a star-themed baby shower

I threw a baby shower for my sister-in-law who is having a baby boy in a few weeks. I've been loving stars lately, and of course the ever-popular color mint, so designed the invite and shower decor around those two elements. Fortunately it was a small shower, 'cause sewing those little felt stars for the favors took longer than expected!

It's been quiet on the blog because life has been so busy the last couple of months. The shop and my increasingly active boys have occupied much of my days and nights. But things are finally slowing down, and now we're preparing for a very big and exciting family trip. More on that in a couple of weeks!

2013 planners

Whew - the planners are finally in the shop! This is the first year I have weekly planners (top two photos), something that I'd been wanting to do for awhile but was always afraid to because of the time and extra cost. I finally figured that I should just try it and see how it goes. I'm not sure how many people use physical planners these days, but I find that sometimes it's nice to be able to flip open a planner to jot something down or look something up.

2013 wall calendar + a giveaway

Yay, the 2013 wall calendar is done and in the shop! I feel like this year's calendar is quite different from last year's. It really reflects how my tastes and styles have changed, no doubt influenced by trends, but hopefully still true to myself.

To celebrate, I would like to give away one wall calendar. Please leave a comment and tell me which is your favorite month by next Friday, October 12th. Thanks for all the support, and good luck!

making things

It's been nice getting back into making things with my hands as life resumes normalcy. I had fun packaging up these cookies as a little thank you for everyone who brought us meals in those early weeks after Ian's arrival. Aren't those beets pretty? I roasted them with a bit of oil, salt, and pepper and we had them with some fish Irving grilled. And that crusty bread - so good and so easy - really! I'm a lazy cook and generally only like to make things that are quick and easy. Recipe found here.

Ian's birth announcement

Being the second kid, Ian usually gets the shaft. It doesn't help that his temperament seems to be more easygoing, so he's often ignored, poor guy. I thought I'd make it up to him by designing a nicer birth announcement. I wasn't feeling very creative after Oscar was born, so his announcement was pretty plain and boring. Overall, adjusting to Ian seems easier, mainly because I'm just more relaxed now that I know what I'm doing (for the most part!). Life is starting to feel more normal. I've re-opened the shop, and have been checking some big items off the to-do list. It feels nice.

more woodland

A woodland-themed baby shower invite I designed recently for a good friend of mine, along with matching thank you cards that I included in her shower gift.

2012 wall calendar

Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway for a pocket planner! The winner is... Connie @ Daydream in Color who said, "They are all so cute! I love the bow tie one especially!" Congratulations Connie!





Also, 2012 wall calendars are in the shop - sort of a last minute decision, but I hope you guys like it!

new goodies in the shop.. and a giveaway!

I've just put some new goodies in the shop - a month later than I had planned. It's just a partial shop update with the 2012 pocket planners, as well as a couple of new notecard sets. I hope to put up some of the new textile goods I've been working on by the end of the month.

It feels so good to have something in the shop again. To celebrate, I thought I'd do a giveaway for one of the 2012 planners - just leave a comment telling me which is your favorite planner by next Wednesday, October 19th and I'll randomly pick and announce a winner then.

one!

Oscar is one! He actually turned one a couple of weeks ago, but we didn't have a proper celebration until this past weekend.

I've been pretty obsessed with stripes lately, so thought I'd do a "sails & stripes" theme for his party with deep blue, seafoam green, and pops of yellow.





Once the invites were done, everything else came together easily..









The idea for the paper sailboats above came from here. I printed some coordinating patterns onto letter-sized paper and followed these instructions to make the boats. For the hat I printed the striped pattern on a half circle, glued it together to make a cone, and curled some strips of vellum to go on top.





I found the perfect striped fabric at Ikea and sewed drawstring bags to fill with goodies for the kids' favors. The adults got fruit jellies in glassine bags taped shut with striped stickers (printed onto adhesive sheets and cut into long strips).



All in all it was a great celebration. I know all the decor was really an excuse for me to have a little creative fun, but I figured a first birthday doesn't come around too often, and surviving the first year with a first kid is worth celebrating. This past year was quite a year for our family, with my dad losing a 2-year battle with cancer when Oscar was only 5 weeks old, and Oscar having some health issues that had us in and out of the hospital quite a bit. We are here today by God's goodness and grace, and are so incredibly thankful for Oscar, for each other, and for our family and friends.

2011 pocket planners

The 2011 pocket planners are in the shop!

cardstore designs

A few months back some nice peeps at Cardstore.com contacted me to design a set of cards for them. Being pregnant slowed me down quite a bit, but I finally buckled down and got 'em done. I just noticed that they have my designs up on their website now! Below are a few of my favorites, but you can see all 14 of my designs here.

2010 pocket planners!

Finally.. they're in the shop! I'll try to keep them in stock for as long as I can, but expect that I'd have to close the shop for a bit when the baby arrives. It's been over 6 months since I've updated my shop, it feels so good to be doing this again!

29 weeks

Oops. Somehow the month of August flew by without a post, and also without pictures documenting my growing belly! Well, here I am at 29 weeks. It definitely feels like the bump got a lot bigger just in the last 2 weeks or so. The baby is healthy, and I've just been feeling a little more uncomfortable than before, and maybe also a bit more tired or low-energy. So far so good. Life has felt busy though, with lots of family stuff going on, and a bit of trying to get ready for the baby's arrival. I'm starting to feel like I'm running out of time to do all the things I want to do before the baby comes, and yet I don't want to be running around just checking things off my list. I'd like to just enjoy being pregnant, and also just spend time with Irving, family, and friends.





Also, some lovely friends of mine are throwing me a baby shower this month! The invitation below is designed by my amazingly talented friend, Traci. Um, is that not the most creative thing you've ever seen? I feel totally blessed to have such an awesome invitation and what I'm certain is going to be a crazy awesome shower. They are totally spoiling me! I'll definitely be posting photos so be sure to check back in a couple of weeks.







Irving and I are off this weekend to celebrate our 2-year anniversary in beautiful Carmel. He found a pet-friendly hotel of course so Charlie is coming along. Hope you all have a great weekend!