Custom Mobile: Palm Beach Prep

Oh goodness, there is more cuteness in store for you today. I was contacted to make a mobile to match the Palm Beach Prep theme she had going for her new baby's room, and after a few back and forth emails to figure out exactly the details she was looking for, I have to say, I love the way this mobile turned out. This mobile included their two dogs in the fun. Both dogs are Boston Terriers with really amazing coats and markings so it was a fun challenge to mix up the standard Boston's I've been working on in several of my previous designs. 

Check out these cuties. Aren't they beautiful!!  The pup on the left is a brindle, which means she looks just like a regular Boston Terrier, except her coat is kicked up a few notches. Brindles are generally predominantly brown with these amazing soft black sort of stripes that wisp throughout their coat.  The second pup has amazing coloring on the face and a blue AND brown eye!! Talk about some amazingly beautiful and different looking dogs!! 

Here are the pups as felt figures! I was having a hard time with lighting the day I took these so it's a bit dark, but I promise it's brown! :) 

The next piece in the theme were all about Florida and beach fun. I came up with this striped surf board (complete with back rudder which is why it photographs on its side). The colors compliment the raspberry pink and bright greens being used in the baby's room. 

I am in love with this cute little flamingo. She was really fun to make!

A palm tree was one of the other figures that we worked out, as beaches and palm trees are tied together if we're talking about Florida, so I put the little palm tree on an island and added a little crab. 

Here's a close up shot of the crab! I didn't know at the time, but it turns out that that my customer is originally from Maryland, so the crab was a meant-to-be perfect extra touch!! If I'd known, I would have made it blue, but the fascia works well in the baby's room. 

This photo shows you just how tiny the details are on the crab. I thank the trusty "my husband was questioning whether they were wroth $25 or not, but bought them anyway for me for Christmas," scissors! Oh, and a good pair of tweezers, and a lack of sleep/sanity. Those helped too. 

Here are the detailed extras I added to give the mobile some depth. We decided that a sun, a bird silhouette (they always remind me of the beach), and a starfish would be fun extras. As an extra-extra, I also added some clouds to the ring of the mobile (see photo below this one), and it really tied the beach theme together for me. 

Here are all the figures just before being hung on the mobile!

How awesome is this Gif? Somehow my Google Back up turned my photos into this fun thing. I just wish the lighting was better when I took the photos (I edit them later) so it was a bit brighter. 

Lastly, I have new ring styles available for the shop. I've made my last two designs using these flat rings and think that they come out super cute. The nice thing about these rings is that they can be wrapped in yarn OR painted to the color of your choice!!

Overall, this was another really fun piece to make. I love the creative challenge and also the excitement that these mobiles bring to me. The mobile was well received, and I hope to share photos of it hanging in baby's room.

Be sure to check out my other mobiles in my Etsy shop: Lavender Paper Hearts!!  If you have an idea for a custom mobile, please contact me through my Etsy shop, Lavender Paper Hearts! I love working one on one with customers to make the perfect mobile for your nursery.

Check back early next week for a preview of my new Spring 2014 Pet Bow Tie Line. Impatient? You can check out my pet bow ties here.  

Custom Jersey Quilt II

Social media is a fun thing. I usually am really diligent about sharing the things I make on my shop's affiliated social media sites, but sometimes I just forget. I'd forgotten to 'Pin' my first custom made jersey quilt over on Pinterest when I'd first made it, and despite doing as much, some quilt loving folks on the internet 'pined' my quilt anyway!! This led to a Pinterest user in Texas stumbling across my quilt and then contacting me via Etsy shop last month about making another jersey quilt for her young son.  How fun is that?! 

Well, I finished up this fun jersey quilt on Sunday and shipped it off Monday (2 days ahead of schedule - woot!), just in time for to arrive before Christmas. The little football player's mom contacted me about making him a special Christmas gift with her son's football jersey.  This football player is only 10, so his jersey was little and cute compared to the last jersey I worked with which was for a professional football player. Since this football player is a growing boy, I decided to go with a more simple design in the hopes that he'll continue to cherish it, even when his feet stick out the end!  The final design ended up being 52 by 58 inches. The ultimate size of a jersey quilt is always a bit fickle, especially when working with one primary panel, because you ultimately have to work out the main panel first. The size can vary grately depending on the size of the jersey and how much workable material you have to work with.  

The quilt is cotton stripes on top, with soft plush LSU themed fleece on the back. The quilt is finished off with 1 inch purple bias tape. I thought bias tape would be a better, more grown up finish for the quilt rather than satin, and I really liked how it turned out. 

                   

Here's the jersey panel. Once it's done, I started to draw out the design for the rest of the quilt. 

I've also decided that basting spray and I aren't friends - at least not when it comes to fleece backings. So I went old school and used quilting pins! You can see the LSU fleece on the left in the photo below. (Ignore my kitchen floor, we rent.)

Finished jersey quilt close ups! 

I hope it's a treasured gift for years to come!!

I'd also like to give another shout out to my quilting sister BFFs for their help in talking through the design!! Thanks Jen & Ali!! :)  And another huge shout out to the SO SO HELPFUL ladies at my local Joann's Fabric store in Brockton, MA!! I came in with some last minute urgent questions and they helped me problem solve like champs. I left the store feeling confident and ready to finish up the quilt! 

Oh, Sweet Joy - For the Littles Category

Today Lavender Paper Hearts is being featured along with a handful of other amazing handmade artists over at Oh, Sweet Joy's 2013 Holiday Gift Guide!! 

Kim's gift guide is a fantastic way to get your holiday shopping done early, support handmade artists, AND score some amazing gifts and deals. Don't forget each artist has put up a coupon to their shop (including me), and on Saturday there will be a big ol' giveaway that you don't want to miss!!