Le Petit Hoot

Le Petit Hoot’s New Home

Le Petit Hoot — Mon, 14 May 2012 20:14:23 +0000

I’ve probably hinted at this a few times in the past 2 or 3 months but there’s something new and exciting for Le Petit Hoot!

I have a whole new website and blog! If you follow this here blog, please be sure to update your bookmarks, rss readers, Bloglovin’, etc. The new address is lepetithoot.com. To directly access the blog, click here.

I’m so, so, so excited for this new little venture. And a million, no a bazillion, thank you’s to my amazing and wonderful husband for putting so much work into designing AND coding my new site. It’s a total dreamboat (just like him)! It makes stepping away from this blog so much easier to do.

If you’re wondering, you’ll still have access to older posts through this new blog. I can’t wait for you to see it!

Le Petit Hoot | Home of handmade totes

Lately

Le Petit Hoot — Wed, 09 May 2012 20:41:17 +0000

The past two months have been SO BUSY with preparations for the Art Star Craft Bazaar in Philly. And now that it’s only 3 days away (I can’t believe it!), I’m so extremely excited for it. I have no idea what to expect which makes me nervous and excited and happy all at the same time.

That would explain my absence on the blog as of late. I’ve been working away, trying to finish last minute things. Stitching up and putting the finishing touches on my bags, gathering and prepping displays and props for my table. And when I’m not up until 3 or 4 in the morning doing these things, I’ve been trying to regularly spend time with the fam. Steve and Caleb are the two most earthly important things to me so I didn’t want to neglect time with them. Here’s what life has been looking like for me through the eyes of my Instagram feed (p.s. if you’d like to follow along, my username is lepetithoot).

We had some warmer days a few weeks ago that were perfect for grilling up kebobs.

Break time at our favorite family date place (Barnes & Noble). Caleb loves the Thomas trains there.

Our weekly date after Caleb goes to bed…Smovie Night! Smoothies + movie night = Smovie Night. Every Wednesday.

This lovely lady and I are penpals. Love her!

A sneak peek of one of the bow clutches I’ll be selling at the ASCB.

I took a break one Sunday to bake these little beauties for a BBQ. These are a must make. Like, go do it. Now.

Searching for a little display inspiration today on this gray, rainy day.

And lastly, some sign prep for my booth for the ASCB.

The fair is at the Great Plaza at Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia for anyone who is interested in coming and will be in the area. I’m at Booth #62. I would love, love, love it if you came by and said, “hello!” I’ll be the really short girl with geeky glasses and the girly dress.

Checking In

Le Petit Hoot — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 16:01:00 +0000

via

I’m a little late in sharing this but I had a post up on RevolutionizeHer yesterday about overcoming discouragement. Have a read and let me know what you think! Also, if you have any tidbits to share, please do. Enjoy your day!

Yes, I Am Alive.

Le Petit Hoot — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 16:20:39 +0000

This post is going to be the mother of all updates! How long have I been MIA now? …Where to start? Ok, well, a lot of my time has been taken up by sewing. I applied to be part of the Art Star Craft Bazaar in Philly this Spring (which is a juried craft fair) and actually made it!

Not that I’m not confident in my work but I try not to get too hopeful about things because, as much as I hate to admit it, I can let defeat get to me sometimes. I’ve been saying for YEARS that I wanted to be a vendor there. Steve and I discussed it and decided that if I really want to take the next step with this business venture of mine, the investment would be worth it. It could go extremely well or horribly wrong; I’m not really going into it with any expectations because, like I said, I let defeat get to me. I’d say I’m pretty neutral about the whole thing which I guess would sound bad to some of you but I’m neutral erring on the side of positive. Ha!

After I found out I was accepted I went on a hunt for fabrics to create all new bags for the show (same designs– with one new one to be revealed at the fair– but different colors and prints). My mom, who used to hand sew things back in the day, told me about this gem of a fabric store. Needless to say, I scored big time when we went there!

I’ve been working on the new pintuck bags and bow clutches to get all of the smaller stuff done and out of the way.

I’ve made a decent amount of progress but boy is it HARD trying to prepare for a craft show with a (nearly) 15-month old who is now interested in walking and is zipping around the house and getting into everything. Suffice it to say, I get pulled away from projects midway through to tackle him down before he dumps the cats’ water bowl all over the floor or unrolls the entire roll of toilet paper.

