DIY Sailor Bow Tutorial and Free Pattern

DIY Sailor Bows

New post up on www.nataliemalan.com!  I'm sharing photo instructions and a downloadable pattern for making little girl Sailor Bows as well as the cute mini Baby Sailor Bow as well!  They've been all over Instagram and Etsy the last few months and can be hard to get so now you can make your own in any fabric you'd like! 

first day of school printable sign

 

New free printable download for some "first day of" school printable signs over on nataliemalan.com

Free printable succulent recipe cards

Cute new recipe cards up on www.nataliemalan.com!  You can find them in the "Printables" section or the newest post on the blog.

a new baby and a fun gender reveal

Head over to nataliemalan.com for a video and a new free printable from our baby girl's gender reveal!  Baby number four is going to be coming to our family sooooo soon I can't even believe it!

And in other news I've also opened a new etsy store so go take a peek!  New prints coming soon!

Free cute Father's Day Printable 5x7

Head over to my new blog if you're looking for a free last minute download for Father's Day!  Makes a great card or framed printable. Grab it quick before it makes it's way into my Natalie Malan Etsy Store!

We've moved!

It was time for a new space where I could more easily offer free downloads without using 4shared and be in more control of my content.  :)  I hope you join me on the new site!  Be sure to stop by and take a peek: nataliemalan.com.

Free Printable Fill in the Blank Thank You Cards

Hello blog.  It's been a while.  A quick update: we now have three kids under the age of 4, and they keep me pretty busy.  I adore them.

But a friend came over today to have me design some classic and lovely initial monogram cards for her family and children and it sparked a fire in me about teaching the art of gratitude to my children.  Since my littles can't really write yet I decided on a simple yet sweet (and not overwhelming busy mama) way for them to say thank you and scribble their name or little "x" on the line below.  Click on the pictures or here for the free thank you note card printable.

Thanks Anne Marie for the inspiration.  Let me know if anyone is interested in custom downloadable pdf monogram cards and I'll consider setting up a quick shop.  $10 per image for a printable pdf file.

 

There is also a classic red and green version included in the download but not pictured on the blog.

Do you Pinterest? Easy Baby Boy Pants

I do.  It seems to be a verb now.  And I intend to use it as one.  I like to make the things that I actually pin, and I'd like to start sharing them more with links to the tutorials so you can see what my friends and I have been up to lately.

Here's a fun pic of some super comfy (and handsome) plaid flannel baby pants that I made for baby boy.  He is a big fan.  I love the basic pants tutorial on Made.  These are the flat front pants, but I took the legs in, so they are somewhere between a skinny and a straight leg.  The best part?  Other than being super comfy and sweet, these bad boys coast me less than $3.  My friends and I even made some super sweet ruffle pants for our little girls that I need to photograph, and I'll post those soon too!  Many thanks to my brother in law for starting my Pinterest addiction.   

{Sweaters and hat are baby gap.}

Be mine Valentine

We made Valentines this year together for the first time, and I actually let Penny do it all herself - except for the bow tying.  I had a bunch of hearts cut out and she picked the colors and then embossed them in the cuttlebug using a plate I drew for Provo Craft.  We bought erasers at Target, and then put them in little bags with paper shred, and tied them with baker's twine and stickers I printed on my ink jet that say "Love, Penny" and cut them out with a scallop punch.

The cute pink vinyl was cut by my friend Addie and then put onto a little mailbox that she gave me.  It's from the "Child's Year" cartridge from Provo Craft - one of my all time favorite cartridges.

Heart Hair

Happy Valentine's Day!

Heart Hair found here on Pinterest.

I may have neglected to mention.....

That we had a new addition two weeks ago.

Free Happy Birthday Desktop

It's about time for me to post a freebie, and I thought it would be fun to have a cute free birthday desktop.  I'm celebrating a fun milestone birthday tomorrow, and wanted something cheerful for my computer, so I took a picture of my yummy cake.  According to the candles we used, I'm turning 3 again.

Surprise your friends, family or co-workers on their special day by swapping out their wallpaper for something fun, or use it for your own desktop just to celebrate the big day!

Mary Blair inspired

It's been a busy week of sewing curtains, framing and hanging pictures, and finishing up lots of random projects around the house.  I feel like I have sooo many things I want to get done asap.  Yay for the second trimester of pregnancy.  One of them is making some new wall art for the playroom.  I drew up some quick abc/123 posters that I've been seeing everywhere (and remind me of sticker/felt sheets that I designed for Making Memories) and had them printed off as 16x20 prints for $6 each at my local Costco/Sams Club.  I'll have to take a pic when I get the last one printed.   I've been working on my own rough draft version of Mary Blair's "It's a Small World."  We may have ridden it one too many times at Disney World last month.  I think the middle picture is pretty close to being finished, but I need to check all my edges and make sure everything lines up just right.  Or it will be taunting me daily once I hang it on the wall.  Can't have that.

