My First Pretty Packages

Ta-Da! Isn't it amazing? I'm absolutely in love with them. I hand-made the bags, the card, the tags, the business cards, and everything inside the bags. Can I be really proud? Because I totally am.

The little black and white bags are drawstring and have curved bottoms. It's just the cutest, and my own original pattern, might I add.

These packages, (and a couple others) are being sent off to some very lovely supporters of mine. I'm not showing what's inside, because I don't want to spoil the surprises!

I'm going to be getting really crafty for the next few days. I still have a lot of work to do for the shop open in
3 days! I'll be back soon with a ton of wonderful things to share.

Have an amazing & beautiful day!

-kaylee

Sneak Peaks

(from left to right, oldest to newest)

My boys sitting on the couch together. So. Cute. & Driving with Daniel.
My first pretty packages! & Making messes

Setting Goals for 2012 & Making more messes...

A sneak peak of my amazing spare room & Dream-catcher love
A peak at my workspace & Making pretty things for the shop. 

I've been working really, really hard. And it's awesome. It feels really great to be busy, productive, checking things off my lists. Recently, I had to clean out our spare room and convert it into a guest room/storage space. The room was stuffed so full, but I managed to tame the chaos, now it's a beautiful spare bedroom. I'm quite proud of it. (I will share real photos of the room soon.)

My other big project has been getting ready for my shop opening. (6 days until the opening!) I made my first pretty packages. And they are awesome! I'm so pleased with how everything is turning out.
But for now, I must get back to work.

Have a lovely day!

-kaylee

Tunes In The Studio

This album has been on non-stop in my studio. It's the perfect music for me to work to. I just adore it. Each song has something really special, and as a whole, they make an incredible album. Amon Tobin is, in my opinion, one the most talented contemporary musicians. Perhaps in all of electronic music.
And if listening to it isn't enough, I've included a trailer for the live performance of this album.

Now, press play, watch this video, and try to tell me this isn't the most rad thing you've ever seen.

 

Is that breath-taking or what?

-kaylee

DIY Collection: #004

1. Arrow Belt from A Beautiful Mess.

2. Rosette Necklaces from Oh, Hello Friend.

3. Circle Skirt from Cotton & Curls.

4. Braided Friendship Bracelets from I Just Might Explode

5. Striped Cardigan from Elle Apparel

6. Ruffled Shower Curtain from See Kate Sew (Anthropologie-Inspired)

7. Lace Scarf from A Beautiful Mess

Each and every one of these projects is particularly lovely. Honestly, I don't think I can pick a favourite. One project I especially adored was the Ruffled Shower Curtain from See Kate Sew. I've been dying to make one of these since Anthropologie first released theirs. But I'm also smitten for the Arrow Belt from A Beautiful Mess. They're all so wonderful!

If you decide to make one of these projects, be sure to give the creator of the project lots of love for sharing!

-kaylee

Handmade Business Cards

With my shop opening approaching rapidly, I decided to "DIY" my own business cards. Now, I'm not going to pretend like these are the most amazing handmade cards, but they are pretty sweet! I created the designs in Photoshop, printed them out, cut them, and sewed the edges with my sewing machine.

The back panel of these cards are Banana Paper, all ready for me to paint and write/draw something. On one of them, I drew a couple dream-catcher necklaces and a sun-dress. There are a lot of fun possibilities.

When I was making these I learned a lot about making homemade business cards. I think I'm going to take pictures after I make another batch, and I'll write up a DIY post on it.

It's funny, now that I have these cards in my hands, it feels so much more real. I'm very excited to see how this goes! Just a reminder, my shop is opening on November 1st, 2011. I'm going to have so many lovely things to share. (I can't wait!)

I hope you're having a beautiful day!

-kaylee

Recently

(from oldest to newest)

A sneak peak at my new cards, A gift I made for Daniel, Our turtles are getting really big, Decorating and such, Walking in the rain, Our newest collection of giant fake diamonds.

Although I know how much we all love Instagrams, I'm going to try and take some "real" photographs of what I've been doing. Which mostly consisting of fabrics, choosing the perfect lace, rummaging through jars of supplies, and making colour schemes. I also have a ton of new projects finished and more in the works!

How is your October going? What are you working on?

