Hi there! I know, I know, it's been FOREVER since I last posted here. *sigh* To be honest, I've been spending my days with baby Paige...snuggling and playing with her and enjoying the weather when it rarely isn't raining out. My creative endeavors have taken a serious back seat! It's strange not focusing on design and artful pursuits and I'm starting to get that creative itch again. But, for now, I've been allowing myself to focus on being a new mum and adjusting to this new life. That being said, I thought I'd show you this new summery skirt (ahem, pardon the wrinkles, the iron isn't my friend!) I just got from Etsy shop Favorite Style. To quote her shop description: " "favorite" is a fun new line of women's clothing created by Genifer Goodman Sohr. Sohr previously led creative development for major retailers including Victoria's Secret, Old Navy, The Body Shop, and Oilily." The one here is called the "Dorothy Skirt"...a cotton dream in a one-size fits all solution. It's got elastic waist at the back so it's very forgiving and comfortable. I think this is my new go-to summer outfit! You cannot lose, and with a price set at $38 it's a steal! See you soon friends, I'm going to make a real effort to post fun inspirational finds here more often! Now that I'm getting the hang of caring for an infant I think I can swing it!
Hi friends! I've finally finished mailing out the birth announcements I made for family and a few friends. They were quite the undertaking! But, I didn't want to skimp since I do this for a living and really wanted to do something nice for my own child. Also, these were very intensive to do and no client (or very few at least!) would ever order something like this (it's very cost prohibitive due to the time it takes to line envelopes, do a 2-color letterpress job, print and cut belly bands, etc.). Anyway, here it is! I lined most of the envelopes while still pregnant. I did the design while pregnant as well. The little insignia at the top with the "P" in it says "Little P est. 2009" And next to it says "P is for Paige". After Paige was born, I updated the information in the design and sent out for the letterpress plates. I then printed all the belly-bands out on my inkjet printer and trimmed them. When my Mother in Law was here hanging out with Paige I finished lining the envelopes and even ordered a custom rubber stamp I designed to do the return address on the back of the envelope (and I can continue using the stamp for all my mailings now!) Then, on a Sunday, Chris spent the day with Paige while I letterpressed and trimmed her announcements down. I also assembled them all. And during her "naps" (they were short last week so I use the term loosely) or fussy evenings, I stuffed and addressed the envelopes. (that took all week!) It's finally finished and I'm happy with how it came out. Phew! I hope you like them too!
Hi Friends, Here is my post from April 29th from my Me and Wee blog, but I wanted to post it here too...
She's here! PAIGE ROSALIE CARTY
arrived yesterday on April 28th, 2009 at 2:20 pm (afternoon) after a wonderful labor (once the epidural came!).
She is 20.5 inches long and weighed in at 7 lbs. 4.5 ounces. She is absolutely perfect!!! And she looks exactly like her daddy and has been calm, quiet, and cool as a cucumber! I'll enjoy that since it likely won't last long! (we can dream, right?) I'll be back in a few days since I'm still at the hospital...and I'll be sure to post more photos and give you her whole birth story. Again, I LOVED that epidural!!!! I'm already married, but if I weren't, I'd consider marrying the epidural. Here are a bunch of photos from her first day so you can be properly introduced. Cheers friends! We are so grateful and thankful for your kind thoughts and loving words. We are truly SO lucky!!!!!!!!
Here I am just before we got in the car to go to the hospital...hee hee
Here I am as Paige was placed on my belly right after she came out. Sorry, it's a little bloody arm there!
Our first family portrait while I was still finishing labor (ugh).
Her first feeding with Mama!
Her first feeding again!
Family portrait!
Daddy and his little girl
She loves her Daddy!
And finally, her face (sort of) Yummy hand!!!
She's trying to focus and was looking all around. She went off for her first sponge-bath not long after this!
I hope this helps tide everyone over and that you enjoyed the photos. We took a million but wanted to show you some favorites. As for her hair, she's business in the front and party in the back with light brown fuzz on top and then it's much longer and brown in the back and sides. Very cute! And I'm biased, I know. :) See you soon friends! And thank you again for all your love.
I can't wait to see this in October. I'm already full of anticipation. I hope it's as good as it looks!!! I remember that the book "Where the Wild Things Are" was first read to me in kindergarten. I was 5. This was 26 years ago and I still remember it vividly! I was fascinated by the story but I remember being scared as well. Since then, I've wondered if a movie would ever come out and if it would be any good...now we shall see!