The numbers and letters are already printed and hanging on the wall; I framed them in Ikea ribba frames and they really help tie in all the random colors from the pillows in our playroom.  Penelope is a big fan of them so far.  She really wants to say her numbers and abcs, but she mostly just says a bunch of random ones in any order.  And if you want to see some more really fun ways to decorate with letter/number prints be sure to check out my friend Jenallyson's blog.  I know she's putting some in her nursery, and it will be awesome when it's all pulled together!  Can't wait to see it.

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Ruffling Foot versus a Gathering Foot

I owe my obsession with ruffling/gathering on my sewing machine to two lovely ladies, Melissa Blackburn who introduced me to the "gathering foot" and Lori Gardner who introduced me to a "ruffling foot."  And also to my mother for teaching me how to sew at the ripe old age of 12 (she was 10 when she learned).  ;)

Here's most of what I've learned so far.

The Gathering Foot:

 Here is what my gathering foot looks like, and yes folks that .01 (plus shipping) Amazon price tag is for real!  I had two friends order it last week!  I set my stitch length to 5 - or the longest it will go, for the tightest gather.  And then I run my fabric or crepe paper or whatever right underneath the very bottom of the foot. 

I've also occasionally used it to gather something as I sew it to another piece of fabric.  It's a little bit tricky, and definitely requires some practice, but you can do it if you place the fabric to be ruffled under the bottom of the foot, and the other fabric in the little slot that you see that opens to the left.  You have to be very careful not to pull on the "ruffle" fabric as you sew though or else it won't gather consistently. 

The Ruffler Foot: 

And here's the ruffler.  But mine is not gold, and I bought it from a local quilt store for $50.  Not $34 on Amazon.  Be sure to shop around!  It's a lot scarier looking, but itt's amazing to watch it work.  My ruffling foot says it can be adjusted to make repeating tucks, narrow pleats, smocking and shirring.  But since the instructions are teensy tiny, I haven't taken the time to figure out all the cool things that it can do yet.  It has a little lever/switch that you can use to change up the pleats to varying sizes. 

The Recap:

So basically, one pleats, and one gathers.  The gathering foot is super fast for me to put on, so I do have a tendency to favor it.  I'm always in a hurry to ruffle something.  And I get impatient.  But I do have big plans for some pillows or pretty garlands smothered in yards and yards of pleated ribbon.  Be sure to let me know if you end up getting one and using it on projects!  I'd love to see photos or links!

Painting with a Princess

We've had a busy morning/week around here prepping for my next Provo Craft live online class (tonight!  Yay!).  It is completely sold out, so if you missed it this time you'll have to wait and see if they post the video online later on, or see if you can sweet talk them into letting me teach another class.   ;)

Princess Penelope has been a great help in between making me take mandatory rest periods for some princess waltzing lessons.  She is always Belle and mama is always "Monster."  I'm flattered.  Really.  I also like her idea of always wearing a crown when painting.  I feel it adds a certain something.  And luckily, my brilliant friend Amy was kind enough to give Penny a paint with water book yesterday, which I've been searching everywhere for, and luckily that entertained her just long enough to let me prep the background of one canvas for tonight.

And just a side note, but if you're interested in following what I'm working on in my studio I'll also be posting on my facebook page - Natalie Malan Studio so be sure to add that one (and not my personal account).  And it's getting close to being photo ready, so I'll have to start posting some teaser photos soon of my lovely new space!

No more naked tree

 

We've been busy preparing for the holidays around our house.  I bought all the fabric for this tree skirt last year, but never got around to making it, but this year I finally had an assistant big enough to "help" me.  Thank goodness for magnetic pincushions.

 

I love how it turned out; our Christmas decorations are all pretty non-traditional colors and I haven't found a skirt that would even come close to matching  The directions can be found here.  I added some huge fun pompoms around mine instead of the bias tape.   

sharing is a good thing - right?

We've recently discovered the plethora of baby shows on you tube, which means mom's computer is now also Penny's computer. But at least I know my numbers. Just 1-5 though. Thank goodness the music is pleasant. What do you do to entertain your kids while you work?

The pic above shows the Provo Craft Mother's Day cartridge that I designed (since the one I'm working on right now is still under wraps). Please note; this is MY version of it - not their edited and corrected version! Here's their spiffed up final version:
I can't wait to start making some more pretty garlands. I used this cart on my Easter garland (which I never posted........I will have to look for those photos). And the cartridge I'm working on today will be great fun when she gets just a little bit bigger.

beautiful sundays

My favorite kind. Luckily, most of our days start off just like this.

A Life Crocheted

I just had to share these absolutely delightful slippers (and hats!) made by a former bookbinding student of mine, Bonny Smith of "A Life Crocheted." Penelope gets so many compliments on hers, that I decided it was about time I shared my secret.

