The Birth of a Garden Gnome

I have a thing for Garden Gnomes. I love the tacky little sweeties and can't wait to one day have a garden of my very own. It will be filled with brightly colored flowers, birds, bees and butterflies... and of course, a family of gnomes.

In the meantime... Meet Franz, the latest illustration on my drawing board.

I love how cute little sketches can be transformed into something vibrant and fabulous with only a quick touch of colored pencil.

Franz is a gnome that wants to be seen, and he pretty much dictated how he was going to look right from the beginning. I don't think I even used my eraser, as he just seemed to draw himself. I love when that happens.

I'm using Prismacolor pencils for this gnome, unlike most of my other illustrations which are done in Design Spectracolor. Since my coveted collection of Spectracolor pencils is dwindling quickly and I have not seen any on Ebay lately, I am weaning myself over to Prismacolor. They are working out just fine, so I don't think I will be too depressed when my lovely Spectracolors are all gone. It has been 10 years this April since they were discontinued, so I think they have had a good run!

I just love Franz's bright red rosy cheeks! And he has the loveliest blue eyes.

Franz is complete, but his garden background will be a surprise for you, as I'm not going to show you until my gnome collection is complete! Yup, I said collection. Don't worry... this little garden gnome wont be all alone...

He has a little wife called Gertie

And he has a little mushroom house to call home, sweet home.

I have big plans for these little gnomes and their little mushroom house. Not only will they be in my shop this summer, but they will be on my living room walls as well.

I just love them! And I think they will look fabulous next the prints I plan to buy from my favorite photographer, Lorissa Longfellow, at LJ Design and Photo.

Aren't they beautiful?

A Little and Lovely Gift to Make

My Grammy was in the hospital last week and it was pretty terrible for me. She went in for a surgery, but wasn't recovering as well as to be expected and it was pretty nerve-wracking for a few days.

I couldn't go and visit her, but I wanted to let her know that we were all thinking of her in our household and that she needed to pull through in order to see our smiling faces again. I thought bringing her a framed photo of the girls might be the thing to keep her holding on, but I figured the frame would be easily knocked over in her hospital room. I needed something that wouldn't break easily.

A pocket sized accordion album ended up being the perfect gift! I was able to fit 15 different pictures and a cover, and it folded up nice and neat with a black satin ribbon.

Making an accordion album like this one was very easy and pretty much just used what I had around the house. It was also a project that was completed, start to finish, in under an hour.

For materials I used:

*1 sheet of 11 x 14 Bristol Board (a heavy weight white paper)
a heavy card stock or watercolor paper would also be fine

*Gluestick

*16 images that I printed off of my computer
you can use up those photos you aren't sure what to do with

* 1 ft. satin ribbon

* Decorative scrapbooking paper

* Stapler

Directions:

1. Cut the Bristol Board (or cardstock/watercolor paper) in half. Divide each half into four sections like an accordion. Tape the two halves together to get a longer accordion with a total of 8 sections.

2. Cut scrapbook paper to fit nicely inside each section. Glue on. Cut photos to fit onto another piece of contrasting paper. Glue on.

3. Decide which end is going to be the back. Staple the ribbon centered evenly along the center of the back page. Make sure you staple in a way that you will be able to hide the staples by covering with the photos, on both sides of the back section.

4. Glue photos onto all the sections, front and back. Let dry and tie up with a bow, cutting the ribbon down to the size you want your bow to be.

Admire!

I used a mini-print of my Love Bunnies picture for the cover of my accordion album and made a note by printing a greeting on the computer and gluing it in. Can't get any easier than that!

And best of all, Grammy was out of the hospital less than 24 hours after receiving my album, even though the doctors had thought she would be in for at least three days more. I told her it was the album that helped her get well so soon. She agreed.

Love really is the best medicine of all.

Murphy's Law and Bad Luck in Threes (or Fours, Fives, and Sixes...)

Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong, right?

Obviously. As if I'm not already stressed out from moving with two little kids, a dog, and a husband who hates to pack and clean as much as I do - in under a month -- just this week our DVD player broke, our TV on/off button broke and (the icing on the cake) the screen to my laptop went out.

That would be bad luck in threes, right? But also, my apartment complex wont let us pay to break our lease, my grandmother has been seriously ill in the hospital (she is finally home and recovering nicely), and we lost a library book. And Gracie has been throwing about four full out, kicking and screaming tantrums a day (combination of the stress of moving, being a three year old, and the nasty intestinal parasite she has been dealing with for the last few weeks... seriously, what gives?).

Plus, I have gained about three lbs from stress eating in only four days...

So, without further griping, let me just say that I may be gone for a few days.

