Etsy Shop!

I am proud to announce that the NestingDoll Etsy shop is live!

Only a couple items on there right now, but it's a start to something much bigger (fingers crossed).
With the show only a couple days away, it's crunch time to get all the last minute details right.  Wish me lots and lots of luck!

Oooo, and here is my Etsy shop - let me know what you think!
www.etsy.com/shop/NestingDollKay


And I will leave you with a couple sneak peaks at what is to come at my table in the Queen City Market!

Tapestry Bag Made with Recycled Wooden Handles

Vegan Leather Clutch

And last but not least- a lovely write-up about one of my bags featured in the Artvoice!

New Chapter.

I've moved onward and upward and forward!

(Hopefully!)

I unfortunately and sadly had to move on from my beloved Library job in October in hopes of greener pastures.  Working two jobs and picking up extra shifts at the restaurant, means that I didn't have much time to get much sewing and crafting done.  So I had to leave it to the next person.

It was such a wonderful job, and I of course loved being surrounded by books and the people that love them.  The craft hour I did with my library babies was also a blast and just cemented my love for children and teaching them.  I was so fortunate to have that experience with so many lovely people.

Fast forward to November and.....

I'm proud to announce I'm participating in my very first holiday craft show!  The Queen City Market in Downtown Buffalo in just about a month away on December 7th.  I'm optimistic and extremely excited to be a vendor in this show.  Hopefully it goes well, but either way I think it will be the first of many to come!

So here is a sneak peek of what is to come!

All are made with love from recycled, vintage, and repurposed materials.

All of these and many more items are to come along with an Etsy shop as well!

Wish me lots of luck!!!

Roycroft & Small Town Visits.

While working at the library, I've gotten into the somewhat nasty/mostly good habit of checking out way way way to many things.  One of the many things I've checked out on a whim is Ebert Hubbard's PBS documentary.  So perhaps you are like me and had no idea who that was, or maybe you did know!  In any case, he is awesome.

He was a writer, philosopher, publisher & artist and came to Buffalo to meet with Larkin Soaps where he famously started Roycroft - an artisan community in 1895 in East Aurora.  He was a big influence in the Arts & Crafts movement at that time.  In a time when industry was king and handmade goods were going by the wayside, he stepped up his game and created a beautiful community where artists could thrive and push each other to create and sell one-of-a-kind goods.  Does anything really sound better than that?

The left is the famed logo that he created and branded to make sure that everyone knew the beautiful and quality goods coming from Roycroft.  He was also brilliant at branding and marketing - I need this guy in my life.

Now it is pretty much only made up of a couple of antique shops and the Roycroft Inn, but just being there made me feel creative.

Of course looking at all of the antiques was lovely too - I love remnants of a time that seems so long ago now.

Isn't it lovely there?

To top off the day we strolled into town and discovered that the town was adorable too!

What?  Get outta here East Aurora!  Steam coming out of your coffee cups?!  Just plain adorable.

Even their graffiti is cute!  Little pixelated Mario on the side of a bridge - I love it.

 We spent the day sipping coffee and slipping into the 5 & 10 cent store along with a slew of other cute boutiques and shops.  Couldn't have asked for a better day.  

 All just 20 minutes from our house.  Buffalo is amazing. 

Hey There.

So look at that?!

I've added a Pinterest button & an Instagram button!

Look at me writing HTML code, er something.

Feel free to follow me on both, I love to post recent projects on my Instagram page, as well as one too many pictures of my doggy and kitties.

Here's some sleepy hot kitties now;

My Anza & Brucey.  So very hot.

The other thing I've been up to recently - some container gardening.

Our Little Porch Oasis.

Last year we tried our hands at a veggie garden and realized that unfortunately there was not really enough sun, and the soil was pretty shot.  So this year, we're just gonna do some container gardening with supplemental veggies from our Farm Co-op (so excited for that!).  

Happy Thursday!  

(Tommy, you should be so proud of me for this coding!  It only took me 3 hours, no biggie.  Ha.)

Bikin' Buffalo.

Yesterday was one of our first real spring days and I really wanted to enjoy it the best I could. My solution was to take a long bike ride with my fella.

It was a lovely day.  It's so easy to fall in love with Buffalo on days like this.

Cupcakes, Bread & Booties.

So these past couple of weeks have flown by.  I have been busy busy busy, as always...but having (probably) too much fun!

Alex's very last birthday in his twenties was this past Sunday.  All weekend was wonderfully celebrated and not to mention the beautiful spring weather we had.

I tried a new recipe from the Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook for fresh strawberry cupcakes with fresh strawberry frosting.  They are amazing.

The plus side is the recipe made enough for 24, so we have about 20 leftover....Yeah, we each ate 2.  It's easier to do then you would think!

Here are a couple other projects I've been working on too;

I've been making my own bread too!  It's so good and surprisingly easy to make.  I never want to go back to store bought again.

I made these darling teensy baby booties for my friend's baby!  She is having a little boy in May, and I can't wait!  I love babies.

I'm kind of constantly and consistently getting back to my crocheting and knitting.  A constant in my life that is relaxing and soothing for me.

I have some little seed babies planted inside a makeshift greenhouse I made that is now waiting for some warmer weather.  All veggies which will hopefully sprout and flower!

Life is good and I feel fairly prolific recently.  It's a very satisfying feeling!  And spring has sprung (hopefully!).

A Little Spring Inspiration.

So I know I have been slacking with what I've been up to recently, and I just plain suck at taking pictures of what I have been up to, but here is a little bit of what's been inspiring me recently.

