Sweet Love

While I love sugary treats, my ultimate indulgence is a hot bath and a new copy of Entertainment Weekly. Of course, a bath is that much better if it's soft and scented.

Enter these mini cupcakes, which are actually bath bombs in disguise. The cake portion is a fizzy delight, and the frosting contains emollient ingredients like shea butter.

Here's what these confectionary cuties look like on display in our store. We're offering them online too, as special gift sets that we wrap in our signature pink pastry boxes.

Handmade in Western Washington. $5.50 each.

Short & Sweet Weekend Sale

Sunny in Seattle

It's a beautiful day - this is the view from my work station.

A Very Special Rhoda

We're calling this lovely shade of blue Lagoon. It's a supple, pebbled premium faux leather in a shade somewhere between teal and indigo.

The green and cream ribbon is special too. It's a store favorite, but has been sadly discontinued by the manufacturer. We have a few yards left - when it's gone, it's gone.

You can order this bag on our website here, or stop by our store to visit Rhoda in person.

Zipper Coin Purses in Premium Materials

I've just posted these little pouches for sale on our website here. These are our latest premium faux leathers, which are also available for custom designed bags in the store.

From top to bottom: Lagoon, Strawberry, Steel, Moss, and the popular Licorice Squares.

Wristlet Subscription: Everyone Loves a Care Package

Thanks to my customer Kari, who requested that we consider starting our wristlet subscription program again. You can see some of our former wristlet subscription designs here.

Subscribe, and receive a new, extra special wristlet in the mail four times per year. I'll base each wristlet design around a vintage material or embellishment, making the design exclusively for subscribers.

Treat yourself or a loved one to this special year-long gift. Order here.

First class mail shipping is free on this item.

Wristlet Subscription Shipping Schedule
Winter 2010: Ships end of February
Color theme - Red

Spring 2010: Ships end of May
Color theme - Green

Summer 2010: Ships end of July
Color theme - Blue

Fall 2010: Ships end of September
Color theme - Neutrals

Fabric: Quirky Dots

The shapes on this fabric resemble little doodles - drawn either by artist Miro or a molecular biologist, depending on your perspective.

Fabric: Leaf Silhouette

This heavy duty upholstery material reminds me of Matisse's paper cut out pieces.

Rather than the artist's those bold tones, this fabric has muted shades of olive, teal, and gold.


Edited 2/21/10 to add: I took a quick snapshot of a custom Becky bag using this fabric with grey microsuede and avocado faux leather.

Spring Tweed

While we might think of tweed most often as a cozy winter fabric, this cotton upholstery material begs to differ. With shades of celery, lemon, royal and cherry, the cheerful texture would pair nicely with denim, black patent, or white.

Kim gave me these vintage game tiles as part of my Christmas gift, and I thought they looked cute atop the tweed. Apparently there are 13 points in my name!

Ashley's Trendwatch: Down the Rabbit Hole

'Alice' Inspired Fashion

With Tim Burton's rehash of Alice In Wonderland due to hit theaters in March, a tinge of whimsy has entered the realm of fashion. Color, punch, and a healthy dose of quirk make up the majority of the trend, with heavy use of luminous and ever-so-slightly off kilter shades of green, yellow, and red.

Photo Courtesy of E! Online

The film, with all-stars like Johnny Depp and Anne Hathaway, promises to be a more twisted plot line than the animated gem we all know and love. However, the fantastical scenery and costuming evoke the same feelings of awe as those singing flowers and dancing dormouse did when we were young. Clothing designers like Sue Wong have embraced the idea: She will launch a line inspired by the movie later in the year.

Photo courtesy of TheDisneyBlog.com

In a slightly less blatant way, more affordable fashion lines have picked up on the trend as well:

Cardigan photo courtesy of Forever21.com. Dress photo courtesy of twelvebytwelve.com

A little ruffle in an unexpected place, a twist of slightly strange color on a neutral navy - Quirk is easily injected without being shocking. Accessories, as nearly always, may be the simplest way to inject a little Alice into your style. Check out these goodies here at Laura Bee that have Wonderland written all over them:

All available at Laura Bee Designs.
Left to Right: Lock Ring $14, Alaska Gadgetry Key Necklace $28, Luxe Clutch $48, Owl Watch Necklace $26, Rabbit Ring $16

But it's not all about color. You could also easily go the way of the White Queen with layer upon layer of texture, subtlety, and drama (Full disclosure: I may be a bit biased here - The dress is in my personal collection):

Dress: Maggie London. Anne Hathaway as The White Queen photo courtesy of E! Online

...Ready to go down the rabbit hole?

