I am completely in love with this creative way to display photos! I would love to do something like this above our bed. If only I lived near IKEA and could collect all the frames really cheap...maybe we'll make a little run there while visiting the westside for Christmas.
{images via New York Social Diary (not in love with that website, but found the home tour via Ohdeedoh, which I do adore)}
"The good mother is a great artist ever creating beauty out of chaos."
- Alice Randall
P.S. I was drinking a pumpkin spice latte- my current favorite. Believe it or not, I never liked them before this year and now I am kind of addicted!
{Photo credits via Flickr: 1. love, 2. We called it 'Fort Happiness', 3. lunch, 4. feet, 5. summer is..., 6. Farmer's Market in the Kitchen, 7. First day without tights :), 8. a new toy, 9. pentax.3}
I do still love doing crafts. I have just not figured out how to work them into my new life with two kids yet. I daydream about scrapbooking again and learning how to sew and making my home a sweet, cozy little haven, but for now all I can really manage to do is barely keep up on the laundry and dishes and read craft books before bed at night or while I am nursing Elliot. (Man, that was a huge run-on sentence!)
Last week in the midst of an errand running frenzy, Elliot and I stopped at Barnes and Noble for an hour so that I could have a little bit of Andi time (Audrey was at home playing in the pool with Daddy). I pulled my usual Barnes and Noble routine: Grab as many craft books and magazines as you can carry and a chai and sit for as long as it takes to scan read through them. While looking in the craft book section, I was so excited to find Bend the Rules Sewing: The Essential Guide to a Whole New Way to Sew by Amy Karol, author of one of my favorite craft blogs, Angry Chicken. I had heard that the book was finally out, but I thought that I would have to special order it online or in a bookstore to actually see it in real-life. After scanning through it a couple of times, I was thankful that I had held onto a gift certificate I had gotten months ago; the book was a must-buy, in my opinion.
Now I would not call myself a sewer. I am definitely a wannabe sewer, but I don't think I have done enough real projects (especially on a sewing machine) to qualify as a real sewer. But this book is definitely what I have been waiting for to help me take the plunge into real sewing. Amy's instructions are very down-to-earth, funny, and easy to understand, and her projects are all beautiful! Not to mention the fact that all of the photos in this book are so lovely and inspiring. I definitely recommend this book!
Here are a few of the projects that really caught my eye (please excuse the lousy photos-I don't have a scanner and it is really hard to take pictures of photographs in a book!):
Swing Swing Smock: I have been on the look-out for a good smock for Audrey to wear while doing messy art and this is perfect!
Simple Bib: I have always wanted to try making baby bibs and I really like the way that this one looks. I better start this one soon- Elliot is already turning into a major drooler, especially when he is happy!
Easy Lap Quilt: Making a quilt is another thing that I have always wanted to try, and I think this one might be a good place to start considering that it is called "Easy Lap Quilt". Amy even says, "This is the perfect project for a first quilt." Hmmm. Audrey's toddler bed needs a little bedding lovin'...
Mixy-Matchy Napkins: These lovely things might actually be able to wean this home off of our excessive use of paper towels.
Pleated Beauty Handbag: Doesn't this look like the perfect fall bag or going-to-the-library tote?
And finally, just a sweet little picture from the beginning of the book that I love:
I'll let you know when I start one of the projects! Which one do you think I should do first? Should I start with the simpler napkins or head straight into something more challenging?
It has been a really long time since I have done a "Small Joys Friday"; I have missed reflecting on the little things in my life that bring me joy. So I'm bringing them back- hopefully every week!
Here are just a few small things that have been bringing me joy this last week...
Watching Audrey's excitement about getting her very first "kid's meal" from our favorite local burger place. You could tell by her face that she felt very special and super cool.
An evening in the park with my little family. I loved watching Audrey run back and forth between the playground toys and the water area- she loves climbing and water pretty much equally so it is very hard for her to make up her mind on where to spend her time! (Side note: All of the rest of this post's pictures are from that night, taken mainly by my sweet husband- hence the lack of pictures of him!)
Elliot's very first real smiles on Friday! Totally made my entire day, of course! It is downright silly now the things that Erik and I will do to make him smile again and again- baby talk, funny faces, super exaggerated smiles...P.S. Have I mentioned how crazy in love I am with our little boy?
Yes, concerned grandparents, Audrey did climb all the way up this climbing wall by herself. But don't worry. I was there to "spot" our little monkey!
Lots of book love. In the month since I've had Elliot, I have been dying to find a good book to read. I've been plugging away at Anna Karenina for a few months now and it is good...but so, so long! I am a little over half way through and have needed a bit of a break from it. But last week some good books came into my life:
A fun Sunday afternoon at our friends' house. Lots of yummy food, kids running around, and laughing- all in honor of their sweet daughter's baptism that morning at church. Days like this make the thought of moving away very hard...
Lots of organizing going on around here. When one of my friends was horrified a couple of weeks ago by the number of emails I had in my inbox (over 1000!), I decided it was time to clean up a little bit. I have the number down below 300 now. Almost done...
And...last night I went through seven boxes of stuff that need to be gone through before we move. One enormous, heavy bag of papers to be recycled later, I was left with two half-full Rubbemaids- one of stuff to keep and one of stuff to give to the Goodwill. It felt really, really good to purge. And the great thing is, it inspired me to get rid of more! (Sidenote: In those random boxes I did find some really cool things, including some really sweet and funny letters that I wrote to Erik back in high school.)
A few blogs that I have been loving:
Don't laugh...A new Gilmore Girls episode in the mail from Netflix. Just a little something cheesy and girly and light to watch in the evening after a long day of being mama to two.
