A Beautiful Mess

it's time...

it's time for an  etsy  update tonight! here are a few peeks that the new goods...



lots of new prints and super cute monkey stationery...

oooh! and new peter pan inspired paintings...


and a new little painting on vintage fabric... 

well, that's all i have for now... there is a ton more stuff, but i have to save some for tonight.... :)
if you are interested in being "first in line" the update will take place tonight at 12:01 pm (Central). See you there!
xo. elsie

what feels magical today?

i've been a busy girl this week getting ready for an etsy shop update (tomorrow night... omg!), designing fun t-shirts with jeremy and taking photos of the beautiful miss. vanessa.

i just wanted to stop in and share with you an artist who is filling my head and my heart with dreams and inspiration this week, mary









(she is such a classic!)

what feels like magic to you this week?
also, does anyone else love the new Beck album as much as i do?

xoxo. els

a beautiful day and a story...

today i got to hang out with two of my favorite people....

kendra and rachel! they are so wonderful!

we went to a tea house (nostalgic.. i used to go there with both my grandmothers), flea market and a scrapbook store (it's been a while since i've shopped for supplies! that was fun, especially since this past weekend i cleaned out about 6 boxes of supplies that had been collecting dust in my studio for a few years).

here are a few pics from the flea market...




it was so much fun! thrift shopping/flea markets are such a treat. i am so glad that rach is living in Springfield now, she is the perfect shopping partner!

well, i promised to share a little bit more about jeremy's new song, Immovable. (i usually don't post such personal stuff, but this story is so special to me... i am happy to share it) it's important to this story for you to understand that jeremy is a very shy kid. oh, and this took place in january, just a few weeks after we started hanging out... 
jeremy called and told me that he had a gift for me, but that i had to come and get it right then before he changed his mind. well, vanessa was on tour that whole month and that night happened to be her only night home so i tried to talk him out of it... he insisted. of course, i gave in quickly and went to see him. i told him i could only stay for five minutes, so he came out to my car and we listened to this song for the first time (he had recorded it earlier that evening). he had written something in invisible ink (the kind that you can only read with a glow pen) this is what it said...

"love's a casket, sure, but still a
place to sleep when it gets cold."

it was certainly the most lovely gift i had ever received and a memory i want to keep.  i guess that was sort of the beginning for us... or a part of it.

happy monday to you.
elsie

new song...

mr.larson has a new song up today.
it's a very special one with a very special story... he wrote it during the first few weeks we were hanging out. i'll tell you more about that later...

it's called "immovable", go listen!!! 
have a lovely day.... e

embroidery sneak peek!

as promised, here is a little peek at one of the 6 new patterns i created for my update this coming week....

(another combined painted and embroidered experiment! i will share more tips about how to do this next week.. it's super easy!)

have a lovely weekend! elsie

dear scrapbooking, i love you forever.

first of all, i am so excited to share a few sample that my design team and i made with my Forrest collection this month.....

Elsie





Suzy



(fun uses chipboard frames!)

Amber

(she has such a unique style... i am always so in love!)




Rachel



(this page is my favorite!)



Brenda:



(i love that she photographed these in the grass... so sweet!)

thank you so much, ladies, for these adorable projects!!! Forrest was might have been my favorite collection yet (ummm... a tie with Roxie, Riley, Noel and Jack & Abby. haha! but seriously, all of them have been sort of dear to me. *sigh*) Which was your favorite?

oh! and  a layout just for fun....

i found a ton of fabric and leather in my upstairs studio last night and i just had to use it. and i am still a huge fan (or addict?) of woodgrain contact paper from K-Mart. :D
random? very.

and i have a new painting to share (yes, last night was quite the little productive and fun evening!)

(i am so anxious for the fall season. it's my favorite season, like by a lot!)

check out all the monkey tags that mr. larson punched last night... crazzzzzy!

here is a close up of one....

tomorrow i am going to share a few more sneak peeks of my new embroidery patterns for the elsiecake shop. by the way, all of my previous embroidery patterns are now available in PDF form (so you don't have to pay shipping or wait a week to get them...!!!) come see!

it's back to work for me, tonight i am finishing up work on a very special little project! if anyone has fun activities for late summer fun, please let me know. must enjoy it...

xo.

it's a very*very good wednesday....

today is wonderful for the following reasons...
1. all things Rachel.
first of all, i am super excited for Rach because she was featured on design sponge. her interior design ideas are some of the best i've seen in quite some time...so proud of her today!
and since moving across the country and designing a new home wasn't enough to keep this little girl busy this month, she has opened PonyParty!, a new etsy shop full of handpicked vintage items. the past few times i have been over to her house i've been *amazed* by all of the crazy adorable vintage stuff she has been collecting to sell here. If you love vintage home decor, this is a must see!



