upcoming show!

i've been a bit under the radar as usual when a craft show is approaching... craft & bake 2011 is this weekend & i've been swamped trying to get everything together! i have lots of new products i've never shown before, which is great & exciting (!!!) but thaat means i'm almost starting from scratch planning & executing an all-new table layout. pinterest has been a huge help of course & i'm so excited to see it all come together on saturday!

you can tell from my recent tweets that some hardcore crafting prep has been underway:

i'll spare you any more slightly-frightening-projects-in-progress photos, except for my dining room table piling up with finished lovelies, all ready to go!

forgotten stamp.

a week after valentine's day & look what i totally forgot i had:

and of course [sing with me now...] what might have been:

whoops.

note to self: remember for next year.

ps- if you want to make your own [maybe a 4 leaf clover or a little balloon for spring?] these little stamps are so fun & easy! here's the full how-to: carved eraser mini-stamps.

one more...

i've got 1 last lonely little 4th blogiversary thank you just waiting for a happy home with one of you lovely readers...

i'm so very glad you're here and would love to send a little thank you your way! leave a comment here if you're intrigued & it's all yours!

giveaway now closed, thank you all so much!

inspiring work places!

several months ago [like, last summer] i started working on getting my basement studio space organized & put together for optimum functionality. 'studio space' sounds so much better than crafty mess in the basement, & basically, i just wanted to know where things were enough to not spend 98.2% of my crafting time looking for something.

i bought some wire storage shelves and some pretty green organizers & it started looking pretty decent!

being that it's in the basement which is great in the summer but freezing in the winter with little daytime light, i started bringing projects upstairs to work on them in the warmth of the house- which resulted in little piles everywhere & my sewing machine right in the middle of the table. christmas came and went & walmart discontinued my lovely green bins... so i lost motivation to keep throwing money at it... ahemmm, i mean making it pretty.

i even toyed with the idea [being pregnant, crazy, & wanting to rearrange the entire house anyway] of moving both kiddos into the same room so that we could have an upstairs playroom/craft room where i could actually get things done with wee ones underfoot.

thankfully, husband was here & safely talked me out of it.

so it's not exactly the 'studio' of my dreams yet, but it is a space to hold all my stuff and i'm grateful for that! it still needs quite a bit more re-organizing work & a couple more lamps or twinkle lights to give it some personality, but i'm hoping to 'reveal' it soon.

in the meantime, i've been noticing that lots of crafty folks are posting their own lovely workspaces that i would love to hijack & well, basically live in indefinitely. here are some spaces i love:

the pleated poppy

[totally stealing the alphabet card idea for the new nursery- already have cute japanese lanterns like that in big sister's room!]

gussy sews

[including some fabulous tips on organization & time management!]

oh, sweet joy!

[whose is sneakishly tucked into a closet! genius, i say.]

be sure to click the links to check out the amazing goodies coming out of these ladies' work spaces! prepare to be inspired!

feltfeltfeltfelt

so this is what 45 sheets [and $13] of eco-felt looks like:
and this is what i look like because i'm so excited to do some crafting with that felt:
[ok, not really. that's actually last 4th of july while we were watching fireworks. but still!]

this felt is intended for lots of ornaments and some new products for leaf&letter, which is just as exciting to me! for now, here are some fun projects i've made in the past with eco-felt... love this stuff!

poinsettia ornament

flower headbands

winter/christmas tabletop trees

yarn book cover

winter star ornament

felt tree ornament

i also have two almost-finished projects where i'm using it for letters on a garland and hair for a stuffed dolly... coming soon!

craft & bake preview!

for the first time ever, i'm offering a preview of what i'll have available for sale at the southeastern craft & bake sale this coming weekend! i'm SO excited about it. i had an amazing time last year, and have been looking forward to it since then! i feel more prepared in advance than i ever have for any show i've ever done, and i think that is adding to a lot of the excitement. add that to having made lots of new stuff and weeded out some of the old stuff that felt, well, tired and old.

