ellebee

rutville, population: me

yes, it's true. i am in a creative rut. you'd think with the excitement of a new baby on the way, crafty goodness would be falling off my fingertips like raindrops, but sadly, it is not so. while i am very excited, i am in quite a bit of a rut at work, and it's affecting my energy level (as is pregnancy) and enthusiasm for doing anything creative recently.

i did attempt to start crocheting a new grannie square snuggly blanket similar to the one i made for my nephew last year, but i didn't get very far with it. i was working on it in the car on a day trip to the beach, and on the way home, i had a very sleepy puppy conked out in my lap. but then again, tired from soaking up the sun and the extra effort of walking on sand and staying vertical in the waves is the best kind of tired:

LOVE that sandy little nose.

also, it's hard to let the nesting instinct run wild on you when you don't know if you're creating for a boy or a girl yet, and you don't know if his or her nursery will be in this house because we don't know if both of us will be changing jobs...

sigh. rutville.

mmm.... organization

i had to laugh because i just saw a friends re-run (approximately in the season 8 or 9 or so era) where chandler decides to get a new job, so monica makes a big, labeled, organized set of files of different ideas for jobs he could pursue. it's alphabetized (of course) and they start with advertising, which is what he decides to go for... so he apologizes for her having wasted her time making the rest of the files when he picked the first one. monica replies, "are you kidding? i got to spend 8 hours alone with my label-maker!!!"

if you haven't met me, i'm a little bit like that. ok, a lot. i do have a bit of a crazy love for organizational supplies.

so, if you haven't seen this website, see jane work, it's a must! i also had to laugh when i saw this "office of the week" totally decked out in ellebee green:

my husband laughs whenever i say that because he thinks it's funny that i have claimed ownership over an entire shade of color for my business. i just love the color! in my dream world, i would have wall-to-wall bookshelves for my craft supplies, and they would all be organized in little labeled boxes and wire baskets full of color-coordinated fabrics like that top shelf up there. supplies are so much more inspiring when you can see them all at once!

they also have lots of fun, cheeky notepads and other office goodies with a bit of personality to make the day go faster! i've already decided i need these for corralling my craft magazines, i love the brown:

(ps- photos are thanks to seejanework's website)

for nesting! (or coasting?)

i finally got my current projects/products finished, photographed, organized for selling, and listed in the shop! they are just a few fun little updates, but totally new to ellebee studio... quilted coasters!

these are an absolute blast to make, and i couldn't resist using the amy butler prints, and i love how it looks combined with the linen for the backs! these are practically indestructable (and tossable into your washing machine which is the best part). plus the free-stitched edge give them a really laid-back beachy feel... which, if you're like me, makes it permissable to be completely anal about insisting everybody uses a coaster to begin with.

you can expect to see lots more of these coming up, they are so addictive to make! now then, anybody up for matching napkins?

speaking of new arrivals...

now that we've finally told all of our immediate family, i can stop chattering about secrets and shoes and just spill the beans already!

i'm expecting my own little petite B in early december!!!

i promise i did not intentionally coincide getting pregnant with launching my baby product line, but it did just seem to work out that way, and how fun is that!? matt and i really could not possibly be more excited! (you can read even more about it in our family blog).

finally, i'll have a reason to buy up all the adorable handmade baby things i've been loving on etsy, and i'm sure having my own little one will be a fabulous inspiration for the things of petite bee to come! (not to mention a great test market and build in baby-model!)

i had a little crafty fun in the way we told our families too... matt's dad's birthday was this week so we gave him a picture frame. i bought a shadowbox type frame and decorated it with some really cute jolee's and little stick-on squares that read "sweet baby B."

the supplies:


the finished frame:


for my side of the family, we gave a playdate invitation for our nephew to come play with his cousin-to-be when he or she (and we will find out!) arrives in december. i made a little template in paint, added the who/what/when info, and then used a little clip-art whale for the bottom corner to say hooray:


i had so much fun designing and making it that of course, now, there is one more idea for petite bee swirling around in my head. playdate invitations... birthday invitations... mommy calling cards... so many ideas, so little time! (not to mention energy these days. i thought 7 and a half weeks was too early in the pregnancy to be crashing out with no energy already!) i just can't wait to be big-pregnant, and of course to hold this little one in my arms and love and kiss on it and all the fun stuff that comes along with officially being a mommy. if i thought i was 'nesting' before, you better believe i've got some projects i want to start! baby quilts, crocheted blankets, a crib mobile, and about a million other things!

a shoe search

ok, so i never claimed that this was a fashion blog, but if you're anything like me, sometimes the creativity just spills uncontrollably from genre to genre in your life! or maybe it's more about love of color, because ever since i saw the yellow cover of last spring's domino magazine, i've had yellow on the brain:

sorry for the fuzziness, but now you can get a visual... yellow flats, yellow printed dress, and a cute, classic tan trench coat. what could be better? keep in mind, i've been a black tee and jeans kind of girl for a long, long time. so not only a bright yellow dress, but a bright yellow outfit is pretty revolutionary for me.

i felt like i got the dress down pretty well, i got this one at target for about $25 in time to wear for easter sunday:

(a side note... unfortunately the dress is a bit thin and therefore slightly see-through, so i'm also finding myself on the hunt for a light yellow camisole to wear underneath, which apparently does not exist. may have to go with nude/skin-colored).

i had less luck with the flats. i found some really cute ones on clearance at the gap for $20... really cute yellow and white gingham, but i tried them on and they just plain hurt. ladies, life is too short for shoes that just plain hurt. unfortunately, i have a very wide foot and "just plain hurts" can usually be used to describe 90% of the shoes i try on.

in a perfect world, i might be the proud owner of these:

however, since a $430 price tag on a pair of shoes will never be a reality in my world, sigerson morrison  might as well not be either.

a slightly unsatisfactory google search brought me to these:

but, having never even heard of the brand , i'm wary of ordering these online without being able to try them on. you never can be too sure how yellow the yellow will be either, although these look pretty.

and then of course, there were these:

yellow polka dots.  i love polka dots . took me a minute to regain my composure... ok.  reality is coming back to me, and these definitely look too narrow and painful. i do much better with the wide, slouchy, squishy flats, preferably with an elastic back part to keep it from digging into your heel.

so the search continues.  i'm glad to see i'm not the only one a tad obsessed with yellow shoes at the moment!

(photos are thanks to the individual websites linked with each one).