2. My grandma called me today. :)

3. A very late painting and gocco printing night, last night...


(i am doing a tooooooonnnn of new paintings for my august 1st update, i decided to list a few originals each day in my shop (just to keep things interesting!), but they won't be available as prints till the first.)


and here are a few more peeks at some of the sock monkey inspired stationery that mr. larson and i have been creating each day.... we are both fully addicted by now. in fact, i can't even imagine my life without the baby gocco now. :D by the way, we decided to name her Yuki (which is Japanese for snow or happiness. thank you for all the lovely suggestions!)

inspiration for the day: beautiful interior design
i am quite the little fan of these cool kids.  and their loft is pretty much the coolest loft i've ever seen. here are a few photos to prove it....





*sigh*...

and the other most beautiful (in my humble opinion) place is the lovely Lisa Congdon's home & studio...










her style is so full of energy.

well, it's almost 10 so it's time for my "night shift"...vanessa has the Peter Pan dvd playing and i have many hours of wide awakeness left in me. tonight is scrapbooking night! i have a new project in the works (top secret, per usual...) but i plan on making one or two just for fun items that i can share with you! tomorrow my inspiration theme will be scrapbooking and i have new mini books to share from my design team!

i feel sooooo excited to work tonight.
hope you had a wonderful wednesday.
hope you can squeeze in something creative in the next day or two... and thanks for always sharing your cute projects, it makes me feel so connected!

elsie

inspiration week... and so it begins!

i have been feeling SUPER inspired for the past day or two, so much so that i have decided to dedicate this week to sharing those things that make me light up on the inside.... ready? set. goooooooo....

i am newly in love with small plush animals! they are so cute. here are a few of my favorites from etsy/flickr....

this little dude

awwe!

oooh and this is so cute.

love this! 

and this skirt is too cool! 

and an artist who i just adore, amanda visell.


(of course, i loooove this peter pan one...)

and what i love most from her... her toy/sculpture work. it's beautiful!


looking forward to sharing more eye candy each day and some sneak peeks from  my etsy update coming up on the 1st. i will give you a hint, the sock monkey will make a few more appearances, as will the animal theme and some brand new embroidery patterns (some of them by special request from my blog readers!! :D)

in other news, i did some studio photos for jeremy the other night and he added a ton of them to his myspace page, along with a new song from his upcoming album! here are a few of my favorites....



he has been so much fun and soooo helpful with the new gocco projects we are working on (by the way, there were quite a few questions regarding the gocco printer in the comments from the last post, i will answer them there in the comments section!) we have had a LOT of fun learning about this new little machine and i can't wait to share some more handmade projects with you.

and a new (just for fun, NOT serious) photo to share with you. vanessa took this one. i purchased this dress from a thrift store last week and it was just begging to do a silly photo shoot! :D

well, it's time for me to start my "evening shift" of work. i hope you had a wonderful tuesday... check back tomorrow because i have some things to share that i think you will be excited about!
xo. elsie

oh gocco!

we are so excited! we spent the whole evening testing out our new gocco printer (for those of you who aren't familiar, a gocco is a small self contained screen printing machine..and it's japanese! :D).
i was trying to keep my expectations very low (having read lots of reviews and blog post about how messy it is/hard to use)but, to my delight our first print turned out ADORABLE!
this is the new baby (rachel suggested we name it, but i haven't chosen a name... what do you think?)

and an inked screen...

mr. larson trying out the new machine...

the first print....

...pretty soon the whole living room was covered in monkeys!

and the finished product...

we spent the rest of the evening talking about ideas for printing (yes, we are very nerdy). Basically, it was the greatest night ever!
Hope your weekend was wonderful as well... elsie

ps. yesterday i had the most lovely time with miss rachel. sushi, thrifting and coffee...oh my! next time i will take my camera (silly me!). i love you rachel. SO glad you are here.

catching up!

hey there. it's time to catch up... i thought i would share a few things that are inspiring me right now and some new art!
i saw these DIY paper flowers here this morning and i think they are beautiful! i need to make some soon.... they are the perfect "the-fall-season-could-not-arrive-soon-enough" decoration. i love them.

and i bought the cutest necklace from my friend, danielle, this week....



isn't it just unbearably cute? i love it!

and, oh my goodness, i am so in love with this girl's lovely art!




mmmmmmm.... and some adorable handmade clothing...


and a new painting, of mine, from the other night....

vanessa and i did a little video chat Q&A last night... it was so fun! thank you so much for all the fun questions! (Jeremy was logged into the chat at a coffee shop asking us silly questions and we didn't know it... it was SOOO FUNNY!) if you missed it, we will do another one sometime.... :)

oh, and i have been getting loads of e-mails and messages about CHA. i am not attending this show (just taking a little break :D), but i hope that everyone who is attending has a chance to stop by the KI Memories  booth and see all the lovely new stuff!

ooooh! this weekend is dedicated to making fun new items for my shop. i've been working on some new embroidery patterns....some  fun*fun themes that i am so excited to share in my August 1 update... if you have any special requests for embroidery patterns (or etsy items), just e-mail me. I always keep a list of suggestions for the future!