the newcomers:

lots & lots & lots of bibs! [see the individual designs here]
little reusable cuffs to cozy your coffee... not sure what to call them yet. coffee cozies? coffee cuffs? [meant for paper coffee cups, not glass, instead of the disposable cardboard ones!]
chapstick cozies on a keyring. i pretty much love having all my essentials in one place so that i can, every once in awhile, ditch the diaper bag and just take the keys & phone.
and the ribbon bangles i hinted about a few weeks ago:

the old favorites:

button magnet sets:
tons and tons of earrings:
and fabric coaster sets:
there will also be some crocheted scarves, monogram bag tags, and maybe a few other suprises...

i love being a part of our school [my husband & i both attend classes], and for how supportive and amazing the women i've met there are. this show is so much fun because of the type of women running it, participating in it, and the families shopping at it! because of those reasons, my prices are significantly altered for this show to include as many as possible in the shopping fun... nothing is worse than going to a craft show where you're basically standing in a room full of awesomeness but can only reasonably justify buying one or maybe two things! it's a great way to get some fun christmas shopping done.

and did i mention it's a bake sale too? last year i sat two tables down from the most delicious homemade cupcakes ever. i probably shouldn't say how many i bought during the day. cupcakes, people. while you're shopping.

for now, i'm off to make some chalkboard price tags. if you are local to the raleigh/wake forest area, i hope you'll come say hello on saturday!

and it actually zips!

this is a momentous moment.

y'all.

i sewed something with a zipper that actually zips and i didn't break anything or sew through anything that wasn't supposed to be sewed through [like my finger].

my mom has been making these for years, and they are amazing, and she made it look so easy. i never got her to show me how, and never could find a pattern or anything for them after she went home to heaven [though, knowing her, she probably didn't even use a pattern.] i , like many other amateur sewers out there, admit that i am very scared of a zipper foot. as in, terrified. but last night i decided i was going to go for it. bite the bullet. sit bravely in front of my sewing machine with my tutorial next to me and strike out into the unknown. i've been planning a new product line for leaf&letter, and getting some ideas together for an upcoming craft show, and this zipper foot was the only thing standing in my way.

and here is my beautiful little fully functional zippering pouch in all its glory:
i'm so proud.
it helps that i used twelve22's zippered pouch tutorial, because it is pretty much the best, most well-written, and easy to follow tutorial ever. and that is what i needed when it came to zipper foots. and i only had to google "zipper foot" once to make sure i was using the right one [i was], and i only had to rip out one seam with a seam ripper before proceeding [the very first seam that was too far away from the zipper].

i feel as though i have conquered.
if i get really brave, i'm thinking of trying this tutorial for a pouch with an off-center zipper, and if i get really really brave, maybe even this one for a boxy case zipper pouch! oooh or a zippered pillowcase with piping! hurray!

new for fall!

petite bee is debuting a few new designs for fall, and i'm so excited to show them to you! my absolute favorite, is of course, the pumpkin:
a sweet blue sailing boat:
a little red umbrella:
and a "birthdot" in both pink and blue, perfect for your little one's birthday or lucky number! yay!

a little amour for a friend.

it has admittedly been quite awhile since i have made any jewelry to speak of. it's sad too because i love making it, and rarely have any made & ready to go when i get dressed [that forever happens on sunday morning when i get dressed up for church]. maybe i just need to organize what i have a little better- i'm a person that needs to have all her options visible at one time to be able to effectively pick!

but all this week i've been thinking about one of my best childhood friends, an amazing woman who now lives in new york city and is pursing an acting career, and really missing her. and i got in the mood to make her a little something to say hello and for her to wear and be reminded of how cool i think she is. so last night i got to work down in my craft room [ahem... basement] and made her this little bit of amour:
it makes me think of a ring around the moon & reminds me of her. the top loop slides back and forth, and the little stone rotates inside the ring. and the little leaf at the clasp is just for fun. and it is tucked into my favorite little tiny brown paper bags and ready to be mailed to brooklyn.

so here's to good friends even though they're far away, and here's especially to finally getting back to making!

