Valentine's Birds tomorrow

These little guys will be in my Etsy shop tomorrow!

Walnut Animal Society

I just realized I never even posted about the launch of the stuffed animal company that I hinted about! So here it is: Walnut Animal Society. We barely launched in time to ship before Christmas, but had great success and some very sweet customers. They even sent pictures on Twitter of the happy recipients of new stuffed animals. You can find the company at the website, on Facebook, and I'm also on Twitter now.

My lovely friend Anna from Rifle Paper Co. posted the animals on her holiday gift guide. They were also featured on Oh Joy, and the Matchbook Magazine blog. I just returned from New York to drop off a few animals to Pink Olive, an adorable boutique in the East Village. I also did some fabric shopping so that the animals will get some new clothes soon too!

In the midst of lots of sewing, I managed to make a few little birds for Valentine's Day. I'll send an email when they're in the shop! Should be in just a few days. Happy February!

Announcing!

In the coming days, I'll be launching a brand new company and website. It has been in the works for most of 2011 and I'm unbelievably excited that it's really going to happen so soon. I can't wait to show everyone! Here's a little peek at the new stuffed animals in the works. I'll send an email to the mailing list when the new site launches, where you'll be able to sign up for updates on the new company. In the meantime, I'm trying to get some needle felted bird ornaments done for Christmas, so keep an eye out for a holiday shop update as well. Have a great weekend!

A very happy Halloween

After picking out a pumpkin and making the final preparations to Henry's dinosaur poncho, we headed out for his first trick-or-treating experience. It was a total success. I had no idea that my little 1-and-a-half year-old would figure out what was going on. But thanks to our friend Parker, who was Strawberry Shortcake for Halloween, Henry got the hang of trick-or-treating. He'd walk up to the door with Parker (who is a brave 4 year-old) take a piece of candy, and walk back to his car and put the candy in his bucket. We stayed out for three hours! It was awesome. He also happens to love Reese's miniatures because he can open them himself. He ate one for breakfast, which I hope he does not expect every morning from now on. :)

Heading out.

Walking to Parker's house.

Knocking on Parker's door, which was practice for the evening. Henry says "na na" for "knock knock."

Strawberry Shortcake and Henry the Dinosaur. He does a very convincing roar.

As for his costume, I got the idea from these amazing coats I found on Etsy, through Pinterest (which I happen to love. Here's a link to mine for fun.). Little Goodall is the name of the shop. They look super well-made and really cozy!

I hope you had a wonderful Halloween. And that you are not as full as I am from eating way too much of my kid's candy.

In the schoolyard

The headmaster of the school

Teacher conference

School portrait

Bully in the schoolyard!

Here are the latest photos of this fall gang of owls, which will be in the shop tomorrow at 3pm EST. This photo shoot was particularly great since the weather cooled down that morning and Henry ran around the basketball court in excitement. Glad his first experience with middle school was a good one!

Fall! (Sort of)

It's finally Fall, although the 90-degree temperatures here in Florida do not make it easy to say that it really is Fall. But! Halloween is coming, which means it surely is Fall, and time for the holidays right around the corner. I've started working on Henry's Halloween costume although it is hard for me to top the fox from last year.

These little birds are almost ready for a shop update in the next few days (maybe early next week). I got so enamored with all the color-blocking during the New York Fashion Week runway shows that I have joked that these are my runway birds. They are so ready-to-wear, no?


(Images above: Style.com from the Steven Alan and J Crew Spring 2012 shows)

Weekend working

We spent the weekend with friends at a lovely birthday party, full of delicious cabernets and cakes. I made a big ol' cake, courtesy of the Magnolia Bakery cookbook, and I made a little bird named Pearla as a gift.

I had some assistance taking photos of Pearla from my little helper Henry, who was also ripping at my shirt to get my attention. Oh, the hazards of my at-home working conditions. :)

I'm working on some fun new sewn projects hopefully to debut before the end of the year. I've always loved sewing since I was a little girl, so this new project has me really excited. I'm also working on some birds for a mid-September shop update so stay tuned. Hope you had a great weekend!

Shop update today at 4pm EST

The summer swimmers will be in the shop today at 4pm EST, along with a few new cake toppers. I didn't quite finish the other birds I planned, so I'll have another shop update the first week in September I think. Perhaps a little flock of back-to-school birds. See you at 4pm!

