My Weblog

I love....

Really!  I love it!!  Even when I haven't showered in days and look like the poorest excuse for a woman, and our cute little old grandpa of a mailman rings the  doorbell just as baby Gray has gone down for his nap and it wakes him up, I still love it.  Because friends, that sweet little mailman is bringing me presents!  And who doesn't like presents?  Even if I happen to BUY these presents, the contents are so wonderful that they feel like gifts from dear friends.  This is exactly what happened last week when a package from the unbelievably talented Lori Marie arrived.   I had been coveting one of her handmade dolls for some time, and when I saw that she'd updated her shop with an "OLIVIA" , I just couldn't pass her up. 

Is she not the most precious thing you've ever seen?!  Taken from her little tag, " Olivia hearts butterflies, double dutch and ginger snaps. She hates scary movies, being late and sand in her bathing suit."  HA!  I love it!  And she'll fit in perfectly with my little Olivia's new bedroom.   I can't even tell you how much my Liv adores her new playmate.  When I try to put the doll away, she exclaims, "Mom!!  Olivia has to stay right by my side!!"  AND the doll's wearing a little apron to boot.  Too perfect! Thank you so much, Lori!!!!   We absolutely love her!!

I've also been meaning to show you a TRUE gift that I received a while back.  Sweet Deb, one of my blogiversary giveaway winners, surprised me with one of the sweetest thank you's I've ever received.  I had seen her creations in Amy's fab shop, and just drool at her handiwork.  And now I am a proud owner of one of Deb's masterpieces.   

Deb is the MASTER of details.  Every little individual element is perfectly placed.  Inside the box she'd left a little note, "Kim, your NeSt is made from lavender stems & blossoms, yarn, ribbons, buttons, beads, and millinery elements, nestled in silk rose petals & fragrant soap leaves....enjoy, my friend!"  Sooo beautiful!!  And it smells divine!  I keep it on my desk and whenever I'm needing a little pick-me-up, I reach over, carefully open the box, marvel at this delicate handmade creation, and take a whiff.  *sigh*   Thank you so very much again, my sweet friend Deb! 

I have a couple more special mail contents to show you, including an awesome wallpaper parcel from Andrea, and the cutest little paper apron I got from a very talented crafter, ArtsyMama....but those will have to wait until next time.  Talk of all these packages reminds me that I've got to run to the post office with a huge bunch of shipments going out.  It was a busy long weekend!

Happy Tuesday all!

ETA:  SHOOT!!  I always forget to tell you where you can find the digital elements I use.  The cute "mail" stuff up top is in Shabby Miss Jenn's new kit HERE.  Along with Traci Murphy's scalloped glitter HERE.  And then the doodle frames are by Sausan Designs, and you can get then HERE.  :)

 

for the do-it-yourself type

Hello my beautiful friends!  (Sweet Nancy begins her emails that way and I love it!  Makes me feel so special every time.)  Thank you for all the love on my last post.  I'll share soon, I promise!   *wink*

Sooooooooooo....a couple weeks ago, after emailing with my fabulous shabby friend, Jenn, I had an idea.  (Thanks SMJ!!!!!)  It happened in the middle of the night, while I was up sewing.  This is when all my best ideas come.  I joke with *Henry* that my BRAIN shuts off when the kids go to bed, and then all the good creativity can come out.  :)   I mulled it over, not really knowing the best way to go about it, and have finally decided to give it a try. 

I get emails DAILY asking if I'll share my patterns.  While I'd love to, I draw them all myself so I have nowhere to point people.   Bummer!

Voila!!

Lightbulb moment:  "I can get my patterns printed up!!", I think to myself.  My wheels keep churning, "And write up the step-by-step instructions.   Ooooooooo....and with the pattern + instructions, I can include the fabrics and trim I use.   (Cuz my very favorite part is putting together the fabrics and trims!)  I'll bundle it all up into apron KITS and sell them in my shop (for the do-it-yourself-ers), right alongside the aprons that I make (for those who don't sew.  *gasp*  Are there people out there still that don't sew?!!  LOL).   AAAAAAAH!!!  And I'll package them up in those cute pink bakery boxes, tied up with vintage seam binding.   SWEET!!  People will LOVE that!!   I'm gonna DO IT!!  Shoot!  (Just burned myself with the iron.)"  The doubt sets in, " Hmmmmmmm.....will people really love apron kits?  Maybe they won't want to sew them.  ACK!  I don't know how to print my pattern.  :(  Maybe it's not such a good idea..........But gosh, I'd really love to do it.  Oh, it's LATE, I really need to go to bed."