polka dotted packing tape!

edited to add:
[today i just happened to find myself back at michael's... ahem... and discovered that all of their 'dollar store' stuff, which are called 'fun finds' if you want to be technical, were 30% off! so i got 4 more rolls of this awesome tape for only .70 cents each. hurrah! fun finds indeed. also picked up a couple rolls of a gorgeous green damask print tape that was just calling my name. now i'm in search of a tape-related project to use my super pretty tape!]

i'm pretty much a sucker anytime a regular store starts having a 'dollar section.' what is it that's so magical about something only costing $1 [or even 1 ish dollars]? it gets me every time. this was especially true a few weeks back at michael's when i saw a little bit of polka dotted green goodness peeking out from one of the 'dollar section' shelves full of office supplies:

green. polka dot. packing tape.

what could be better for petite bee? i snapped up 3 rolls right on the spot [i think they were like $2.50, but still!] and may have to get some more, i love it that much. it looked so cute on my orders i shipped out yesterday. and since i always try to re-use any bubble mailer envelopes i can, it helps them stay together in the mail a little better while also adding a little fun!

i love getting real mail, and i especially love it when it's brightly packaged! hopefully one of these dotted little wonders is on its way to you!

a few of my favorite things...

today i got a glorious hour-ish block of time in my craft room with my spray paint. i left the door open, worked mostly in the back yard, enjoyed the sun and a little breeze... just enough to dry each layer as i worked.

spray paint makes me so happy.

i guess it's the combination of easy & cheap, the love of a quick makeover, the way your finger cramps up from squeezing the sprayer so long, or maybe it's just all the pretty colors! this is a sure sign of a good day:
isn't that yummy? it kind of makes me think of ice cream and chocolate. makes me want to paint everything i own... maybe it's the grown up version of coloring?

here are all the names of my favorite colors i'm using on several projects right now, in case you were wondering (because i always wonder).
i have to say that krylon has truly won me over with their little built-in sprayer that makes a big cloud of color instead of a little graffiti-like squirt. if i keep it up i may need to invest in a hardcore little grippy thingy to do the spraying for me. also, note to self-i do in fact need a real drop cloth [to use as an actual drop cloth] because i think it would blow around less in the breeze.

and here are my projects in progress, can't you tell my neighbors must love me? i guess every neighborhood needs that crazy girl who is always in the paint-splattered shorts, spraying multiple things at once spread out over a huge plastic drop cloth.
i can't wait to show the befores and afters on these!

mmm... organization.

i have pretty much taken up residence in this aisle recently:
and you'll never believe where it is... walmart! they have this new line of really cute, really cheap, nice quality office organization supplies! i've been working on getting all of my craft supplies sorted and stashed, nicely and neatly, so that in the precious moments of time i have to i go down to the basement to craft, i can actually find what i'm looking for.

i'm a firm believer that everything has to have it's place to be able to be put away. and since our basement is a 'hard working space' [as the decor blogs say], combining my craft area, a garage-type area, our attic-storage type stuff, and hopefully eventually a small playroom area, it needs to be organized to remain livable. oh, and all the walls and floors are unfinished, but luckily, we were given a large carpet scrap in great condition for the main area.

and seeing as how the craft corner has been in various stages, starting with this photo when we first moved in and progressing steadily over time to a truly frightful mess, it was time for some serious storage work:
i swear, i think everything in these boxes came out and multiplied itself by at least 10:
well, it had been a disorganized disaster long enough. i should have taken a better 'before' picture, because those don't quite do the chaos justice. we moved the main desk upstairs, and i set up my craft show table for some working surface.

i had some wire shelving cubes that i started sorting my fabric on, and ended up getting two more and the cubes (from walmart!) for storage in them. i LOVE that everything has it's place now, and i can just pull out the particular 'drawer' i need and have all the supplies right on hand for shipping out an order or working on a project. i'm hoping to spend much less time looking for and gathering up the needed supplies and go straight to working on something... before the inspiration is gone or the wee one is up from her nap!

i'm still working on it, but here's a little sneak preview of the almost-done craft room!

