{her}story.

R and I first began talking about expanding our family on our 4th anniversary, on a snowy night, at a restaurant on 32nd Street. It's one of my favorite memories of R and I. I went out shortly after to B&N to look for the perfect journal to begin chronicling the journey to babyhood... and found this little number. I loved the birds, the burlap, and the blue--it seemed like a nice neutral book. And I liked the idea of growing our little nest when I looked at this book.

The first few entries were mostly about how I was trying to get healthier, and my thoughts on pregnancy... By June, we were expecting, and I was so happy I had a place to write down what I was thinking and feeling.

I also tried to include little mementos, like this grocery list.

"PTest" was of course, a pregnancy test--the very one we found out about Liv with. :) Now I'll always remember we made enchiladas that night for dinner, haha.

When we began talking about baby #2, I naturally went back to the bookstore and chose another book--red and turquoise this time.  My hope is that both my girls will see how treasured they are, and have been, before I even knew they were being knit together! I want them to know what was going on in our lives then, and also how I responded to pregnancy--a nice reference guide for when they have their own little ones someday. {Liv's book was an awesome reference for me to compare my second one to--I forgot more than I thought I would, and each were so different.}

More memorabilia... Most friends guessed we were going to have a boy the second time around...

So, I filled up every page in Olivia's book on Nov. 1, the night before little Natalie was born. All 20 months of our time alone together. Funny how that worked out... It meant a lot to me as it was very much symoblic of a new chapter starting in our lives! I need to get another book for her, but am trying to also focus on filling up Natalie's book.

I write all of this to say--I don't know how many things we'll pass down through the years and to future generations, but there is something sacred about letters and journals and handwriting and paper memories pasted in a simple book. Even if the girls aren't as gaga over this stuff as I am, they'll know I was uber gaga over them, and that's what matters.

back to school.

 

I think this movie quote comes to mind every August... love it.  This year, it inspired me to send little "back to school" packages to my neices, just to let them know I've been thinking of them. They are going into 8th grade and 10th grade, and live in Arizona; they typically come out to visit us every summer and weren't able to this year--we're hoping to see them soon!

 

 Card for Lauren

 

 Card for Courtney

You can tell by the quality of these photos that I put these together at night.. :) I only spent about $8 per package (yay supply sales), which included pens, notebooks, a calendar, stickies, and a fabric book cover. 

 

 

So now, in the spirit of fall, I've put the original "You've Got Mail" from 1940 in my Netflix queue: "Shop Around the Corner." Have you seen this? How does it compare? It's gotta be cute.

 

I am really trying to enjoy the last bits of summer, but is anyone else super ready for fall to be here...?

cheers to you & hip hip horray

One of Raul's cousins asked me to make her some birthday cards for this month. I started them a few weeks ago, and am happy to say I finally finished yesterday, after a wonderful surge of creative energy {which kind of comes in it's own timing, doesn't it? A mind of it's own...}.

Thought I would share these with you:

I went a little pearl-crazy on some of these cards, as you can see... They're my absolute favorite embellishment ever. It's like they add a little glitz without all the sparkle. {Although I love me some sparkle too now and then.}

The cuz sent me some lyrics to a song that is special to her and her husband, hence this card below... It looks very anniversary-ish, more than birthday-ish... I always struggle when it comes to man cards. Maybe I should try to tweak my skill of man-card making this year.

The card below is for her sister, unless she chooses another card of the group for her. It just seems sisterly to share all kinds of crazy sweets just because.

This card was an a-ha! card as soon as I saw the green glass match the green in this paper... I've been thinking for weeks on how exactly to use this paper. Bam, there ya go.

And is there any celebration sound more adorable than "hip hip horray!"? I don't think so, which is why I'm trying to teach Liv to say it. Coming from a one-year old multiplies the cuteness 100-fold.

christmas cards and such

Finally I'm getting around to posting these! Some cards from the show {click for a closer look}:

As for the Christmas cards I will be sending this year from our family... Half will be greeting cards from a portrait studio {they were free!} and half will be homemade. But I have yet to work on these. Always last minute this time of year, eh? :)

sold.

This last Saturday began with a loud alarm clock ringing at 5AM. I was exhausted, but I jumped out of bed with butterflies in my stomach and scurried around getting ready. Thankfully, I had stayed up until 12:30 the night before, organizing everything and placing it by the front door to load. I ate a bowl of oatmeal and had some tea, and soon an excited Bea was tapping on the front window. I knew that even if I didn't finish my tea, Bea's enthusiasm would be enough to wake up the two of us!

Craft fairs are a lot of fun, even if you leave with a good chunk of inventory. I have never sold anything of mine, cards, knitting, nothin', so that first purchase was special. It was from a nice woman asking for Christmasy Thank You cards, and I was glad I had made a bunch {and that my bf Leanne sent some adorable snowman thank yous along with me}. She bought two packs. I think I actually felt an endorphin rush after that.  There were a lot of compliments, a lot of silent looking and polite-but-i'm-not-interested smiling, and a couple of purchases made after chatting. There was an abundance of Christmas sweaters and jingle bell earrings and cute older lady friends spending the day together, hopping from booth to booth. Lots of mother/daughter pairings too, which was nice to see.

