3 years

This week was our 3 year anniversary.

I cant beleive how fast time passes.

We celebrated by going away for the weekend with some friends of ours. We went to a place by the beach and enjoyed good company, nice walks and Judes first swim trunks.

One year ago we celebrated in a small way, wanting to save in anticipation of the arrival of baby.

Two years ago we celbrated with a weekend away in Oxford UK. We walked around historic places and went paddling on the rivers.

Three years ago, we stood under a tree, before a priest and our friends, and made a commitment to love each other and stand by each other always.

Happy Anniversary Tyler!

rolled rose party and tutorial

Over the weekend we threw a rolled rose craft party. We invited a few good friends over and provided the craft, some lunch and mimosas. It is so fun to be able to have a project to work on while you catch up with old friends!

There are tons of online tutorials for how to make these roses, but i decided since i have never done one before to create a little tutorial of my own to go along with the pictures from the party set up.

Rolled Rose tutorial:

Supplies:

• fabric torn into 2-3 inch wide strips
• glue gun and glue sticks
• felt square
• fixing (headband, earring backs or pins)
• scissors

Find some scrap fabric and tear into 2-3 inch wide strips

Fold fabric in half lengthwise twice

begin to roll fabric tightly until approx. 1/4 inch and secure with glue

Now begin to twist your fabric and continue rolling, dot with glue along the way

after a few twists and rolls your rose should begin to take form

once you have reached desired length, fold fabric under rose and secure with lots of glue, cut extra fabric off

completed rose!

once you have made however many roses you want for your project, simply glue to felt. Cut felt around shape of project and glue felt directly to your fixing. Below is a headband but you can also do earrings, pin backs or really whatever you feel like

Materials needed for party:

Craft supplies (see rolled rose instructions above)

large tables, cover in paper to protect from lots of sticky glue

mimosas (orange juice and champagne)

iced tea or other decaf non alcohol drink

lunch (we did a simple salad and rolls)

We layed out all the project items on one table with instructions:

scrap fabric torn into 2 inch strips

Fabric and findings ( headbands, earring backs, pins, buttons)

The next table was the assembly table where we had people plug in their glue guns and start crafting!

a lot of glue

assembly instructions

I was having such a good time chatting with the ladies that i did not snap any photos of the craft party or the food. It is such a simple project and really easy to do while carrying a conversation. Hope you enjoyed the tutorial!

long long weekend

It is rare that my husband gets any extra time off work so when we get a long weekend we try and savour every moment of it. This particular weekend was filled with ups and downs.

The down, my family dog of 13 years passed away on Sat. night. She was old and not doing well, she went in her sleep, so it was a good thing when you look at the big picture, but still hard. She was the dog that stood by me through those tough and awkward adolescent years. Since I went to college I would come home each christmas or summer and see her slowly change from the energetic and wild dog to a calm and slow moving dog. I know its just a dog, but she will be very missed.

The ups, we were able to spend time as a family up in the mountains. I nearly teared up when we first began walking on the trail as I walked behind my husband carrying our son and though of how long it had been since we had been out in the mountians. Living near the beach and the city for so long was wonderful, but there is something about the quiet of the mountains that just cant be beat.

On top of that we were able to spend the day at the zoo with some very dear friends of ours. It is always so refreshing to have friends with whom you can feel relaxed enough to be yourself while also being challenged just by being around them to be a better person.

We ended the weekend with at an old family friends house for a bbq. I was able to see some friends who I have known since I was 5 years old, many of which had not yet met my son.

As if that wasnt enough, I have my page up and running on Embracing Labor doula site! You can check out my page here. I am over the top excited about getting started in this new venture. Embracing Labor has also agreed to put some of our Hope And Heritage items in the shop section of their website! After meeting my sister Emracing Labor doulas last night I feel pumped up and ready to start doula-ing!

Wednesday Wishes

This morning was the first morning in a while that i woke up to crisp cool morning air. I took advantage of the morning coolness to take a short walk around the property and drink a cup of coffee. I got talking with my mom and we came up with so many projects that my mind wont stop jumping from one thing to next. I want to do them ALL.

The house we are living in could use a few updates and a lot less furniture. My new office (I returned to work as a counselor for 2 evenings a week, eeks) needs some serious love to make it feel a little more comfortable. Our shop needs some attention. My wardrobe since returning to work is looking pretty sad. I was promoted to counselor while 4 months pregnant so all of my work clothes have elastic on them somewhere, its not pretty.

So as my baby takes an extra long nap and my eyes and fingers are sore from knitting, I find myself sitting here dreaming about all of the things to work on. Here are are some things i am wishing for:

Source: housetohome.co.uk via Sara on Pinterest

Our bedroom is floor to ceiling wood walls that are currently stained an oranging color. I am hoping to find the time to paint them all cream. I am also liking the light grey in this picture!

Source: rufflesandstuff.com via Sara on Pinterest

What a fun and cheap way to fill up some empty wall space in my office!

Source: theglitterguide.tumblr.com via Sara on Pinterest

To find some comfortable and cute work clothes (without elastic waistbands)

Fall please

The last several days have been between 100-108 degrees outside. Inside my house has been averaging about 85 degrees. The heat has left me pining after fall, hoping against hope for a sudden drop in temperature, an excuse to wear a cozy sweater and boots. I find myself dreaming of all things fall.

Fall scented candles

Source: marthastewart.com via Emma on Pinterest

cozy fall clothes on crisp days

Source: thesimplethingsssss.tumblr.com via Kristy on Pinterest

Snuggling up to one of these with a good book and a cup of tea

Source: littleemmaenglishhome.blogspot.com via Jules on Pinterest

All this thinking of fall reminded me of a fall project I started before Jude was born.

Source: google.com via Sara on Pinterest

I started this sweater in my last trimester of pregnancy. It is a lovely pattern from Debbie bliss. I knew myself well enough to know that i would not have the sweater ready for baby right away so I planned to have it done by this fall and started making it 9m size.

I found my yarn at a great little yarn shop in Hemet Ca. There are not many great things in Hemet, but the Lazy Daisy on E. Florida is one of them. The shop does not have a website but if your in the area and like to knit (or crochet) you should check it out. The store is small but packed floor to ceiling with gorgeous yarns of all types. The owner is one of the most helpful ladies i have ever meet. When you walk in the store you will most likely see here sitting on a couch working on her own knitting project. The amount of math this lady can do in her head when it comes to figuring out patterns, yarn sizes and number of stitches is amazing. So in Dec. of last year I waddled out of this shop with nice green yarn and hopes of having much of the sweater done by the time baby arrived.

He is now 6m old and months away from being able to wear this sweater and this is how far I am

I made it over half way up the back piece. I have need to get serious about this to have it done in time as this is my first 'big' project and I'm not always great at following. I know what i will be doing during nap times for a while!

pleated poppy

While flipping through some blogs we came across this little entry from the Pleated Poppy and she has a picture of our booth at Queen Bee market! She even featured this chalkboard frame. Check it out.

6 months!