{Happy Holidays}

Merry Christmas!!! A few days late, but I hope it was merry nonetheless. We put up our decorations right after Thanksgiving and, well, never really finished. I still have a couple un-opened boxes in the garage :( BUT, I got some fun new stuff from TARGET! I love that place.

We have had a wonderful holiday this year! We spent the week before Christmas finishing projects and getting things out in the mail.

We hung out with my parents, brother and his family on Christmas Eve, did some baking, eating, gift exchanging, eating, napping, eating,...

Then we headed out early Christmas morning for Baltimore to spend some time with Tom's family. We'll be here hanging out until the new year. Can't believe it's almost 2012!!

I spent some time this season making us some new stockings. I used Camille's pattern, Merry and I absolutely LOVE how they turned out. I will be listing custom stockings in my Etsy shop year round, so if you want some new stockings, let me know, its never too late or early!

I'll be back soon to share some more holiday projects! I hope you had a wonderful holiday and are looking forward to the New Year! Yay for 2012!!

OH!! I almost FORGOT! My husband surprised me with the most beautiful early Christmas present the week before Christmas! A NEW CAR!!! YAY!! If you know me and have ridden in my car, you'll know that this is monumental! I LOVE my new wheels and so does Cash! YIPPIE! :)

XOXO

{Hello Dear Friends}

Just checking in. It's crazy around here right now. We have a baby that is CRAWLING! Lots of sewing, shopping, wrapping, etc. etc. etc.

So many people talk about loving the hustle & bustle of the holiday season,... I have to say that all the rushing kind of stresses me out. SO, I am going to kick back for a bit with some hot chocolate and just relax, before I have to run out for some last minute gifts, finish stitching on WIPs, wrap the rest of the gifts, head out to the post office, get a couple custom orders done, chase my newly mobile infant, edit those family pictures, place some orders before its too late to receive before Christmas,.... oh geez,... I gotta go! ;)

Happy rushing.

{New Etsy Goodies}

{Holiday Ruffle Pillow Cover}

{Carnival Pillow Cover}

{Gypsy Wild Thing Quilt}

So there you have it,.... get em while they're hot! ;)

See you soon!

{Get Your Shop On}

Blue Ruffle Pillow Cover

New pillow styles in the SHOP!

Girly Ruffle Pillow Cover

Light Blue Sparkle Clothespins

Along with some new sparkly colors for clothespins.

Light Pink

Dottie Bunting

And of course some more bunting!

Red, White & Blue Bunting (SO original! Anyone have another name suggestion?)

That is all for now! I am headed out with my little guy to search for some good holiday fabric deals! What do you have planned for the weekend???

{5-ish Months}

He was 5 months 20 days ago,.............

The picture above was taken a couple days ago. The one below was taken in Maryland about a month ago so neither is actually Cash at just 5 months.

At 5-ish months old, Cash is:

-Teething

-Loving Sophie the Giraffe (Thanks Santos fam!)

-Rolling front, back, sideways, upside-down, around and all over

-Weighing in at a hefty 17(ish) pounds!

-Smiling alllllll the time (when he isn't crying over those teeth!)

-Eating cereal, apples, pears, carrots, sweet potatoes and squash

-NOT eating green beans

-Sleeping approx. 6-8 hours at night (THANK YOU!)

-A social butterfly

-Having a bit of separation anxiety

-TEETHING

He is the sweetest baby ever and I love him more and more everyday!

{More new Etsy items}

I listed a couple of the buntings today! Strawberry Picnic and Sweetheart. These are the large sizes and measure approx. 7.5 feet end to end.

"Sweetheart"

When I realized I was using clothespins all the time for hanging quilts, pillow covers, fabric, bunting,... etc. for photo shoots, I decided they should be prettier. SO,... naturally I added GLITTER! Glitter makes everything awesome! These are also in the shop. They will come in gold, silver, light pink, light blue and turquoise.

