ellebee

new projects

ahh my little blog. color week was lots of fun, but i'm glad to be back to getting a chance to write a little more. plus, i have other pictures to share!

i'm most excited that i have a super secret special project in the works:

it's going to be given as a gift later in march and i could not be more hyped about it! it's biting off quite a bit more in the sewing world than i ever have before, which is daunting when i can't just call my mom every time the bobbin gets stuck like i used to. i will admit here, in my safe little craft world, that i don't even know how to change the needle on the machine yet. i have no doubt that will have to change soon! but yes, it is coming along quite well, and is almost done. there are a few very special touches that still must be added.

the drawing for my first year "blogiversary" is officially closed now, so i can finally stop sounding like a broken record on every post! i will be contacting one of you lovely readers soon to get an address to send your goodies to!

i'm gearing up to be adding lots of fun new stuff to le shop for spring, and also thinking of possibly introducing some housewares-type items... placemats, napkins, magnet sets, coasters, and a few other things in light of my sudden wealth of fabric. i get so excited about new ideas that i have to make a serious effort to stay focused on my current projects long enough to finish them. the good news is, matt  and i started weight watchers this past week, and 5 days later i've (actually lost a couple pounds!) been inundated with this crazy amount of energy! hopefully i can harness it into productiveness and really get the shop packed full of loveliness. i plan to pretty much revamp the whole shop over the next few weeks of march. right now there's lots of great clearance to check out, to make way for the new!

blue

color week : day seven : blue

my mom's last major project  before she passed away in january. she was making quilts for each of her kids, my brother and i and our spouses. she liked to pick out the colors and design based on what each person really loved and the colors that were descriptive of or important to us. i'm really nervous and at the same time excited about finishing this quilt.

today is her birthday; she would have been turning 53. it's still incredibly hard to comprehend that she's not with us anymore. the physical signs are there... a closet full of clothes that had to be given away, projects that someone else will have to finish for them to be done... but mentally it's still hard to believe. i saved a message on my phone she left me in october, and when i listen to it (usually at least once a day) i still feel like she's just away on a trip. i know someday it will break my heart to hear her voice after who knows how many years of missing her, but right now, it just solidifies in my mind the feeling that she's just away and out of contact for a little while. i can only assume that someday the reality will set in, and i'm not sure that will be a good thing.

and so, in recognition that this would have been my mom's birthday, today is the last day to enter the drawing for some free goodies celebrating my first full year of blogging (as of january!). if there's some reason you've talked yourself out of entering, that's just silly! enter anyway! all you have to do is leave a little hello or comment. i get really excited over these kind of little freebie things. i won't draw a name until tonight or first thing tomorrow morning, so there's still time!

black

color week : day six : black

i'm sure you're wondering what on earth this one is... it's a huge wrought iron candelabra from notre dame in paris from our trip this fall. all the many tealights are prayer candles that seekers and travelers had lit and said a prayer for someone.

time's almost up! 

red

color week : day five : red

red 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!   

green

color week : day four : green

looks 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 : pink

even 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!

sorting, organizing, and stashing

i just returned for a long weekend (5 days, actually!) of hard-core sorting, organizing, and stashing-for-future-use of my mom's craft universe. i say universe, because try to imagine literally 30ish years of crafting supplies of every imaginable kind and many partially finished projects all in one place. i can't wait to post some pictures of some of the many treasures my sister and i encountered. i think a huge shop update will be in the (hopefully) near future as well, as i finish up some of the projects and unleash some of the supplies out into the world.

in my kick of trying to finish some of my own projects (mostly in light of knowing the huge influx of really great supplies that i was about to inherit) i actually got a few fun things done just in time. i tend to be a late-night crafter... i get on a kick about 10 or 11pm and, if i really want to finish what i'm working on, will work until i get really sleepy, which is usually no later than 3am. i am such a night owl, i love staying up late and that's when i feel the most productive.

i used some of the amy butler fabric squares i bought on etsy last week to make a few coasters.

i used a bit of the linen from pants i thrifted from goodwill and also ended up running out to get a little more of that awesome dot fabric to finish the backs.

when i was looking through my fabric, i found a happy little piece that was just calling out to be made into napkins. i'm planning to make several sets of two matching ones to go with my new ones. have i mentioned i really love when things don't exactly match? all the more fun with all-white dishes!

because i know much sorting, organizing, and stashing is in store for me in my own home, i decided to try out a color week idea i've been reading about in other crafty blogs. for the next week or so i'm going to try to post a different photo of beautiful color. it'll be a fun chance to play around with the camera and to finally use some of these photos i've been saving for the experiment.

by the way, it's not too late yet!

the great cold of '08

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 table next to us 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!