{Happy Thursday + Exciting News!}

I hope everyone is having a great Thursday. I know I am. I'm anxiously awaiting for the mailman, er...mail-person, to deliver a certain smart phone. (Yay iPhone!). I'll be tinkering around with my new toy the rest of the evening i'm sure, of course that's between feedings and dirty diapers.

On another note...I wanted to share with you all some great news! Abstract Grace currently sells items on Etsy, but soon we'll be available via retail store! The Seasons Gift Store in Diamond Bar, California is going to be stocking limited edition items. The Seasons Gift Store is located inside the Calvary Chapel Golden Springs building at 22324 Golden Springs Drive, Diamond Bar, CA 91765. We're also working on selling items in a few other select retail stores in the Southern California area. We're verrrrrry excited about being able to sell via storefront!

If you don't live in the greater Los Angeles area, don't worry, you can always get your items via Etsy.

We also have some great things in store for you for September and October...I'll give you all a hint. "Giveaway." Stay tuned and Happy Thursday!

{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!

Abstract Grace on Etsy!!!

Ok, so this I am suuuuuuper excited to announce! Abstract Grace now (finally) has items in theEtsy store! And they are super adorable. I've been working hard to get them finished, and with a newborn in the house it took a little longer than expected, but I think you'll find that it was worth the wait. All items are handmade for women, children, and baby. You'll find hair accessories, baby goods, and items for most everyone! Check it out!

You can also find us on Facebook, Here.

{Introducing Miss Ella June}

Wow! It's been EIGHT weeks since i've last posted. And it's been the best 8 weeks of my life. I'm happy to announce that on Memorial Day, 5/31/2010 we welcomed the sweetest little girl into the world. Her name....Ella June. I affectionately like to call her my "Little Lady" or "Junebug".

The last 2 months have been filled with mommy duties, as I'm now a full time stay at home mom, er...stay at home blogger/Etsy shop owner/mom (with the mom part coming first, of course). I'll need to jump back on the bloggin' wagon here shortly. Sorry for the break...we'll just think of it as maternity leave. Oh, and she's wearing the girly hospital hat I re-fashioned for her. Isn't she adorable in it?

It's a little outdated, but below are a few of her newborn photos, done by the extremely talented Brooke Trogdon at Harmony Hill Photography. Check out her site, and if you're in Northern California be sure to contact her, she takes the prettiest photos, I promise!

{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!!!

{The Girly Hospital Hat}

OK, so here's a tutorial I've been sitting on for awhile. I can't believe that I only have 10 (yes, TEN!) days left before my due date and our little Ella June is to arrive. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she'll grace us with her presence before the 26th, but I'm not holding my breath on that one. Meanwhile, I've been enjoying not working, and finishing my laundry list of things 'to do' before she arrives.

This project is very girly [sorry boys], and very easy...in fact I actually made it a lot harder than it needed to be, but I like a finished, polished look, so I spent the extra time and did it the long way. I'll share with you how I did it, then link you to a quick version tutorial.

Materials needed:

Two [2] hospital issue newborn beanies

Scissors

Ribbon

Thread

Needle

Step #1:

Cut the bottom 2-2.5 inches off of one of the hats. This bottom portion will become the 'bow' part of the hat. The remaining top portion of the hat isn't used and can be discarded.

Step #2:

Fold the cut edges [the rough unfinished edges] into the middle of the hat. This is hard to explain so hopefully the picture clarifies it better. You don't want any of the frayed edges showing on the outside so you fold them into the center leaving the finished edges on the outside...make sense? Hopefully...

Step #3:

This next step requires being a little finicky with the bow, but basically you want to pinch the fabric in the center and tuck a bit of the surrounding fabric back so that it looks like a bow. Then set it on the second hospital hat. Make sure that the second hospital hat has been folded up 2 or so inches at the bottom to make a band. You can also cut a short length of ribbon which will go around the center of the bow in a later step.

Step #4:

I took the bow and flipped it over then put a few stitches in the back to help it keep its 'bow' shape. These stitches will not be seen once the bow is flipped around, covered in the ribbon and attached to the band of the hat.

Step #5:

Take your ribbon, cut to length and wrap it around the center of your bow. Then put a few stitches in the back of it to keep it in place.

Step #6:

Position the bow on the front folded band of the second hospital hat.

Step #7:

Sew the bow to the folded hospital hat band, just a few tacking stitches should be good.

All Done!

So...this is the final product, a hospital hat fit for a girl! No more mistaking newborns for the wrong gender [which is easily done]. This project really only takes a few minutes, but if you feel the need to be super quick about it, there is a shortcut version here.

{Baby Bird, Baby Shower}

Here are some photos from the lovely baby shower my sister in law hosted for Travis and I. The theme was "baby bird" and it was such a good time with family.

Aren't the nest cupcakes adorable? And the mini bird eggs? So cute!

Love the flower choice...ranunculus right? So pretty!

The yummy sandwich bar, my favorite was the quinoa curry salad. Soooo good!

Me @ 31.5 weeks...my belly is getting HUGE!

{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.