OMG! My new fabrics just arrived. I absolutely love designing these patterns and seeing them come to life! This is really exciting and I just had to share. I will be showing some new dolls and designs soon…I can’t wait to get my hands all over this and make something cute!
Maybe I’ll have a contest with fatquarters as a giveaway??? Hmmmm…..

Bratenella's painting station



Painting away like a little elf :)

This is my little paint "station" in my studio.  I like to have a small space to work on something and be able to leave it out to dry or make it easy to play with an idea, then go back to work on sewing.

Some of my favorite things at my paint station are:

1-That's not a cup of milk or iced coffee....it's my paint water...lol.  I love this cup, don't ask me why.  One day I took it out of the kitchen to rinse my brushes and now I can't paint without it.

2- I use paper plates for my paint palette.  I never remember to wash them, so a white paper plate allows me to just toss it when I'm done.

3- This is one of my favorite paintings.  I was inspired to paint this because my cats really sleep like this on their kitty bed.  I just can't part with the original.

4- This is my Bratenella logo.  It's me with my four "babies".  They are really my inspiration for art.  The first real painting that started Bratenella was of my cat.  I've been drawing them since I was little.  I've had siamese cats my whole life.  And I can't really have anything else now, because they're amazing little creatures and my cats have to match. :)

5-  This is tea cup flower pot.  I love putting stuff in flower pots because they're pretty and functional. 

6- My own mixture of paint for skintones.

7- Glaze.  LOVE the glaze.  It's my go to item.

8- A Bratenella elf that I made and couldn't part with.  She watched over all of the Christmas ornament painting this year. 

Having things around that I love to look at or mean something special to me....keeps me inspired.  I'm so thankful to have a space where I can feel like a kid :)

Happy Birthday Elly!

Happy Birthday Elly!  Another little girls gets a special Bratenella doll!

OMG! I saw this on the Lilly Pulitzer Blog.  Apparently, they have an artist named Paige...just like me.  It must go with the name to love pink and cake!  I hope they do some designs like this.  <3 <3 <3

Custom Flower Girl Dolls

Just finished some really cute special Bratenella order dolls that a bride ordered for her flower girls.....love the idea!

Her wedding colors are black and white.  She sent pictures of the girls and their dresses.  So, I worked off of that.  What a special and unique gift.  I'm going to have to market these for weddings and brides!

This was my final order and now I'm shutting down the Bratenella operation for a month or so while we prepare for the big move and then get settled in the new place and the new...amazing....studio!