{Springtime...Almost}

Happy Friday! I'm sooo glad it's the weekend, and even though it's currently stormy here in Northern California here are some pics of flowers from our front yard. Easter is Sunday, and I'm looking forward to celebrating at church and spending time with family. I can't wait for Spring to officially start, and the cold and rain to finally fade away. The tulip bed I planted last year is currently fighting the wind and rain, hope they make it through!

Have a great weekend!

{Guy Made Nursery Mobile}

Look at this mobile....don't you just love it?! A mass of crisp white butterflies floating in suspended air? Ahhh...yes. It's gorgeous...and expensive...It's from Pottery Barn Kids. Travis and I saw it one day while window shopping (a favorite past time of ours) but couldn't justify spending the $75+ dollars on it for Ella's nursery.

Travis had been wanting to do a project of his own (what a sweet guy) to contribute to the nursery. Perhaps all my crafting and incessant project doing surrounding the nursery the last 8 months was wearing off a little on him. He snapped a few pics on his iPhone and proceeded to pick my brain about what materials he would need and what construction methods would work best for creating his own version. This is what he came up with...

Metal wreath form, spray painted white, clear fishing line, a 1.5" flower craft punch, white card stock, craft glue, and a hot glue gun. It was a simple project to do, and he completed it in one evening in front of the TV. I think the effect is the same and it looks SOOOO cute hanging in the corner in her room.

Didn't he do a great job? Gosh I love him.....

{Projects: Bibs}

Ok, I debated on whether or not to post this project because since I made these months ago I have changed the design to what I think is now a much improved version. There is no hyping these bad boys up - they are your basic snap closure terry backed bibs. Purpose--keep spills and spit up off baby's cute clothes. I used patterned cotton for the front, and terrycloth (think towel material) for the back. They should be very absorbent for a messy baby.

The patterns you can find for bibs are numerous. Just google "baby bib patterns" and a bunch of different styles and such will come up. I just freehanded the pattern for this one, sewed my fabric right sides together (leaving a gap for turning), flipped inside out and top stitched (for durability and to close the gap). Lastly I added a snap closure at the top (better than velcro in my opinion, however you could use velcro if you have it handy). It's a very simple project. Like I said earlier, I have a few jazzed up versions to share later on, but for now i'll leave you with a link with a great basic template and basic instructions for making your own bibs. Just click HERE.

{Changing Directions...}

I've been going back and forth about this for a very long time. What exactly is Abstract Grace??? I'm referring to the blog, and it's focus specifically. I originally started the blog because everyone I knew kept telling me that I needed to share my work with others. At that time I had quite the blog-roll going (it has since tripled in length), and I was such a fan of the blogs I was reading daily and the "blogosphere" that I knew it was a perfect outlet for sharing my ideas and work.

Most people that read my blog or know me in real life say I need to sell the items I make, which spawned my Etsy shop. Well...I soon found that grad school and full time work keeps me soooo busy that a new adventure such as a small business on Etsy was just not practical. I have yet to put a single item in there (so sad), and I have grand plans for that to change very soon. (I say that now but we'll see if it really happens once the little one arrives.)

Back to the focus of this entry...I get such joy out of reading the "lifestyle/design" blogs. You know...ones like this , and this, oh...and this one. All fabulous examples of crafty women who share their projects along with their lives. I think that I like this format better than "craft-only" focused blogs. I'm not sure why anyone would want or care about my life, but for some reason I feel that Abstract Grace would benefit from a slight shift in focus.

So...I'll start slowly. Adding pics and posts about my daily life. My personal likes and dislikes. Things I love. Blogs I love. Fashion. Makeup. Design. Life.....we'll see where it takes us!

{Nursery Design}

I've been working hard these last few months getting things together for our little one's nursery. I'll be honest, giving up my craft studio space was kinda disappointing. We moved all my stuff into an armoire, which has actually worked out quite well. One day i'll have a larger house and a whole room dedicated to my sewing and crafting...wouldn't that be nice.

Onto the new use...designing a space for a newborn is HARD. Everything is impractical (what does a newborn really need design wise anyways?). Nevertheless, everything is so CUTE, and expensive. I'm finding if it has the tag "baby" on it, that's a green light to charge a fortune for it. There are a few more touches to the room that I couldn't get on the idea board, but you get the gist of the room.

The idea board above is an actual representation of the things we have thus far. I'll give a run down of my sources:

4 x 6 Green Rug- Urban Outfitters

Crystal Curtain Holdbacks- Urban Outfitters

Brown Linen Curtains- previously had

Rock-a-Bye Rocker in Ivory Chenille- Babies R Us

Bananafish Lily Bedding- Target.com

Hot Pink Ribbon- Michael's

White Footed Dresser- previously had, refinished ourself

Pink Glass Knobs- Look In The Attic

White Wallflowers- Umbra.com

I can't believe we only have 12 weeks to go!!!