love, love me do!

just a few valentine-ish irresistibilities tempting me:

bon bon charms

bragging bags

lila frances

paloma's nest

lemons with a pea

what little token of love are you hoping for this february? are you treating yourself to a little sweet something?

a few of my favorite things!

in an ideal world, time & money would be unlimited... meaning i could buy out everything i want on etsy for everyone on my christmas list! unfortunately, as we all know, that's just not the case for most folks. i'm excited that most of my christmas shopping is done, with the exception of a few things i'd like to make for family that i'm still working on of course [stay tuned for more about those!]

here are some of the awesome handmade goodness i would be purchasing with wild abandon if i had the cash! some of them are vendors i've seen in person at recent craft shows, & some are etsy shops that i may not have even ordered from, just admired for a long time!

::: an apron story :::

for my birthday a few weeks ago, my sweet husband bought me an amazing apron from this great vendor! she has lots of really pretty prints, and adorable child sizes. what could be cuter than a matching mommy/daughter apron set? i think every lady on my list needs one. here i am rocking the apron after wanting one for a nice long while... it's reversible and currently even fits my pregnant belly!

::: visibility :::

some of the cutest hand-painted signs in existence. i saw this vendor's booth in person at mistletoe market and seriously wanted to buy out everything! perfect for little neice's and nephew's rooms.

::: the felted pear and sewn sweets :::

wouldja look at the cute felt food in these 2 etsy shops! you already know i dream of a handmade wooden play kitchen for my little helper, can you imagine the cuteness of filling the shelves and fridge of that kitchen with all these creative & beautifully stitched little munchies? love. and i'm laughing now because i just realized the felted pear has all your fruits/veggies, and sewn sweets is dessert headquarters!

::: sosorosey :::

this shop has some of the most creative crochet designs i've ever seen, and there's not too many people i think you couldn't buy for from here! ornaments for a new baby, a desk/dresser organizer for your favorite guy, a christmas trivet for your mother-in-law, some beachy decor for your sister, and even a garland for your tree! seriously, i want to buy this whole shop.

::: jaqueline knits :::

all i can say is that i've wanted a little green apple jacket for forever... don't you?

just a note: none of these ladies have tempted me with goodies in any way to promote their shop- i just love their products & love to share the cuteness! i hope you'll be buying as much handmade loveliness as you can this season to support your local people who love to make things by hand!

more treasuries!

i wrote last month about petite bee bibs being featured in an etsy treasury... i love these things! they are like little collections that people make of their favorites on etsy based on a theme [and you know how much i love a theme.] turns out that two more bibs were featured!

life's a beach featured the blue fishbowl bib
and i heart cute featured triplet peas! thank you both so much!

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!

treasury!

a petite bee bib was featured in an etsy treasury this week! thank you lc's cottage for including our cupcake in your kitchen!

messy miracles.

i'm super excited to add a new little wee one to the gallery of messy little miracles over at the petite bee facebook page!

ladies and gentlemen, beautiful little miss h:
check out the whole gallery anytime, and don't forget to email me at petitebeehandmade[at] gmail.com if you'd like a picture of your favorite messy miracle in his or her favorite petite bee bib added to the gallery!

they're here!

when i ordered my mini moo cards last week i unfortunately didn't take the memorial day holiday into account, but they're finally here!

and i love them.

i have to say that i can learn a lot from packaging/presentation from the moo company. it is really simple and clean but still very personal. inside the pretty white bubble mailer was this pretty little white box with a pretty little pink sleeve:
and inside [also pink] were my little cards, printed exactly how i wanted/expected them! [even though all those little eyeballs on the front kind of reminded me of toy story]. i was a little worried that the photo quality might not turn out so great since the photo was originally taken with my camera phone, but moo did a perfect job!
the box even has wee little file tabs to separate your minicards from any other people's that you may collect!
and it's the perfect size to pop in your bag and have on hand any time you need one!
love moo. can't recommend them highly enough!

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!

last craft show.

this upcoming weekend i have my last craft show of the season, a craft & bake sale amonst the lovely ladies of southeastern. it is also the last craft show i'll be doing under my original business name, ellebee studio, which is bittersweet for me- after which i'll take some time to craft just to get some of our family projects done and to determine what direction leaf & letter should really go, even if it's just to continue blogging for fun. i'm hoping to sell out all of my remaining products at this show [i guess every crafter has a little piece of them that dreams of having a sell-out show!] so that i can start clean and fresh. after this show, i'll also be posting any product that is left in the etsy shop at some super great prices, and probably close down the old blog.

