little.black.sheep.shop

Wedding Planning into Doing

So I have been a bit out of touch this past week or so... I have been madly trying to book appointments with all sorts of vendors... and cram them into just two days! Eek!

While that has been a little stressful... I'm excited to report that Ryan and I finished the design of our Save-The-Dates... and are finally turning planning into DOING! :) Yay!!

And I really LOVE how they turned out... here's the front side...

 

 

We based it off a design that we saw online. We snapped a bunch of pics of ourselves and ultimately chose this one. I then added the text and changed the coloring a bit. Love it!

One thing off my to-do list... only a million more to go!!! :)

xxoo!

-h-

Handmade with Love

This year I added some homemade flair to my gift-giving spirit...

I made some infused salts for my Dad. Find a course or sea salt you like, mix with herbs and allow it to sit for a week before gift-giving. If you're looking for ideas, here are a few I made:

Hungarian Paprika

Citrus (Satsuma Orange and Meyer Lemon)

Cracked Caraway Seeds

Crushed Sage & Rosemary

Provide instructions for use including information what types of food each salt would be perfect on (for example, strong herbs are good on meats, citrus-y salts are great on seafood).

Present in glass jars and embellish with pretty labels and ribbon as you see fit!

I also knitted my sister a scarf this year... with a traditional fringed edge...

 

The colors are faded in this photo... it's really vibrant in person!

So... What did your crafty gift-giving brain get up to this holiday season?

xxoo!

Special Centerpieces

Here are pics of some of the photo luminaries I put together (with assistance from my hunny + one of my sisters) for my Mum's 60th Birthday Dinner...

 

 

We were all really pleased with how they turned out. The dining area had low levels of light, so these glowing luminaries were perfect centerpieces for the evening and brought a stir of chatter from the guests as they perused all the pictures.

Want to recreate this project for your own dinner or event?

Just follow these easy steps!!

Materials

Identical photo frames

Printable vellum (either inkjet or laser, depending on your printer)

Scanner

Photo software

Votive candles and votive glasses

Bookbinding tape or colored duct tape

 

Directions

1. Scan in your old photos.

2. Use photo software to change the color of the photo to either black and white or sepia tone. I used sepia tone since we were using unfinished wooden frames.

You will need to be sure your orientation is the same for each luminary. So you need at least three portrait-oriented pictures or three landscape-oriented pictures. If your pictures aren't the same orientation, use a photo cropping tool accordingly.

3. Print your images onto vellum, following the manufacturer's instructions. You will likely need to allow the vellum to dry before moving to the next step.

4. Cut your printed photos to size so they will fit inside each frame.

5. Place the vellum inside the frame first, and THEN put the glass in. This will keep each piece of vellum snugly in place and will prevent the vellum from being burned or marred by the candle.

6. Construct your luminary by placing three frames side by side. Cut your tape of choice slightly smaller than the height of your frame and seal two of the frame "seams" together using the tape. Use a bone folder to rub the tape and ensure it is firmly affixed.

7. For the third and final corner of the luminary, you will need to fold the frames into the triangle shape. Then, place the tape inside the luminary on the third and final seam, again using a bone folder to be sure the tape is properly affixed.

AND... Tadaaaaa! Total time spent: 45 minutes to an hour.

Put candles in glass holders inside each luminary and enjoy the warm glow and fond memories!!

 

 

Here is this project on MS's website too.

Here is a list of the exact materials I used for my project:

Photo Frames from IKEA

HP Inket Printable Vellum

Apple's iPhoto software

White duct tape

(Many thanks to my sister, Ailsa, for sending these pics to me!)

xxoo!!

Little Ewes!

Howdy to the flock!
 
I am SO excited that this day has come... I have been working on this little project for quite a while now... and these little creatures have finally come to life!
 
Flock, I'd like to introduce...
 
 

Starting tomorrow, you will be able to order your own custom Little Ewes portrait from the shop... transforming your family, your softball team, your school class or any other grouping of people into Little Ewes!!
 
 

 
 
Each Little Ewes creation is made just for you - based on a picture (or a combination of pictures) you provide... we can even include pets in your Little Ewes portrait!
 
This is a custom service, so the possibilities are absolutely endless!
 
 

 
 
And in addition to prints, soon you'll be able to have your Little Ewes printed onto stationary, thank you cards and paper goods in addition to other treasures!
 
Here is a thumbnail sample based on the picture shown above:
 
 

 
 
I'm building an FAQ list that I will post here soon.
In the meantime, please feel free to email me if you have any questions.
 
Yippee!!
I hope you love these as much as I do!!

(For those of you in the Houston area, if you are looking for someone who can perfectly capture your family's personality in a photo, please contact kd loftis photography. They are friends of mine and are incredibly gifted. Please peruse their blog to see a sampling of their wondrous past work, which includes sittings with babies, children, couples and families.)

See you all in the shop tomorrow!

xxoo!!

Reminiscing...

I got these pictures the other day and have been meaning to share them with you guys.
 
I made this large custom piece a little over a year ago for some friends who were expecting their first child.
 

 
 
Fans of Amelia Earhart, they helped to come up with the design - we even decided to include the pattern of the baby's bedding into the piece!
 