on a picnik.

i have fallen in love with picnik.com and its endless possibilities for creativity. even with a basic, non-premium [aka free & cheap] non-member account, today i took this regular photo:
and made this info card!
...coming soon to a home near you if you have ordered a bib recently!

it is so fun and SO addicting. perfect for baby photo announcements, save the dates, making blog headers, and pretty much anything where you want to edit your photos and add text to them.

i also decided to break down and pick out a business card, so that since i am so terrible at self-promotion i can at least hand someone a card when they ask what i've been making recently. i settled on mini moo cards after seeing their good quality in person at one of my favorite local shops.
aren't they fun? i also love all things tiny, so i am completely crazy about their mini size. now i'm just anxiously awaiting for mine to get here!

petite bee!

i am so excited to announce that a project i've technically been working on for two years... usually off an on, never really well planned... is finally done! when i had my own little one i somehow [surprise, surprise] had way less time to devote to it like i would have liked. then i got a breath of fresh air a few months ago to go in a whole new direction with it, and even hinted at a bit of progress with it.

so you can imagine my thrill over finally finishing it and now having it ready to present to the world:

petite bee!

appliqued bibs for your messy little miracle!

you will always be able to find the shop by clicking on the little "shop baby" button on the right over there, right above twitter, and i've also got a facebook fan page all set up and ready to go if you'd like to stay updated that way:

petite bee on facebook

the facebook page also features a gallery of messy little miracles sporting their own petite bee bibs, so don't miss that! [and of course, let me know if you'd like your own happy messy miracle to be added!]
there are some fun twin/triplet designs, and lots more fun ones to come including a customizable monogram and some holiday themed bibs. be sure to stop by often and not miss anything!

as a thank you to the wonderful readers that frequent this space, i'm offering free shipping and a buy-2-get-1-free offer an all designs- just enter the code [messymiracle] at checkout!

getting focused.

since this summer i've been taking some time to focus on crafting for my family and my home rather than trying to stock my shop or be a vendor at very many craft shows. in changing my name and starting this new blog, i've had the perfect opportunity to re-evaluate and redefine what owning this little business should look like, and just to take some time to enjoy crafting again. i think it's easy to get so caught up in wanting to be sucessful and comparing yourself to others who are accomplishing what you want to accomplish, that you start losing the joy in the making, in the creating, and you lose much of your inspiration. at least, that's how it was for me.

when my daughter was born, i knew much of my crafting would be for her since i finally had a reason to start following through on many of the fun baby things there are out there! but it still took some time and some experimentation to find out what worked and what didn't... which makes sense considering how much of motherhood is trial and error, learning from the advice of others and from your own experiences with your own unique little one.

what finally came out of the mix were appliqued bibs. i started making them not only for kenna, but as baby shower gifts [or welcome-to-the-world gifts as one of my lovely new-mommy friends put it] for others, and it was so refreshing to make them and not worry about anything other than the desire to show my love to the friend and new baby i was making it for. i've decided to start expanding my ideas for them and exclusively stocking them in a new etsy shop i've had in the works.

it's not quite ready for a full unveiling, but i wanted to share a bit of a sneak preview of some of these gorgeous children whom i love, whose families i love, and whom i am honored to have wear and use their bibs i have made.

k for kenna
precious miss E and those incredible eyes
little mr. H with his amazing blonde hair
brand-new mr. T on halloween
my cranky little valentine
one thing i pray most often for my little girl is that God will spare her from the pain and disappointment that is so prevalent in this world... everything from the bullies on the playground to losing a loved one before you're ready. i'm sure every parent wants to protect their child in that way. a simple gift of a bib seems small in importance, but as i have prayed it for my own little one, i pray that as i make each bib for each little life that will wear it. this is the kind of change i want for my business... to bathe each endeavor with prayer and intentionality and to hopefully be a blessing to those around me!

i've had lots of inspiration this week, and feel like a breath of fresh air is coming through and bringing something new creatively. it feels good to have a plan again! i can't wait to show you more!