These are a Few of My Favorite Blogs

The post title is sung to the tune of "These are a Few of My Favorite Things."

And now, that song is going to be stuck in your head:) Mwahaha!

On this fine Friday, I wanted to share with you a few blogs that I absolutely love!  I have many that I try and keep up with, so this list is only skimming the very top. These are in no particular order.

1. Eclectically Vintage

If you haven't been able to tell by now, I have a very vintage heart.  And this blog speaks right to it.  Kelly, the owner of Eclectically Vintage, has a great eye for thrifting and finding homes that are...well...eclectic.  One of my favorite things I love about this blog are the home tours.  Here are a couple of my favorite homes:
** Living Vintage - LOVE the wood walls and clean, chic white she has throughout the house. She paired rustic vintage with crisp lines and color.  So wonderful!
** Rain on a Tin Roof - This home has an amazing combination of vintage and modern.  And the green door...SO AWESOME!! I love the white kitchen cabinets with black hardware...simply timeless!

2. View Along the Way

I started reading this blog about a year ago, and I laugh just about every time I read a post.  Its not what she writes about that is funny to me, its her writing.  She is just so stinkin' funny! I love her humor! Because I am in the midst of a house reno, I appreciate that she and her husband are DIYers. They have done everything from scraping wallpaper and popcorn ceilings to up cycling garage sale/vintage furniture.  Too cool for school! :) Here are a couple of my favorite posts:
**35 Ways to Save Money - I about to start my new adventure of being a stay at home mommy, so this is super important information for my family right now.... SUPER SUPER important.
**Lamp Hack: How to Make Any Lamp Cordless - One word: Genius! Two more words: Read it.

3. The Life of Jennifer Dawn

I'm not exactly sure how I came across her blog, but I am so glad that I did.  Everything on here is just awesome, and I love her writing style too! What I particularly enjoy are her crafty tutorials and her link parties. I love finding new blogs, and she always links to some great ones! She also loves to sew, as do I!  My favorite tutorials that I'm dying to try out are:
**Paper Garland Tutorial - super cute for decorating at a party or shower.
**The Kitchen Command Center - If you have one child, no children, one pets, no pets... its just you... you NEED this information! Organization is crucial for life and this is a very creative way to keep it all under control.

Well, happy reading, everyone! Check back next week for more blogs!

Thank You, Supporters!!! $1 PRINTS!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

As of today, OneTwentyOne Designs is officially AND LEGALLY mine! When I first started this business, I wanted to make sure that all of my i's were dotted and t's were crossed, so I filed for my DBA ("Doing Business As").  I just got the clearance that I am good to go!! Yay!!

I mentioned before that I am expanding to digital prints.  I've been working on one that I am DEFINITELY 100% going to be putting in my kitchen when we move.  The new kitchen or office print says...ready.... "Coffee before Talkie"... isn't that so great and SO VERY true?!

"Coffee..." Print History: I am not a morning person.  I don't wake up angry, I just can't function.  I saw this saying on a mug, "Coffee before Before Talkie" and I thought..."I have to have that!!" So, because a mug isn't large enough, I made it into a print!

As a thank you for all the support and encouragement that you all have shown to me...and all the prayers thrown my way...

I am offering an 80% DISCOUNT for ALL of my 8x10 prints on Etsy for February 27 and 28 only! That's only $1.00 for a unique handmade print that you can print over and over! 

Please visit my Etsy store to purchase 1, 5, or all :)!
**After February 28, the price will go back up to $5.**

So, again, thank you!!! Here is to many more years of prints and burp cloths and whatever else I can create for you!

OneTwentyOne UPDATE and New Items Available

Hello!

First of all, Hubby and I purchased our new home!! We have been crazy, insane busy trying to renovate in a 3 week time span so we can move in before the end of March. Our last house was move-in ready... this one is....not so much.  The amount of peeling wall-paper this lady had...sheesh! I already have several war wounds from stripping wallpaper, bumping into ladders, knocking my hand, arm or leg into things. BUT, it's so worth it because it's our's! 

Outside of trying to renovate the house, I have not had a ton of time dedicated to sewing burp cloths and bibs.  So, because I'm 100% artist, and I have been wanting to expand beyond burpies, I am designing ABC wall prints.  I already have one available in many colors and in colored chevron patterns at my Etsy store.  By this evening, I will have another available. 

