The miracle is though, that out of the millions of people who live here in the metroplex, people only walked away with minor injuries. Praise God that he kept everyone safe.

If you want to help, the Red Cross is taking donations right now. This will help pay for hotel rooms, new clothes, food, and much more for the families who have lost everything.

Thank you to everyone who had North Texas on the minds and in their prayers. Now it's time to start helping families rebuild their lives.

xo,
Anna

"Run Banana Run"

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Joy) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 17:29:23 PDT

That's the kind of encouragement Ben likes to give me before I run my first 5k in four years.

My friends and I ran the Firefly Run on Saturday and it was SO MUCH FUN.

Before any race, you should always do your power pose to get pumped up.

This was seriously the most fun 5K I've ever done. It's at night and everyone is decked out in glow sticks, flashing LED lights, tutus and fairy wings, the works! It's an awesome sight to see!

They had 7000 participants. Whoa. Dang. The beginning was kind of hard as we were having to avoid all the walkers but after half a mile, we started running our pace. I finished in 38 minutes. Kind of slow but I'm just so happy that I ran the whole thing!

So I have the running bug again. I trained for this race in 6 weeks. Going from doing NOTHING for four years (the equivalent of the time I got preggo with G) to running 3.1 miles...I'm pretty proud of myself. Our goal is to run a half marathon at the end of this year. We have 9 months to train...we can do it!

Here's what my training schedule looked like the last six weeks.

Week 1:
Monday - 1 mile walk/run
Wednesday - 1 mile run
Friday - 15 minute run

Week 2:
Monday - 15 minute run
Wednesday - 15 minute interval training (walk 1 min, sprint 30 secs, run 30 secs)
Friday - 1.5 mile run

Week 3:
Monday - 1 mile run
Wednesday - 20 minute interval training
Friday - 20 minute run

Week 4:
Monday - 2 mile run
Wednesday - 20 minute interval training
Friday - 25 minute run

Week 5:
Monday - 2.5 mile run
Wednesday - 25 minute interval training
Friday - 30 minute run

Week 6 (Race Week):
Monday - 3 mile run
Wednesday - easy 2 mile run
Saturday - Race Day!

I didn't strictly follow this. Sometimes I ran on Tuesday and Thursday too. I would either run around my neighborhood, or on campus, or on the track at the gym. I used Map My Run to map out where I would run. I felt really good after my race although I've been having pains in my left calf for about a week now. I'm taking a couple days rest and then starting again easy this week. Don't want to pull anything! I'll be training myself to run 4 miles this month. I've never ran that far!

We also want to do the Tough Mudder and Warrior Dash. I am happy that I've fallen in love with running...again!

Does anyone else here run? Anyone training for a half marathon? Anyone done the Tough Mudder?

xo,
Anna

Did You Know...

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Joy) — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 13:10:23 PDT

...That my 3 item combo is a really good deal? Like REALLY GOOD?

It's over $40 in savings.

Or to put it this way, you get a FREE boppy cover with the order.

But this great combo will not be lasting that much longer. After Easter, I will be changing this combo price to $120 instead of $100. It's still a good chunk of savings but...the $100 is better. Don't you agree?

So if you have been eyeing this, this is your time to purchase it for such a good deal!

Let's celebrate the weekend with another coupon. From now until Easter, use this 15% off coupon for your order. Enter "15OFF" in the coupon code during check out.

Happy weekend!

xo,
Anna

Custom Orders for This Week

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Joy) — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 11:07:08 PDT

Just sewing it up. You know how I do.

Gemma must be a popular name now. This is my second Gemma pillow in two weeks! It's so pretty!

xo,
Anna

Great Grandma Iva's Quilt

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Joy) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 07:12:10 PDT

Remember when I made these "Peace" pillows?

Well, Leslie had sent me a bunch of fabric blocks that her great-grandmother had made before she passed and asked me to make these pillows for her family. After I finished, I still had a good amount of blocks left over so I asked her if she would like me to finish her great-grandma's quilt. She happily said "yes".