Because it’s becoming harder to cut fabric and sew during Caleb’s waking hours, I’ve been allocating that time to work on smaller, less involved things. Like displays for my booth, which is number 62 if you’re planning to stop on by.

I’m sharing my booth with the lovely Sarah-Maria from Meerwiibli. I can’t wait to meet her in person, she’s been so lovely to speak to through email. She makes super fun clothing and you should check out her site. She’s also from Switzerland, which has THE BEST chocolate in the world and just makes her even more alluring than she already is on her own. ;)

The Art Star Craft Bazaar is taking place on Mother’s Day weekend at the Great Plaza at Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia on May 12th and 13th from 11am to 6pm. If you live in the area, or will be visiting the area that weekend, stop by! It’s truly an amazing fair and literally gets better and better every year. Come stop by booth #62 and introduce yourself! I’d love to meet you.

ASCB photo via. All other photos are from my Instagram feed; if you’d like to follow me as I microblog my adventures, my username is lepetithoot.

Wednesday Wants: Handmade Pottery

Le Petit Hoot — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 06:12:27 +0000

I love handmade ceramics and pottery, especially when they’re functional. I’m in love with the following items, in particular:

Top two images from ZuppaAtelier; middle two from vesselsandwares; bottom two from Ninainvorm.

Newly Revamped Shop

Le Petit Hoot — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 05:08:51 +0000

I’ve been working hard since 9am this morning with very few breaks (except of course to feed, change, play with, and otherwise take care of the wee little one). As far as my own needs go…I didn’t eat my first meal until 7pm. I was a busy, busy little bee today. I’ve been working on photo concepts for some time now for my Etsy shop and I finally came up with a look that I love! And also one that I feel is versatile and I can grow with. But, because I’m such a perfectionist, I didn’t want to start with my new products. I wanted the whole shop to have a cohesive look so I retook photos of ALL of my inventory. Then I had to edit and also fiddle around with my Etsy banner. Then, I felt like my blog and shop should kind of coincide so I worked on my blog a bit. But there are greater plans for the future of my blog ::wink:: so I didn’t go all out. Here’s a little screenshot of what the shop is looking like:

I’m like that book…If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. Except it’s like, If You Give a Jill a Project. And I said on Twitter almost an hour ago that I was going to relax and watch Downton Abbey. So, now I am. Nighty night, folks!

Wednesday Wants: Full of Hot Air

Le Petit Hoot — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 15:48:01 +0000

Thanks for stopping by for this week’s episode of Wednesday Wants! Last week I shared my love for all things foxy. This week I’m sharing my obsession with hot air balloons. Take a peek at these lovely items (all from Etsy sellers)!

From top to bottom: 1. Wood square box by Mmim; 2. Hot air balloon necklace by jpbeads; 3. Hot air balloon print by theFiligree; 4. Hot air balloon invitation by AnAprilIdea; 5. Elephant with hot air balloon plate by BlackBaroque

11 Random Things on a Monday

Le Petit Hoot — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 19:37:01 +0000

I saw this concept on Danielle‘s blog and also Julie‘s. I don’t usually do “chain mail” type things where I tag others to take part (mostly because I don’t want them to feel obligated) but I’m going to take part in this anyway. And for the ladies I tagged below, don’t feel obligated to do this if you don’t want to. I won’t take it personally. ;) So, there are some rules to this little game:

THE RULES

Post these rules
Post 11 random things about yourself
Answer the questions provided by the one who tagged you
Create 11 new questions for the people you tag
Go to their blog (or Facebook or Twitter) and tell them they’ve been tagged

Here we go!

1. I have sort of a crush on John Steinbeck. He’s my most favorite, favorite, favorite author. I’ve read East of Eden three times and plan on reading it again sometime soon.

2. I’m one of five children and I’m the middle child. I have two older brothers and a younger brother and younger sister.

3. My guilty pleasure tv show is Gossip Girl (which isn’t much of a secret anymore since I’ve been telling a lot of people about my love for it lately).

4. I used to have this pink alien toy when I was about 5 or 6. It was one of my brothers’. I took it because I said he was “so ugly no one but me could ever love him.” When we moved, I wasn’t able to find him and am convinced my mom got rid of him. I still miss my alien. :(

5. I’m a big fan of Seinfeld (so is my hubby). When we watch it, I’m usually saying the lines. Steve has never said anything about it but I’m guessing it probably drives him nuts sometimes.

