Baby Blanket a la Eileen.

Last Thursday I got a amazingly lovely surprise in the mail from a friend of a friend who reads my blog. She sent me a box full of beautiful fabrics. Instantly my wheels where turning on what this box was going to become and of course with baby on my mind it quickly turned into a baby blanket. Thank you so much Eileen for such a thoughtful gift... the fabric will be loved by my new little one.
So I am not a technical sewer. In fact I hardly can be called a seamstress at all. I don't know how to sew in a zipper and could do a pregnant back flip before I could follow a pattern. So if you know anything about sewing hide your eyes... my technique is ugly. When I start a project like this I never really know how it will turn out. This is the first time I have every used seam binding, so again, hide your eyes {thank you so much Estelle for the tutorial!! so sweet}. Any way here is the step by step {in photos} of how I make a baby blanket. This is for all of you out there who wish you knew how to sew... if I can do it so can you.

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art barn clean up + a Post Script

There was so much going on this weekend that I didn't even take a moment to shoot any Thanksgiving photos. In a way it is symbolic of how this holiday has been for me. I feel like it came as fast as it went and on to Christmas. Doesn't it feel that way? As soon as Halloween was over I feel like they were playing Jingle Bells in the drug store. I digress... On Sunday I spent most the day in the Art Barn. For months and months fabric, paper, string, and projects have been stacking on top of each other so Sunday I took the entire day just cleaning up. I kind of feel like I was a kid, cleaning up my room before I did homework {the homework at task is all of my holiday projects I have in mind}. I actually want to spend more then 30 seconds in the Art Barn now that I don't have to shuffle through trash just to find my scissors {no joke I let it get that bad}. Let the Christmas Crafting Begin!

P.S. I wanted to follow up a bit on my last post. My girlfriend got her results back on Friday and she is completely cancer free!... sigh. Thank you so much for all of your kind words. I had people emailing me whom I only know through the blog world saying they were praying for her. WOW. Our prayers were answered. OH and I take it back; this year hasn't been a doozy. It has just been life and I am finding that every year 'life' seems to get a little more complicated and a little more serious. In fact how could I call it a doozy when I went to France, have amazing {healthy} friends, I am healthy, my family is healthy and I am madly in love with my two guys. I know I have many blessings to be thankful for. Thank you for all of your sweet comments. I truly hold out on your every word. I love when I hear from someone who has never commented and absolutely love when I get a comment from a friend. Thank you and thank you for making this year full of many moments of joy.

Art Barn happenings...

Something about this beautiful crisp weather makes me want to spend all of my time in the Art Barn. I think I am the most creative in Spring and Fall {this might have to do with the fact that the Art Barn isn't insulated ;)}. Any way here are a few happenings...

The elephants are now for sale on Reverie~Daydream and are going fast. Here is Lillian all wrapped up and on her way. {Also I have been getting a lot of emails on the elephants... thank you!... I will only be making 4 more before the new year so if you want one you better come'n get um}.

Halloween

Halloween was an absolute blast this year. I feel like I need to go to bed at 7pm every night this week to catch up. Henry's costume was a success although my little Wild Thing partied too hard on Friday night and there was an 8 inch tear {nothing that some patches and the sewing machine couldn't fix}. Saturday night was our annual "Big Kid" party at the Belly Up and last night we had a little pizza party/ trick-or-treating extravaganza at our house.

The adult Baby Bjorn was sewn in the Art Barn along with the giant diaper... and yeah!!... we got second place in the costume contest between a Transformer & Cher.

Reverie + Fern & Feather

Over a year ago I made my first elephant and since then I have been trying to figure out how to sell them. I have thought about retail shops, etsy, Renegade... but none of these options felt right. During this time I fell in love with the online boutique Reverie~Daydream and eventually got to know Melissa. After lots of emails, and a couple phone chats I knew that her lovely little boutique would be the perfect fit. Since then I have met her beautiful family, we have shared meals around my table, bath time with the kiddos and have become good friends. I am so so so excited to announce that we have partnered up and I will be selling my elephants exclusively through Reverie~Daydream Boutique, November 1. Right now I have just a few ready to find a home and am collecting treasures to make new ones every opportunity I get. The elephants are 2 feet tall, come with a name, story and will be beautifully wrapped at your door step in 1-2 weeks.

for my little Wild Thing

One of Henry's favorite books is Where the Wild Things Are. He loves running around the house saying "I'LL EAT YOU UP." So with Halloween around the corner I thought he must be Max. Although I love to sew and have been for a long time, I have no idea how to follow a pattern, sew a button hole or sew in a zipper. I am very much a 'wing it' seamstress {much like my cooking... ie. the blasted Dutch baby}. So when it came to Max I decided to get some off-white courderoy, fur, felt and 4 buttons. I used my kraft paper to make a pattern {of sorts}. I just outlined a pair of Henry's pajamas with about a 1/2 inch extra all around. I started this project last weekend because I thought that it could be a total flop in which case I would need time for plan B. Well so far so good. I still need to make some claws but I think I almost have a complete 'wolf suit'... And if you are at all considering making a costume you totally have time. There are a couple more weeks and if you are anything like my mom the bulk of the making is usually the night before the parade or party any way. yeah... Happy Halloween!

and the winner is...

