OliveJuice & Company

Why yes, yes I am...

...blogging two days in a row.  LOL  THANK YOU for all the apron love.  You have no idea how delightful it is to hear that email *ping* and find all sorts of wonderful friends saying kind things about your creations.  Or maybe you do, since the majority of my blog readers are probably crafters of some kind.  Isn't it AWESOME?! 
I know I've posted about it before, but I've met some dear friends through blogging.  And girls, I'm terrible at updating my little blog typelist....so many friends I still need to add.  In fact, this past weekend I'd planned a whole blog overhaul, but ran out of steam after helping *Henry* acid stain the concrete floors in my soon to be new basement studio.  (Ya, I'll be in the basement of the new house.  But I don't mind!!  Heated floors, 9 foot ceilings, a big window, and plans for loads of shelves, antique furniture, and beautiful lighting.  Yep, I'm a bragging girl today.  LOL  Can't help it!  Right now I craft in the dining room so just the thought of this new basement studio is a dream!  And I CHOSE the stained concrete floors.  Easy to sweep up threads.  *wink*)   I digress.
The COOLEST thing about blogging is the friends.  I could spend hours linking from blog, to blog, to blog...making friends and discovering fab new people.  The thing I'm drawn to, I think, is that people who blog seem to be so passionate.  They LOVE what they do and want to share it with the world.  That, in itself, is just COOL! 
One of the newest blogs I stumbled across is my new friend Amelia.  I actually discovered sweet Amelia a few years ago.  She designs BEAUTIFUL children's clothing and sells it on ebay under the name Sweet Feet Boutique.  Back before little Gray was born, I used to design boutique clothing a bit too... so when I found Amelia's blog, I immediately recognized her designs and her adorable little girls.  In my typical fashion, I quickly added her to my bloglines and lurked for a few days.  Then, as usually happens, I couldn't help myself and commented.  The friendship was made.  THAT easy!   Sometimes you just click with people, ya know?
Amelia actually tagged me as well.   It's a fun tag...more of a challenge  per say, to stop complaining.   Something I can DEFINITELY use!  LOL  So I'm accepting her challenge, and starting NOW, am working to have a more positive attitude.   I'm a big believer in positive energy and thoughts  directing your future, so I'm excited to see what wonderful things start happening because of this focused attitude.  Beautiful Shawny has been posting about this same sort of positive outlook thing too.  Oh, and I think I'm supposed to tag someone....so I'm tagging Pam, Morgan, and SMJ.   NOT because I think these women complain at all!!  In fact, these 3 ladies are literally some of the most positive people I know.  I just think they're cool enough that they'll play along.    Do you care to join us?  :)   I'd love to hear a positive thought of yours. 

Happy Wednesday Chickas~

Spring weather and a new apron

Well hello spring!  So nice to finally have you here!  Woopsie, took a little unplanned blog hiatus for a bit.  It's been wonderful lately...beautiful weather and lots of time spent outside with the babies.  Little Gray LOOOOOVES being outdoors and throws a humongous 18-month-old-I-don't-have-the-words-to-tell-you-I-don't-want-to-go-inside tantrum every time we have to go back in.  Poor little dude!   We've been getting lots and lots of photos though!  Gotta love when it finally warms up enough to get some LIGHT!  YAY!

Isn't little G-man looking so big?!  Where does the time go?! 

And here's Miss Olivia drawing with sidewalk chalk.  She LOOOOVES these little sparkly flip flops.  Let's be honest here, I love them too!!  Wish I could find some robin's egg blue glitter flip flops for myself.  ;)

Even though it's been warm, the grass is still looking YUCK!  I was itching for a color fix, so I snapped some shots of the CUTEST polkadot chalk.  We found it last year at a local dollar store here in town.  SCORE!

The bummer about all of this is that the weather man said it was supposed to snow tonight.  Nooooooooooooooooo!!!  I just can't bear it!  Please, all you warm weathered friends, send some sunshiny vibes our way.   We definitely need them! 

............................
Total change of subject because there's no easy way for me to ramp into this.  LOL
While doing all the projects for the give-away, I fell in love with a couple of the new aprons I sent out as gifts and decided to list them here for all you apron fans.  ;)  This one is inspired by my sweet friend Deb.  Lovingly referred to as Diva Deb.  I love her style and was inspired by her recent office makeover.  She told me she loved chartreuse green, pink, and yellow....what better color combo for this time of year?!  I can't think of many.  :)
Please allow me to introduce Maggie:

Isn't that flower pocket the CUTEST thing?!  I could add flower pockets to just about everything and be completely happy about it.    And you can't tell very well in these photos, but there is a fun little scalloped edge machine embroidered right above the ruffle.  It's all in the details, right?  ;)   Hope you like it!  I'm up to my EYEBALLS in loads of new projects, but hope to get more apron styles up soon.

Oh, I nearly forgot...all digital goodies are by Jen Wilson.  Go check out her new stuff.  AMAZING!

ETA:  WOW!  This was the fastest selling apron yet.  I'm overflowing with orders.  Thank you friends.  I'll upadate soon.  :)

Stuffed Eggies

Wow!  You ladies had some FAB ideas for guesses!  I especially loved the petal apron idea.  Seriously, how cute would THAT be?  I'm working on that as soon as I have a minute to play!!  And two ladies DID guess right.   I suppose I'm not too good at being sneaky.  LOL  Hollie and Anna Maria knew just what I had up my sleeve: Fun little stuffed patchwork Easter eggs!

