Aprons, Aprons, Everywhere!

Ok, well, maybe not EVERYwhere. But they're definitely on my brain.

After the girls & I visited our brand-spanking-new remodeled & big-city-lookin' library yesterday, I drooled over an apron book I brought home. I'm already picking out fabric & trim to stitch up my very first WhiMSy love handmade apron!

Speaking of aprons...Last night I finally sat down to make one of the many little project ideas I have rattling around in my crafty noggin. It's so fun when I actually have the time to work on something new.

The apron I worked on last night was a little one for sure: A wee owlie apron! It's only a prototype. And I realized... it's not gonna work. It's too big. And if I make it any smaller, it'll look too wide & squatty, like the sweet owlies themselves. I envisioned a new owlie with an apron. The Summer Owlie is just trying it on for size below. And I love-it-so because it's made from vintage fabric & vintage rik-rak. I'm not giving up on the owlie/apron combo. Maybe I need to whip up some bigger plushie owlies, hm? With aprons?

So, I'm back to the apron drawing board. It looks like Barbie snatched this one anyway. Why does everything look cuter on Barbie? I hate her.

Then again, is there a market for cute vintage Barbie aprons?

♥

P.S. Do you usually hear happy music when you arrive to my blog? I adjusted the music playlist so it won't automatically play. You'll have to manually click the "PLAY" button to hear tunes. I was getting too many {anonymous} complaints about my "annoying" music.

Summer Owlies Are Here!!

Visit the I SEW stuff section in my shop to make this owlie yours.

Here's a little WhiMSy love Owlie fun fact for ya...

This is the 6th series of owlies I've made! (Not to mention all the fabulous random custom ones I've created here & there!)

1st--Christmas Green Owlie 2008

2nd--Christmas Brown Owlie 2008
3rd--Winter Cream-colored Owlies 2008/2009

4th--Valentine Owlie 2009

5th--Floral Spring Owlie 2009

6th--Summer Owlie 2009

Sneak Peek!

I started working on some new owlies last weekend. Hope you enjoy a sneaky peeky!

(Just in time for my girl's end-of-school teacher gifties too!)

They're made from the sweet vintage fabric Amber sent me & vintage buttons. This current batch of owlies also feature the cutest little itty bitty red vintage rik-rak!

Doesn't that adorable little felt flower on their ears make you squeal?!

And guess what? I'll have some in the shop tomorrow!

♥

Owlie Winner!

Thank you SO much to all who entered the Valentine Owlie giveaway! I LOOOOVED reading your Valentine comments VERY much!

I put all the lovely participants names in a lovely bowl & my lovely daughter picked out a lovely winner:

Congrats to CARRIE ME! for winning the Valentine Owlie! Here's what Carrie me! had to say:

"I love everything Valentine's and always do it up BIG time. But, when I was 7 I remember my great aunt came to stay and she and my Mom and I made about 100 sugar cookies that we decorated really elaborately and gave to all the neighbors. I LOVED it, which is what Valentine's is all about right??"

On Monday I'll be revealing my One World One Heart Giveaway prize(S!)!!!

**Sorry I wasn't so timely on announcing the winner. Just woke up a from a nappy nap. I was exhausted from a trip I took over the mountains with my sis yesterday to see my dad again in Seattle. He just had ANOTHER surgery today & is doing well.

Hooooo Loves You? I DO!!

Owlie giveaway! YAY! I loved the holiday owlie ornament giveaway so much. What I loved about it was reading all the comments about your favorite holiday ornament. So now, all you have to do for a chance at winning this Valentine Owlie is to leave a comment with a Valentine or romantic theme. It could be your favorite romantic poem, a favorite Valentine gift you ever received, a tradition you have on Valentines day.
Drawing will be held Friday January 16th.

ALSO, I'm going to be a part of the One World One Heart giveaway again this year. It's an event where bloggers from all over the world have a chance to get to know each other & have drawings on their blogs. Like a universal blog-party with prizes. As you hop around from blog to blog, entering drawings, you get to peek in on some other bloggers that you might not have peeked at before. Last year I was lucky enough to have one of the prizes I gave away featured in the summer issue of 'Artful Blogging' by Somerset Magazine. I'm planning a doozy of a prize this year. The event starts on January 19th & the drawings are all held on February 12th. Last year I think I won about 3 drawings!! Anyway, that's just something to look forward to.

If you don't win this cute little owlie, don't fret my owlie lovers---there's plenty more in the shop.

**Drawing will be held at 5pm PST.

It's Friday Already?!

