Long time No See

I haven't posted in forever! Here's what I've been up to lately! I got to visit family and work on idea had in the woodshop.......it's still needs to be painted ;)

I got to visit my grandmother and celebrate her birthday with the most fantastic cake I've ever seen!!!
My grandmother likes to make birdhouses so that was the cake theme. This amazing cake has reminded me how much I wanted to work as an intern at Ace of Cakes lol.

I'm excited for summer fashion, I do love a cute tank top and I found a super fun one at Target!

And it's on sale this week for $8, it's out of stock online but look for it in the store with the junior stuff ! It's the weekly wow!

 I've been working on new projects and I think I've finally got all the kinks worked out on some of my stuffed animal patterns

I saw Cinderella and added some new artwork to my society6 shop

Have courage and be kind in floral border and happy bird versions

Anyway I've got a lot of new ideas its always the same story so many ideas not enough time :)

But I'm working on things little by little ;)

Also just have to give a shout out to my good friend Jennifer @purpleheartorijennals

She just finished this amazing quilt, I got to see her whole process on this quilt from arranging the squares for the pixelated heart pattern to the adorable polka dot binding!!! I never really knew about quilting with vintage fabrics until I met her but now I can't get enough and I love the look!

It's so pretty and I'm so proud of her for finishing it and listing it in her shop!!

What projects have you been working on lately? Do you have creative friends that inspire you and get you excited to work on things?

Happy Wednesday!!!

Design Collaboration

I'm so excited to share with you my first collaboration with my dear friend, Jenn.
We have worked on separate projects at the same time and offered feedback which was really fun (see my show and tell posts here)
But not anything to this extent, so without further ado, here are some adorable Halloween pillow covers!

I drew the spider in the center and had planned to make a pillow with just purple swirl backing, but Jennifer had other amazing ideas, she is a wonderfully talented quilter and made the most adorable pillows covers ever!!! I can brag on my super talented friend ;)
I thought I would like the straight frame blocks around it more than the angled ones but now I can't tell which is my favorite ;)

And as far as cute Halloween fabric goes Jenn hit the mother load!!! Look at all the cute little patterns going on in there.

And she even embroidered the spider web to make it stand out :)

These lovely and adorable pillow covers are now listed in my shop
AND go check out Jenn's shop for some more awesomely cute and amazing items!

For more spider cuteness check out my society6 shop for more items

This project has definitely got my wheels turning thinking about new and different things, and I know Jenn is thinking about new projects too. I haven't felt this excited in quite awhile, so I'm gonna run with it :)
Have you worked on any fun collaborations?  Happy Monday to you!!!

Big Decisions

I'm a really bad procrastinator, I sometimes put things off for super long periods of time years even.  Recently I have come to the conclusion that I'm not getting any younger and what the heck am I waiting on?! This year I've made some big decisions. I've had the same Corolla since I was 16 she's been a great car & with me through a lot. It wasn't until I started driving my mom's Rav4 that I realized how practical SUVs are so much easier for grocery shopping & up higher so you can see where people are, what a novel concept I know! I thought about how cute the Kia Souls were but decided to mull it over some more(meaning like a year lol). Basically being without a radio for couple years & the relentless summer heat making its annual appearance again helped me decide that now was as good as time as any to get a new car. I must admit, it's pretty great having an awesome A\C, a radio and Bluetooth oh and pretty much no blind spots! It is now a whole new experience getting from point A to point B.

 

Unfortunately your own group of dancing hamsters are not included with your purchase lol. Also on a random fashion and design note, how cool it would be if they actually made cars in the same color as the pantone of the year. I think my car would look pretty awesome  in radiant orchid.....oh yeah!

see more colors here

The other big decision I made was health related, my feet have been hurting for quite a while now when I walk, and I recently found out that surgery and physical therapy was the only way to really fix my problem. I was not looking forward to being in a cast for 6-8 weeks & asking people for help all the time. But the pain was getting pretty unbearable so I had surgery last week and now I am laying about and recuperating. I have really been amazed at how all the little things I was worried about have worked out, God has provided for me in many ways and reassured me that this is what I needed to do and I could rely on Him to take care of me through the help of supportive family and friends.

resting my leg on my new snuggly quilt from my sweet friend

God has really shown me a lot this year, that everyday is a gift and accomplishing the little things might be a small miracle but it is a miracle none the less, and for that I will be forever grateful and amazed. All that to say I don't know how much energy I'm gonna have left for blogging in the near future, so we'll see how that goes.

Show & Tell baby shower

So one of my friends and coworkers was having her first baby and we were so super excited!!!
I got inspiration from a invite my coworker found on etsy, the theme of blues and grays and cute little elephants set the tone for the rest of the cuteness to come!