I made enough to cover the entrance fee, the materials, and ended up with a little extra for both Leanne and I, so I am ecstatic. Bea and I worked really well together and had a good time pitching our goods. She said in another life, instead of being a pharmacist, she would choose to be a saleswoman; I believe her, she would sell like crazy! So many people came up and oohed and ahhed over her bags--it's funny that people naturally have to touch everything. Even if they weren't serious about buying, they couldn't resist the urge to hold and handle the purses. She was throwing her business card around like crazy, and has actually received a couple of special orders already, which is awesome.

So, having some buyers was of course thrilling, but I was most excited about setting up the display. It was like being 5 all over again, setting up your own grocery store to play in, you know? Loved it. I spent a lot of time looking online for display ideas, and came across this flickr group, Show Me Your Booths. {Tons of fun ideas here, check it out.}

I spent around $15 or so for the display materials; Bea found a few items at Savers as props as well, so it came together relatively cheaply. I really think the display is what it's all about, don't you?

I used tomato cages as Christmas trees--I bound the top together with rubber bands and slipped in some sparkly purple flowers, bound with gold ribbon. I actually just pinned the ribbon, so it is easy to take apart. I found some tiny clothespins at Walmart for $1.50, and used those to clip cards around the metal rings, replacing them when they sold.

I also covered a piece of ply wood with wrapping paper, placed it on a lazy susan, and taped one tree to it so it was turnable. I'm glad I included these as I think they caught people's eyes--we were kind of in a back corner, away from the main flow of traffic, so every now and then I'd give the tree a spin. ;)

I also found a festive photo stand, 50% off at Michaels, to post my prices and some gift tags, and used some frame holders. One thing I think I would do differently next time is not put so much out... It kind of looked messy. I was torn between displaying everything to show I had variety vs. only putting out a bit at a time to keep it tidy. Next time, I think we'll have another table, so that will help with space.

Yup, there will be a next time.  If you haven't done the craft show thing, I suggest you do--what fun!

winter craft fair - come see!

Come check out specialty handcrafted items from over 85 vendors at the

 16th Annual Bear Creek HS Craft Fair! One day only!

Saturday, December 4, 2010

9AM - 4PM

9800 West Dartmouth Place

 Lakewood CO

Click here for more info!

I will be selling Christmas cards at the Bear Creek HS craft fair this Saturday--very exciting and nerve wracking and wonderful! My mother-in-law and I are sharing a booth, and will be selling cards and lovely handmade purses from Peru. We would love to see you, so come on out! If you mention the blog, you recieve 10% off your purchase. ;)

I feel a strange mixture of being "on"--inspired and cranking out some fun things I would be tempted to buy if I saw them--and also being "over it." I am spent, but in a good way.

Just a few more things to tweak, a sign or two to print, and I am d.o.n.e. I will show you some cards and how I will be displaying them {the fun part in all of this!} this week... until then, let me show you the nice messes I have been accumulating around the house during Liv's naptime:

 Dining room--cutting Christmas song lyrics and phrases for cards

 Living Room Coffee Table--slicing paper to fit onto cardstock while watching a movie

Basement Ping Pong table, a la, The Studio. :)

I keep telling R that anything goes mess-wise until December 5th, the day after the fair, to which he replies, "Ah, but I was planning on playing some ping pong tonight..."  That day will most likely be my most bah-humbug cleaning day of the year, unless we made out like bandits the day before.

More soon!

just a few

I made a lovely mess yesterday, making some cards for friends:

magazines = useful.

If you run out of wrapping paper, as I did this last Father's Day, use a pretty page from a magazine. Works like a charm. (Note: Inside is To Kill a Mockingbird. I loove the cover for their 50th Anniversary edition...but I digress.)

Anyway, so fun with magazines: It goes along with my philosophy about containers--you pay good money for them, so why not put them to good use? I used mine for a bunch of cards this last weekend:

Above: Raul's birthday card, from me. Kind of random, but I liked the imagery of the books--he's growing quite a stack on his nightstand--and using my tiny word stamps. I used them quite a bit in this bunch, actually.

Okay, so no magazines for this one... I had wanted to print a picture of Liv on photo paper to frame, but instead it printed on regular paper...so instead I used it for her birthday card to her daddy. (He had asked for a baby last year for his birthday ;)

I used up some scraps I've had for YEARS on the card below...patting self on back... The lyrics are from the song Soul Shine, a song both I and my father-in-law like. This was his Father's Day card:

I really wanted to use some Elvis or Beatles lyrics for my dad's Father's Day card, but nothing really seemed apt... so I'll try again for another holiday. Maybe he'll get a Blue Christmas card this year...? Too much? :)

Here's a card I made for my sister-in-law, who sent a bunch of cute books for Livvy with my neices on their trip here a couple of weeks ago. They were bundled very similarly as the bunch in the magazine photo. Cuuuute.

More cards need to be made... as well as some other projects. We're actually revamping Liv's room a bit, too, which I will share with you... I just need to get some fabric first. :) More soon.