Fast forward a couple weeks to now.....I'm putting together apron kits!  LOL  I'm working on getting the patterns printed and will have them in the shop in a few days.  I hope, hope, HOPE that you'll like them.   Let me know what you think.  ;)

Choosing direction

Can you feel it?  The winds of change?  Boy, I sure can.  I know I've mentioned it before, but I'm a big believer in energy.  In getting your goals, dreams, and life passions out there.   CRAZY, RIDICULOUSLY COOL things happen when you think positively.   It's like it just falls into your lap.  SPLAT!   I've had some opportunities come my way that I could have never dreamed would happen.  WOWIE!  This sounds a bit boastful, I'm sure....and it's really not meant to.  Just sooo excited and very blessed.  I can't wait to share with you, but can't spill it all *quite* yet.  (Oh, don't you just HATE when people do that?!  LOL)  First, I've got to get all my ducks in a row....figure out which direction everything is heading, and then take that leap of faith.   Big decisions.  All good decisions, but even choosing between really great things can be hard.   And the LEAP!  SCARY!!  Focus, Kim, FOCUS!!   LOL  Thank you all for the continued support.  From the silly blog redesign, to aprons, to pictures of my babes, I appreciate each comment so very much.  Truly.  Thank you!

Sounds like Gray just woke up from his afternoon nap just in time for me to go and pick up Liv from school.  Time to put the Mommy hat back on again until bedtime....and then it's many hours of sewing for me.  THANK YOU for all the recent apron orders!  More styles will be up soon.  ;)

FINALLY!

Welcome to my newly remodeled space.   Come on in and make yourself at home.  :)   How do you like?  To me it feels much "lighter"....not quite so rigid, and even a bit playful.  But do you see that obnoxious lone black line up there underneath the header?  Grrrrrrr...that thing is making me NUTS!!  It was there on my last blog design too, and I never could figure out how to remove it permanently.  Any ideas, all you coding gurus?  Besides that pesky row of pixels, I think it's something I can live with for a couple months.  Lets be honest, I get bored easily and will redo it all again.  LOL  But man, did it take me long enough to get it set up this time, or what?!  It's a sickness, I tell ya....at the very least, a self-diagnosable disorder.   I've had the same problem since childhood, and it's plagued me almost into my 29th year.  (JEEZE, did I just admit that I'm almost TWENTY NINE years old?!  Mom, that's got to be noteworthy!  LOL  I've been lying about my age for years.)  So what's this problem, you ask?  *sigh*  It's sort of hard to explain.  Part of it is extreme indecisiveness.  Another bit is the inability to concentrate (an entirely different self-diagnosed disorder.  LOL) because I just LOVE so many different things.  But the BIGGEST symptom is that my brain literally TRICKS me on a daily basis.  It convinces me that I can get more done in a given amount of time than I ever possibly can.  It happens all the time!  I make plans, having the most sincere intentions of getting everything done....and then it simply takes me twice as long as I'd originally thought to get it all finished.   There has got to be something I'm missing...time-management skills I have yet to learn, or a way of thinking that I don't know about.  A magic pill?  Do you have any tips?!  Any ways to cure this terrible problem?  I apologize to all those who emailed me about ordering aprons.  I told you I'd be putting them all up soon.   Soon was about a week ago!  Drat!  I promise I'm not a flake.   A bit scatter-brained, yes...but not a flake.  So sorry for making you wait.   I'm really going to try to be better about that. 

On to the good news:
Do you see that little button up there on the top right in the sidebar?  Go click on it.   Go, I'll wait right here.  :)  You back?!  OK, so it's not my full blown shop quite yet....but it IS a little *interim boutique*, of sorts.  This is where I'll be putting all the new designs for sale.   I also started a photo album of the past designs that are now retired.  I'd love to have a customer gallery as well!  If you'd like your photo included in the OliveJuice & Company gallery, send something on over!  I'd really love to display them.  While a dress form is cute....I real person inside my aprons just make me giddy!!     :)   ETA: After re-reading that sentance, I realize it sounds a little odd. LOL  You know what I mean....I hope.  :D

K, better get some beauty rest.  Been staying up waaaaaayyyyy too late recently. 
Best~
Kim

redesign

Hi friends~
Thank you for all the apron love.  WOWIE!  I am sooo happy you like them.  I'm working here on getting them all up for sale very soon.  I'd hoped to have it done DAYS ago, but it seems that every time I sit down to the computer, something needs my attention ASAP: Kids are sick, a subcontractor falls through with the house, decisions have to be made....AAAAACK!!  Is life always going to be this frantic, and crazy?!  Please tell me it will calm down.  LOL   Anyhow, be on the lookout for an update soon....including a whole new blog redesign.  ;) 

I'll leave you a shot of one of my favorite little customers, Mia.  Isn't she a CUTIE?!

*digital goodies by Shabby Miss Jenn, Nancy Comelab, and Jenn Patrick*

Yo, all you digi girls, if you haven't already, go check out my friend Steph's FAB new site: Fontologie.com.  Some really cool stuff over there.  I used her free font on the pic above.  SO CUTE, right?!  I mean, COUTURE FONTS!!  That is so up my alley.  LOL  K-gotta run for a bit.  Be back soon.

CIAO~