I started designing these prints for the purpose of putting them up in my boys' playroom/homeschool room.  Then, I thought it would be great to offer them to you guys.  They are vintage inspired because I seriously think I was born in the wrong generation :).  I LOVE everything from the 40's and 50's.  Actually, I love the technology of today with the decor and mentality from the 40's and 50's. 

Here is the one available on Etsy right now:

The prints available are 8x10, however, I can make them larger or smaller.  In fact, I will probably print them in various sizes myself.  I will hunt down frames from thrift stores and flea markets, refinish and hang making the playroom super cute for the boys.  I am all about unique home design because I believe that you should make your home reflect your personality.  And I'm super eclectic.  

Here is my Pinterest is you want to follow me: 

Follow Jessica Rose Davis's board No Fleas at this Market on Pinterest.

Love Y'all!

DIY Notepad Party Favor

Hello, party planner people!!!

I just recently co-hosted a baby girl shower for a dear friend of mine, and was trying to find the most unique (yet thrifty) party favor.  So, OF COURSE, I turned to Pinterest.  Duh! :) Here is my Pinterest board for this shower if you want to browse through it. (http://www.pinterest.com/jessicaroseart/baby-cletus/)

I love going to showers and parties that have a theme. They are just so much fun, I think. Because the mother just happens to be a teacher like myself, I chose to do a Vintage School House theme.  I will post later on all the decorations, but I want to share with you the party favor that we did.

Once the theme was decided, we immediately thought of ordering personalized pencils to pass out as favors. The pencils say "Mrs. Wood is having a baby!", and we ordered them from the amazing Oriental Trading Co.

Then, I got to thinking.  What would go with a pencil that we could give as a set? A NOTEPAD!***Smack myself on the head.***

I get on Pinterest, and I find this DIY from Favor Craver. And I put it together with this tutorial from Paper & Stitch. I also found the vintage ABC cards from Rook No. 17. Then added my own flair (buttons).

Here is what you will need:

1. Handwriting Tablet and/or Graph Paper
2. Card Stock to print the covers
3. Scissors or a Paper Cutter
(Not Pictured)
4. Sewing Machine
5. Thread
6. Buttons

I arranged the ABC cards to print 3 covers on 1 sheet of card stock. (Feel free to use the arrangement I created here. Just right click on the image and choose "save as".)

Step 1: Print your covers.

Step 2: Using your scissors, X-Acto knife, or for the sake of your patience, a paper cutter, cut each cover to approximately 2.8 inches. **For the sake of time, I just cut one, and used it as a "width" template to cut the rest.  I marked it with a pencil and cut from there.**

Step 3: I used 4 sheets of the handwriting paper for each notepad. The height of the notepad (if using design from above) is 5.75 inches.  I cut the 4 sheets of handwriting paper to match.

Step 4: Using the cover as your "width" template, place cut marks.  The lines on the handwriting paper should be horizontal (awkward to write horizontal on vertical lines =). Try to fit as many sections to cut as you can.  I was able to squeeze in 3, meaning I had 3 sections of paper to put in the notepad.

Step 7: Cut the handwriting paper using the marks that you created as a guide.  These marks are there to make sure the paper will accurately fit into the cover.  Again, I used a paper cutter to spare my sanity!

Step 6: Fold your cover in half lengthwise and place your cut paper inside.

Step 7: Sew the top! I increased the width of the stitches (almost a basting stitch).  You need to backstitch at the beginning and at the end! GO SLOW! You are not in a stitch race! Super important that you do this! Also, I used a heavy duty needle that is made for sewing jeans.

Step 8: Trim the loose thread.

Step 9: Fire up the glue gun!! Buttons are going on! **Honestly, the reason I put the buttons on was because I was afraid the stitches were going to come out even though I backstitched.  AND I kinda messed up a few and I didn't want anyone to know... tee hee**

(Optional) Step 10: Attach a pencil/pen with washi tape.

And there you go! Fantastic little notepads!

Have fun my peeps!

Holy Life Change, Batman!

Hello!!!

I'm still here! I'm still working on new things for OneTwentyOne, but my life is and has been a little crazy. Here is a small taste of what's been going on:

1. October 2013: Put house on the market.
2. December 2013: House sold (Thank you, Jesus!), and moved in my in-laws (awesome blessing!)
3. January 2014: Family friend passed away due to illness. (Funeral was last week.)