I wanted to do cut out of the elephant holding balloons to put on the glass door as you entered the shower.

here's my one and only not so great pic

My coworkers wanted to do the "she's about to pop" and have popcorn as a snack which apparently is really popular, I'm not up on the latest baby shower trends ;)  Here's my little sign for the popcorn snacks.

I also made a banner in the same colors as the invite alternating polka dot and chevron print.

 I also wanted to some happy drawings for the little guy's bedroom. We knew what colors she was going to decorate in and what she was going to name him, so that give me something to work with.

Of course I kept with the elephant theme and the polka dots and chevron prints. I have been thinking about changing it some and putting a different version in my shop. Isaiah get's his own special version :)

My friend Jenn came up with awesome new pattern and Isaiah was the first recipient of her adorable letter pattern in grays and blues of course :) It came out so cute, I can't wait to see a picture of him crawling around on it Yay! You might remember a previous post where she made initial pillows.
 Jenn has been working really hard and now she has her pattern available per letter or the whole alphabet!!! I'm so proud of her hard work and ingenuity. Check out her patterns here

front view

back view

look at all those awesome colors and patterns

We worked hard to give our friend an adorable shower and gifts made for people you care about are always so fun and special! It definitely has got me thinking about doing more party related designs, you know: showers and invites and weddings and cute baby decor items to celebrate and encapsulate the cuteness. What projects are you working on lately?

Show & Tell- week 3 & 4

It's time for Show and Tell again! I've talked about past projects here . Sometimes there are unforeseen hiccups in life like illness or exhaustion, so we had to finish our projects within a couple weeks instead of just one. We decided that the goal would not always be to completely start and finish the project within a week but more importantly we would focus on making good progress on our projects and goals. I still feel like I have the momentum and drive to get more done during the week than I used to so I'm counting that as a small victory!


My friend Jenn has come up with really cool ideas lately, quilted initials. These are large oversized pillows with her kids initials that match their quilts!!! So freaking cute and adorable and customized and amazing! Custom orders are a possibility and stay tuned her shop is gonna have some great new goodies!!!

I worked on some drawings and brainstorming on how I could make them into stuffed animals.
Like my Valentine's Day take on a dapple dachshund, like Elsie's little sweetie Dolly!

photo from ABM

Dapple Dachshunds have swirls of black and gray and brown and are simply adorable!
I added heart shaped spots for a whimsical look. 

plush version

I used my fun fabric for the printer and did better on clipping my curves but I would like to make a larger version like 3 x the size so it's big and snugly :)

I also finally drew a sloth for a sweet coworker who loves them. This was a quick ipad sketch, I'd like to do another version and flesh out the details a little more. What projects are you working on?
Happy Friday!!!

Show and Tell- Week 2

One of my goals for 2014 was to open a society6 shop and I last week I did :)
I was waiting to share because I was hoping to add more items but, as some of you know things sometimes take longer than you think ;)

 I'm kind of a sucker for mugs and I'm pretty excited that they have this customizable option. With a happy mug you have a happy day :)

Not to mention the tote bags

And everything looks better on canvas YAY :)

I think it is really cool to see your artwork in so many different forms, it's kind of addicting, so I'm excited to see how I can rise to the challenge to create work with a different final form in mind.
I'm already working on some ideas, but it's kinda hard to stay focused with personal projects for friends and loved ones and Valentine's day just around the corner.....I keep thinking of adorable little animals and stuff covered with hearts that I want to draw this week.

bashful skull

I've added my society6 shop link on the page but don't worry I have exciting plans for my etsy shop in the near future too. Launching my shop was my show and tell for last week my friend made a lamp shade out of fabric strips similar to this but with cuter fabric. I should have taken a picture last friday but I didn't I will be better prepared next week.  Jenn is also working on new quilt patterns so that is pretty exciting it's really fun to see how she interprets things completely differently than I do it makes me see things differently too. I'm really loving this show and tell and speaking of which I got to get started on this week! Happy Thursday!

Show and Tell- Week 1

My friend and I decided that we would start working on projects during the week and then have a "show and tell" on Friday. I don't know about you, but I always love to see what other people are working on, it's great for inspiration and you never know what will come from bouncing ideas off each other. My friend came up with this cute pillow cover with an X & 0 pattern just in time for Vday! I have been in a rut lately, but this challenge has really made more driven during the week even when I'm tired I'm pushing myself just a little bit harder to get a little more done each day.

sometimes thin mints help too ;)

Last week was our first week and I had a special child's bday coming up so I had to make them something fun! Of course I wanted to make a cute little plush creature, that's my go to gift for kids. I found some fabric that I had put to the side and just started sketching a pattern on the fabric, I knew I wanted to use felt legs like I had in the past.  I drew the face with fabric markers and sewed her up and completed the plush all in one night.  I also included a little notebook to record adventures with space to draw and lines to practice hand writing and story telling :)

Meet Ollie the Owl

What projects have you been working on lately? do you have any crafty friends to share progress and frustration with? Happy Weekend to you!