The One with Elle's Studio "Make It Sunday"

Sunday, April 29, 2012

I have a special "Make It Sunday" layout up on the Elle's Studio Blog today!

16 REASONS WHY YOU ARE THE BEST

Journaling says: From day one you have taken the role of father to a whole new level. Fox is soooo lucky to have you as his daddy.

How to: Stitch a grid (3 vertical and 3 horizontal) lines using brown thread across an aqua cardstock background. Drop black paint across the layout and let it dry. Die cut a large postage stamp background using a Silhouette Cameo, set it on the layout, and spray aqua mist over the papers. Remove the postage stamp background and start filling in the grid with mini pictures and layered number cut outs. Punch star confetti from the sides, back them with yellow cardstock, and continue embellishing with little elements cut out from tags until the layout is complete!

Supplies: Cardstock, adhesive: American Crafts; Die cuts (numbers, tags): Elle's Studio; Letter stickers: Cosmo Cricket (yellow), My Mind's Eye (gray), Pebbles (red); Star confetti punch: Martha Stewart Crafts; Spray mist: Studio Calico; Paint: Craft supply; Die cut machine (Cameo), postage stamp background die (Silhouette): QuicKutz; Sewing machine: Brother; Thread: Coats & Clark

It's always a pleasure working with Elle :)

The One with a Tidbit

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Two more days left of Spring Break!

I'm definitely missing blogging frequently, but at the same time it's been so nice to be with my family and spend some QT with Fox. Regular posts starting again next week.

The One with Spring Break

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Enjoying Spring Break!

Be back soon!

The One with 100 Days to Go!

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

It seems like only yesterday I posted about 200 days to go until baby Jane gets here and now we're already down to 100 days! This pregnancy is flying by, as I thought it might with Fox keeping me on my toes!

My belly is big enough now that is has become the main conversational topic with strangers. For example, when I go to the bank the teller without fail will ask:

"When are you due?"

"July 27th."

"Do you know if it's a boy or girl?"

"A girl!"

"Is it your first?"

"Nope. Second."

"Oh wow, you're so young!"

"Er, thanks?"

One of these days I'm going to say it's my 5th just to see what kind of reaction I get. And then I'm going to get a t-shirt made with all of these Q&As screenprinted on it so I don't have to keep repeating myself :) Although it is fun to talk about!

100 days 'til we get to meet sweet baby Jane!

The One with Chandler's New Home

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

About a month ago I decided that we needed to find loving homes for our caged feathered and furry friends. If you want to read about why and such, check out THIS post. We gave Alice the zebra finch to my aunt and uncle's family a couple weeks ago. After that I really didn't make much of an effort to start trying to find homes for Chandler the rabbit and Li'l Chinchilla the Chinchilla.

Enter serendipity.

Early yesterday morning I was at the park with Fox and there was another mom with her son from our ward there. Her kids are all older and responsible and have even come by to check out our menagerie when it was much more impressive (dog, cat, conure, finches, rabbit, chinchilla). She had her dog with her and we started talking about animals and pets and she mentioned her daughter is saving up for a bunny. I immediately offered her Chandler! It was meant to be! To think if I hadn't been at the park on that day at that time... Maybe it would have happened in a few months when I sent out an email to the Relief Society asking if anyone wanted my pets, but by then Mallory (the daughter) probably would have a bunny.

This afternoon the entire family came by and picked up Chandler.

I promise he's not dead, he just likes being held upside-down :)

Chandler with his new owner:

A few minutes ago they sent me an email with pictures and I about cried. They even spruced up the pics and added captions and everything!

I'm so happy with this decision and this family that I know is going to give Chandler all the love and attention he deserves. Hopefully it'll be like an open adoption and they'll send me pics and updates often :)

Here is a picture montage and tribute to the absolute cutest bunny in the entire world (even the vet says so!):

We got Chandler on a whim when we went to PetCo about five years ago to buy some other pet supplies. I saw him in the cage and just HAD to have him!

It was love at first sight.

When we moved from Utah to California in 2009 my little sister sat beside me along with all our pets except for Rachel the cat - I made Chris take her in the moving van so I wouldn't have to hear her cry the entire way. When we made our first stop about an hour into the drive I noticed that Chandler was huddled in a corner and shivering like crazy. So my sister held him on her lap the entire rest of the 9 hour drive and he was happy as a clam.

Chandler liked to hop up on his shelf so he could see the goings on at all times.