Inner tubes

I am pretty in love with these inner tube birdies. My friend Ashley said a while back that she thought a little inner tube would be so cute on the birds, and she was right! These little summer birds will be for sale very soon--I think I'll have a shop update early next week. I'll send an email to the mailing list as soon as I know for sure. More photos on Flickr and Facebook.

BRIDES Magazine

The August issue of BRIDES magazine is out, and one of my toppers is featured. This is quite a huge deal to me because I think it is the largest publication I've ever been in. The staff at BRIDES was so kind to me and sent me a copy in the mail before it came out. Then I got a text from my dad with a picture of his copy of BRIDES--he said it was his first issue! So cute. My mom took her copy to work with her to show off. It is like I won the spelling bee.

I've been super busy making birds for a summer shop update, and there are currently two toppers in my Etsy shop right now. I'll post some photos next week of the birds that are in the works!

100 Layer Cake

100 Layer Cake is an amazing website with a great selection of wedding items, and a really popular blog. I was so excited when one of the brides I worked with, Audree, emailed letting me know her wedding was featured. Gabriel Ryan Photographers took some really beautiful photos, and sent me such a nice email when I requested permission to post their photos here on my blog. I love this view of the whole dessert table.


In other wedding blog news, my husband Joey's band The Silver Fleece was actually featured on Style Me Pretty a few months ago. He is lookin' so cute in his suit and hat playing the guitar. (Image by Sarah Bray.)

We have truly achieved success, now that both of us have been featured on wedding blogs. :)

PS: There are two toppers on Etsy right now!

American Greetings

American Greetings created this e-card using my birdies! It's so fun to see them come to life. You can watch it for free here!

I made and arranged most of the little objects in the animation. Joey took all the photos, which was fun because we even used a green screen, and rotated the bird around on a makeshift dolly to get him from all angles. I love that the guys from American Greetings named him Wendell. I think my favorite part is Wendell's bendy legs.

Father's Day Birdies

I made these four little dads in honor of the big day on Sunday. They are wearing ties made from a Liberty of London handkerchief I got at the actual store in London a few years ago. It was tough to cut into it, but it made some adorable little accessories.

I also have two cake toppers that were created for a magazine (hopefully coming out in August!) and those will be in the shop today at 3pm EST. I haven't made iPod birds in a long time, so it was fun to recreate them. Here are some photos!

One Year

My little baby turned one yesterday. What a year! We celebrated with some Chick-fil-a in the morning, some splash park at lunch, and some cake at dinner. He got a few things that go, and a few things with buttons.

I've been finishing some custom orders and getting ready for a shop update, hopefully before Father's Day. Here are a few little birdies from this past month.


Henry also has a new friend named Finn who just arrived last week. Here are some little shoes I made for him. He is teeny so I hope they fit him before he actually walks; I could see the fabric being ripped to shreds since he'll be tearing it up on the playground with Henry before we know it.


Those are the updates around this household!

ReadyMade Feature!

The new issue of ReadyMade is out, and my "nerdy birdies" are in it! It is so exciting to see them in print, as part of a feature on bird feeders. They even included a little bio on me in the front of the magazine.

It just so happened that this weekend, ReadyMade had teamed up with Ikea to build a modular dwelling at the craft fair downtown, complete with blueprints. They had some copies of the new issue and gave me a few to take, and then took my photo for fun with the room because I was so excited about it.

So fun!

Cheery chore

The laundry is not such a chore because I get to use detergent that has the birdies on it! A while back, Seventh Generation contacted us about using a photo of the birds on their baby detergent. It took a year before it finally showed up here in Florida, but it's so fun to be able to purchase it all around town, especially now that we have Henry!

Spring Wedding

These little lovebirds will be for sale in the shop update as well. I made her veil and the fabric base out of a vintage handkerchief. I should be adding items to the shop on Thursday (tomorrow) around 2pm EST.

Easter Chicks

The Easter chicks are decked out in their favorite costume. These guys will be coming in a shop update very soon! It will probably be later this week as soon as I can get everything listed. I've also created a Facebook page if that's easier for you to follow updates, and I'll be posting more about the shop update there as well. Find the link over to the right. Or here. Happy Spring!