Hey friends! So, here are all the different color combinations I like. It's quite a few! I also included some favorite possible envelope choices from Paper-Source. And off to the left you can see some favorite little swatches for envelope liners that Paper-Source JUST started selling...customized and cut and ready to go! It's pricey, but saves time. There are other liners I like as well, but I wanted to show a few. The color combos just show what I'm thinking in my head in terms of the big picture. Perhaps 2 swatches make up the inks on the card, while the other is the envelope or potential belly band. Or perhaps 3 swatches will make up the inks, and the others suggest what the envelope and liner might be... What do you think? My favorites right now are the top right row and the 3rd one down on the right. That 3rd one down would go well with the little red & pink blossom envelope liner. The top row would go well with the swirly liner seen in the bird dish. Both seem fresh, fun, and girly enough and not overdone everywhere. Hmmm.
Hello friends!I've spent the past several months with ideas swirling in my head...ideas for Little P's intended birth announcement. And I'm still overwhelmed and have no clue what I really want to do. I have lots of thoughts, but nothing cohesive. I have no problem doing this for other people, but when it comes to our own...well...I'm frozen. I feel like I could do ANYTHING so I'm having trouble settling into ONE thing. So, I've decided to pull back and ask myself "what is the look and feel I want the announcement to have?" Much like her nursery, I want the announcement to feel fun, cheerful, colorful, and interesting to look at. I also know I want to letterpress it, so that simplifies the color palette. And I know I want colored envelopes lined with pretty paper. Is all this crazy? Maybe. But since I do this for a living, I really want to do a showcase piece...I mean, when else would I ever get to do something so detailed? I'd like to figure it all out soon so that I can at least get the envelopes done and lined and the announcement designed...that way I can just order the plates when she arrives and print later. Anyhoo, I know I'd like to incorporate some sort of pattern into the design and I saw this today that reminded me that a lace pattern would probably be the perfect choice. But this will only be one component and I need to work out the color palette. Maybe I'll post some different color-combinations here and see what y'all think? Image is from the Twig & Thistle blog.
Hi everyone! It's been pretty quiet around here as I wait for Little P's arrival. She's due on May 4th but could come any time. I've had to slow everything down with work since I am moving so sluggishly and painfully these days and am exhausted most of the time! I often wonder what I will do on the creativity front once Little P is here. And I've decided to just wait and see. I don't know what I will or won't be able to handle. But I do know that I'll be sure to keep creating, and I already know I'll be thinking of new ideas for new cards to go in the shop. I can't stay away for long! I guess this is a time where I am hunting and gathering inspiration. There are so many things out there that inspire me every day and I'm so bad at sharing them here. So, I think I'll try to focus on improving that...and show you the kinds of things that run through my head. If I'm not actually MAKING something, I can at least show you my thinking process and the things I'm noticing around me. I'll start tomorrow since I'm off to eat a cookie and soon will take a nap. Be well everyone, and thanks so much for your patience with my sporadic posting! In the meantime, I will throw on my Wellies and take Maren for a nice walk to the pond this afternoon. Spring is on its way!
There's so many things I'm grateful for today. But my husband brought me flowers and mini-cupcakes the other day and that has taken over my mind ever since.
If you've been reading my blog for a bit, you'll have seen that I love toys and trinkets. I've seen this toy around the web for a while now, but never quite realized it was quite so flexible! I found some photos out there that show this gorilla can do pretty much any pose you could want, and he's larger than I imagined. Designed by David Weeks, this toy makes a great gift for yourself or a friend as it is so unique and expressive! He's also made of sustainably harvested Beech wood, so there is an eco-conscious component to him as well. It seems his joints are elastic and he's "virtually indestructible" but I've also read that he can't be dropped from any heights. Makes sense though! Photos shown are pulled from Bobby Berk Home and you can buy him/check him out for yourself here.
Here's a close-up of some fabric I have hanging on the wall of the nursery that I posted about earlier...it's a Little Red Riding Hood theme and if you look closely, there are different little things happening around each cluster of trees: sheep, squirrels, birds, a bear, a wolf...but all very friendly and non-threatening looking. Like, the wolf would wave hello and tell you how fabulous you look if you walked by rather than mauling you at Grandma's leaving behind a bony carcass.