This was my favorite resting position of his:

Check out this fro!

Unlike most bunnies, Chandler loved to be held and snuggled.

I'm gonna miss you Chandler! May you live long and be happy in your new home!

The One with Hambly April Projects

Monday, April 16, 2012

These are my three monthly projects for Hambly for April: the blog project, the sketch, and the "extra":

Blog project - the post with photo step-by-steps can be found HERE:

MESS MAKER

Journaling says: As soon as a cabinet or drawer or closet is opened you can bet that a few seconds later you'll hear the pitter-patter of Fox's feet coming to investigate. He'll whip through like a tornado and make a huge mess. Luckily he's pretty good about helping me clean up his disasters.

How to: Cut varying width 12" long strips from patterned papers/transparencies then weave them across a dark gray cardstock background. Photo tutorial can be found HERE on the Hambly blog. Trim away the strips from the bottom left corner. Mat a photo onto white grid paper and adhere it in the empty space. Make a title on a label sticker and add it with pop dots. Write journaling on a green paper banner and add it to the bottom of the photo using aqua woodgrain washi tape.

Supplies: Patterned paper, patterned transparencies, washi tape: Hambly; Cardstock, pen, adhesive: American Crafts; Stickers: Basic Grey (chipboard letters), Hambly (border, label), October Afternoon (mini alphabet)

****************************

April sketch:

And my card based on the sketch:

THANKS CARD

How to: Apply three purple patchwork rub ons to white cardstock, trim them out, then adhere them across a white cardstock base using foam squares. Punch out three butterflies from patterned paper, add a round sticker on each one, then adhere them to the rub on squares using foam dots. Cut a round journaling spot sticker in half and tuck one under the bottom left and the other under the top right edges of the squares. Add additional flower and butterfly stickers around the half stickers. Place "thanks" aqua mini alphabet stickers on the top left side. Trim a flourish sticker from a journaling spot and add it to the front. Embellish with two lines of pearls and a few different colors jewels as shown.

Supplies: Patterned paper, stickers (butterfly, circles, flourishes, flower, journaling spot), patchwork rub ons: Hambly; Cardstock, adhesive: American Crafts; Alphabet stickers: Pebbles; Pearls, jewels: Mark Richards; Butterfly punch: Martha Stewart Crafts
****************************
Extra project:

GALCO'S

Journaling says: One of the places we like to take all the people who visit us is Galco's Old World Grocery. They've got every kind of soda and beverage under the sun and then some! We like to each pick out two or three drinks and then have a tasting party back at home where we each pour our drinks of choice into little cups and share. It's a fun way to try lots of flavors fast!

How to: Punch and cut out lots of circles and scalloped circles of various sizes from a bunch of patterned papers and transparencies. Layer the circles in rows according to size. Replace a row with photos punched into circles and adhere them with foam squares. Add three white circles to three large scalloped circles and on them create a title and write journaling. Stitch "x"s across three of the circles and drop brown spray mist over three areas to create visual triangles. Apply stitching rub ons to three places.

Supplies: Patterned paper, patterned transparencies, stitching rub ons: Hambly; Cardstock, letter stickers, pen, adhesive: American Crafts; Spray mist: Studio Calico; Circle cutter: Martha Stewart Crafts; Punches: Fiskars (small circles, small scalloped circle), Marvy Uchida (large circles, large scalloped circle); Sewing machine: Brother; Thread: Coats & Clark

Sadly, I've had to drop my position on the Hambly team :( I am trying to de-stress my life as much as possible in order to not risk going into early labor and to make these nasty headaches that I've been having so frequently hopefully go away. I have one more Hambly project to share next month and of course any others that I make in the future, but no set absolute schedule. It was so fun while it lasted and I wish Allison and all the Hambly girls the best :)

The One with Fox at 18 Months

Saturday, April 14, 2012

It's Fox's year-and-a-half birthday today! The big 18 months! Tomorrow he starts Nursery!!!! We had a routine doctor's appointment on Monday and he was hamming it up for the doctor. That's my boy :) She says he's doing great and we're doing great and that's just great!

Length: 35" (50-75%)

Weight: 25 pounds (25-50%)

Head circumference: 19.5" (90%)

In the last month, we have spent more time outside and at the park than his entire first 18 months combined. Okay, I'm probably exaggerating, but that's what it feels like! This boy loves being outside!

At the park is the only time he ventures off on his own and leaves my side for more than 30 seconds at a time. I love him more than words can express, but boy it's sweet relief to have a little freedom!