No, I wont be at an all-inclusive resort lounging under an umbrella with a tropical cocktail in hand while the cool waves of the Caribbean Sea lap at my pedicured toes.

No, I wont be at a health spa, wrapped in a luxurious cream-colored robe, after being covered in a detoxifying herbal wrap while waiting for my Indo-Asian Hot Oil Massage.

And no, I wont be sitting outside a cafe with a pastry and a cappuccino, along the canals of Venice while sexy Italians sing as their gondolas float past...

I will, most certainly, be screaming my head off, tearing my hair out, and wondering if I will ever get my sanity back.

Not looking good at the moment.

You're Turning Violet, Violet!

I don't understand why babies feel compelled to eat permanent purple ink pads. Or to squish all the permanent purple ink between their fingers. Or to wipe it all over their legs and arms and shirt (did I mention it was permanent?).

But they do. Or at least Annelie does.

Its my fault, of course. After Gracie spent the afternoon playing with my rubber stamps, I noticed the purple ink lid was missing the stamp pad to go with it. "I'll take care of it later," I thought. And promptly forgot.

Annelie found it for me. What a helpful little girl!

And she was pretty pleased with herself and her purple fingers and tongue.

For violet lovers everywhere, here is an Etsy tribute filled with lovely violet goodness.

This original piece of art is a 5x7 watercolor and sumi ink and is just fabulous and can be found in the shop Karen Faulkner Art.

You can find this gorgeous watercolor flower as well as other beautiful watercolor flowers at www.karenfaulknerart.etsy.com

The pendants found in the shop Art Under Glass are just gorgeous!! I am pretty smitten with this lovely and glittery violet posies pendant!

This pendant and other equally fabulous ones can be found at www.artunderglass.etsy.com

These Purple Passion korkers by Winklepots are sooo adorable. I have several of Winklepots korkers, and I can honestly say they are just the cutest hair accessories for little girls.

You can find these, as well as gorgeous handpainted outfits for children (with korkers to match!) at www.winklepots.etsy.com

And last, because I can and because I will... here is a shameless self promotion. My Fruity Purple Cupcake print is pretty delicious, if I do say so myself.

You can find that in my own shop, Elegant Snobbery.

Enjoy!

Blogging Along

I've been tagged by Marie over at Bella Marie Designs (which is a shop that I love, love, love!!). I also love Marie's blog: The Villa Family, a blog about a sewing and crafting mama and her three kids who always keep her on her toes!

I have been tagged before, where I had to share 7 interesting facts about myself... a stretch, but perhaps an interesting read anyway. This time I am to share a bit about my life as a blogger. Here goes:

Why did you start blogging?

Since Gracie was born, I have wanted to keep a journal so that I could write a memoir about my life with her. I never did anything about it. I started and stopped about 10 journals and all the scrapbooks I planned on making were just left in their packages, completely untouched. By the time Annelie was born, I felt too overwhelmed to start a memoir!

After opening my Etsy shop (this was back when my Etsy shop was Tootsie and Grace -- a baby boutique), my mom gave me the idea to start a blog. It was supposed to be a way for me to promote my shop and promote other Etsy sellers, but it ended up becoming more of a Mommy Blog with a little bit of Etsy thrown in.

Now, I have something that pushes me to sit down and write our stories as they happen. The best part is, I am also printing everything up so that Gracie and Annelie can have the memoir I always intended to have for them.

How did you come up with your blog name?

Elegant Bloggery. It rhymes with Elegant Snobbery, my Etsy shop. I think it is kinda funny.

The memoir I am putting together for the girls, which pretty much just includes the blog posts about the girls, and a little bit about me and my shop (since that will become a huge part of their lives as they grow up with Etsy and Elegant Snobbery and my artwork strewn around the house) is called The Mommy Project.

Do family and friends know about your blog? What do they think?

My mom recently began reading my blog and really likes it. She also sat my grandparents down and showed them her favorite posts, which they loved as well. Other than that, the friends who read my blog are all the friends I have made here in Blogland. And hopefully they like what they read!! I love to get comments. Those are what really keep me going, as everyone is always so nice and encouraging.

How do you write a post?

Every post varies for me. It all depends on what category of my blog I feel like posting in. My Girly Girls is my favorite category so that is usually what I focus on. I usually have my camera on me, so I can snap pictures of the silliness in our household for blog about it all as it happens. Sometimes, I keep a list of blog topic ideas to pull out of the hat on the days when nothing is going on and I can’t think of something to write about.

I also tend to keep a pencil and some paper scraps on hand, so I can jot notes when I am out and about, or else don’t have time to sit at the computer and type. My head is always full of ideas and tidbits that I scramble to write down before they float away.