Also, another sewing machine?  Yep.  Just what I needed.  Now I have 4.  Oh boy.

So here is my new baby, isn't she beautiful?  Love it so much.

And of course the beautiful old Buffalo houses are constantly inspiring me.  The classic shapes and gorgeous color combinations are just so extremely beautiful.

I love them.

The boutiques I'm surrounded by constantly remind me of the stuff other people are making and producing.  (Also to get off my butt and get stuff done!)

And of course these little crocus babies trying their very hardest to make it spring despite the snow we had two days ago.  We're all hoping it's here too little babies!

Last but not least my little family.  My momma has been here all week and between my boy and my Momma I'm aware of all the support and love I have.  And of course my weasel princess loves me more than even understandable.  

On top of all of that, my boyfriend was just written the most beautiful review on a local music blog!  I couldn't be more inspired by what I have right in my own little world.

Projects to come!

Fun-A-Day Finale.

The finale of all of our hard work came to a conclusion last Thursday night, and it was a wonderful evening.  I was blown away by the creativity, talent, and humor used on all of the projects.  I took pictures of a bunch of the projects minus a couple, but you get the idea.

This is my boyfriend Alex's final conclusion to his project.  He wrote and recorded 28 songs each and every day for the entire month.  A project that took a good 3 hours minimum every day, sometimes more.  I was unbelievably impressed by this finished project, and couldn't be prouder.  

Here is the link to his bandcamp site to download the CD for free!  

The top two were done by my friend Bryan who painted a state a day and a law that still exists in said state.  So great!  

Above on the right is my friend Kristine's project who made a cartoon of a friend every day and little zines with all of the cartoons in them.  And of course little cartoon Alex & Kayleigh are next to each other - we look so cute!  

Another project was pictured above is a poster of February food haikus with illustrations, which turned out hilarious and awesome.  She also has done a bunch of comics all around Buffalo which are absolutely amazing and always blow me away. 

The pictures of the eyes was done by someone I didn't know, but I love the finished result.

The last is my friend Lisa made her friends into dolls.  The result was funny, and surprisingly spot on.  I love my Kayleigh doll, and I really almost wore that dress the very day!  It's awesome.  

And for my project I put them all in a book with the Before & Afters.  It turned out really well, and people were so supportive and complimentative.

Thanks again for everyone who helped with this project!  And stay tuned for more projects to come!

Bangs, Birthdays, & Butterflies.

This is what has been happening in my life recently.

New Bangs.  

Beautiful Friends.

Fancy Birthday Dinner Date.

So my birthday is on Monday, but we celebrated alittle bit early..... I just love birthdays!

My Babies.

Today's "Krazy Kraft" at the Library.
Coffee Filter Butterflies!  

As you can see it's been all work and no play around here....

But really, we did deserve a bit of a break after all the chaos that was February.

And I promise, projects to come next week!  Plus hopefully the wonderful addition of my Etsy Shop!  Woooo!

Enjoy this Spring Saturday!

BonBons & Stuff.

In the aftermath of a crazy month, I've still been trying to get back to a regular routine.

My yoga practice is back on track, my house is finally clean (it was getting pretty bad), dishes are all done, oven is painstakingly clean, and my clothes are (mostly) put away.  These things all took a back seat to the fun-a-day project.  As a result, today was spent doing all the above mentioned chores, and trying to get my studio back to normal.  Not this crazy mess of fabric piles it's become recently.

Feel free to judge my messiness.

Pretty awful mess.  You should have seen it before!  If you can imagine, this is somehow better and slightly more organized studio.  It's getting there.  

Of course I had to stop and make time for baking cookies too.....

Coffee Bonbons with Chocolate Frosting!

Extremely rich and amazing.  This is a new recipe I just tried out tonight, and they turned out so well!  Don't you love trying out a new recipe and they come out tasting great?

And then here is my cat.  He was just staring at me the for the whole process.  

Actually he still is.  Just so helpful. 

He also looks like he is judging me.  I'm not projecting right?  You see that too?

Oh Brucey.

Happy happy tuesday everyone!

Day 28 - I Did It!

The last day of the month has come!  Finally my fun-a-day for February is complete!  Here is my very last project (for this month long project anyway)!

How about that beautiful little country prom dress!?  Probably should have just left it.

More views of my new dress.  I had the fabric for the top part laying around, I think I bought it 2 years ago.  I didn't have a specific project in mind for it when I bought it, but it matched so perfectly with the peachy orange of my rockin' 90's prom dress.

So this picture totally looks staged, and it was a little... but both my boyfriend and I have been busy little bees all month and we split some wine to celebrate!  This is just a break while he took pictures of me.  Who could blame us?  This month was tough.  However, very very rewarding.

For this dress I ripped off the top part of the dress (probably will refashion that at another time), and kept the zipper in tact.  I drafted the patterns for the bodice and cut out the new bodice.  I sewed the new bodice together and attached that to the bottom half.  Then I hemmed the bottom half to my liking as well.  I know, probably too much with the bottom longer in the back, but I just really like that for multi-layer skirts!  Perfect for this one.

Thank you to everyone who has been so supportive and complementary during this project!  It really kept me chugging at 2 AM.  Also, thanks to Alex and Sarry for taking a million pictures of me (cause I hate being in front of the camera).  Stay tuned for lots more creativity!

Total Time: 5 Hours
Total Money Spent: $3
Outcome: Art Show Dress