He's allllllmost going down the slide by himself. It still kinda scares him.

In conjunction with all the jungle gyms at the park, he seems to be climbing up on chairs and benches and couches in our apartment more and more. Monkey man!

We go on lots of long walks outside and I follow him wher'er he wants to go. Whenever an airplane flies by he stops mid-stride, looks up and sees if he can find the culprit, and says "air!".

Yeah, we still use a pacifier. It pacifies him.

He loooooooooves playing with cars and making them go "brrrrrrrrrrrrm".

It's amazing how much he watches me and does things that I do. At the park he found this little girl's mini stroller and pushed it around for a half hour straight. He likes being Mommy :) At home he likes to take the dust pan and brush and sweep things up and when things spill he grabs toilet paper and wipes it up... Do I clean too much?

We discovered my camera can take pictures backwards and spent a few fun minutes snapping photos of ourselves.

One of the bigger developments this month we discovered on a quick morning trip to IKEA. Apparently they serve free breakfast every Monday - woohoo! So we got him a plate of food and gave him a fork and imagine our surprise when he actually started using the fork to feed himself! It's so funny how just one day, out of the blue, he'll start doing things; just like learning how to crawl, walk, talk, etc.

Chris left his closet door open one morning so Fox proceeded to take out all of Chris's shoes and try them on. He successfully put on this Sperry and did a lap.

He's saying "Hi" and "Bye" more and more and in the right context. He's pronouncing "shoes" with better clarity. He's also saying "hot" when things are hot, but it seems he also thinks food is called hot, so we'll work on distinguishing those things.

Love ya little big man!

The One with Brainstorming Ideas for Jane's Half-Room

Thursday, April 12, 2012

With just 15 weeks/105 days to go 'til Jane's here, I'm feeling the nesting urge and am trying to figure out how to decorate her half of the room!

These are my ideas for Jane's nursery so far, mostly designed around this pillow that I just bought from Linda Kay Matthews:

ON THE WALL

I want to paint one wall exactly this color with this stencil:

I'm still a big fan of the collage/frame look and I definitely love all the different frames/canvases/artsy fartsy things on this wall by Ginny Phillips; I'd simply paint everything to match my color scheme:

I want to mix in a few fabric embroidery hoops:

This hoop is already the perfect color, no painting needed!

And I want to add in a few of these mirror frames:

Super cute DIY stencil frames, available from the Delta Girl Distressed Frames etsy shop.

I'd use the right shade of pink to match using either Jane's or my fingerprints and put this in a tiny frame on the wall:

I'll add a few vintage floral prints in some of the frames. I found this image and soooo many other wonderful and beautiful and girly and dainty things on Nest Pretty Things Tumblr.

What room would be complete without its own version of the IKEA ung drill mirror frame? I'll spray paint it pink to match the room.

NECESSITIES
A hamper. I think white wicker would be nice.

A diaper pail. Boring. But we gotta have one since the dumpster is all the way outside. We have the blue one for Fox and it's alright (I think smelliness leaks through the cracks, but other than that it's great), so we'll just get the same thing in pink for Jane.

ON THE FLOOR
Still very undecided about what I want on the floor, but I think with all the different colors going on we'll opt for something white like this shag rug from IKEA:

THE CRIB
I love everything about this Venetian iron crib from Pottery Barn Kids, except for the whopping $900 price tag...

So instead, we're going to get this Davinci Jenny Lind crib for only $169. It's got great reviews on Amazon, it's the look I want, AND, it's the same crib that Vivi Charles from Lay Baby Lay has! (Pay no attention to the bedding inside the crib.)

For the bedding I want simple since there will be a lot of other things going on. Light pink gingham it is!

With a matching pink gingham bumper.

FURNITURE
I love the blue version of this HEMNES dresser from IKEA for Fox, so I'd like to get a gray one for Jane and then replace all the knobs with pretty ones from Anthropologie.

Wouldn't it be nice to have fresh wildflowers in beakers all year round sitting on top of the dresser? It would it would.

The glider and ottoman that we got to use with Fox is still in great and working condition and we purposefully got the fabric in yellow so that it could work for a boy or girl. Done and done!

MISCELLANEOUS
Gotta get a new Boppy cover! The one I have and used with Fox is blue and green. Which, sure, girls can wear blue and green, but we gotta celebrate all things girl! I'm working with For the Love of Joy to get a quilted Boppy cover made in the right colors. I can't wait!