{maternity series} 29 weeks

You might notice that this week's photo is a bit different... I had to pull one from the shower pics because the stomach flu prevented me from being in even halfway decent shape to take one of my regular belly photos.  Having the stomach flu at 7 months pregnant is pretty much as miserable as it sounds, but thankfully I'm finally starting to feel better.

link love - 4.1.11

Happy April!! (Is it just me, or is 2011 flying by?) Here's what I loved from around the web this week:

  • Paint Chip Easter Garland on Modern Parents Messy Kids - I sure do love me some Easter crafts (okay, and candy) and this one caught my eye for being both super cute and a great recycling project.

  • Oh, What a Busy Day! on No Big Dill - Still loving this Once Upon a Thread series, and I really wish this adorable top came with a tutorial!  So stinking cute.
photo courtesy of No Big Dill

I hope everyone has a great weekend!  I'm off to DC for my baby shower, which I could not be more excited about.  Family, friends, food... what more could a girl ask for? Oh, yes - a Phillies win on Opening Day. That would also be lovely. :-)

link love - 3.25.11

What a week!  Did anyone else wake up this morning relieved to no end that it was finally Friday?!?  I have more than enough projects to keep me busy right now, so this week's posts are mostly just stuff that inspired me:

  • A is For Asher illustrated letters on Twig and Thistle - There's an endless supply of custom letter prints on Etsy, but these custom prints by Wallace Design House really caught my eye.  I love the colors and the typography, but the tiny little animals steal the show...

  • Hello Sunshine hat by Kate Spade - Ohhhh, this hat.  If this isn't purely fabulous summery goodness I don't know what is.  Everything about it makes me want to escape to Capri and sunbathe on the Mediterranean in a cute little vintage suit (I have my pre-baby body in this fantasy) with big sunglasses, perfectly pedicured toes, and of course - my Hello Sunshine hat.  Ahh, a girl can dream.

    Hello Sunshine is also the name of a fantastic song by one my faves - Langhorne Slim.  So here's even more Hello Sunshiny goodness for ya:

     

  • Cupcakes in a Jar on The Kitchn - Because it's Friday, and because I'm pregnant... and because who doesn't love cupcakes in a freakin' jar?!?

{nursery progress} gum drop ottoman

I'm happy to report that I reached my goal of having the quilt and ottoman done before the end of my 2nd trimester.  Woohoo!  I'm not sure I want to know how much worse my back would have felt if I'd left all this sewing for my 3rd trimester.

The Gum Drop Pillow/Ottoman pattern was pretty easy to follow (for an Amy Butler pattern), but I think my choice of flannel is going to come back to haunt me.  I'm not sure how it'll hold up over time, and it was stretchier than regular cotton so I ended up needing way more batting than the pattern called for (11 1/4 lbs!!!).  So why did I go with flannel?  It was the exact color I was looking for.  Sometimes color trumps common sense.

I'm also not sure how I feel about it being slip-stitched closed.  I've become slightly anal about making sure every bit of fabric in the nursery is removable and washable, so it makes me nervous that this ottoman doesn't meet those criteria.  I'm thinking the first time I have to rip those stitches open, take out all the batting, and wash out whatever unpleasantness got all over it, I'm going to sew in an invisible zipper.

Since the ottoman is pretty big (though it's the perfect size for supporting my feet while nursing or reading to the baby) it'll spend most of the time living under the window to clear up floor space.

You'll also notice that we finished painting the Poang!  It took 3 coats of semi-gloss (using a foam brush) after sanding down the varnish, but it was worth it.  It fits much better in the room than the natural wood did.

Up next... I've been working away on the mobile and I'm hoping to get it done this week.  I didn't realize until I had everything cut that the birds need to be hand sewn.  Yuck.  But I have 4 done, and they look super cute, so hopefully it'll be worth all that extra time.  In case you're wondering, it does occasionally cross my mind that my daughter will never remember all this stuff I'm doing for her room, but then I stand in there and see how everything's coming together and it makes me happy enough to no longer care.  :)

link love - 3.18.11

Here are my favorites from the blogosphere this week:

  • Marshmallow Bunny Plushies from Dandelions and Lace - I've mentioned my intense love of marshmallows before, so it should come as no surprise that Easter is a particularly excellent season for my taste buds.  People either love or hate Peeps, and I fall firmly in the love column.  My mom made us a Peep cake every Easter - yellow cake, Fluffy White icing, coconut dyed with green food coloring to look like grass, and a little Easter-scape on top with Peeps and jelly beans - and I plan to carry on the tradition with my own kiddos.  Anyway, when I saw this insanely cute tutorial my Peep-loving heart went all a-flutter.  Seriously, how cute are these?  They're like the Peeps that keep on - uhh - peeping?  Yeah, I don't know.  But I know they're awesome and I can't wait to add one to our little girl's Easter basket next year.