Final Dahlia Tally

Valentine: It was meant to Bee

Because of the bee theme and the aqua and cherry pink color combination, this is my favorite of my Valentine find. Really, it's perfect for Laura Bee Designs, don't you think?

It wasn't until I got the little die-cut paper home and turned it over that I saw the name on the back, in vintage penmanship. It was meant to Bee!

Valentine Details

Here's another charming vintage Valentine. I love the little girl's matching Mary Jane shoes and patent leather purse. I also adore the little boy's mushroom seat.

Olympics and Valentines

On recent trip to an antique mall in search of vintage buttons, I stumbled on a cache of sweet 1950s paper Valentines. I thought I'd share a few with you here. The ice skating theme of this one appeals to me as the Winter Olympics are about to begin three hours away from us here in Seattle.

I thought that the back of this Valentine was just as fun as the front. Don't you want to know about these classroom buddies and their red typewriter tape in a manual machine?

The first Valentine is high-resolution, so feel free to download the image to print for your own sweetie.

Negative Space (Positive Post)

1-14-10 Photo Shoot, originally uploaded by Laura Bee Seattle.

This fabric is reversible, so I used both sides of it on this zipper coin purse. I like how the simple pattern uses the negative space. Which is the pattern, and which is the background?

I haven't been posting much because we are in the home stretch of our Dahlias for Haiti fundraiser. My latest tabulation shows that we've sold 630 flowers, for more than $6000 raised.

We're continuing to take orders through this Sunday, February 14th and we have a fresh batch for sale in the Seattle shop too. Is it crazy to think we might make it to 700?

Dragon Charm Necklace

Handmade in Portland by Joseph Brinton, this disk necklace features an etched dragon on a hammered background. It measures just over an inch in diameter.

$27, available in the store.

Happy 7th Birthday to My Best Buddy

Party Hat Pug, originally uploaded by Laura Bee Seattle.

It's Otis Redding the pug's birthday today.

Happy Birthday little nugget!

Be Mine Valentine's Day Special

Be the hero this Valentine's day and give her a special, sweet gift from Laura Bee Designs. Purchase a gift certificate valued at $100 or more ($150 will buy any bag we make), and we'll tuck it into a rose gold mini wallet ($14 value).

Of course, Valentine's Day requires chocolate, so we'll also include your choice of a Theo Chocolate bar (Seattle-made organic chocolate).

Then we'll wrap the whole thing in one of our signature cupcake boxes above for a sweet treat.

Stop by or give us call to order. Here's info about our Seattle store.

My special note to the guys out there:

When we suggest a gift certificate, we can see it in your eyes. You worry that she'll think you're cheating by not buying something more personal.

A gift certificate to our shop buys not only a stylish, functional, bag, but it also purchases a special, creative experience. She'll be telling the story about her special gift to her friends for months.

As one woman put it to me tonight, "My husband hit a home run when he gave me a gift certificate." There's a sports metaphor for you.

Dahlias for Haiti Update - One Flower at a Time

As of today - February 3rd, we've sold 531 Dahlias to benefit Mercy Corps' Haiti relief efforts. We've sold about 220 in the store, and the rest online.

This volume has exceeded my wildest dreams! I thought our original goal of 200 would be a push. I want to thank all of those people who have helped with this project! I've hand sewn the flowers. However, much of the prep work cutting each petal (about 50 per flower) has been done on a volunteer basis by Debbie, Ashley, and my husband Jeff.


My sister in Boston has used her excellent PR skills to promote the project. She even landed this newspaper shout out! My mom in Rochester has sourced vintage buttons and been a cheerleader every day.

Thanks to each of you who have bought a dahlia. It's just amazing to see how $10 increments add up so quickly. We've raised $5300 so far, one flower at a time!

Click on each picture to see a larger, detailed version.

Here's a pile of about 150 dahlias that I made over the weekend. In that stack of fuzzy goodness, you can see $1500 for those in need in Haiti if you look really hard. Here are some videos from Mercy Corps that will remind you what this project is all about.

The Dahlias for Haiti project goes through February 14th, so there's still time to buy flowers for yourself or your friends. Visit our website to order, or stop by our shop. Thanks again!

Celeste, One of Julia's Sisters