Have you ever had a troll or had to delete an unkind comment?

I’m not a particularly controversial person, so the answer is no. I’m not sure what negative things someone would have to say about my blog. But I had to add a ‘word verification’ to my blog comments (which I personally hate, as I always read the wrong letters and have to try and decipher again and again… I hate those things!!) after getting a nasty virus for a comment about a month ago. Luckily, I reported it before anyone had clicked on it.

Do you check stats or care how many people read your blog? If you care, how do you increase traffic?

I like knowing that people are reading what I have to say. And I always get such nice comments. My blog is my little soap box. Plus, I’m a very open person naturally, and I like sharing my life, my art, and my story with others.

I increase traffic by posting my blog link in the Etsy forums whenever I have a new post. I am also addicted to reading other blogs when I have free time. A lot of the time, people find my blog through the comments I have left on theirs.

Okay, that's done. Now its time for me to gush about Bella Marie Designs.

I discovered Marie's shop while browsing the forums one day back in the early Fall. I completely flipped over how cute her stuff was, especially this little skirt and hairbow set, which I grabbed for Gracie instantly.

Gracie has now outgrown the skirt, which we have tucked aside for Annelie to wear someday, but she still sports the hair bow.

Funny enough, I was not only Marie's first sale, but her 100th sale, as well. Maybe I'm just easily amused, but I thought that was pretty cool. And just goes to show how much I love this shop. Here is what I bought this time:

I'm actually jealous of my kids. I love these hair bows!!

You can find a wonderful selection of boutique gifts for children in Bella Marie Designs. I love these personalized pillows...

And this personalized initial shirt made with the Freshcut line of designer Heather Bailey's gorgeous fabric.


And her chalkboard roll-up place mats are toooooo stinking cute.


Whats not to love about this shop? Seriously, it is too cute.

And one last thing before I go.... Hey Nikki of Nikki's Nacs-- TAG! You're it. Now we can all read your bloggity blog answers.

Rolling in the Dough

We don't have kiddie-proof locks on our cabinets. Installing them is such a pain. Plus, if there were child proof locks on the cabinets, how would a 15 month old baby be able to get in, pull out the biscuit mix, and make a wallop of a mess?

When I came into the kitchen to see Annelie happily pulling chubby fist-fulls of biscuit mix out of the bag and carelessly tossing them onto the floor, I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Serves me right, of course. I hate installing cabinet locks, so all the non-toxic household items are a free-for-all... and anyone with kids knows that it takes literally seconds for a little tyke to make the biggest mess.

But the day was a bit boring with nothing going on but packing and movie watching, naptime and Barbies. Rather than get mad, pick her up, and toss her in the tub so I could clean up before it all got out of hand...

I invited Gracie to join her.

Together, my little girls rolled around and made angels in the powder. They took turns rubbing it into each other's hair and sprinkling it onto each other's backs.

They squished it in their toes and swished it with their feet.

And had more fun for the 30 solid minutes that I let them play, than I have seen them have in weeks.

The best part for me, besides getting to watch the girls interact and play with such joy, was that it took only a minute or two to sweep up and throw out... and another half an hour for them to play together in the tub as they washed it all away.

I probably wouldn't have made those biscuits, anyway. They were the heart healthy kind, meaning that they tasted like cardboard.

But that package was certainly worth the fun on an otherwise boring afternoon.

Daddy's Little Girl

Setting: This morning. The living room. Three year old Gracie is watching PBS kids and eating an apple. Will is straightening his tie before leaving for work. He bends down and gives Gracie kisses.

Will: Who loves you?

Gracie: Daddy does!!

Will: And how much does Daddy love you?

Gracie: A few million dollars!


There is no denying that Gracie is Daddy's little girl. She has been since before she was born. She was so rotten to me while I was pregnant with her. I was constantly sick and constantly kicked. And after a grueling 24 hour labor which resulted in an unexpected and very painful c-section, Gracie was passed over to my husband and given her first bottle while I spent three hours in recovery without even getting a chance to see her, let alone hold her.

Gracie turns three in a couple of days and I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that she loves and adores me. She is my very sweet and affectionate Prima Donna, and knows that when she is sad or sick or needs someone to pass her some stickers and a colored pencil, Mommy is the one to get the job done.

However, her big baby blues are still always fixed upon her beloved Daddy. They always have been and I'm sure they always will be. I don't mind, of course. Not when I know how much Will adores her back. There is nothing quite as sweet as a big strong Daddy with his three year old princess.

And anyway, I'm pretty sure that if she does get that few million dollars, she'll share with some of it with me. I am, as she says, her "precious sweet darling mama," after all.