Creative Envy

Yet another hero to add to my list: Rubyellen over at Cakies. I found this lovely blog via Oh Happy Day this morning and I have been browsing through its archives for hours on and off throughout the day. So yeah, it’s a keeper.

Rubyellen is insanely talented and is basically living my dream life. She is married to (if she doesn’t mind me saying) a very dreamy, hip man, has two adorable girls, is a sewer/crafter extraordinaire, stays at home to take care of her family while at the same time maintaining a successful Etsy storefront. This sounds like complete bliss to me and I seriously do daydream about such a life.

Rubyellen and her lovely family

Beautiful Mum Wool Felt Crown (modeled by True) - from the Cakies Etsy shop

Beyond all the cute treats in her Etsy shop, Rubyellen is constantly coming up with original outfits and play things for her two daughters, True and Brave (yes, those are their names and I think they rock).

a walking dress she made for Brave

a jumper she made for True

urbanwear she made for Brave

urbanwear she made for True

The way in which Rubyellen presents her handmade treasures to the blogosphere, both in words and through photography, is endlessly inspiring. Yeah, I know, I’m gushing. But you will too when you see all this busy lady is accomplishing on a daily basis. I don’t know how she pulls it off while wrangling two toddlers.

the family dressed as Wizard of Oz characters for Halloween; you MUST read her story and see the accompanying pictures

another great story. she made a fabric mushroom to be used as a pincushion and it resulted in more mushrooms for True to play with and a mushroom picking jumper for her to wear

One of my favorite things about Rubyellen is the décor she has chosen for her daughters’ bedrooms. They are so unique. What I love is that these little girls will be able to grow into them. They aren’t all contrived or overly “kid-ified” if you know what I mean (like a room pulled straight from the Pottery Barn Kids catalog). They are eclectic but still kid-friendly and really allow for her girls to have the perfect playground for whatever is in those little imaginative minds of theirs. She and her husband take great care to make sure most of the items are either from flea markets, antique stores or are DIY projects and sometimes it takes time to find the perfect item. Rubyellen writes:

Though it seems everything will always be a slow process for us because the things we like are not at just any one store. We have to patiently and frequently scavenge through flea markets looking for the absolute perfect pieces, though it may take awhile, we like it this way. Each piece will then have a story and a previous life, it makes it all more special.

True's bedroom (I've already added that poster to my wish list. I love it.)

True's bedroom accents

more of True's bedroom accents

Brave's bedroom

Brave's bedroom accents

Oh yeah, and beyond the darling things she makes for kids, she also dabbles in more adult items like this Free People inspired purse she made out of a vintage tablecloth.

Get the pattern to make your own here (project list? check!). Speaking of which, Rubyellen was September’s featured blogger on the Free People blog. You can read the interview here.

Obviously, there’s so much more I could talk about when it comes to Cakies but I’ll just leave you with one more awesome project. Look at this growth chart!

Here’s a link to the original entry if you’d like to read how she made it. But please be sure to check out her entire blog because there is so much inspiration packed into one place. Thanks, Rubyellen!

Photos courtesy of Cakies and the Free People blog.