Archives for May 2013

A Fun Birthday Surprise!

May 30, 2013 By JulieK

Well, if you know me, the biggest surprise would be that I’m posting about my birthday at the end of May, because my birthday is in the middle of April!! But we were away over vacation, and then it rained for like a month, and I couldn’t get good pictures… But, anyway… Here is a picture of one of my favorite birthday gifts…

Isn’t he just the cutest garden ornament you’ve ever seen??? He was a gift from my wonderful in-laws because they know I have a “thing” with owls… And, the biggest reason that I have a thing for owls is THIS little guy…

My new garden owl now lives about 5 feet away from the tree that “our” owl lives in… We’ve had an owl before… Here’s a post with last year’s owl… and then there was the first owl in 2008… Clearly this is a different owl :) but this one has been back a couple of times… he was here in the fall and through the winter we saw him almost every evening and morning… Then he went away for a month or so, and came back! We haven’t seen him for a couple weeks, but in the evenings we can hear him… And also, we can hear another owl calling back to him! Wouldn’t it be cool if we had a baby owl in our tree??? Yes! Yes, that would be very cool!! Here’s some more pictures ’cause I can’t help myself! (you can click on the pictures to make them bigger…) I have a brand new zoom lens on its way to me… so hopefully the owl will come back so I can get MORE even better pictures :)

Winking…

The “What are YOU looking at” look

and one more view from a little further away…

and…my little buddy sleeping… I think we bore him :)

Why, Hello Miss Alcott!

May 26, 2013 By JulieK

Here’s another installment of “Oh, the quirky places we go!!”

It started out with Kathryn and an assignment at school where each student was assigned to “be” a famous person from Massachusetts… Kathryn was assigned Louisa May Alcott. They worked on the report at school, and there was going to be a presentation where the students dressed up as their person, gave the audience clues, and you had to guess who they were. So, on a random weekend, we were driving to the Concord Armory for an antique show… And, don’t we drive past the Orchard House, the home of Louisa May Alcott!! So, of course, we went in and took a tour!! The tour was really great!! Honestly I was a little nervous when it started because our tour guide looked like she was 12 :) but she was terrific!!

Of course we took a couple pics of Kathryn at “her” house for the report!

And, then of course, we “had” to make her a costume!! I took one of her old school shirts, that was just a little too small to wear comfortably all day, but still kinda fit… Then we went to the store and bought a flat sheet in blue and some pink hem lace… Make a skirt, overlay, and then some ruffles and lace to the shirt, and…

Voila!! Meet Miss Louisa May Alcott!

(not bad, but I’m pretty sure that Miss Alcott didn’t have neon orange and yellow sneakers)

and here’s a shot of Miss Alcott with her teacher… How much do we LOVE Miss Kasey!!

The costume was REALLY easy to make, and so much fun!! You can do so much with a sheet, a pack of lace and a sewing machine :)

Upcoming Class and Anniversary!!

May 21, 2013 By JulieK

Ink About It in Westford, MA is celebrating their 9th Anniversary this week!! How awesome is that?? I’m so happy to be a regular teacher there, and my Zutter class this coming Thursday is marking the kick-off of their anniversary celebration!! Remember, you don’t need to own a Bind it All to come and make the book in class, I always have mine, plus there’s another one in the store that we can use. We’d love to see you!! Here’s a sneak of the cover and an inside page… The papers are SO spring-y and beautiful!! There’s also pockets and pull out tags for even more space to put pictures and/or journaling!! Call the store if you would like to come!! And, if you’re there on Thursday (or also Friday-Saturday) during their Anniversary celebration, you’ll be able to take advantage of their wonderful Anniversary celebration specials!!

* DOUBLE stamping on your frequent shopper card. That’s right – double rewards May 23rd, 24th & 25th.

* Early birds receive a free gift! We have a treat for the first 25 shoppers each day.

* One $100 gift bag raffle per day. (Receive one raffle entry with every $20 purchase.)

* One Grand Prize winner will receive a Tim Holtz Vagabond (msrp: $249.99).

* Anniversary Cake and free Make & Take on Sat, May 25th, 11am-3pm.

* New product debuts from vendors like Hero Arts, Gourmet Rubber Stamps, Lawn Fawn, Character Construction, Penny Black, Artist Cellar, Dear Lizzy, Farm House, Echo Park, Melissa Frances and more!

So… Call the store and come to class!!! Plus shop and celebrate with Linda, Lori and the rest of the wonderful staff at the store!!

Ok, now… back to the sneak peek… Here’s the cover… You know you want to come and see the inside!! Class starts at 6:30 is only $25 and when you leave your book will be 100% complete, just add pictures and journaling!!

JulieK, Julie Kelley, Zutter, Ink About It, Classes

Oh, the Quirky Places we Go!

May 14, 2013 By JulieK

If you know us, you know that we’re “hop in the car and go someplace” people! We’re always going someplace, and it’s usually some quirky out of the ordinary place. In fact, I’m often posting some “Guess where the Kelley’s are today” pictures on facebook :)

A couple of places we’ve been to recently have been real hits!! We headed out one weekend to Clinton, MA (not that far) to go to the Russian Icon Museum. Honestly, it’s wonderful!! If you have any interest at all in religious artifacts, it’s THE place to go. The collection is huge, the set-up and the displays are beautifully done, there’s a recorded “tour” with added information, and a kids’ scavenger hunt to keep the kiddos entertained while you’re reading about the icons! It was a great visit, and we’ll probably go again we liked it so much! They have a traveling exhibit of Matryoshka dolls (the nesting dolls) coming this month, do we’ll have to plan another trip! Wait, who am I kidding?? We don’t plan :) we just go!

Of course, no trip down route 495 would be complete unless we stopped at the candy store!! Colonial Candies in Bolton :) you can see the building from the highway. It was a little bit awkward while we were there because the 2 girls at the registers were arguing about who was supposed to ring us up… like I said, awkward… But the candy was yummy!

Coming up soon will be a post about our visit to The Orchard House and Miss Kathryn’s report about Louisa May Alcott (plus some pics of the costume I made for her) :)

Welcome Baby

May 1, 2013 By JulieK

I LOVE making presents for new babies…

In fact, I firmly believe that EVERY baby should have something handmade for them :) Mike’s cousin just had her beautiful and healthy baby boy, so I thought I’d share the little quilt that I made for him.

I forgot to measure it before I gave it to them, but it isn’t huge, it’s the perfect size for playing on the floor or for a crib. I used Moda Lil Rascals Quilt Cotton Fabric
… I just love the “old-timey” look of the fabrics!

This quilt was the very first that I quilted on my new sewing machine, and the first that I’ve free-motion quilted (so don’t look too close :)

Here’s the whole front…

Here’s a full shot of the back… Isn’t that fabric adorable??

JulieK, Julie Kelley, Quilt, Baby Quilt, Baby gift, FMQ, Moda, Lil' Rascals

The front is a Disappearing 9 patch made with a pack of charm squares, and then a border added around the edge. Here’s a closeup of one of the fabrics :) love that little kitty!