I'm SO loving the new owlies! Hope everyone loves them as much as I do!

Who knew a new coat could make someone feel so special? Yesterday my mom took me for a random shopping trip for a surprise coat. It is so lovely. I've had my old coat since being pregnant with my youngest. Only 4 1/2 years. But still, the connotation that, in essence, it's my "maternity" coat is sorta depressing. And the funny thing is that I had my list of coat qualities that I INSISTED my new coat should have: 1. It should be black 2. It should NOT have a hood 3. It should have a zipper. 4. The length should fall mid-thigh.
Well, I got a coat that was: 1. grey 2. has a hood 3. buttons up 4. is longer than any coat I've owned. Something else that's funny is it's from the J-Lo collection. Yeah, Jenny from the block. I'm all warm & cozy now & need to find someplace to go just so I can show off my sweet prize.


For lunch today we had some visitors. The girls invited many of their fuzzy pals for some plastic food treats while we munched on peanut butter & jelly sandies cut into triangle shapes & cheese fries. I was a little overcrowded. And Mr. Higgins was hogging the tomatoes & lettuce. But I snuck some cake when he wasn't looking, so it's all good. All I know is I am NOT doing their dishes.

I can't believe it's already Friday. This was a weird week. It flew by. The girls start school again next week, so this weekend will be our last hurrah, since being on holiday break, before real life begins again.

Have a great weekend!

Owlie Love.

I LOVE Valentines Day! And I'm super excited to share my latest owlie creation with you. I've used vintage fabrics on BOTH sides, vintage buttons & under one of its soft wings it holds a little bit of love, in the form of a heart made from stiff felt.

The back of the owlie is actually one of my favorite parts. The vintage fabric is sorta velvety & the color is like a rusty pink, if that makes sense.

I'm also busy stitchin' up this owlie to share in the shop update January 2nd. He's kinda naked right now, but he'll be perfect for the Valentine holiday, & even Spring!It's fun to have these little guys around again. OH! And look what I found while cleaning my art studio last weekend. haha! (Last one. For reals this time.)

We're baaaaack....

I think I failed to mention that the little owlies WILL be fluttering around the shop year-round! I'm really excited, too, because it'll give me an excuse to use all these vintage fabrics I like to hoard AND I'll get to shop for more, moRE, MORE lovely prints! Some new owlies will be ready sometime in January. I'm happy to keep them around. I would've missed the little guys!

So, last night the hubby went to Toys R Us at around 9:30pm--through the snowy, slick roads to purchase Christmas gifts for our girls. We really can't figure out when we'll be able to do our holiday shopping without them. And the toy store was open until midnight. SCORE!

I must share with you my toy dilemma. We decided to get our girls one nice big gift this year, instead of a bunch of little things. So, I immediately knew I wanted to get my 6-year old a Barbie-style dollhouse. But I've been struggling for the longest time on what to get my 4-year old. Finally, a few weeks ago, I saw that crazy large dog, Biscuit, that does all those tricks & stuff. I thought it would be PERFECT for my 4-year old. She loves puppies & she's sure to love this one! Well, shopping & browsing through some toy aisles one day with my girls, that puppy was spotted on display. My 6-year old SQUEALED & went on & on & on about how she wants it for Christmas. And now, my 6-year old WON'T stop talking about that dog!!! I even thought about getting my 4-year old something else & having them both SHARE that dog. I kept dropping questions to my 6-year old to feel her out, like: "Honey, what if you didn't get that puppy? What if Santa delivered it for both you & your sister to share?" She replied: "That wouldn't be good." (Yikes!) And last night, at midnight, I peeked on the girls as they were sleeping & my 6-year old totally woke up & said (sleepily): "Mom, I'm dreaming about that dog that does tricks..."

I'm hoping the dollhouse she gets--which is taller than she is!!--will distract from the pain of not getting the puppy. Am I meanie for not just giving HER the dog instead? The thing is, I know these are both perfect gifts for my girls. My 6 year old LOVES her Barbies & my 4 year old is crazy about animals! I'm running out of toy options & running out of time.

Christmas morning should be interesting...

Saturday...what a day...

All I wanted to do this morning was have a nice little visit with my sis over a cup of pumpkin flavored something-or-other & then casually arrive home to finish packaging orders & mail them in a leisurely pace at the post office. We did have a relaxing time at my favorite local coffee shop. Yes, here's yet ANOTHER foot shot at Espresso World. Different shoes though. Anyway, my plans started off nicely.