-kaylee

Card Designs

 

For the past couple months I've been designing a lot of different ideas for my business cards and packaging. Unfortunately, those files no longer exist, so I've had to start over from scratch. The three designs above are a few that I made a couple weeks ago, and thought I would share them

I designed these to match the look of my blog and soon-to-be shop. I love the texture of wrinkled paper and thread. I've already chosen a design and I made a couple cards. I'll share the finished product very soon.

I hope you're having a lovely day!

-kaylee

Thirteen Days

Well, I'm back from an sudden and much needed hiatus. I took 13 days off, first because I became quite sick. But, once I started feeling better, I became busy with my other projects, and simply haven't had the time to blog. While I was away, I really missed blogging, so I'm very happy to be back at it.
I have a slew of things up my sleeve right now. Like my shop opening next month, my studio tour, a new blog design, a couple new weekly blog features, my new project with Daniel, my new goals, and so many more fun things.  I cannot wait to share!
For now, here are some photos from the past couple weeks.

    
from left to right, top to bottom, oldest to newest: 
Daniel filing wood planks, A sneak peak of our new project, My favorite dress (It's actually a skirt!), Me being silly, Candlelit baths, A painting I'm working on, Screen-printing in the studio, A giant moth in my laundry room, Napping with Samson (love), Foggy, Misty, and Mossy, Baby Fern! (It's only a couple inches big!), Me being sick as a dog.

Today I'm going to be working on a bunch of different projects. I don't want to spoil all of the surprises, so I'll be back with some lovely things to share very soon.
I hope you're having a lovely Fall day,

-kaylee

Hello October

I love October terribly. It reminds me of scarves, chilly air, hot cinnamon scent, pumpkins dotting the streets, leaves changing beautiful colors, cozy blankets, and nights by a fire. October always gets me into a crafty, tea-drinking mood. This October is going be the best and busiest yet!


My Shop Opening. When I realized my shop opening is less than a month away, I became excited and also very nervous! I've been mulling over ideas, testing designs, trying to put together something really special. I'm feeling even more motivated because I've realized that I have some really beautiful things to share with you lovely people!

Crafting & Creating (Endlessly). This month is going to consist of me sitting at the sewing machine, and beneath hot desk lamps for hours and hours. It's going to be a lot of fun though. I'm going to show a few "behind the scenes" type photos of what I'm working on. Though, I won't be sharing too much because I don't want to spoil the surprises!

Planning A Trip. After a year and a half, I'm finally going to visit The States again. I started planning for October, but as you can see, I'm far too busy. Instead, I'll be heading to the U.S. in mid-November. I'm going to be staying in Arizona and Oregon for a few weeks. I'm considering this a little vacation for all the hard work I've been doing.

My Newest Collaboration Project. Daniel and I are constantly talking about new ideas for bodies of artwork. We have too many ideas, and not enough time to complete them really. Well, we recently chose a new collection of work to create together! We went and bought supplies for it last night. (I'll share more on this soon.)

Finish Setting Up My Studio (Finally!). It's been almost two months since I switched studios. Unfortunately, I've been struggling with how to set up my supplies in an organized, but aesthetic way. It's been driving me mad for weeks, until I stumbled upon my "eureka!" moment. I'm almost ready to do a little studio tour!


What are you doing in October? Any awesome plans?

-kaylee

Nine Days

It's been 9 days since Daniel returned from Italy. Once he was home again, I couldn't bring myself to the computer for more than a few minutes. We had so many stories to tell, catching up to do, and enjoying being together again. It was nice to spend a little time away from the blog and the internet. I feel quite re-vitalized and ready to get back to it!

I recently joined Instagram and, like everyone else, I adore it! Here are some snapshots from the past weeks.




1. Long skirts & bare feet. 2. Cloudy Mountaintops. 3. "Ganesha" Painting I'm working on. 4. Happy mail day! 5. Tomato Bruschetta, Yum. 6. "Happy Bee" in progress. 7. My new haircut. 8. Donatello, my turtle, being silly.

I've been on this amazing photography binge. I see amazing photographs everywhere, but I need to get used to carrying my cameras around, so I can always capture the moment. If you want to find me on Instagram, my username is kayleebee.

Do you love taking photographs? Do you use Instagram?

-kaylee