This is SO fun! I have been a busy little bee the last couple days getting everything set up at Paper Box Quilt Co. and seeing that sparkle and ribbon is making me smile! GO! Tell all your friends!! I have a small milestone coming up here on my blog, so if you spread the word,... there might be a giveaway in the near future!! (especially since I missed my two year blogiversary,... even more reason for maybe a DOUBLE giveaway. It's been a while!)

{Etsy Grand Re-Opening & A NEW Name!!}

I am super excited to announce the GRAND re-opening of my Etsy shop!!!! I decided to make a few changes over there,... first, I am no longer designing/selling jewelry. I have so much more fun with FABRIC! :) So I'll be selling my quilts, some pillow covers, bunting, little odds & ends and there WILL be a paper box here and there, after all that is where this all started, is it not? Second,... I have changed the name of my shop! What was previously Bella Gioielli (Italian for Beautiful Jewels) is now Paper Box Quilt Co. I realize that quilts have nothing to do with paper or boxes, but I'm sticking with it!

So, here you have it! My first 5 items at Paper Box Quilt Co.

(let me know what you think) (only if it's nice...) ;)

First up is "It's A Hoot" quilt.

This quilt was made in my (smoke free/pet friendly) studio by MOI!! Fabric is "It's A Hoot" by Momo for Moda Fabrics. It is so bright and cheery consisting of little birds, polka dots, pretty damask and funky florals in a mix of pink, aqua, red, yellow, green & lavender(ish/grey). Pretty perfect for a little girls room or to snuggle under on the couch.

Pattern is "Piece of Cake" by Thimble Blossoms. Finished squares measure approx. 7.5" and all feature a strip of a contrasting Hoot fabric & are framed by the super cute EGG shaped pink polka dots. Backing is matching pink "damask". It is all over machine quilted in a free motion meandering pattern with 100% polyester ivory thread.

Measures 63" x 71"

All fabrics used on "It's A Hoot" are 100% cotton, batting inside is also 100% cotton. Your quilt will come pre-washed, all crinkly and beautiful. To wash: machine wash on cold with color safe detergent, tumble dry on low. (I use Tide w color safe bleach/downey fabric softener combo).

"It's A Hoot" is ready to ship and ready to be loved for a very long time!

Next is "Baby Boy" Pillow Cover

Baby Boy throw pillow cover is made from the fabric line, Soliel by Annette Tatum for Westminster Fabrics. This sweet fabric mixes aqua, yellow, grey and orange with stripe, star, floral and puppy dog prints The patchwork front has been machine quilted in a straight line, grid pattern with 100% polyester blue & orange thread & backed with a coordinating pale blue solid fabric.

Pillow cover measures 18"x 18" and will fit nicely on a 18" pillow form. (pillow form is not included, but can be purchased at your local craft or hobby store).

All fabrics used on "Baby Boy" pillow cover" are 100% cotton, batting inside is also 100% cotton. Pillow covers will not come pre-washed. To wash: machine wash on cold with color safe detergent, hang or lay flat to dry. (I use Tide w color safe bleach/downey fabric softener combo).

"Baby Boy" is ready to ship and ready for your baby boy nursery!

And of course,... "Baby Girl" Pillow Cover

Baby Girl throw pillow cover is made from the fabric line, Soliel by Annette Tatum for Westminster Fabrics. This sweet fabric mixes pink, yellow, grey and orange with stripe, star, floral and puppy dog prints The patchwork front has been machine quilted in a straight line pattern with 100% polyester pink & orange thread & backed with a coordinating pale pink solid and pale pink check print.

Pillow cover measures 17"x 17" and will fit nicely on a 16" pillow form (shown). (pillow form is not included, but can be purchased at your local craft or hobby store).

All fabrics used on "Baby Girl" pillow cover are 100% cotton, batting inside is also 100% cotton. Pillow covers will not come pre-washed. To wash: machine wash on cold with color safe detergent, hang or lay flat to dry. (I use Tide w color safe bleach/downey fabric softener combo).

"Baby Girl" is ready to ship and ready for your baby girl nursery!

