be bright.

Wishing you all the best this holiday season.
Love.
Cheer.
Merriment.
Fighting over toys.
Temper tantrums.
That uncomfortably full feeling.
Pie.
Wine.
Awkward silences.
Sweet potato passing.
Dinner roll throwing.
Laughter.

from the family Pelton,
with lots of love,
Merry Christmas.

fairies, flowers, and a fourth.

Elena's best friend turned four a little over a week ago,
and in celebration of such a momentous occasion,
she had a fairy party.
Turns out her mom, my dear friend Rebecca
is one of the most amazing DIYers I know
so the party was filled with amazing details.

The cupcakes were the piece de resistance.
So.
Flipping.
Good.

I am thinking she needs to take up baking
as a profession.

hint hint, Rebecca.

Here are some photographs from the party
(in case you were doubting my claims of its awesomeness)

Between Rebecca and I
there are four girls between the ages of four and one.
Which means, there will likely be at least
one more fairy party in our future.

For which I am extremely excited.
Hello!??
Did you see those tutus?
(That Rebecca made!?!?)

I know, right??

Cheers,
A

The Fabulous Faces of Feske

I adore this girl.

She's one of my longest friends.

She just got a fabulous new librarian job in a big town in southern Wisconsin.

She is moving away.

I am soooooooo happy for her.

But I'm gonna miss this face.

I only just got it back....

Cheers,
A

All Access

My dear friend Amie is a roadie.

She travels the world setting up VIP parties at concerts.

Megadeth.

30 Seconds to Mars.

The Vans Warped Tour.

And Saturday, she was here in Austin with Katy Perry.

She needed an assistant.

Naturally, I rose to the challenge.

Here are some Instagram photos 

documenting our fun:

Amie: I heart you.
Kelly: It was amazing meeting you.
Katy: We'll meet next time, don't worry.  I still think you're a firework.

Cheers,
A

Priority Mail

I've mentioned before that I like to craft, right?
I've also mentioned that I'm a top-rate blog stalker?
Okay, not really.
I mean kind of.

Maybe just a little.

I feel it necessary to mention that I only blog stalk people who I think are fabulous.
And who I think I could actually be friends with if ever given the chance to meet in person, properly introduce myself, and woo said stalkee with my real-life awkward charm.

Exhibit A: Jasmine Star.

Me and Jasmine? We're practically the same person.
Minus the whole dropped-out-of-law-school-to-become-a-world-renowned-international-wedding-photographer thing.
But I digress...
The other day she had mentioned her love of all things stationery,
and being the crafter
and blog-stalker giver that I am
I emailed her that I would be sending her some hand sewn blank notecards.
But she'd have to send me her address.

Then I promised I was totally sane and I have two kids and okay fine I go a little nuts sometimes but I mean who doesn't and don't worry I won't pull a Selena or anything like that I just want to send you something nice because I pledged to "Pay it Forward" in 2011 by sending handmade items to five people (who volunteered to receive them) but I don't care I want to send moooooooore.  *deep breath*

So she replied to my email,
kindly as ever,
and let me know that I am her "favorite stalkerish friend"
and gave me her address.

So I sent her these:

But I didn't stop there.
I kept sewing.
Because I like making things.

Even more, I like surprises.
Especially ones I manage to keep....

Which leads me to a story about my dear friend, Anda, and a funny little thing I like to call
Serendipity.
I decided to make her a little journal.
A place to write her dreams.
Wishes.
Gripes.
Somewhere to play a game of M-A-S-H with a girlfriend.
Or tic-tac-toe.
As it happens, the day I finished the moleskine, I read the following on Twitter:

anda_marie Anda Marie 

I bought these three awesome notebooks a few months ago. I guess they were so awesome I totally misplaced them. Story of my life.

31 May

I almost peed my pants.
But I did a kegel and took a breath.
Then I readied my thumbs and almost tweeted her back, "Not to worry, friend. Check your mail in a few days."

But I didn't.
I set those thumbs down and took twelve paces backwards.
Counted to seven.
Threw some air punches, just for good measure....

