modern embroidery

Let me start by saying I'm no embroiderer. In fact, I haven't really a clue as to any specific stitches or knots. I do however LOVE the look of modern embroidery. For years I've been holding on to a few hoops that I picked up a the thrift store, but my lack of knowledge on the art has kept me from doing anything with them. A few weeks ago I bought an assorted box of embroidery thread for a felt food project I'm working on (more about that later). I decided to go for it, and try my hand at making something with the hoops.

Originally I wanted to embroider Ella's name but because I'm no pro I just decided to stamp her name with black ink on the linen before putting it in the hoop. I actually like the look. It gives nice contrast and adds a different texture to the project. I think it also help keeps it modern and not so "grandma-ish". Apparently I'm no stamping pro either, my letters are quite off. And I will be honest, I had to stamp her name about 6 times before I got a piece I liked.

You can see I'm really not very good, which is evident in the loopy tail of the kite. It turned out more wonky than loopy. Ella has brown and pink in her room so I cut a little wool felt in those colors to make a kite and tail.

Overall it was a pretty easy piece to do, but I think i'll have to keep practicing this craft. It's fun!

Here is some inspiration to get you going. There really are some amazing things you can do with embroidery!

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{silhouette- part 2}

In my last post I showed you the digital proof of Ella's silhouette, and promised that i'd give you a shot of it framed and in use. The frame I used was a cheap-o black wood frame from the dollar store which I painted white. Three coats later and with the print (I just printed it on card stock-nothing fancy) in the frame i'm very happy with how it turned out! So cute and personal, plus the hubby liked it, so that's always a plus.

And I just couldn't resist putting the picture below up in today's post. Someone has learned how to pull themselves up to standing on furniture. This is how little lady greeted me after her morning nap, bed head and all. 

I've been having a TON of fun playing around with some new photoshop actions from Florabella Actions. While I have both done photography with no post editing and with, I love the way that actions speed up workflow and can really change the feel of photographs. The photo below was processed with Mademoiselle at 100% opacity. I've had a few people ask me about her blue eyes: other than the action (which was processed on the whole photo) I didn't do any retouching or color enhancements of her baby blues...they really are stunning! We can't go anywhere without someone commenting on them. I had a mini photo sesh with little lady a few weeks ago playing around with some other actions. I'll have to share those with you another day.

Happy Tuesday!

{I want! Er...Ella wants! On the hunt for bookends}

I've been searching for bookends for Ella's nursery. During a recent trip to Goores (a high end baby store in Northern California) I came across these: the Skip Hop Zoo Bookends- Owl. 

They have a whole "Zoo" line of backpacks, bookends, bibs and lunch pails that are so cute! (I couldn't resist getting Ella this lunch pail, and yes, even though she's only 9 months old we use it almost every day.) It's just too cute not to find something to put in it. 

Then I came across this set of bookends from Pottery Barn which are just perfect for her room. Same color scheme, and they are handmade (or so they say they are on the PB website). Also, I prefer the overall design to the Skip Hop ones. Now I just need to decide whether I will A.) buy them or B.) attempt to make them myself. The PB site gives the dimensions and the fill for them, which is sand (and polyfill I assume). I may have to take a trip into my local Pottery Barn to further examine them.

Until then, I'm one step closer in my search for the perfect bookends. 

Happy Monday!

{covered wipes boxes-the greatest invention ever}

I've been sewing and crafting like crazy lately getting prepared for the Crossline Church Fall Boutique in Laguna Hills, CA in November. I'll have more details on that to come. I've been experimenting with some new products, and this is one of them! The padded wipes box! We've all seen the wipes clutches {here's a great tutorial and pattern for making your own} before, and they are great, but how about a padded re-useable wipes box for the nursery that matches the rooms decor/theme?

These wipes boxes are great because not only are they cute, but you can save money by buying economy boxes of refills (think Costco) and putting them into your box. Ahhh! I love them! I have one sitting on Ella's changing table and I love looking at it while I change her {i'll have to snap a pic of the one in her room so you can all see it in action}. They would also work great as a tissue box once wipes are no longer needed, or just order one as a tissue box with home decor fabric to match the living room, bathroom, etc.

The box on the bottom is not finished. It will have another round of trim at the bottom.

These would make a great baby shower/house warming gift. Unique and personalized to match the recipients taste/decor. Don't you LOVE LOVE LOVE that tattoo fabric? It's perfect for a boy, or girl. :)

Of course the top still opens and snaps closed. It was important to me to keep that function because of the convenience factor. No one wants to add any unnecessary time/hassle during a poopy diaper change. If these sell well at the boutique I'll be adding a few to the shop, and if you're interested in one now, custom or otherwise you can always email me about price and ordering one.

{Little Lady Quilt}

Ok, so we all know i've been busy with the Little Lady. I've been feeding, changing diapers, and singing "who's that baby lookin' in the mirror" non stop for the last 3 months...and in the evenings after my little Junebug goes down, I whip out my cutting mat and fabric and go to town. Oddly I was going through my fabric stash and got to thinking all of them would look great together. So I set out to make Little Lady a quilt. My mother happened to be in town and was generous enough to buy me a new sewing machine as a graduation gift from grad school. (Who knew you needed an MBA to sew?) She also gifted me one of those GIANT cutting mats, ya know the really big expensive ones? Gosh, those things are great. Soooo much easier cutting 5 strips at a time verses one square at a time. Thanks mom.

BEFORE:

All my 7x7 inch squares cut out. 63 in all! There are some pretty fabrics in there...Like the Joel Dewberry faux bois hot pink fabric...ya, I love that stuff.

AFTER:

The back is solid hot pink. I had to piece it together because the fabric wasn't wide enough, not my favorite thing to do, but hey...whatcha gonna do? Oh, and don't look too close at my quilting lines, they're not exactly straight. Even though I only had to sew 1/4" from the seams, somehow I managed to make them askew. Go figure. And the binding...I got lazy and after about 6 inches of hand sewing it, said forget it and machine stitched it in the ditch. Def not an avid quilter's work, but hey, it's the back, and with such a pretty top, who really looks at the back anyway?

Here it is on little lady's crib. Once we convert it into a toddler bed, i'll put it on as an actual quilt. Until then we'll use it for snuggling.

I think she likes it!

{Projects: Ruffled Pillow w/Zipper}

Sorry, no tutorial for this project (I'm a bit lazy today), but I thought I'd share it with you all anyways. It's a pillow cover with a ribbon ruffled detail. The fabric is Amy Butler (of course!) from the Midwest Modern line, it's called Garden Maze. It was my first pillow cover that I used an actual zipper in and it wasn't as daunting as I'd imagined. I'm definitely going to have to practice putting zippers in more, but this was such a basic project I managed not to screw it up. I thought the zipper would be a good idea as it is sitting in Ella's nursery on the glider, and will no doubt need to be taken off the pillow and cleaned at some point. Doesn't it look fantastic in all it's hot pink glory?!

P.S. only 6 days until Due Date!!!

{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.....

{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!!!