Another lovely surprise (and giveaway)!

Some of you may know that I am one of Wild Olive's sponsors. Mollie chooses a story every month, and encourages her sponsors to participate by either sharing a few lines every month and telling how we relate to it or by sponsoring a giveaway, that is somehow related to it.

When Mollie wrote about her story choice this month, I was thrilled. I knew exactly what I wanted to share with y'all.

After all, everyone wishes for improvement in their lives. Not too long ago, I wished for better embroidery skills and more creativity. And my wish came true. I am taking Mollie's wonderful class: All in the Details, the embroidery project. Mollie shares a new project each and every day, and I must say that each new project is cuter than the last. To be able to learn new skills while collaborating and exchanging ideas with different people has been an amazing as well as enriching experience. And this is what I want to give you today: the opportunity to take Mollie's class: All in the Details, the embroidery project. 

To enter to win, simply follow the steps below:

Mandatory entry:
Become a follower of my blog and leave a comment here (make sure there is a way for me to contact you)

 Additional entries:

Leave a separate comment here for each one you do!

-Like Ooh Leela! on Facebook
-Follow Ooh Leela! on Twitter

GOOD LUCK!!!

It is time for a giveaway!

I told you this week would be full of surprises! This is the first one: 

I am hosting a giveaway (and sharing a cool tutorial) at one of my all time favorite blogs: Crafty Nest. Crafty Nest is an inspirational, do-it-yourself home decorating blog, featuring one new craft each week. Monica offers step-by-step tutorials for pretty and practical crafts on a budget.

I met Monica through a mutual friend, at Sportivo Coffee Bar (yes, the same place that carries my sleeves :) Monica is a super talented and creative crafter and an amazing human being. I can't even begin to explain how excited (and extremely flattered) I am to have been asked to prepare a tutorial for her blog.

And to share the excitement, I am giving away this beautiful upcycled leather coffee sleeve:

To enter to win, visit Monica's blog and leave a comment. The deadline is in one week—Monday, July 4, 2011. 

And if you are visiting for the first time, a warm welcome to you! I hope you come back often. 

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Have a wonderful day!

Any fabric detectives out there?

I need some help.... I bought this fabric at Joann's 6 months or so ago. The problem is I only bought 1/2 yard (lesson learned: need to be less stingy in the future) and I am about to run out. I really love it and I went back for more, but surprise surprise, they no longer carry it. No one was able to tell me who makes it or which collection it belongs to. It was like they had never seen it before....

I have looked online, and I have also been to 4 different stores, but no luck so far....

Have you seen me?

Have you seen it before? Do you know where I can find it? Are there any websites out there that provide this sort of service? Any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated. I may even send you a thank you gift ;)

Sunday chuckle

This is going to be an exciting week here at Ooh Leela! Be sure to check back often. For now, sit back, relax and enjoy the ride. May your week be as amazing as you are! Thank you for stopping by.

Meet Lola, Leela's mousy

Do you ever feel like being creative and making something when your to-do list (containing mostly non-arts-y stuff) is a mile long? Well, I am in that kind of mood today.

So to celebrate my laziness lack of productivity in the day-job department, I made Lola, a cute little mousy, who is very girly and spoiled, much like her owner, Leela.

Leela loved it so much, it was almost impossible to take a picture before she took Lola..... And.... She has been playing with Lola for the past hour. Mission accomplished I guess ;)

Ignore the dust bunnies please :)

Would you like to see a tutorial? Leave a comment, please and I will be happy to prepare one for you!

XOXOs and thank you so much for stopping by and celebrating lazy Tuesday with me!

To a Dad who inspires me so much

 
Dear Daddy, Happy Father's Day. It is such an honor to have a Dad like you. You are kind, gentle, humble, hardworking, giving, loving, honest and an all around amazing human being. I just love how you can find happiness in the littlest of things and how you give your best to everything you do. I love you so much.

Father's Day gift ideas

OMG! Time is just flying by this year. Can you believe it is June already?!?

Although I won't get to spend Father's Day with my Dad this year (love you Pop), I have been looking for ideas to entertain both my fathers-in-law. I got this amazing gift for Papa (love love love the recycled wood - Papa is originally from Chicago).... Now, I was having such a hard time deciding what to give Hubby's Dad..... Until I came across this that is. Can you say YUMMY?!?

Source

You can find the recipe here. Here are some cool project and gift ideas!

