It's A Party for You and Me!

Guess what today is... Yep, it is The English Pea Studio's second birthday. And the way I celebrate - I give you a present. How is that for a birthday party? So... here it goes. The first gift - FREE Shipping. Yep, order today through Sunday, June 5th, and use the code: PARTY at checkout. How's that for festive?

And don't fret if you aren't needing to order, I have something for you too. I am giving away one printable CUSTOM party package. What does this mean, well... you get to choose the theme and start from scratch with me designing everything to your hearts content. All this comes with:
4.25x5.5 size invitation
2" party favor Sticker - customized for your needs
3" cupcake topper with two background designs - customized for your needs (will match favor stickers)
5x7 Welcome sign
8.5x11 " sheet of images to use for decor
Thank you note template
(fine print: winner will receive gift certificate with these specefics detailed. gift certificate has no monetary value. Winner must use the certificate within one year of receiving it. This is a printable file. No physical documents will be presented. All documents will be emailed to the email address the winner indicates).

Okay, so you excited now? I thought you would be. Here are a few ways to enter. With each entry please make mention of it in comment section. The more stuff you do, the more entries you receive.
1. Comment below - just say hi, happy birthday, or "yes, enter me, please!"
2. Follow the blog
3. Share on your blog, facebook, twitter (or whatever social site tickles your fancy)
4. "Like" The English Pea over on facebook
I will announce the winner next Monday!

Thanks for a great two years. I couldn't have done it without all my WONDERFUL customers, friends and family, and my hubby and kids (that endure the craziness at times).

Now let's party!

Scrap It Saturdays: Dainty Bumble Bee

Okay, you could argue that I went a little overboard with my bumble bee madness, but I must admit, it was super cute. And when I suggested the tutu and appliqued t-shirt idea to my friend Angela for McKenna's birthday present she was more than happy to oblidge.

I haven't given you the play by play on this one, but you will find the pattern below. And just a little word to the wise, download these patterns now, because they will be going away for good soon - yes, I am trying to decide if I am going to sell them as patterns, appliqued tshirts (already made), both, or iron ons (or all three). Would love to know your opinion.

Oh, and check back next week. I am going to be celebrating a birthday - The English Pea's birthday. Do you know what that means? Presents for YOU! Don't miss it! :)
{right click on image. Select "Save as" and place it in your file. Do the same with the directions and you are done!}

{sarah lee}

Nope, I am not talking about the brand "Sara Lee." While delicious, I am actually speaking of my little sister - Sarah Moore - soon to be Sarah Lee. Yep, you guessed it her beau, Rob Lee (thus the future name), popped the question (we had been waiting and waiting and waiting - sorry Rob, we are an impatient family) and while they have only been dating for a year, we knew this match was one made in heaven - seriously. We are so thrilled for both of them and just love soon to be "Uncle Rob." We can't wait for the supersized Texas wedding coming all too soon. Congrats Sarah and Rob! We love you both!

{a dainty bumble bee}

So these are the invitations that were the inspiration for the tutu I shared with you on Saturday. I also made a little t-shirt - which I will be sharing this Saturday. These are my favorite invites as of late. They are also up in the shop - for those of you interested. :)

a full house, and still so few

The kids enjoying a popsicle after some time at the pool and pizza on the porch. They had SO MUCH FUN!
Charlotte after feeding Leah Cate a bottle - it was her first time doing it and she felt like a big girl.
My lovely and precious mother with her youngest granddaughter - also trying to soak up all the time with us while she could. :)

It is comical to me that I can have a full house and only one of my siblings is present. Of course, that sibling comes with his own family and you add our family of four and his family of four and my mom and you do have a pretty full house - nine people. The funny thing is that there were eight other people missing - I know CRAZY!And those eight don't include my other sister's significant others that aren't "officially" part of the family yet. All that said, I had a WONDERFUL, wonderful time with my mom, brother, his wife and their girls. Our times together are never long enough. The funny thing about half of my family being so far away is that I do believe I appreciate our times together so much more. We never know when our next time together will be and I just try to soak up all the time that I have with them. Hope you enjoy these photos from our "full house" weekend. :)

this weekend...

I was in hog heaven kissing and cuddling my sweet niece - and enjoying some of my family. My mother has been here for a few days and my brother and his family came over for part of the weekend. There really is nothing better than enjoying the people you love over yummy food, great sunshine, and a leisurly evening chatting outdoors - while the children played of course.

More pictures to come, but I am off to take my mother to the airport. Sigh... all good things must come to an end!

Scrap It Saturdays: No Sew Tutu

A good friend of mine had me create an adorable invitation for her one year old's birthday. You may have caught a glimpse of it in my custom post a few weeks back. She wanted to do dainty bumble bees and I had so much fun creating it for her.

I took things a little further and set out to make her sweet baby girl an outfit for her big day. As you all know tutus are all the rage and this was part of the ensemble I made. I had NO IDEA how EASY these were to make and I found this tutorial VERY helpful.

For those of you intersted I also have detailed my experience below as well as included pictures so that you, too, can create one for yourself. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

What you will need:
This was for a one year old so I used approximately 2 yards of yellow tulle and one yard of white.
scissors
measuring tape
elastic
ribbon
glue gun

First I measured a piece of elastic to fit the child's waiste - in this case 18". I then sewed the ends together - you could also hot glue if you don't want to sew.


Next I set out to make the strips for the tutu. I rolled up each section of tulle into a large strip like you see in this first picture. Next I trimmed the ends to make them all even.


I then measured three inches for each stip and trimmed - resulting in multiple sections like you see in image #4.


We decided based on the little girl's height that the length needed to measure nine inches from the waiste.I cut each strip into 18 inches and tied them off in the middle onto the elastic (how to tie: take 18 inch strip and fold in half. Place fingers through the loop and wrap around elastic. Then pull both loose ends through the loop you made and it "ties off."). I repeated until the whole thing was complete.

And last, but not least, I added the bow with a hot glue gun. Easy peasy! Who knew!


And here is the final result. Check back next week to see the oh so cute, bumble bee top that I paired with it - and the free pattern too. :)