hello there

Who doesn't love gold, grey, and minty blue??  I sure am in love with the combination.  Here is a newish design I created.  It's inspiring some changes in my shop.....

Have a happy Monday, y'all!
** I linked this post up to Sew Chatty's Made with Love link party. 

baby book

I'm just popping in to share some pictures of a recent baby book I made. Enjoy! :)

 Here's the cover. I used the SNAP binder and it worked perfectly.  I just added some gold and cream twine and was done.

  The binders come with some patterned paper (like the polka dot below) and I used Elise Blaha Cripe's Project Life patterned paper to supplement.  For the first page, I sewed on a small sheet with the birth information.  

The book is divided into three sections: letters, pictures, and keepsakes.  

pocketed page protectors for photos with journaling cards:

  In the keepsakes section, there is a pocket for ultrasound pictures, birth announcement, first birthday, and special cards.

This book was super fun to make - simple, sweet, and easy to use.  Score!

black, white, & gold baby shower - details

I'm back with the rest of the details from the black, white, and gold baby shower!  Beth and Laura (the sisters who threw the baby shower for their sister-in-law, Trish) had me help with a few decorative pieces.   First, they had me make tags for the adorable place settings. 

Aren't the little pots so adorable??   I helped with three different banners.  I'm so in love with this combination of papers.

I also helped make these "fans" that were used for a sweet game about the baby's mom and dad. 

Here's everything...

I linked this post up at Sew Chatty's Made with Love link party.

packaging

One of my very favorite things about selling my work is the packaging!  I'm a firm believer that if you buy something handmade, you should feel like you are getting a gift.  This philosophy influences how I work with people, the details I put into my designs, and my packaging.  Below are a couple of instagram shots of my packaging....when will I pull out my DSLR again???

My items are always wrapped in kraft paper or put into a kraft bag.  I have these Paper Source vellum oval label stickers with my shop name that go on top of the bag.  I often wrap some baker's twine or put washi on the bag as well.  I was keeping it simple here.

I think it's fun when you get mail and the outer packaging looks special.  I try to use fun fonts for the addresses but now that I usually print labels from home, this doesn't happen as much.  There is always washi though!

All this packaging talk is motivating me to wrap the rest of the Christmas gifts....

Have a great one!

Ellie :)

embellished envelopes

My new favorite thing?  Ruffled envelopes. 

Step 1: Get a diet coke cold from the refrigerator.  Cut lots of strips of gold paper. Note: diet coke is very important for all crafting sessions.

Step 2: Ruffle the paper and sew it onto kraft envelopes.  Trim excess paper strips and stray pieces of thread.

Step 3: Enjoy your embellished envelope.

Have a great weekend!  I hope you're all surrounded by scraps of paper :)

grey patchwork stationery

I love making things for people who appreciate them.  I find so much joy in creating so when someone else likes what I make, I am instantly happy.  I immediately move that person to the top of my "remember to make things for these people" list.  Well, such a list doesn't actually exist, but it does in my mind!

Anyway, my friend Sarah of go deep. find truth. commented on one of my stationery packs on Instagram.  I was so touched and instantly wanted to make her a mini pack as a little happy.  I sent her this little package and she was so sweet to do a write up on her blog about it.  I promise...that wasn't my intention...I just wanted to brighten her day.  Well she made my day with her blog entry so it was a nice little win-win for both of us :)

Here's said mini pack...

shop open!!!

Hi everyone!  I'm so excited to share that I have a few things listed in the shop!  Woohoo!  I have four personalized ruffled notepads listed that would make perfect little gifts with the holidays approaching.

I can add any initial you'd like to make this a personalized gift.  Check them out at my easy shop.

Have a great day!

:)

sewing on paper

I wish I could spend every nap time sewing on paper and catching up on my favorite tv shows.  Well I can't do that every nap but I did on Friday!

Happy weekend everyone!

new designs

I have been having a complete blast working with some clients to create personalized stationery for them.  In the process, I've created some new designs.  It's always so much fun to be able to add new designs to my portfolio so future clients have more to choose from.  Here are a few teasers for you all!

I shared this post at Sew Chatty's Made with Love Monday.  Check it out at www.sewchatty.com!

cozy wedding part 1

My friend Mariah Cozy (now Lipman!) got married on September 15th and I had the privilege of being involved in pieces of the design process!  She had me make the invitations and RSVP cards which I'll share later in the week.  She hired the incredibly talented Beth O'Brien to design the whole event and let me tell you, it was amazing.  Beth outdid herself once again.

Beth hired me to make signs for the wedding and reception.  I had so much fun working in digital instead of with paper and glue.  Paper and glue will always hold my heart but it's fun to add more skills into my toolbox.

The wedding was outdoors, elegant, simple, anthropology-esque, and just divine.  Here are the signs Beth had me make.  She did all of the decorating around the signs- I just created the physical signs.

Here's a sign that was at the entrance of the venue.  Beth found the amazing vintage door and wanted to hang a sign in the middle.

Here's a close up of the sign so you can see what it says.  I had so much fun mixing different fonts and colors.