The detail on each little plaid quilt-square was painted by hand - and I included little stitch marks on the piece to make it really come to life.
 
 

 
It turned out really cute!

Studio sneak peek

It's still a work in progress...
but would you like to take a peek inside my studio?

Okey doke... here 'goes!



So this is it! This is where I plant my creative seeds & watch them grow.

I try to keep it as clean & clutter-free as possible to limit distractions that pull me away from what I'm working on. And the light + breezy calming colors help to keep me focused!! And, yes, I need something to wrangle all of my cables effectively - but I'll get there eventually!

I'm very lucky to have such a large room devoted to my work... and even luckier to sit in front of a HUGE window where I watch the birds & bees (literally, not figuratively) flitter & buzz by all day. And do they EVER!!

If you're curious, most of my furniture is from Ikea.
(J'adore Ikea, people... j'adore).

My "trash bins" (on the floor to the right of my desk) are actually little square collapsible totes from World Market.

The chair (which I used to love but is likely getting replaced soon) I got for around $15 or so years ago when my company was upgrading their office chairs. It is a GREAT chair to read in because it kicks back with hardly any effort!

('Tis true... hand-me-down-office-chair - I will miss you.)

Now if only I could find a way to memorize what I've got stored in all my drawers, cabinets, and nooks, I could remove my little reminder sticky-notes!!

Bags for Hope

I have to admit - it was REALLY dis-heartening to come home after my vacay on Friday. I've been spending a bunch of time by myself since Ryan & I moved from Oklahoma (he got deployed to Afghanistan shortly after the holidays and has been there ever since).

So I was quite sullen and depressed yesterday as I realized I'd be here alone again for a while longer - rumor from overseas is Ryan's return home will be delayed yet again.

*sigh*

But this morning I woke up refreshed, renewed, and determined to shift my mood to a happier place! After reviewing some local volunteer opportunities I want to get involved with, I found out that a food bank located here in Columbia that serves a HUGE chunk of South Carolina, Harvest Hope, is in great need of grocery plastic bags.

Plastic bags, you say? I have a MILLION of those darn things! I hate throwing them away because it seems like such a waste. But I never seem to be able to reuse them all - they just overflow from my plastic-grocery-bag storage container.

So in addition to me collecting all of my spare bags, I decided to create these little leaflets to involve the rest of our cute little neighborhood here:



I added tags for my neighbors to attach to their bag-o-bags and affixed one to the back of each leaflet.

 

You likey?? Me likey. Me likey a lots.

So I'm about to head out with Riley to distribute these to the peeps of Willow Tree.

If you are like me and are overflowing with plastic bags - please see if your local food bank would be happy to take them off your hands!

Nuthin' cheers up the soul like doing something for others.

:)

Film Sampler Box

After receiving a bit of dreary news last week (regarding the delayed return of my better half from his deployment overseas), I became a bit of a hermit for a few days. (The weather this weekend has not helped matters - it has been raining cats & dogs for at least 3 days now! It's been enough to turn the sunniest of personalities into Eeyore's temporarily.)

So I decided to escape the gloomy cloud over my head by watching movies this weekend... And did I EVER!
Here was the weekend movie-marathon-lineup:

Friday Dinner
 Sideways
(with Paul Giamatti, whom is forever-talented)
 
Saturday Breakfast
There Will Be Blood and Religulous (with Bill Maher)
 
Saturday Brunch
Changeling
 
Sunday Breakfast
Horton Hears A Who
 
Sunday Lunch
The Other Boleyn Girl
 
 
Quite the selection of films, I know! A little drama, a little comedy, even a little animation to feed the spirit! I think it worked.
(For the record - my favorites were Sideways and Horton Hears a Who... especially that cute Horton fellow!!)

I also took the opportunity to organize some things in my studio - something I've been putting off for far too long now. It felt good to get it all sorted! Finally, I worked on some album art I'd promised to design for a friend last week.
 


A happy, happy Sunday evening to you all.
 
xxoo!

'Tines Day Scribble

As promised, here is the poem I wrote for my hunny today, who is overseas at the moment.
 

 
Happy Cupid's Day to everyone!

Love to ewe & yours!

For those of you who don't have time to create your own Valentines this year (or want to avoid buying expensive Valentines so you can keep a little cash in your pockets), I have a prezzie for you! I've been working on the little.black.sheep.shop valentines - and now have a few available for you to use!

 

 

I think these would be perfect printed on a nice thick paper or cardstock. You can add a note to your loved one(s) and pop them in a sweetly addressed envelope as is - or have fun decorating your envelopes with buttons, glitter, thread, or anything else you can think of! An absolutely primo project to do in your pajamas on a rainy day - try saying that five times!! The download is available here .

 

(Keep in mind that most decorated envelopes should be hand-delivered.)

 

I hope you all have had great weekends thus far... I think I'm going to spend the rest of the afternoon outside tending to my garden pots and baskets. And then I'll continue to work on my amigurumi this evening while I watch some movies. Maybe I'll find a way to fit in making some cozy homemade fudge in there somewhere too!

 

:)