Life is filled with lame and mundane tasks...particularly office tasks like filing bills, organizing receipts or coupons, etc. Why are most office supplies so boring or ugly??? In the past I always just ran to the nearest drugstore or giant office supply center to grab what I needed and ran home. But then I was surrounded by ugliness that made said tasks even more lame. The shop See Jane Work has solved this issue and I'm thinking that now it's worth a few extra bucks to have pretty things to work with and boost my mood that little extra bit during the day. I encourage you to browse the shop and see what calls out to you; there's a ton there! Here are some (although I loved pretty much everything) of my favorite things I saw:
I'm loving these prints from Pancake Meow...the colors and the style of illustration are great for a child's room or to liven up an office space. As you know, I love whimsical styles and colors! They are also very affordable at $12 per piece! The first one shown (I'm most partial to this one) is called Piroska the Persnickety Painter. The one below that is called Gretchen Gum Shoe.
Hi friends! Yesterday my order from Purl Soho arrived...a stash of lovely fabrics! I placed them into embroidery hoops and hung them up on the wall as art in the nursery to add some warmth and coziness to the space. I'm happy with the outcome!
Hi friends! I'm finally starting to get organized around here! I picked up these great desk accessories from Barnes & Noble...an accordian-style file folder and 2 report keepers with clear sleeves. I've been going through and clipping my favorite articles out of my stash of magazines so I can throw out what is left and save some space. I put the pages into the clear sleeves and voila! I now have my own custom magazine of favorites! One thing that bothers me is that most of my favorite mags come in a square size bigger than the standard letter format, so those pages have yet to find a home. My accordian folder is now home to all coupons, bills to be paid, bits to tend to, gift cards, and the like. With each having it's own slot, it makes finding all the little loose papers that build up in life a breeze! P.S. I finally have a new blog header up, all thanks to Lyndsay at Banners by Lyndsay!
I've been loving perusing all the pretty and fun finds at Darly. If you are ever looking for unique decor or favors for a party (especially for a little one!) than this might be the place to find that special thing. On top of that, they have great accessories like cute purses and pouches, bobby pins and barrettes...there's a lot to see. I hope you like it too! My favorite items include the cake stands and petite four stands (petite four stands shown here) and the different party garlands (one shown here). Photos from Darly.
Good morning! I hope everyone is well today! It's a busy day as I am working on several wedding projects and a few corporate projects. Breakfast has been enjoyed at my desk as I caught up on emails and other small business-y items. There's nothing like fresh pineapple from the fruit itself. Chris cut one up for me last night and it just tastes so much better than the canned junk. It's so great in the winter-time...brings back summery thoughts. And we can't forget little Maren who likes to lay behind me in my office chair (as my lumbar support)...she snakes her head around and rests it on my hip to stare dreamily at my food as I eat.
Happy Monday everyone! Here are some things I'm thinking about today: 1. The delicious yet unhealthy donuts I had this morning. My husband shared his gift card with me by bringing my donuts for today's breakfast. He also brought me a white hot chocolate from Dunkin's as well! He's so sweet to share his little prize with me. 2. The delicious stuffed mushrooms and chili that await me in the fridge. Chris slaved and cooked all day yesterday and made my favorites! I'm so lucky. (hmm. lots of food I'm thinking about, huh?) 3. A pretty little collar for a cutie!
I'm trying a snazzy new layout here on my blog. I am currently brainstorming a new header graphic as well...to fit the new space. Bear with me while I work out the kinks! This photo is a sneak-peek of a dresser remake I completed where I took a regular Ikea white dresser and dressed up the fronts with seagrass wallpaper. I'm pleased with the results and it was inexpensive to boot!
I was perusing my favorite store (Anthropologie) for home decorating items when I took a peek at some of the clothing. SWOON! If I wasn't pregnant right now I'd be seriously considering snapping up these items for spring/summer! I love this whole outfit. *sigh* I love this bobbin necklace: the colors and textures are so lovely! It comes in 2 colorways and I prefer the "blue" one myself. I may grab this one since I CAN wear it! I'm IN LOVE with this red dress. It's much better in person. The fabric has a sheen to it. All that graphic detailing on the bottom...of cranes and wildlife done in an Asian style...is EMBROIDERED. The whole bit. It is so lovely in person! This polka-dot shirt dress has the cut I love with the vintage-style flair to give it personality.