Finally I have the first two of a series of "Deconstructed NEST" Pillow Covers

Deconstructed NEST #1 is made from the fabric line, Nest by Tula Pink for Moda Fabrics. This funky fabric mixes pink, aqua, yellow, green and brown with bird, feather, egg and floral prints. The "braided" front has been machine quilted in a free motion meandering pattern with 100% polyester ivory thread & backed with a cheery pink print from the Nest line.

About 2 years ago I constructed this Nest braid as a quilt top,... it ended up terribly crooked. The top was perfect and the bottom swayed (to say the least) to the side. My BIG mistake is your fortune. I was able to cut apart the wonky quilt top and make several pillow covers out of it. (don't worry, none of the pillows ended up WONKY!) ;) This is the first in the "Deconstructed NEST" pillow collection. Stay tuned for more!

Pillow cover measures 20"x 20" and will fit perfectly on a 20" pillow form. (pillow form is not included, but can be purchased at your local craft or hobby store).

All fabrics used on "Deconstructed NEST #1" are 100% cotton, batting inside is also 100% cotton. Pillow covers will not come pre-washed. To wash: machine wash on cold with color safe detergent, hang or lay flat to dry. (I use Tide w color safe bleach/downey fabric softener combo).

"Deconstructed NEST #1" is ready to ship and ready to adorn a couch near you!

(#2,... same basic description, but it has been straight line quilted instead of stippled)

Remember THIS disaster??? Yeah,... now we have PILLOWS! :)

And there you have it! I will be posting new items regularly so keep checkin in!! Share it with ALL your friends! Thanks for all your support!

XOXO

{Happy Day}

Nothing really interesting to share today but I thought I'd say hi. I took this picture the other day near where I live, on my way home from taking pictures of my Etsy items (yay). I kept seeing this super cute turquoise truck parked at this old fashioned gas station and, HELLO the red & aqua!!! Just perfect. I finally stopped to get a picture. Happy Day :)

I have real updates,.... a couple photo shoots, a 5 month old, some Etsy stuff, but I realized that I take WAY too many pictures and then can't narrow them down. Then I spend so long editing them,.... I need to come up with a new system. For now,... it's FRIDAY!!

See you soon! XOXO

{Happy First Birthday Will}

Wow,... this has been a long time coming! I took these pictures at a first birthday party like 2 or 3 months ago! Falling behind much?? Have you seen any 5 month pictures yet?? No? Yeah.

Anyway, I digress, PARTY. WOW! Isn't it beautiful?? Right up my alley, from the COLOR (hello!) to the awesome 5 tier ombre cake to the candy "buffet", the BUNTING!,... I can go on and on! I was so lucky to photograph this party!

You might have noticed that I have kind of changed things up a little on my blog,... just a little. Lots of collages. So, I wanted to fit more pictures into my posts (as if I needed to put MORE pictures) without stringing them along,... one,... at,... a,... time. You know? I just have such a hard time narrowing them down. MORE pictures!!! :)

For instance,.... I took several angles of these treats,.... and I like them all, I couldn't decide, so here they ALL are!

Marshmallow pops, didn't have any, but HOW CUTE!? Banana whoopie pies (I ate two. To make up for not eating the marshmallow) Cake batter rice crispy treats?? YUM. YUM.

Everything was perfect. Down to the matching birthday outfit!!

CAKE SMASH!!!! (there is frosting on his leg,... I'd say that was a success!)

And to top it all off,.... cake-in-a-jar party favors! WHAAT?? I can't handle any more adorable-ness.

I hope you all had a great weekend! The weather here was BEAUTIFUL but it was still pretty lazy around here! Can't wait to take the little one out for some tricks and treats tomorrow! Pictures on that soon!

By the way,... it took me allllllllllll day to create this post, not entirely sure why. I fell asleep last night editing photos (at 8:30 I need to add, yes, 8:30. On a Saturday night. Lame). I worked on this post between a little sewing, a little grocery shopping, a semi-home-cooked dinner, some strained green beans which neither me nor Cash were too fond of, Scream 4 and Bridesmaids. Here I am finishing up over 24 hours later. Again, I don't know why. :)

XOXO