6. Steve and I have been married for 6 1/2 years and have one sweet baby boy who just turned 1 at the end of January.

7. I’m obsessed with Asian culture (particularly Japanese). Steve often jokes that I’m probably the most Asian white girl in the world. I totally want to be Japanese.

8. The first concert I ever went to was New Kids on the Block (yeah, Joey McIntyre!).

9. I have a huge brown teddy bear whose name is Downey. A lot of people think it’s because of the Downy fabric softener bear but it’s not. He was named after my childhood love: Robert Downey, Jr. Ha!

10. I’m a short gal measuring in at only 5’1″. I don’t mind being short, I just wish I had longer legs.

11. I sew and bake and just love to create in general. If I could do everything I wanted to, without money or time constraints, I would make clothing and bags and sell them in a boutique that also had a coffee shop that sold sweet treats.

I’m answering the questions I saw on Julie’s post. So here are my answers!

1. What was your first job? I worked at a shop on the Boardwalk in Ocean City, NJ called Air Circus.

2. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? Even though I’ve never been there, I feel mentally and emotionally drawn to Portland, Oregon. And because I’m obsessed with the Japanese, maybe somewhere in Japan. And possibly Hawaii.

3. At what age did you discover your passion/calling for your life? I still feel like I’m working things out. When I was a junior in high school, I knew I wanted to work in photography for a magazine (which I did do after college but was laid off from). After that, I wanted to make a living off of sewing (which I still do but am continuing to work towards).

4. If you could have any animal as your pet (no matter how absurd it might be) what would it be? A red panda or a hippo.

5. What celebrity figure would you want to hang with for a day? Hmm, probably Zooey Deschanel or Clemence Poesy.

6. What band/artist did you jam out to the most in your childhood years? MxPx and The Doors (ok, that was more like high school)

7. What’s your biggest pet-peeve? Leaving cabinet doors and drawers just slightly open. It’s not hard to close them all the way!

8. Favorite thing to do to reward yourself on a job well done? Buy myself a delicious coffee. My current fave: salted caramel mocha from Starbucks.

9. What’s your favorite TV show(s) right now? My guilty pleasure: Gossip Girl. My new obsession: Downton Abbey (even though I’ve only seen one episode). Two of my all-time favorites: Seinfeld and Someday (a Korean drama).

10. When was/is your Golden Year (day of your b-day)? I’m not sure I’m answering this question correctly, but…my birthday is March 29th. 30, here I come!

11. Last meal? Peanut butter and red plum jam sandwich.

I’m tagging Katy, Kristin, and Carly for this little ditty. Of course, anyone can take part! Leave me a link to your post in the comments so I can get to know you better. :)

My questions for you:

1. Who is your favorite author?

2. If you went to college (or are currently attending), what did you major in?

3. What is your dream job (if there were no constraints to time, money, or schooling)?

4. Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?

5. What was the best vacation you’ve ever been on?

6. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be?

7. What are your special talents/skills?

8. Who is your all-time favorite band/musician?

9. What is the craziest/most surprising thing that ever happened to you?

10. Are you a blogger? If so, what do you blog about? Why do you blog?

11. What is your worst habit? How about your best?

Red Velvet Cuppycakes

Le Petit Hoot — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 03:16:34 +0000

Ok, so this is a late night post but there’s no I’m So DIY today. Instead, I made red velvet cupcakes. Or, as I like to call them sometimes: cuppycakes.

Pardon the poor indoor lighting. Blech!

I’m about to head off to the kitchen now to go eat one. Happy weekend, friends!

Wednesday Wants: Foxy Finds

Le Petit Hoot — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:44:27 +0000

My list of favorite shops and items on Etsy continues to grow. As I look through it, I often see reoccuring themes and thought it would be interesting to share with the rest of the world. This week it’s all about that tantalizing little fox.

From top to bottom: 1. Little Fox Coat by littlegoodall; 2. Embroidered Felt Fox Necklace by KnitKnit; 3. Fox Plate by kokokoshop; 4. Wooden Fox Earrings by bRainbowshop; 5. Mister Fox Illustration by nativevermont; 6. Fox Ring with Diamond Eyes by michellechangjewelry