Estelle you just won~
2 yards of pink and white striped hat binding {from millinery in the south of France}
1 spool of blue thread {from Visalia, CA}
2 milk caps {from Solana Beach}
2 15 cent Dairy Coupons {from the Irvine flea market}
5 old buttons {from Visalia, CA}
6 stamps {from the Chelsea flea market}
1 key {from my girlfriends grandmother's farm somewhere in the south?}
1 picture dated 1948 {from the Irvine flea market}
1 paper owl {from Tinsel Trading Co. in NYC}
1 seashell {from Cardiff by the Sea}
1 French playing card {from a brocante in the south of France}


Happy Friday you all and Estelle please email me your address so I can get your goodies of to you.

ox, Alexis

P.S. I always wondered how people picked winners so I thought I would share... I usually have Henry pick out of a bowl with everyone's names but this time I thought I would pick my 5th comment {5 is my most favorite number}. oxo

one + a thank you

One year today I started blogging.

My great grandfather Charles had a bookshelf in his house that was full of spiral notebooks. Every page was covered in pencil writing that said a few specific things... what my grandmother and him weighed that morning, if he happened to fill up his car and if there was a significant event that happened that day. As a little girl I remember sneaking into his room and pulling 1979 off of the shelf. July 5th 1979, there I was, 'Alexis Nicole Zolezzi was born, 7lbs 13oz, in San Diego, California.' Ever since I saw that I have attempted dozens of journals. I think every resolution since has had something to do with keeping some sort of record of life's occurrences. And much to my surprise my blog has become just that, although my blog doesn't include Ross and my weight everyday {yikes can you believe that is true}, it is a little slice of my life documented for anyone to read. Thank you for encouraging me with your comments and emails. I have had so much fun sharing with you all.

all my love & light. Alexis

P.S. as a token of celebration for this anniversary I will pick a person at random to win a little goodie/mystery bag from the Art Barn. Just leave your comment by next Friday {10/7}...good luck.

it's a wrap

I thought Friday would never come, it has been quite a week. Our house is so so so close, my clients Barn install is on Monday and I am so looking forward to seeing my godson, Luka this weekend. Does anyone else feel like time is going by way too fast... I feel a bit of a chill in the air even {which means the holidays are just around the corner, yikes!}. Well sending lots of love and wishing you all a happy weekend!
ox, Alexis

PS. Happy Birthday Jennie!

the Art Barn gets a bed

The one thing lacking in the Art Barn is a place for Ross. I want him to come hang out when I am sewing but the floor is very hard and he usually ends up reading or playing the ukulele on a chair outside. In the same weekend I sold the doll house, we found a "FREE" bed frame in someone's yard {Yes I take "FREE" things out of people's yards}. So now we have a little place for someone to stay or a place to play the ukulele.

I hung up some of the letters I found in France and I finally have a place for my Hudson Bay Blanket that I got a couple years ago at the Irvine flea market. Oh and not sure if you can see but on the right of the bed is my Samantha French print that I must put in a frame... immediately.

PS. Bianca you are funny, love you!

felt wall

Felt has got to be one of the most underrated textiles that there is. Almost every time I look over at the wall of felt at Yardage Town I think... what the heck? who buys that? Now I know... ME! So there was a huge wall of felt at the the New Children's Museum in San Diego. It is so cute. There is a basket with scissors and pieces of felt to make your own objects to stick on the wall. Rather than giving Henry scissors to make his own {which will eventually come down the road} I have been obsessed with making them for him. I haven't gotten the board done yet {our house is busting at the seams as we wait to move our rooms around} but my idea is to staple gun a large strip of blue felt on top and green on the bottom of a piece of plywood. I am going to screw that on to the wall and let Henry have fun with all the pieces that I have made.
What else should I make?

wrapping up

I am only going for 10 days and it feels like a lot is happening while I'm away...

1~ Olivia's shower all wrapped with a little bunny that I made. 2~ Henry's buddy Jacob turns two so he needs a shirt of course! 3~ I finally finished the book for my in-laws, filled with all their friend's letters and photos from their party. 4~ Happy Birthday to my brother in law Matt.

milk caps

The newest treasures in the Art Barn. I found a little baggie of old milk caps in a thrift store and I have been gluing them to packages... I love everything about them aren't they lovely?

newest Art Barn happenings

Bridal shower card: a little typing, stamping, glueing, glittering and a piece of ribbon.

Paper Sailor Hats. {learn how to make here}

Grosgrain Ribbon Garlands.

Thank you tags, for all the mommies who got their little models to my house on time last Sunday, thank you. {chicks from Tinsel Trading Co. love. love. love... now I have 46 left.}