So fun, right?!   My kids LOOOOVE them.  And I think they're quite adorable too.  Thanks to Miss Heather Bailey's gorgeous fabrics that work so perfectly for spring time projects.    So I worked up a little pattern if you'd like to make some for yourself.  Please forgive my weak pattern attempts....I'm no good at drawing in Photoshop....and even worse at writing instructions.    Anyhow, here's how you do it.

To use this pattern, click on the image to make it larger.  Save the full sized file to your computer and scale it to whatever size you want, then print it out.   The pattern I used to make the eggs pictured above was 6 inches in length, if that helps at all.  :)  I know, clear as mud, right?
Anyhow, I'd really love to see pics if you're inspired to make any little stuffed eggs.  I do kindly ask that you don't sell anything made using this pattern, but feel free to use it for your own personal use. I can think of so many fun possibilities: Egg ornaments for a fun feather tree, vintage chenille eggs, felt, embellied with ribbons and all sorts of fancy things....

Okay, friends, off to do a little shopping and birthday cake planning.  It's *Henry's* birthday tomorrow so we've got a busy weekend full of celebrations.

All the best~
Kim 

creative overload

It always happens....as soon as I have NO TIME to be trying new things, my brain goes into overdrive.  Here I am sitting peacefully sewing away  (This time it happened to be during the giveaway creations), and a thought comes into my mind...then another, and another...until I just HAVE to try this thing before I BURST.   These silly things just make me giddy!  Girls, I think you will love this idea , and so, I believe a little tutorial is in order.  It's my first tutorial, and I'm not the greatest with instructions....so bear with me as I write this up and figure out how to get you a usable pattern in Photoshop.  Here's a little glimpse of my work in progress... any ideas what it could be?!  :)  Oh, I think you will just love it!

 

break out the spring recipes

Can you feel it?  I sure can!  Spring is in the air, and I can just hardly stand the wait.  The babes and I ran some errands after school yesterday to pick up some more Cadbury Mini Eggs (mmmmm...do you know they have DARK chocolate mini eggs now?!), and the produce section was looking soooo GOOD!  We quickly snatched up some beautiful strawberries and all the ingredients for our favorite go-to spring/summer dinner, Fettuccine Alla Primavera.  I made it last night and it basically catapulted me into spring!  LOL  This morning we made our favorite, favorite fresh strawberry scones and even further amplified this spring fever.   *sigh*  We're ready warm weather, any time you want to show up is perfectly fine with me!

The perfect start to our day....an apothecary jar of Easter goodies...a California Closet brochure (choosing closet layouts now)...and breakfast fit for a princess.  :)

Fruit Filled Scones:
4 cups flour
4 cups cake flour
1 cup sugar
2  1/2 Tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 lb. cold butter

Choice of fruits:
2 cups blueberries + zest of 2 lemons
2 cups blackberries + zest of 2 lemons
2 cups chopped strawberries + zest of 2 oranges

1/2 - 1  quart half & half  (depending how juicy the fruits are that you're using)

In a bowl, combine the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.   Cut the butter into small pieces and then cut into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter.   Add the fruits.  Stir in enough half & half  to just make a moist dough.  It should be moistened, but not sticky.  With an ice cream scoop, scoop out dough 2" apart on parchment lined baking pans.  Bake in 375 degree oven for 25 minutes, or until golden brown.  Top with glaze.

Glaze:
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk or half & half
a bit of vanilla & almond extract

Combine until the consistency of heavy cream.  Drizzle over scones while hot.

These are literally the BEST things in the world!  They're not for the calorie conscious, with a POUND of butter and a quart of half &half....but they are worth every single teensy tiny calorie. This recipe makes about 2 dozen scones.   And the good news is, you can make the dry mix with butter cut in, separate it into freezer bags in batches, and then add the fruit and Half & Half as needed when ready to bake.  You can make as little or as many as you want!  **They are best eaten fresh from the oven.** 

We've also made cinnamon scones using this recipe instead of the fruit.  Mix together 4T. melted butter mixed with 2 tsp. cinnamon, 2 T. sugar, and 3/4 cup brown sugar...and add this AFTER you add the liquid.  *Enjoy*

ding, ding, ding

These are the last recipients drawn for the little gift packages.  (Sorry for not getting the announcement up this afternoon like I'd planned.  I was WIPED OUT and used up all of my blogging time by accidentally taking a little siesta while Liv was at school and Gray was napping.  I flipped on the lunchtime episode of The Barefoot Contessa and was OUT!  Darn, I so wanted to see the Lentil Sausage Soup made.)   Thanks again to all of you who participated in my blogiversary celebration....both old and new visitors.  And THANK YOU to the lovely people who regularly leave me comments.    I love clicking on the links to your blogs and reading about all of you!  Now, back to the regularly scheduled blogging program.  :)
Happy weekend, friends~

whoa nelly!

That's a lot of comments!!  Thank you, thank you for all the sweet, sweet things you've said.  WOW!!  You sure know how to make a girl feel special!  All those things COULDN'T possibly be true, but I sincerely appreciate each and every comment so much, and wish I could give you all a gift!  I'm going to save all the mushy love to go back and read on a rainy day.  Just too much!!  LOL 
Since this celebration is a little more special than my regular for-no-reason-at-all-give-aways, I thought I'd have a few winners.  So the first two are people who's comments were in the first 50 participants.  The early birds, so to speak.

Don't worry, I am not rewarding the fast comment writers only...I'll have more drawings tomorrow (Friday) afternoon.  Everyone is still included!  (Well, besides the two who've already been drawn, of course.  LOL)  So DivaDeb and Andrea S, I'll be sending you emails to get your mailing info.  :)

Digital goodies used in this post:  Bird epoxy by Rhonna Farrer, bow by my sweet friend Shabby Miss Jenn, and notebook paper cloud by Miss Dani Mogstad.