This is what happened next: Car dies while driving home on a busy little street. Poo. But a nice stranger-man helped us push the car in a safe place & wouldn't ya know it--we left our cell phones at home. So, nice stranger-man helped us out again, after telling us a story about his grandma being stranded in the middle of nowhere, in the olden days, & then being rescued by a bunch of hippies with guns.Our original plan for rescue failed, so we had to run across the street for a payphone. I had to borrow a quarter from a waitress to use the payphone. How pathetic was that? I was so ill-prepared for this day. I did remember to bring my camera though!!! Do you know how many people stare at you when you're trying to take a picture with a payphone? Lots. Eventually the tow truck came.

The tow truck driver, funny enough, knows my sister by name & has become quite familiar with her jalopy car. Nice guy. I wanted to take a self portrait with all 3 of us---but I didn't want to weird him out too much. Why is it that the mechanic's family always has crappy cars?

But now the post office is closed & I can't mail my packages until Monday. Double poo.

On a happy productive note, guess who FINALLY finished all the owlies?!?!?! Some of these already have homes & the rest are being reserved for a certain approaching Holiday Bazaar.

Here's my latest, greatest, & newest owlie accessory: personalized tags! A customer asked me to make some for her 2 boys & I came up with these tags. I LOVE how they turned out, so I made one each for my girls. Their names are on the front & the year is on the back. Adorable or what?!

Because most of my 'Saturday Nikki Time' was spent with car troubles, I decided to treat myself to a stop at my favorite antique spot for some vintage treasures. I purchased a big bunch of belt buckles. I decorated some holiday packages last year with similar buckles, but now that it seems to be all the rage (or at least I'm seeing this idea everywhere), I grabbed LOTS more. This is how I'm planning on wrapping my gifts this year.

Here's a peek at my Blogger Ornament Exchange package wrapped up & ready to be sent. Brown & black toile paper tied off with vintage grey trim & a navy blue vintage buckle. It's not very holiday-ish, but it's still super cute!

Tomorrow in the late afternoon I'll have a tutorial ready for ya. It's something that'll be perfect for those traveling this holiday season!!

OWLIE SHOP UPDATE TODAY!!

WooHoo!!

Yeah, um, the owlies are almost gone!!! I'm so excited! (I made 18 of 'em.) And since they seem to be so popular I think I'll make up a bunch more & have them ready by Sunday for a scheduled update in the shop! (I've always wanted to do that: "schedule" an update.) Yeppers, there's only a few more left as of this posting. And you know what? I have been working my crafty hiney (a.k.a. "bottom") off & it feels good to see the results!!!

While I should be in the kitchen--cooking & cleaning & preparing to feed 15 mouths tonight for my Monday-Night-Feast, I'm not. Alright, alright, I'll go finish getting it together. On the menu: pot roast with carrots, fresh steamed green beans, the-most-awesome-cheesy-potato-dish-you've-ever-tasted (recipe later), rolls, & apple crisp. Mmmmm.....
And there's also laundry to fold....bathroom to clean....vacuuming.....dusting.......

Random post. I just wanted to share my excitement. WHHHHEEEEEEEEEEE!

I'm done now.

Owlies & Twittering

The little owlies are already starting to fly out the WhiMSy love doors. I've been a bizzy little crafter makin' lots more for the holidays! I'm excited to bring them to the Christmas bazaar---which, honestly, I'm starting to freak out about! It's only 1 month away! I've no idea how much stuff I'll actually have made by then. I still have to make, like, a bajillion more things. I've not a clue how I'm acutally gonna set up my goodies on display either. I want my space to be cute. And whimsical. And lovely. Oh! I also have to create a "WhiMSy love" banner of some sort. I'm trying not to panic. There's so much to still do. (**Breathe in.......breathe out........Eat cookies.......Eat cupcakes........**)

I really think I will go into crafty hiding now. No visits. No social events. No leaving the house. Of course I'll blog. And craft. Blog & craft. That's it. Until the holidays are over at least.

Oh & I've been hearing & seeing a lot about Twitter. So, I joined. I copied this from an article in The Storque on Etsy's blog: What is Twitter.com? Twitter describes itself as "a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: "What are you doing?" After creating an account, people can choose to follow other people's Twitter posts, viewing posts online or via a mobile phone. Twitter is about quick glimpses into you or your brand, as you have 140 characters to type or include interesting links for your Twitter followers to read and respond to.

Simple enough. So, add me as twitter follower !

Here's my Flickr photo today for 'Self Portrait Thursday':