And quickly went to the post office to mail her gift.

I designed it to mirror the look of her blog.
Her amazing re-brand.
The launch of which caused her night sweats and stomach knots and oodles of worry.
Silly, I know, as it's basically complete amazeness.
I don't know that I did her vision justice,
but I sure tried.

I do love how the little hearts turned out....

I had two moleskines left, so I decided to make one for Gladys.
She had been under the weather for a few days.
Then Adele, her favorite, had to cancel the SFO leg of her tour,
leaving Glady with tickets to a non-existent show.
Since I couldn't console her with an actual cupcake,
her second favorite,
I sent her one:

If I could have fit myself into that envelope
I would be in 'Frisco right now.
Sitting in a pool of dreamy light,
or on the dock of the bay,
and standing next to Gladys to see who's taller
only to find out we're exactly even.
Except she's totally prettier. And younger.
And less jiggly.

....

I was so inspired by the use of the Heather Ross fabric on Gladys' notebook,
I made another for my greedy little self:

The spools?!?  Of thread?!? The soft colors!?!? Purple?!?!
Swoooon!

But I think I might need to gift it to someone.
Or maybe have a give away?
Or maybe sell it?

Turns out that being a greedy little wench just doesn't suit me.
I can't bring myself to keep something that could bring joy to someone else.

But how much would one sell such an item for?
Certainly it wouldn't fetch a first born.
Or a sixpence.
Maybe two bits?
Does anyone know the actual value of two bits?

Anyone?
Anyone?
Bueller....?

Maybe I ought to just give it away....

Cheers,
A

Mexication 2011.

This is the view from our table at Pelicano's.
A little beachfront restaurant in the heart of Puerto Morelos, Mexico.

Dayna, Nadia and I ate breakfast here on Friday morning.
This was our exact view.

The trip was amazing.
The weather was perfect.

And the company was quiet.
Easy.
Natural.

And full of laughter.

Thank you,
ladies,
for an unforgettable 30th birthday.

Thank you,
Raul and Cesar,
for your amazing snorkeling prowess
and insane knowledge of one of the most amazing
coral reefs
in the world.

Thank you,
Tiff and Abby,
for your unfaltering
and gracious
hospitality.

Thank you all
for enduring my absence.

Cheers,
A

Photo credit goes to Dayna for the black and white photo of me. To Nadia for the two color photos of me, and for the second black and white photo of Raul, our snorkeling guide and resident marine biologist, and also to James (aka: Jad Jergens) for the final photo. One of the few of all 3 of us girls together.  Dayna, Nadia: Thank you for taking my camera and giving me the awesome gift of seeing myself through your eyes.  I love you girls like crazy.

Hat Envy

This is Anda.

I started blog stalking her earlier this year.
I adore her style.
Personally.
Professionally.

She's a fellow 'Sconnie Girl
who came to Austin in November
to shoot a wedding.

We met up for a three hour cup of coffee
some camera pointers
and a lot of laughs.

I am honored to call her a friend.
And hope she knows that she's also
a mentor.
A source of constant inspiration.

As a token of my appreciation,
I sent her a gorgeous grey
cabled hat
that I was soooooo ready to keep
all to my greedy little self.

But just look at her in this hat
through the lens of yet another
phenomenal Wisconsin talent
Nikki of Nikki-N Photography.

(Thank you, so much, for graciously allowing me to use these amazing images)

I saw these photos
and missed that hat.
A lot.

And I had this skein of yarn
just sitting around
waiting
patiently
to be turned into something
fabulous.

It's not the same yarn I used for Anda's hat
if you remember,
I never make the exact same hat
twice.

But I used it to make a cabled hat.
Just for me.

Sadly,
I don't have a Nikki
Or an Anda
nearby to take gorgeous photos
of me wearing it.

So the mannequin head photos will have to suffice.

Anda,
thank you.
For all the little ways you inspire.

Stay fabulous.
every single amazing one of you.

Cheers,
A