So far, all of the poop has washed out of my clothes. Whew.
Happy Happy Monday everyone!
We're having a happy morning so far, despite the fact that Miss Audrey decided to wake up at 5:00am . I wish, oh, I wish that she would take after her cousins in the sleep department...
After much whining and complaining about getting up (from me, not Audrey), I actually enjoyed being up early. I made Audrey some oatmeal (her favorite breakfast lately) and then made myself some of these super yummy buttermilk waffles, which Audrey also enjoyed in round two of her breakfast. Then a quick shower for me and getting Audrey halfway dressed -getting dressed is quite a struggle lately, so we often compromise by putting on just tops or just bottoms until we have to leave the house. She is now napping, which is what I plan on doing after I finish this post.
But before I sign off, I wanted to share a little more of the design team work I've been doing. Here is my work from Decemeber- my assignment that month was to make one layout and a mini book:
Here is the layout:
The cover of the mini book:
And a few pages from the mini book:
The mini book was inspired by this beautiful inspiration journal created by the lovely and oh, so talented Kelly.
Hope you are all having a happy Wednesday!
A couple of days ago I mentioned a surprise visit I had two weeks ago from a good friend of mine, and I promised to share about it...
Amanda is one of my dearest friends. We do not see each other very often- she lives in the Midwest- but every year or so she makes a random trip to the west coast and we get together for a day or two.
Two weeks ago she called me to tell me that she would be in Seattle for the weekend, attending a library conference (she has one of the coolest jobs ever- she's a elementary school librarian) and asked if she could come up to see us for the day. The last time that I had seen her was when I was pregnant with Audrey, so I was so excited to introduce her to my sweet little girl!
Amanda and I met a little over six years ago, not long after Erik and I got married. We still laugh at the completely random way that we met. One Sunday morning, Amanda went out for a run and just happened to run by our church. She came inside just to check things out and after talking briefly with an older woman from our church, was introduced to us; Erik and I were leading a college-age Bible study at the time, so it made sense to introduce her to us. She started attending our church and Bible study, and we became fast friends.
Amanda is one of the most creative people I know. She is the one who patiently taught me how to knit and still answers all of my tough knitting questions- even over the phone. She loves to bake and sew and make things for people. She sends some of the best care packages ever. When I had Audrey she sent me a huge package of adorable thrifted clothes for my baby, as well as the most beautiful hand-knitted baby sweater.
One of my favorite things about Amanda is how she is a doer; she does not just talk about wanting to make something, she'll go and do it. When we lived by each other, if one of us mentioned wanting some pie, she would say, "Let's make some!" Or if I said that I always wanted to try batiking, she would say, "Let's try it!" whereas I would be more apt to just mention it, but never really get around to trying it.
Another thing that I love about Amanda is how adventurous she is. In the time that I have known her she has: lived in a house for a year or so with all of her closest friends from college (I think between 8-10 other guys and girls); taught in an Eskimo village in Alaska for a year; gone to Bible college, done YWAM in Sweden and was it Africa?; gotten her Master's degree in Library Science; become a librarian; and knitted a bazillion cool things for people she loves.
I had such a fun time introducing Audrey Bug to Amanda, and of course Audrey loved her because librarians make the best story readers! Hopefully it will not be another year and a half before we see each other again!
P.S. Amanda, I hope you don't mind me raving about you on my blog like this or the fact that I posted that silly picture of us...I miss you!
Just a few small things that have been bringing me joy this last week...
In the midst of organizing photos, coming across this sweet picture of Audrey from Christmas last year. She was three months old.
Speaking of organizing photos...organizing photos is making me happy! I am seriously so far behind on editing and storing my photos- definitely one of the downsides to taking mostly digital these days. I am not joking when I say that I am over a year behind. My goal is to be all caught up within the next couple of months. We'll see how that goes...
Finding out that one of my favorite scrapbookers is blogging again.
Discovering this awesome CD at the library this week. I am in love with it! I also really like how it reminds me so much of my dear college roommate, Marie. It is totally something I'm sure that she loves as well.
Spending last weekend in eastern Washington with Erik's side of the family (I've mentioned here before how awesome they all are). Minus the not so fun eight hour road trip each way, we had a super relaxing time eating lots of yummy food, celebrating New Year's with family and close friends, and learning how to play Sequence.
Staying home this week and getting Audrey and I back into a routine.
Discovering fun, new blogs. Two of my favorites this week have been 3191 (a photo blog) and Tree Fall Design (a craft blog).
This awesome lotion. I bought it for Audrey last winter when her skin was really dry, but just tried it on myself a couple of weeks ago. I am in love.
A new issue of Simple Scrapbooks in my mailbox this afternoon. Thanks again for the subscription, Mom!
This movie. After a friend recommended it to me, I put it in my Netflix queue and there it sat for over a year until we got it last week by accident. I haven't actually even finished it yet- movies seem to take me forever to get through these days because I'm too tired to stay up late!- but it is really good so far.
I am loving both of the books my book clubs are reading this month. One of the groups I am in is reading Teacher Man by Frank McCourt; the author taught highschool English for thirty years and ages ago I used to want to be a highschool English teacher, so I have found it really interesting so far. My other group is reading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, which I am ashamed to admit that I have never read before, but is now one of my favorite books ever. Really. How could I never have read it before now? That and Little Women (which you recall I just read last month!). Shame, shame, shame.
The evolution of how Audrey says "baby"; it has gone from "ba" to now what sounds like a French "bebe"! Super cute.
Happy Friday!