Here's a guest book sign.  Aren't the flowers and mason jars gorgeous?  I love how the modern frames and clean signs look along such feminine, beautiful decorations.

This sign was to tell guests to sit wherever they want.  Again, I had so much fun mixing fonts and colors.

A simple sign for the bar.

And another simple sign for the menu.  Once again, I love the mix of modern and vintage here.  Can't you just tell that Beth is so good at what she does?

I also made a sign for the photo booth but forgot to photograph it!  Darn.  Oh, well...I think you get the point.  :)

Thanks for stopping by!  Come back by later in the week so you can see the invitations.

Ellie

Parties I linked to:

funky polkadot giraffe
sew chatty

[handmade] banner stationary

Oh how paper thrills me.  I know this must sound strange to many of you out there but it truly delights me!

As a little girl, I used to cut up little pieces of paper, collect them in sandwich baggies, and walk around talking about my "perpers."  Wow.  So funny that I still find such satisfaction and joy in having a piece of paper between my fingers.  My heart beats a little faster, my mind starts racing, and I am ready to create.

Although this must sound strange to many of you out there, I'm sure there are a few of you who can relate.  Or maybe you have another hobby that you find such satisfaction from.  But I feel so lucky to have my wonderful husband who validates this hobby so much and makes it such a priority that I have my time and space to create.  Thanks, love!

Ok, enough of that.  On to sharing a photo or two!  Awhile back I met up with the lovely Elizabeth from Sew Chatty to talk handmade business.  She has an adorable store packed with beautiful handmade purses, bags, and wallets.  Seriously - if you are looking for a gift for someone, check out her shop.  Anyway, our visit was sooo helpful for me.  She gave me tons of greats tips and I feel like I understand what it takes to run your own business just a little bit more.

As a thank you to her, I brought her some of my banner stationary.  She loves ruffles and her aesthetic is very feminine and sweet so I thought she'd enjoy them.

These will be available in my shop - you'll just need to let me know what letter you want on the banner.  

I feel like I've been doing fabric ruffles on paper for forever but I'm still not over it.  Not sure if I ever will be.  

And, I was so pleased to see Elizabeth highlight my stationary in her post.  

Makes me happy.  :)

[handmade] puppet show birthday party invitations

Hi everyone!  I'm thrilled to share this invitation set I created recently for a wonderful client.  For her daughter's 2nd birthday, she is having a puppet show party.  Isn't that adorable!  She wanted something sweet and pink with plenty of fabric.  She also found these adorable finger puppets to incorporate.  

I love the shabby puppet show "curtains."  We decided to line the envelopes, make a card stock insert, and add a label sticker so that these very textured invitations would mail easier.  

I'm sure this party will be magical! 

banner party pack

I showed a sneak of these invitations a bit ago and here is the whole party pack!

The pack includes 25 fill in the blank invitations, 35 cupcake toppers, and 25 goodie bag tags.  They all use the same banners from a mix of yellow chevron paper, multi colored doodle paper, and orange card stock.  They are gender neutral and fun for any age.  

I'm loving the mix of bright colors and kraft.  And those scalloped cards?  I die.  

This exact pack is already spoken for but I'll get some more together and put them in my etsy shop (which I'm planning to have open on June 1st!).  

Have a happy Monday!

floral stationary

I love making stationary and cards.  Love it.  My mom just had her birthday this last week and I thought some handmade stationary would be the perfect thing to round out her gift.

This was  a pretty easy design.  I had been going through my patterned papers to get rid of the ones I was no longer inspired by (all I have to say is that my babysitters always have a nice size stack of crafting stuff to go through and keep when they are here!)  Anyway, while I was going through my stack, I saw a piece of floral paper that looked just like my mom.  I put it aside knowing I'd come to it later to make something for her.  Then her birthday was getting close and I was ready to create.  I cut out the flowers, glued them to card stock, and added a little shimmer mist.  That's it!  

In my opinion, handmade gifts are one of the best ways to say, "I love you."  I love you, mom!  

noah's ark themed cupcake toppers

Two years ago my dear friend Jessie had a boy named Max.  Max is kind, adorable, funny, talkative, smart, and is such a joy.  For his second birthday, Jessie's mom planned a Noah's ark themed party and I was asked to make the cupcake toppers and thank you tags.  Obviously I was overjoyed to create for such a special party.  I am delighted with how they turned out and equally happy with these gorgeous pictures Jessie took.

Didn't she do an awesome job setting up her table?  Beautiful.  

adore you (again)

I was going through my scrapbook and saw this oldie but a goodie.  I blogged it here back in June of 2010 but thought I'd photograph it again and do a little repost.

Lots of Elle's Studio here.  This was the beginning of my misting - oh, I was so excited about it but so uncertain of how to do it!  I guess I still feel kinda the same way.  I love my inks and mists but am still constantly figuring out different techniques to make them look how I want.

 A close up of the paper flowers.  I still love that heart paper I used as a matte and used it on a recent project life week!  Yeah, I keep my supplies for a loooong time.

Have a fabulous weekend!!