Sunday, July 31, 2011

Nursery Inspirations: Jungle Love




Gypsy Lane's "Jungle Love" Blocks, one of our most popular designs. To view these blocks on Etsy, click here.
If you are designing a Jungle themed nursery, why not put a little modern twist on it? Jungle decor is really popular, so you have a lot of options when you are choosing your items. Check out these finds below to give your Jungle themed nursery a fun, fresh and contemporary look. How can you not love those Safari Animal pillows and gorgeous Giraffe lamps?!

Jungle Love


Saturday, July 30, 2011

Staying Creative!


Suggestions 7, 10, 13 and 19 usually help  me when I'm in a rut.
How about you?
Do you have any other suggestions for keeping your creativity thriving?

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Nursery Inspirations: Classy Girl

When a customer contacts me requesting a new theme or color palette I haven't worked with before, I am thrilled. I had fun working with the pink, black and white theme on this new set of "Classy Girl" Blocks. I had so much fun, in fact, that I set up a collection inspired by these blocks. Check out the nursery items I envision these blocks coordinating with below. I have to give thanks to my friend Jaci who introduced me to polyvore.com, which is a super fun site that lets you design your own inspiration boards! New obsession!
Gypsy Lane's "Classy Girl" Blocks on Etsy. Find them here.
Classy Girl Nursery


Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Our First Baby

There she is. The furry love of my life. Gigi was our first baby.............

From the minute we adopted her, we have loved her beyond words! She taught us how to be responsible parents, and I truly consider her my baby.
Gigi is an amazing dog and has a very gentle disposition; we were not worried about any danger she might pose to the baby. My biggest concern was that Gigi would become very jealous or sad that Ella would be requiring so much of our attention usually reserved for her. Gigi 100% knew she was the star of our household before Ella arrived. I even believe she sensed something was different during my pregnancy. I became one of those weird pet parents having conversations with my dog about her new role as a big sister and how we would always love her just as much.
Scott and I made sure to take caution when we brought Ella home from the hospital, just in case. While Ella and I were still staying in the hospital, Scott brought home a hat that Ella had worn so that Gigi could sniff it out and become familiar with the scent of the new baby. We are of course trying to give Gigi as much affection as possible, but it can be hard with a needy newborn in the house. I think Gigi is still a bit confused and wonders if this is a permanent thing or not, but she has taken pretty well to Ella so far.  What has your experience been like if you introduced a pet to a new baby? If you are bringing a new baby home to a pet, check out these tips from Animal Planet.             
We hope as Ella grows that she comes to love Gigi as much as we do!

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Kid's Korner: Drawworm

Drawworm's shop owner and artist Kelley creates custom pencil portraits from photographs, and boy are her drawings gorgeous! Though not necessarily a "kid's item", I wanted to feature her work on Kid's Korner because I think her drawings make a beautiful and unique gift idea for moms and dads to preserve memories with their children.

Custom Double Portrait from Photo 11x14- $180.00
 Kelley says "I love drawing children, because their personalities shine through in every photo. They're never fake or posed. I hope that the portraits I draw of children will capture their personalities in such a way that makes their parents remember and smile every time they look at the drawing."


The prices for a portrait depend on the size and number of subjects in the drawing.
Kelley is currently studying Illustration at the Academy of Art and has been drawing ever since she has been old enough to draw a crayon. I love the way she got her shop name. "When I was young, my father saw me with my nose buried in a book and said, 'You're such a bookworm!' My little brother, knowing my love for drawing, added, 'Yeah, and you're a drawworm, too!'"

Send her a photo to get started! Kelley says she loves hearing the stories behind the photos she is working from. She is currently working on an old wedding photo for a couple's 60th anniversary.





"I love making people happy with drawings. In our modern world, almost everything we own is mass-produced, instantly available and quickly replaced. I want to provide people with something special: one-of-a-kind artwork, inspired by each individual customer, created to reflect their personalities and memories, drawn with care and pride by human hands."

To view more of Kelley's portraits, visit her Etsy shop, Drawworm.

Thank You! Love, Ella.

The outpouring of love we have received from family and friends has been amazing! Thank you to everyone for your visits, your well wishes, and your gifts. If you are looking for a baby gift, I found these ideas to be really creative and/or simply adorable.

A set of bloomers came in the cutest packaging. Check out Bunch O' Bloomers (For Blooming Buns)- each with a colorful flower on the bum!

Ella modeling her bloomers.

"My Very Own Name" is a personalized book that teaches children how to spell their own names. How cool is that idea?!! You can find this and other personalized children's books at I See Me's website.

Another page in the book by I See Me. Look closely and you can see Ella's name in the story!

I love owls! Ella's room is decorated with trees, songbirds and owls. This pillow comes from an Etsy shop called I Sew Lucky,  filled with adorable owl pillows.

A truly unique onesie! My friend (and former sorority sister) had this made on Etsy, though I'm not sure what shop she used. You can find tons of sellers doing personalized work like this on Etsy.

I had never heard of Trumpette socks until having a baby. I think these socks are so fun! Find more designs at http://www.trumpette.com

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Ella Ivy Levitt

"A new baby is like the beginning of all things, hope, a dream of possibilities."

Ella Ivy Levitt was born on 7/7/11 at 2:51pm. We couldn't love her more.




Thursday, July 21, 2011

Kid's Korner: Drops of Color Shop

I found Drops of Color Shop through my search for mobiles on Etsy. While choosing items for my daughter's nursery, I was hoping to find a lot of unique and handmade pieces so her room would be truly one of a kind. Gladys' shop was fairly new so I thought it would be great to support her. And of course I LOVED her mobiles. Not only was she great to work with, she allows you to completely customize your mobiles and choose your own colors and fabrics. All of her mobiles are completely made by hand; no machines are involved.

I am in love with the owl mobile she made to match my daughter's nursery. She creates a lot of adorable owl mobiles, (which are my personal favorites) but also offers other fun designs. Check out more of her wonderfully beautiful mobiles by visiting Drops of Color Shop on Etsy.

My mobile from Drops of Color Shop.

Bird Design.

Mobile Design made to match Pottery Barn's "Hailey Bedding"

Owl Design

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Kid's Korner

Since I put production of my artwork on hold (due to the anticipation of my baby girl), I wanted to keep up my creative spirit and inspiration alive! I am starting a new feature on my blog called Kid's Korner. There are so many incredibly talented artists and dreamers that I often come across on Etsy. As I began decorating my babies' nursery, I couldn't believe how many awesome and unique products I found. I will begin regularly sharing their shops with you here; specifically shops that cater to babies' and kids' items. I love seeing how different artists have fun creating kids' products with whimsy and imagination, and I hope you do too. So check back often!

Here are just a few finds to wet your appetite.....