In the midst, my husband and I are in a game called The Great House Hunt.  Hopefully, the game is about to end as we are submitting an offer on a home as I type this.  With all of these changes, we are continuing to count our blessings and our faith has increased tremendously.

So...what exactly have I been doing with OneTwentyOne, you ask? One word for you: SILHOUETTE!

Yeah, baby!

My amazing husband gifted me a Silhouette Cameo for Christmas! Can you imagine the endless amount of screens I will be able to produce?? I'm bubbling over with excitement! I am now able to offer monogramming without tacking on an additional charge. WHAT??!!  I am able to do this because I can use the Silhouette to cut a piece of vinyl and place on the screen.  Once I'm done printing that design, I simply remove the vinyl and reuse the screen.  I have been experimenting with different types of vinyl and different types of cuts in order to make the screen printing work.

I am also developing a line of CLOTH NAPKINS that will be available on my Etsy shop soon.  Here is a part of the experiment:

Dinner Napkin with Forks: Vinyl Experiment #1

Using the screen made from vinyl printed with the Silhouette, I printed a fat quarter as a test. Cool, huh? 

If you have a Silhouette or vinyl cutter and are interested in screen printing, check back tomorrow.  I am going to post a simple tutorial for you so that you can join in the excitement! 

Because I haven't posted in a very long time, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 

What's the deal with the meerkat?

Many of you have asked why there is a meerkat in my logo? Meerkats are so random, right?

The question that I have is "Why WOULDN'T there be a meerkat?" They are so cute and awesome!

But that's not the reason why I have it as a signature screen print or why it is a part of my logo.  So, here we go... The Meerkat Meaning.

Many years ago, my sister (aka, The Diva) fell in love with the show "Meerkat Manor" on Animal Planet.  She decided from that point on to refer to everyone she loved as a "Merr Cat".  I don't remember at what point she realized she had been mispronouncing it and switched over to saying "Meerkat", but it didn't matter.  The affectionate term spread like wildfire and pretty soon, I was hearing random people refer to their friends as "Merr Cats".

If you ever have the chance to meet my sister, you will immediately fall in love with her and her "merr cat" daughter, E.  She has a wonderfully infectious personality that 1) makes you feel cool to hang out with her, and 2) secretly want to be her.  If you ever do meet her, I guarantee you will want to call everyone in your love circle.... a Meerkat (or Merr Cat...whichever:)

So, in honor of my best friend and sister, I have included a Meerkat as my signature design. This one animal brings so much joy to my heart because of what it means to my sister and my family.  Love.

Much love to all my meerkats!

Making burp cloths while being sick? I must be crazy!

It started Friday afternoon when my voice went down two octaves. My mother-in-law called and thought I was her son because my voice was so low.  I woke up Saturday and felt awful...but the weekends are really my only days to work on building up OneTwentyOne, so I powered through. I must be crazy, right? Building a business when you feel like you got run over by a MACK truck? Well, I was determined.

And I succeeded. :) I'm still not well, but I completed my task.

As I am continuing to learn, I decided it wouldn't be a bad idea to have some items already made and ready to ship.  It took me a little longer than usual this weekend, but I was able to finish ten ready-made burp cloths to sell on Etsy.

AND... I even added a little extra to the sewing design.  I top-stitched in a coordinating or complimenting color in both a straight stitch and a zig-zag.  I also just put one zig-zag stitch down the center instead of diving the burp cloth into thirds.  However, because I am such a perfectionist, I see flaws in the design... probably only stuff that I can see... but it bothers me and I need to find a way to fix them.  And thus begins more research with trials and errors.  But that's life, am I right?

Thank you for allowing me to share this awesome journey with you.  I'm loving this! I hope you are too! And, I would love for advice and feedback...so hit me up when you get the chance. Here are a few photos from my weekend.

 Here is my sweet Q holding a burp cloth... isn't he just awesome?! And he was about to fall out of the chair...so I had to do a quick snap-and-catch. 

 A portion of my weekend project.

I love this one.  The fabric is a fantastic butter yellow and top-stitched in teal.  "Sweet Baby" is what I always say to my kiddos, so this phrase is sentimental to me. 

Hope everyone has a healthy and productive week!