Bonny has quite the selection of baby beanies and slippers, and even recently released a new line of women's felted slippers just in time for Mother's Day! How cute are they?! Order from her Etsy shop by April 30th for delivery by May 9th! Aren't they charming? I especially love all the pretty little details in the buttons. {And a little birdie told me that she sends you a 15% off coupon code for your second order.}

Love to crochet? Good news! She also has the pattern listed for sale in her etsy store. Be sure to follow her on Twitter, and Ravelry for more updates and inspiring projects.
Penelope's been wearing her darling crocheted baby beanies since she was a wee little one. They're super soft, and she's never tried to pull them off. In fact, I have to hide them from her sticky little hands because she loves putting them on so much. I'm particularly in love with the colors she offers; they've coordinated with all her little outfits beautifully. But I will admit, the apple green one is still my personal favorite.

today

Not too much scrapbooking going on at my house lately, but tons of crafting, and a pinch of remodeling, and lots of designing. It's been crazy. DH is finishing the last room in our house for my office, which means I had to clean it out. Yikes. Why is it that if you happen to have a storage room, it must fill up with random things?!

But I wanted to show you the adorable headbands that my cute neighbor friend inspired us to make today. My self inflicted rule was I wasn't allowed to buy a thing for it; and had to use only things I had laying around. It's a perfect project to use up lots and lots of tiny pieces of fabric and felt that are too yummy to throw out. And those little birdy earrings? Inspired by this amazing designer friend, and created with this talented one.

PS did you all know it's ridiculously hard to take a photo of the side of your head?! I had no idea.

cuppy cake love

I'd be happy to share if I could only find a way to email these cute little guys.  Happy Valentine's Day to you and yours, from me and mine!!!

The butcher, the baker, the candlestickmaker.

Or maybe it should be the camper, the baker, and the biggest mess-maker. We had a busy weekend last week on top of a bunch of fun freelance jobs. I'm working on a magazine article, and 8 more Cricut projects with the new Picturesque cartridge. So fun! But tons of work! Have you ever been camping with a 5 mo old?!? I was scared of the bears. You can lock most of the food in the car, um... just not the baby food. I asked Dave if bears liked milk, and he said I should only worry about the baby bears. Nice.



Penny went to a birthday party for her cute cousin and got to get all dressed up. She loved it.

She even made sure to taste test her present. We watch "Hell's Kitchen," so she knows how this is done.
I just finished 8 projects using the "A Child's Year" and "Stamping" cartridges a couple weeks ago. I'll have to see if they're out yet so I can post you a preview of the projects! They turned out so fun! I've been scouring the internet to see if my "Pink Journey" cartridge is out yet. I've heard it's packaged with some kind of pink cricut? If you see it let me know!
This is my mess before it really started. It's nice and cropped so you can't see the rest of the room. Dis-a-ster. And yes, I did make 3 trips to Hobby Lobby in the last 24 hours!!! ;) Mom watched Penny for me during the last trip and the sweet workers were concerned when I walked in without my baby. That's when you know you've been there too often for too long.

Whew! Time flies.

I can't believe I haven't posted an update in 5 months! Yikes! A few people had asked to see my birth announcements; and you are getting to see them before the family since I haven't actually mailed them yet. Whoops. My excuse is that I'm still trying to design my envelopes. I love pretty envelopes. We did finally settle on a name (yes, it took me a week to decide; we literally named her on our way out the door of the hospital 5 days after having her)! She has kept me busy, and I've been busy working on all kinds of fun things for Making Memories, Provo Craft, Cricut, and a little magazine illustration here and there as well. So sorry for neglecting you dear blog!

DH is getting to be mom for a day whether he likes it or not because of his smart a comments to a friend last night (about me just sitting in bed sleeping and nursing all day, um yeah. HA!). We'll see how the day goes. It could be interesting. He's making me breakfast right now. ;) Good husband.

I've been working on my photo skills more than my scrapbooking lately, but have plenty of scrapping to catch up on now. I feel like I need to make some more cute photo frames/brushes....

My mac is back from getting the graphics card replaced. It only took me 4 months to get it to the apple store for a three day repair.

OH! and we moved. I knew there was another biggie that I was forgetting! Tons of work, but I'm glad it's all over now.

So to catch up on the babe:
The "coming home" shot. I love big bows.

She loves her swing, and so do I. (couple weeks old)
I think I really captured her true love of nightgowns, don't you think?4 months and enjoying a little tummy time.

4 and a half months and already sitting up! This girl is going places fast!More updates to come soon, and hopefully a freebie in there somewhere too! Thanks so much for all your wonderful comments and emails.

She's here!!!!

Everything went great, and soo much better than I ever hoped. I was shaking like a leaf in a hurricane though when I went in to get on the operating table. Now she only needs a name!!! And she does have tons of hair, and even came out with a bow. hahahahah.
xoxo!

xoxoxox...

Born 4:56pm 3/9/09, 6 pounds 7 ounces, plenty of hair, but no name yet.