There’s new goods in the shop! You should go check it out, they are just adorable. Here’s some sneak peeks:
These designs are my own and each piece is printed entirely by hand. I use high quality L’ovedBaby apparel {a family owned company out of LA} Sizes range from 0-24 months. The fit of these clothes is true to size and a little on the long and lean size. My 10 month old wears anything form 12 to 2T in other brands and L’ovedBaby 12-18m fits him on the big side. (for reference he fits about the same in a 2T from American Apparel)
I’ve had interest in larger sizes and unfortunately L’ovedBaby only has sizes up to 24 months. I have a plan for adding toddler tees in the coming months. If you would like to pre order something please contact me or leave a comment here.
A spring break sale is on! Use code springbreak2012 to receive 20% off your entire order. This is also the last week of free shipping for every order over $25.
Hello pretty necklace.
Hello eco friendly, easy DIY {I bet you have everything you need for this one right at home}
I love paper and I have a pile of rad scraps that I’ve been hoarding keeping for a project just like this.
This is super fun to do, and could be kid friendly for the older than 6 population (I used to make the hell out of these in elementary school).
If you’re interested in making the little gift tag shown at the end the tutorial is here (you would just want to carve a heart instead of a tree).
The boys and I headed out for a walk because the sun came out. Sun, you guys. That’s like a big freaking deal around here right now.
(Please notice Decatur’s ripped pants as it will be relevant in just a second.)
I’ve been working on a new design. It was intended to be a reduction print but I am in love with this layer on its own.
Coffee is really important around this house. Especially because the wee one is working on more teeth. (I’m wondering if he is part shark and will have a few rows?) For our boys teething = pain = crap sleep. So it goes.
I am thankful for coffee every. single. day.
Late night sewing last night. I got all sorts of things accomplished after the little ones went to sleep.
The sewing turned into pants. With pockets. POCKETS! Rad, right? The pockets even have lining, it’s a black and white flower print that’s pretty stylie. I used the same pattern that I did here, but I purchased the fabric this time. Yep, that’s right, I braved Joann Fabrics. I soon remembered why I steer clear of that place {it’s truly awful}. If you have favorite online fabric sources I’d love to hear about them in the comments because I will be planning ahead and purchasing online from here on out.
More playing in the sun. Have we discussed that Decatur wears his firefighter outfit all the time? All. The. Time. I have him convinced that it’s, “kind of an at-home thing” so we don’t have to wrestle with it outside the house but at home it’s his uniform. And it’s getting too small. He’s pretty serious about the whole thing.
I printed up this little number and a bunch of other radness that will be listed soon {soon being a relative term in my world}. If you ever see something posted as a sneak peek that you must have you can always email me or find me on social media (facebook, twitter), I’d be happy to hook you up with the goods before they’re listed just ask me how.
All of the above photos are from Instagram. If you’re looking for me search elsagedesigns. Not on Instagram? You can always check out my Flickr.
You’re a character, that’s for sure. You’re already giving your brother a run for his money. you get excited about food, anything messy and all things off limits. You’re still working on those teeth, two more are breaking through. This means that sleep is interrupted often, but we’ve learned that midnight to 2 am can be a productive time to accomplish tasks.
I can’t believe how close we are to one year. I’m looking forward to putting all the months together, I’m thinking a small flip book would be fun. Other months are here: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Today I’m over at Handmadeology talking about my stress releases and how important it is to have one. Pop on over and say hi if you do!
Today feels more like the photo on the left than the photo on the right but it’s still early. I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a fabulous day.
Happy Tuesday!
We’re really looking forward to spring around these parts.
It’s not here yet.
We went outside Sunday to fly a kite anyway. There was some wind, more rain and we didn’t last long. I think this might be a metaphor for life right now but I can’t put my finger on what it is. I think it might have to do with perseverance, or maybe knowing when to pack up the kite and go home.
If you are a return visitor you’ve probably noticed that I dabble in a little bit of many things creative. I have been focusing much of my energy on printmaking for the past few years but behind the scenes I’ve also been working on my Photoshop skills, my photography skills, my blogging skills. These areas all go hand in hand, after all you can’t really sell things online without being able to take a proper photo, right? Due to this I’ve been learning more and more about my camera, editing, lighting and so on.
I use my lovely boys as subjects most of the time, but recently a very good friend asked if I would help her out with her little guy’s announcement to the world. We set up a lovely little photo shoot and got to it.
The above shots are seriously a bit of a miracle because we had little Olin and then my two boys running around. We used mine for test shots and then tried to corral them both and keep baby Olin happy (and my hands steady) for shooting. All in all, I think they turned out pretty good.
