red.

color week : day five : redred ballet flats from christmas 2006 (that i still wear!), from back in the early days of my blog.

and... time is running out, only 3 more days to enter!

launch party

after a few weeks of planning and lots of help from my super-crafty mom, it seems i've pulled off a successful launch party for ellebee studio this past weekend. i'm quickly learning that it's hard to get anything done when my perfectionist side starts battling with my let's-just-be-flexible side... for example, i thought i'd whip up some quick postcard invitations. well, forty bucks and an earring stuck in a photocopier at kinko's later, i didn't know what else to do but laugh it off and thank my husband one more time for being wonderful (he came along for moral support... aka keeping me company while cutting at least 120 business cards by hand with the big paper trimmer). i also was excited that i finally put together a display idea that i've had brewing in my head for months... one trip to the flea market for an antique window frame, one afternoon banging the glass out of it, one trip to home depot for a board for the base and some brackets to stabilize it, and one afternoon with power tools later and i had a display background that turned out just how i wanted:
as for the launch, it all came together well, and even though i had food for about 30 people and about 7 showed up (due to the invitations going out about a week later than planned)... it was still fun and nice to know i can put a decent little event together. it's also nice to see all of my handmade items all out in one place (my dining room table) and see that i really do have the makings of a nice little shop! it almost felt like a good trial run for a craft show to get it all spread out and arranged how i wanted it. because of preparations for the launch party i just missed the deadline for the next crafter's flea market that i've previously participated in, but it was nice to know that i would have had everything together and looking nice. there will always be more craft shows! here are the great pictures my husband was thoughtful enough to take while i was rushing around with last-minute details. if not for him, i likely would have completely forgotten to take any at all!

one of my mom's lovely additions to the party were hand-dipped chocolate covered strawberries (i'm telling you- superwoman!), which were definitely the hit of the party.

it's been a heinous week at work with mandatory overtime all week, but i was able to spend almost all day today with my mom while she taught a class on making a greeting card organizer in an album... a very cool finished product (anything that helps organize in my life is a plus). projects with my mom are a really fun change of pace for me because she is much more into planning, measuring and coordinating than i am. it makes for much more finished looking projects, and it's a good stretch of the brain sometimes to go from eyeballing colors and measurements to striking out with a detailed plan. i'll post some pictures of that in the works, and i have fleeting hopes of making a new address book as well... i may just end up indulging in one of these cool hand-stamped journals and writing them in there. i suddenly feel inundated with ideas i want/ have been meaning to do.

1. make cards to go in my card organizer



2. test out more sewing on paper



3. try making some little matchbook-style notepads



4. get some soldering iron tip cleaner so i can do more soldering



5. decorate a small magnetic box i got for keeping business cards intact in my purse

and of course, knowing me, it's 1:30 in the morning when i get all these ideas. i think i'd better go to bed before this list gets any longer!

green.

color week : day four : greenlooks like a tree, but it's actually the ginormous hedge between our driveway and our neighbor's... it's one of those super-proliferate kinds that the more you trim it, the more it grows back with a vengeance. i love pictures with the sun shining like this... i was sitting in my car, and had to see if it would show up at all in a picture (i also used this one for my new blog banner!.

pink.

color week : day three : pinkeven though we said we weren't really going to celebrate valentine's day this year (because we had so much going on) these gorgeous pink roses somehow still magically appeared about the same time that matt came home from work!only four days left to enter the drawing!

white.

color week : day two : white
my collection of all-white dishes is growing! i love how they look in our kitchen cabinets which we painted cream and then glazed (mostly to cover up the lovely old-70's kitchen look).

brown.

color week : day one : brown

iron cross hanging on the tree that holds up the firewood pile in our backyard

ps- don't forget about the drawing!

the great cold of '07.

no... not a blizzard... a literal cold. i can't believe that 11 days after first writing about being sick i still sound nasally, have the distinct need to blow my nose every 10 minutes, and a cough that makes the people at the next table go ulgh, don't infect me with that. i'll spare you the rest of the details, but i never get sick like this.

there's definitely something going around that's getting everybody sick, but i think the (crazy bipolar) um, i mean, changing nc weather could have something to do with it. last week we had highs in the upper 60's and today we're back to highs around 45 degrees... much more february-like. of course, i'm probably the only person in the world who got in the mood to crochet wool scarves in the one week of 60 degree weather in february. i made one or two out of some scraps that i wanted to use up, and then decided it was high time to start building up a bit of a pretty stash that i'll actually be excited to use:

i ended up with whole batch of colors that feel warm, snuggly, calm and wooly, just as a good scarf should! let me tell you though, i did feel like a moron photograping my new wool scarf yarn in my backyard, on the picnic table, in flip flops.

i've been doing a little reorganizing to le petit shop and am still making plans (and completing projects) to launch my line of things for baby, which i am shooting to have ready in march. march/springtime just seems right for new things to come to be. hopefully i'll get it all done and posted to the shop soon!

did i mention there's free goodies to be had just by saying hello? there's still time... it's the perfect chance to come out of hiding!

a little tutorial...

so, as promised, here come the resin pendants... they're actually made of clear embossing powder melted into a shallow metal container. i used bottle caps, but you can also use empty little cabochon or bezel settings which are much more finished for jewelry. i'm thinking magnets might be fun with the little bottle caps. they're a quick and fun project that can be done in your kitchen, and i made a little mini tutorial of mine:step one...

(and this is the fun part!) empty your beer bottle to obtain an empty cap. as you can see i used stella artois, which is pretty much the only beer i'll drink. i used to drink it when i lived in france, and it brings back happy memories. plus the backs are really pretty.

step two...

choose little items for inside the form. paper, glass, and little metal beads or charms work really well. plastic will melt (which can actually be fun to experiment with) and i used a tiny scrap of organza ribbon in this one. hollow things can cause air bubbles.

step three...

assemble all the little pieces in your form. a little touch of glue or clay will anchor them. i tapped a bit of the embossing powder into a triangle bead tray for easier pouring.

step four...

gently tap the embossing powder to fill the form, and make sure there's a little mound in the middle so that it will spread out as it melts.

step five...

pop the whole thing into the oven at about 275 degrees. i used a piece of tinfoil to transfer it from the counter to my baking sheet. careful not to bump it!

step six...

keep a close eye on it as it melts (sidenote: make sure it stays in the oven until completely melted... this one was taken out for a bettter picture and it caused the finished effect to be cloudy instead of clear). all of the white powder will turn clear from the outside in, the middle will melt last. take it out of the oven as soon as all of the powder turns to liquid, if you leave it in too long your components inside may start to melt. again, careful not to bump it, the liquid can spill before it hardens.

and finally...
when the resin is all cooled and hardened, you're done! now you can make them into pendant necklaces, magnets, earrings, bracelet links, or whatever else you like. the black and pink flower one at the top right was the one actually made in these pictures. most of these were experimental, and i like the one in the rectangular setting the best. the bottle caps have a great old-school camp project feel (like a popsicle stick craft), i think i'll definitely be making a set of magnets with them. the embossing powder i used was judikins amazing glaze which can most easily be found at scrapbooking and stamping places.