Source

I know my hubby would love this. He is into old cars, and he loves to take care of his babies. I don't think he has taken any of his babies to the car wash.... EVER!

I may even throw this delicious bread pudding into the mix... Ok, so this will be for me, but my father-in-law will probably enjoy it too, right?!?

Source

How cute are these ties? Mollie from Wild Olive designed them. I am sure you could whip these up in no time.

Source

SEW cute, love the apron idea.

Some other ideas:

• Homemade BBQ Sauce
• Tickets to a baseball game
• Photo collage
• A basket with his favorite candies, food, snacks (you can probably save a ton of money by doing this yourself, instead of ordering it online)

What about you? Are you making something for Dad? Buying something perhaps? If you have any cool ideas, post it in the comments section and I will be happy to update this list.

Happy Friday everyone!!!

A special baby shower for sweet baby Camila

Hello everyone! This.week.has.been.absolutely.insane! Mainly because of my day job (boo-hoo)...

We saw our dear friends Mr. and Mrs. H last Saturday. Mr. and Mrs. H are expecting their first baby! Baby Camila is due in October. Mrs. H asked me to help her with the baby shower preparations. Mind you this is all new to me, since I have never thrown a baby shower before, not even for my dog baby Leela.

But I think I am up for the challenge: I love to throw parties and making arrangements is one of my fortes, so to be able to help coordinate Camila's baby shower is a dream come true. I truly feel so honored. So, in the spirit of keeping things as organized as possible, I have decided to break it down into 4 sections:

1. Decoration: Mrs. H wants to incorporate purple. I was thinking purple and a light yellow or green....
2. Food: simplicity is key
3. Party favors: handmade!!!!
4. Games: something fun pleaaaseeee!

The party will take place at the end of July, so that gives me roughly 5 weeks of planning time. As I come up with ideas, I thought it would be great to share them with you. I know this is not what the blog is all about, but I really want to use handmade items whenever possible. Plus we are on a serious budget, so I will probably end up doing some of the things myself. What say you? Will you join me on this journey?

If you have any ideas, tips, online resources, etc, I would love to hear from you! Hey!!! Who am I kidding?!? I would LOVE to hear from you no matter what! Your comments make my heart sing.

XOXOs!!!

A very cool giveaway

Hello lovelies!

If you have some free time today, Thursday from My Girl Thursday is hosting a super cool giveaway. Check it out: 1st post, 2nd post, 3rd post.

Oh, and it seems as though a bomb went off in my sewing room.... It is a total mess!!!

Some Leela love (as you can see today is her day off):

That is all I have time for today. Will be back soon, I promise.

Have a great day!

I just can't help it....

I know I know, I am already falling behind on things I have to do, but I just could not help myself when I found this awesome blog. I am participating in a handmade gift exchange!!!

Oh my Oh my! I am super excited and already have tons of ideas in my little head.

 

Apart from this, I am also participating in another scrap swap (I still owe you some pictures from my last swap, sorry about that). This is so addicting!!!I absolutely love giving gifts, but the rush I get when I get home and see a box waiting for me... it. is. inexplicable!

I go through each and every piece of fabric and all the other goodies my swap friend has so carefully and thoughtfully selected for me. Everything is so neatly packed and every item tells a story. I even get butterflies in my stomach. I am that crazy... lol!

I am also taking 2 crafts courses this summer. I will keep them a secret for now..... More on that later, pinky promise!

Hubby and I are hosting a dinner party this eve. Off to the kitchen I go!!! Do you have anything fun going on this weekend? 

Love always!

Feeling a bit overwhelmed today

http://www.marktoon.co.uk/blobs.htm

Today is just one of those days that I have to do a gazillion things (that were supposed to be done yesterday, and the day before yesterday, you get the picture) and I just don't know where to start.

Here are some of the things that are on my to-do list:

1. Finish a tutorial;
2. Respond to emails and messages on FB
3. Catch up with my team on Etsy
4. Update my shop
5. Craft, craft, craft
6. Finish some projects
7. Finish working on my website
8. Go to the bank
9. Do laundry
10. Organize my sewing room
11. Mail the giveaway goodies to the winner - CONGRATS by the way and thank you to all of you who participated!!!! I love you all!
12. Organize Ooh Leela's FB page
13. Package & mail 3 dish towels
14. Add more pages to the blog
15. 1000000000 things that I have to accomplish at my day job

Do you feel like this sometimes?

Thanks for stopping by!