D sitting in for a test shot
Our setup was pretty simple, two different locations inside with nice natural light, and sheets or pieces of fabric pinned to the wall to create a backdrop.
I used my Sony DSLR (it’s an alpha 300, basic in the DSLR world, but I love it! In case you’re wondering Sony? in your head right now… Sony took over for Minolta when they quit production. They’re legit) and my 50mm lens (freaking love this lens!).
For the announcement I used a Photoshop storyboard that I re-sized to the card printers specs BEFORE I added photos in. Then it was just a little trial and error to see what fit and worked well. After that it’s flatten (do this before text but if you’re not fully committed make a duplicate first) and add text.
I used a similar method for little g’s announcement.
I look forward to learning more about photography, and of course taking more photos. I’ll be back later this week with some updates from the 366 project and maybe even a 10 month photo from my baby boy.
I have an insane weakness for cookies. Not much self control when it comes to chocolate chip especially. Imagine my delight when I found a few cookie recipes that include all healthy, whole food and no refined sugar!
Hello raw cookies! Where have you been all my life?
I made these all the time now. It is quite common for hubs to return from his day of teaching to find one babe in a sling and the kiddo standing on a stool helping me throw ingredients into the food processor.
Since Decatur and I did our guest post for Robin, I’ve been thinking about cooking with kids and noticing what recipes are kid friendly. I realize that it’s not super intuitive that using a food processor would be considered kid friendly, I mean spinning blades! But with supervision and the lid on tight, raw recipes actually lend themselves nicely to having little helpers. I measure and D can dump ingredients through the chute, and he loves to flip the switch.
It’s amazing to me that with a few simple ingredients…
You can make something like this:
Raw {healthy} Cookies!
Raw Chocolate Chip Cookies
- 1 3/4 cups ground raw cashews
- 3/4 cup ground raw oats
- 1/4 cup Agave Nectar
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- chocolate chips (in the original recipe she makes her own chocolate chips, I use pre-made)
Directions: Put cashews and oats in the processor, process until fine but not butter. Add agave, vanilla and coconut oil. Process until combined. Transfer to a bowl and stir in chocolate chips (to taste). Roll into balls and put in the fridge.
Adapted from this Oh She Glows recipe.
Raw Chocolate-Peanutbutter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- 3/4 cup peanut butter (you can probably sub another nut butter)
- 1 cup raisins
- salt to taste (3/4 tsp or so)
- 1/3 cup roasted, unsalted peanuts (Or maybe another nut, if you’re allergic to peanuts? Also: If you can only find salted peanuts, reduce or omit added salt)
- 1/2 tsp (or a little less) pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder (to taste)
- chocolate chips
These are hub’s favorite! I like them with peanut chunks so I add the peanuts towards the end.
Directions: Process raisins until they are well chopped (read: globbed into a ball). Add peanut butter and process until combined, add salt, vanilla and cocoa powder while processor is working (through chute). Add peanuts. Transfer to a bowl and stir in chocolate chips (to taste). Roll into balls and put in the fridge.
Adapted from Chocolate Covered Katie’s recipe. She has fabulous recipes! Keep in mind that her recipes are often for one or two people, I did the math for you above to create a nice batch of these. This is the largest batch that will fit in my small food processor.
Do you have healthy dessert recipes? Do you cook with your kids?
In light of finishing a bridal party package I decided this week’s Wedding Wednesday would be centered around feathers! I will show off a few instagram photos of the project I just finished too.
I love this DIY boutonniere and corsage design!
Feather illustration on this beautiful invite. via Lovely Bride
Boho wedding hair? Would you? Could you? In another life I would have eloped and my hair would have been like this.
I was able to work with the sweetest bride on her wedding party hair adornments. Mini veils for the bridesmaids, a birdcage veil for her and tiny lace and feather hair clips for her flower girls. I always use vintage and sustainable materials whenever possible. I love to support small business owners as well. The following designs are made with vintage and new lace, tulle, entirely vintage beading and new feathers. I love the way that any material drives the design. This was not my first time working with feathers but it is my first veil design using them, I love the way the whole collection turned out!
I am so excited to see photos from this wedding! What a fabulous project.
If you’re interested in having me create custom accessories for your wedding, feel free to contact me.
Over the weekend…
We went grocery shopping.
Went to brunch {this is our “We’re ready” face}
Customized a few reclaimed wood pieces.
Drooled over the Alternative Apparel catalog and read this article that helped me decide to follow my heart in business.
Completed our taxes with a little helper.
How was your weekend?
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