Last one for today...

I'm working on my first card for American Greetings. Can you tell I am procrastinating? It's is a great learning experience and it's really helping me get my lettering up to snuff. By that I mean - more contemporary.

Anyway, I have lettered "Happy" about 300 times in the past 24 hours so I'm taking a "happy" break. :-)

Here is another gift I crocheted this year. These were for my neices. One day I was over babysitting and I was knitting a hat for someone. They asked if I could knit them a ballerina and a dolly in a blue dress. Hmmm... I'm on it! So this got me interested in amigurumi. For those of you that don't crochet, I think that is the japanese art of crocheting or knitting stuffed animals or toys or something. It is addictive! And fun. My problem is I like to finish things at one sitting so that means I stayed up wayyyy too late making each of these! But the girls loved them and that was totally worth it. They even sleep with them. :-)

Once, again I went to etsy for the pattern. This one is from AJollyShop. I modified the pattern a little to make the ballerina tutu.

More stuff I did this year ... more baby bibs, booties, and hats

As I said, I did go a little crazy with the baby stuff. Here are some more things I did...

These bibs are great. I so wish I had thought to do something like this when my kids wore bibs. This pattern is also from Precious Patterns on Etsy.

I also made these little damask booties (another Precious Patterns):

I crocheted these baby booties. The pattern is from FrougesArt.

I'll post more later... it was a busy year! :-)

Truly,

Erica

Stuff I did this year... Handsewn Baby Bibs

So I can't believe it's the middle of October already! But when I look back on the year, I've done quite a bit of stuff! Not a whole lot of lettering because I took a small hiatus. But I had time to do some projects I enjoy doing. I thought I'd post some for fun, although not related to lettering...

My cousin had her first baby this year. I was thrilled to start making stuff for a baby again. I went a little crazy but had so much fun doing it.

These are reversible bibs. I loved these in that they weren't "baby-ish" but more fun patterns but still in bright colors. I bought the pattern on Etsy from Precious Patterns. She has great patterns.

Free Paperclay Fish Template

Couldn't figure out how to make just a link so I'm uploading this as a photo...hope it works. Have fun and let me know if you make one!
Truly,
Erica

A little crafting... Paperclay Fish

I've been trying to come up with ideas that all three kids and I can do together. The older two had a great time at art camp this summer with our local Art Center. So Friday night I stayed up late making these little fish and turtle ornaments out of paperclay. I drew a template and then used an exacto knife to cut them out. Once cut out, I used a wet paintbrush and my finger to smooth the edges and shape them the way I wanted. I put each one on a balled up piece of recycled paper (the sheets I used to practice my calligraphy) to dry.

I used beads for the eyes in most and left a few in case the kids wanted to paint the eyes instead. I poked a hole in each one so we can hang them but you could also glue a magnet to the back instead.

In the morning, the kids and I painted them. What fun! Everyone could participate and was very happy with what they made. Here's what we came up with... the one on top is Erilyn's, then Kaiden's, then Delainey's, then mine. The kids did a great job. We have two windows in our kitchen eat-in area so I am going to hang these along the window at varying heights.

I've included the free template if anyone wants to give it a try. I will warn you though, it takes a lot of patience and time to shape the ornaments and smooth the edges. But I found it very relaxing and satisfying. :-) If you give it a try, hope you have fun!

Truly,
Erica

Where oh where have I gone?

Wow! It's been a *long* time since I have been on here. Let's just say life with 3 kids has been extremely busy. Studying homeopathic medicine, designing greeting cards, and taking care of three kids has just about put me over the top. However, my littlest one has finally started preschool which means, YES - mommy has 3 hours free EVERY weekday! I don't know what to do with myself. But first I am getting my lettering skills back up to snuff.

I started this week with my first freelance gig for American Greetings. Yippee! I'm very flattered to even be considered for American Greetings so I'll be very, very happy if I get some good gigs. The first one is a Father's Day card and I really like the design. I get to do straight lettering without having to worry about designing the whole card which makes it much less time consuming and a little less stressful. Not as much pay, but hey, it all adds up.

So I also haven't had time these past couple years to keep my hand in what has been happening in the lettering world. Wow again! A lot! There are blogs aplenty and many, many more websites than when I started in 2001.

I was very inspired yesterday reading Jane Farr's beautiful blog! And so I am going to try to blog more which anything would be more since I haven't blogged in literally years!

So here's my first ... I designed this today. I was trying to come up with a "Florida-ish" Christmas design for our local art center which is hosting a contest for their holiday card pack. I could not come up with anything until I saw this beautiful orchid in a sea shell at our local farmer's market this morning! It was calling my name. So I bought it even though I know I won't be able to keep it alive. And the rest just came right out. I'm real happy with it even I don't make it into the card packet. Here it is...hope you enjoy seeing it.

Nanny for the McPhees!

I can't believe we finally have a new Nanny starting today! Hooray! I was able to accomplish so much in just one day. I almost completed the entire website revision. I hope to finish it tomorrow and then update my ispot gallery. It feels good to be back at work after almost a year of managing a house and 3 kids by myself!

We are settling right into Florida and it's getting hot!