This was my first time to make a whole quilt out of curves and let me tell ya, that was a challenge! But I am very happy with the final piece. Great-grandma Iva had hand-pieced all the blocks (there were over 30 blocks!) and although I didn't hand-piece the blocks together, I did hand-quilt it. That was my first time and it was very therapeutic. I enjoyed hand-quilting that I decided to go ahead and hand-bind the quilt too which I hadn't done in a while. It's nice to put the machine away and really "work" with your hands.

I stitched a label on there for Leslie and her family.

If you want to see more of this quilt, visit Leslie's blog!

Thank you, Leslie, for letting me finish this beautiful quilt your great-grandmother started. I loved doing it so much!

Want more information on my quilts? Go here to learn more.

xo,
Anna

Surprise, Surprise!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Joy) — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 05:00:13 PDT

Finally, it is done and ready to be presented. My surprise is that I finally redesigned my blog!!! If you are reading from Google Reader or another blog feeder, click on over to "oohh" and "aahh" over the new design!

So some new things about the blog. All my information will be at the top. Who I am, where's my shop, graphic/web design, and custom quilt info is all there for you to view.

Down a bit on the right, are all my topics that I post about on the blog. Some of the links are "under construction" but I will have those up and running throughout the week. My number one goal for the rest of this year is to finally put out sewing tutorials and I have a couple lined up for the month of April!

Do you follow me on Facebook? If you don't, then you need to! I finally reached 300 followers and I am doing a BIG discount for today ONLY. Like my FB page so you can find out all about it!

I hope you guys like everything. It truly was a labor of love and I am so OVERJOYED by it!

xo,
Anna Joy

Prints Winner

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Joy) — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 08:18:41 PDT

Happy Saturday! We have a winner for the Prints Giveaway.

Congrats Randi! I'll be emailing you today.

Thanks to everyone who participated and supported me with the prints debut! It meant a lot!

xo,
Anna

Blog Design for LWHW

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Joy) — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 10:13:13 PDT

I finished my friend, Brandy's, blog last night and I'm so excited to share it with you!

It's been so fun brainstorming with her and praying over the design that the Lord has in store for her business. I'm just so happy that I was able to be a part of it.

I finally set up a my Graphic Design portfolio page. I'll have more information on there next week but this is to get started for now. If you want to have your blog/shop redesigned professionally for half the cost (because I'm still a student) then contact me for more information!

Oh, and I have nice surprise for next week. Can't wait to show it off!

xo,
Anna

PS. Giveaway ends tonight! Enter so you can win all 3 of my prints!

Without Words

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Joy) — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 15:50:57 PDT

What I do on a daily basis told by my pictures.

What does your daily basis look like?

xo,
Anna

Custom Orders

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Joy) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 10:37:22 PDT

Finished up some custom orders.

Someone just had to help out.

Want to order pillows for the special kiddos in your life? I still have the 12% discount going on! Enter "SPRINGTIME" in the coupon code box during check out. Using this code will get you a free print too.

Happy Monday!

xo,
Anna

Prints For Sale, With a Coupon, and a Giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Joy) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 10:38:01 PDT

Hello all. I listed the prints in the shop this morning. Here is the full reveal!

They're all in the shop including a fun sale of Buy 2, Get 1 Free! For a limited time only get all 3 prints for the price of 2!

To celebrate Spring, I also included a 12% off your order discount. Just enter "SPRINGTIME" in the coupon code box when checking out. If you use this discount on any of the custom orders, you'll get an 8x10 print for free! Just let me know which one you'd like in the notes when checking out.

And ONE MORE THING. I am giving away all three 8x10 prints today in a fun giveaway! Here's how to enter:

Entry 1: Leave me a comment telling me why you love Spring Time so much!
Entry 2: Share this giveaway on FB!
Entry 3: Make sure to start following my blog and if you've already have, then you're set!
Entry 4: Tweet about this giveaway!
Entry 5: Blog about it and share the link with me!
Entry 6: Buy something from the shop!

This giveaway will end next Friday at midnight, central time. Have fun everyone and good luck!

xo,
Anna