one fun part of clearing out inventory is that i plan to give some of them away as gifts to some family and friends! the first on my list are some dot bibs that i made for my last show:
these are such fun to make, i have already gifted a few [in a couple of slightly different incarnations] to some brand-new little wee ones in my life. seeing as how i have a friend who just recently had triplets [you can see their adorable pictures on her sister's amazing photography site] and another friend who is currently pregnant with her second [!!!!] set of twins, i'm planning that these will hopefully have a new happy home soon.

i may even pop a little monogram on them like i did kenna's. so, if you're reading here, consider your surprise spoiled!

it's the great pumpkin!

one of my absolute favorite things about fall is pumpkins! here are some of the reasons i'm loving pumpkins and their sweet orangey goodness:

• our nephew running around a pumpkin patch saying "orange pumpkins! orange pumpkins!" and my own little pumpkin standing in amazement:

• mellowcreme pumpkins. as in miniature. as in sugar high. can't live without these around halloween time!

• of course, there are tons of pumpkin lovelies on etsy (i think if you just search "pumpkin" something like 27,000 results show up!) here are my faves:

little stuffed pumpkin by sea pinks

tiny needle felted pumpkin kit by bear creek designs

felt toy pumpkin pie by betsy m

ribbon pumpkin hairclip by ruby ribbon

pumpkin sweater ball by handmade pretties

• and in the spirit of fall/pumpkins/thanksgiving, i have to give honorable mention to these two adorable little non-crazy-eyed turkeys!

don't eat me turkey by snazzie drawers

and gobble turkey by olive and ollie

banners!

two of my absolute favorite simple ways to decorate for a party or just holidays in general are paper lanterns and banners. while you can do a banner in simple paper-glued-to-ribbon for a really easy [and quick to clean up] decoration, i think there is something really special about sewn fabric ones made with more detail. when there is so much more work put into making it, i think they can really become treasured family items that get pulled out each birthday, christmas, thanksgiving, or for whatever the special event may be. soulemama is a great example of how something like this can become really special to your kids, just because of the tactile handmade-ness of it, and the tradition of it being present every year they can remember [she has a great pattern for one in her new book too!]. i love that idea, and want to have things like that for my kids- i think it's one of the great things about handmade. i still have loads of smocked dresses that my mom made for me as a little girl [which my daughter now wears] and quilts that make my guest bed extra snuggly.

these are the banners on my must-make list!

for thanksgiving.

having written just the other day about how my love of fall leaves collided with my love of banners- a leaf banner is perfect for thanksgiving, but also great since you can leave it up all throughout fall. a couple of pumpkins on your porch, a couple of "falling" leaves floating through your living room... perfect.

for happy birthdays.

i have been wanting to make this pink and brown birthday one for my daughter's 1st birthday which is approaching really fast! it is literally half-cut-out on my project table. my idea was that i could turn it backwards so that just the pink sides show to be hung in her room on all the non-birthday days. i love that mix of amy butler pinks and browns in this one, sooooo yummy. i only have less than a month to get mine finished!

christmas.

meringue designs' shop on etsy has a fabulous, classic batch of 'celebration banners' and even a pattern for sale if you don't want to waste time winging it like me! i've been majorly loving that "merry christmas" one for a long time now. i have a green one started that i think will definitely have to become a christmas banner with some red letters and maybe some snowy white dots! i'm loving the idea of stringing it in contrast to wherever you hang your stockings... maybe across a staircase railing or along the top of a bookcase. i'm thinking mine will end up like a mix between the christmas one of this:
and a little bit of this, from cupcakery:

[ps- i had to grin at the order of these three, since having a birthday on november 29th has always made my holiday coundown go thanksgiving, birthday, christmas. love it.]

[pps- there are loads of super inspiring banner ideas on flickr!]

because an octopus wouldn't do.

ever since having kenna, i've thought that if we have a boy next, i'd like to do his nursery in calm blue sailboats with a nice little accent of whale. because what maritime adventure is complete without a bit of whale sighting?

insert "whale of a... (good idea, fun time, etc.)" joke here.

but nautical things seem to be all the rage right now, and believe it or not {and here's something that seems really strange to say} a quick etsy search revealed that there are LOTS of cute whale things out there! it seems that whales are no longer relegated to men's embroidered shorts while on vacation on cape cod, but have entered the realm of super cute, especially for baby! hmm, maybe i am thinking whale with a touch of sailboat after all...

1. notecard by moonmum

2. onesie by veryKIKI

3. carved name stamp by cupcaketree

4. appliqued pillow by seamsewswell

5. cross stitch kit by andwabisabi

6. wood puzzle by usnavyretiredvet

7. diaper cake by tushiesnterrycloth

8. chalkboard by suddenly,it's real!

and maybe since i got the "k" necklace to wear for kenna, i might get a little whale to wear for a little boy! love love love it. and that little whale piggy bank on top of the diaper cake? :::swoon:::

silver necklace by silversparrowdesigns