  • S'more Bites from Fix Me a Snack - Hmm, I'm noticing a theme here.  Yep, definitely pregnant!  These little balls of goodness caught my eye not only because they have marshmallow centers (okay, mostly because they have marshmallow centers) but because the ingredients seem, well, kinda healthy.  Almond butter?  Wheat germ?  Is this lady crazy?  She may be crazy, but that's just enough healthy stuff to allow me to justify making these this weekend.  And then eat all 20 of them in one sitting.  Okay, maybe just 18.  Jared can have a couple, too.

  • Fundraiser for Japan by Oh, Fransson! - I wanted to post this one in case you're thinking about donating to the Red Cross to help with the Japan relief effort.  I've always loved Oh, Fransson!'s Tokyo Subway Map quilt, and now she's giving it away to one lucky and charitable reader.  If you like this quilt, too, please consider donating for a chance to win.  Great cause, great quilt, everybody wins.

new in the Etsy shop: nursing covers!

I'm so excited to announce that the nursing covers I mentioned earlier this year are finally up for sale in my Etsy shop.  Each nursing cover features 100% cotton Amy Butler fabric, and has a corner pocket made from a prefold cloth diaper - perfect for storing breast pads or using as a facial wipe for baby.  There's an adjustable strap and the boning at the neck enables mom to maintain eye contact while breast feeding and allows for ventilation, which helps keep baby nice and cool.

 

 

 

link love - 3.11.11

Here are a few of my favorite things from around the web this week:

  • The Two Minute T-Shirt Dress from Prudent Baby... There's a slew of upcycled baby clothes tutorials out there, but this caught my eye for being particularly cute and easy.  I used to love wearing my dad's t-shirts around the house when I was a little girl, and I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a part of me hoping our little one wants to help me downsize her dad's t-shirt collection by adopting a few as her own.

  • Oh, Fransson!'s Mod Blue Mosaic Quilt... Oh, Fransson! is one of my quilting heroes (and a fellow Portlander!)  Her quilts are always so modern and unexpected - and this one is no exception.  My brain has a hard time with asymmetry, so while I'm not sure I'll ever be able to adopt her style of quilting, I still love to swoon over her creations.

  • My friend Rachael sent me this DIY Bird Mobile tutorial last night, and I'm pretty much obsessed with it... Sarah was going to help me DIY a mobile similar to the one in the mood board I put together, but this tutorial has me totally inspired.  I'll have more than enough scrap fabric left over from the various nursery projects - plus, hello!, they're birds!  Tiny little perched birds in coordinated fabrics keeping watch over my baby girl.  It's all too much.  I kind of HAVE to do this, right??

 

{nursery progress} paint!

It took us 1 coat of primer, 3 coats of wall paint, and 2 coats of ceiling paint - but the painting is finally done!  As a reminder, here's how it looked before:

And here's how it looks now!

We covered every inch of that room with paint - the walls, the built-ins, the trim, the window, the ceiling, and even that old door.  Before we started I had tested some pretty big patches of a couple different colors on each wall, so I was pretty sure the color we picked would work out - but there's always that moment of panic after you get the first coat on when it's too late to turn back and you're still a couple coats away from being able to see the finished product.  But thankfully it's exactly what I'd envisioned - a rarity in the life of a DIYer.  (PS... the paint is Acro Pure No-VOC from Miller Paint in "Teal Treat" #0712.  The white paint is also No-VOC in a semi-gloss finish... they apparently don't recommend water-based paint for trim because it doesn't spread as well, but we used a soft bristled brush and it worked out great.)

You'll notice that the old door is still there... we realized that a new door would also need a new frame and that was just way more than we were ready to take on.  So we sanded the old door so that it actually closes, and I even managed to fix the mortise lock so we don't have to replace that either.  We're going to leave the glass uncovered for now, but I'll probably add a little curtain for it down the road.

Oh, and here's a close-up of the new hardware on the built-ins:

I'm kind of obsessed.

I can't even tell you how happy I am to have the painting done... not only because it means we can get the furniture, but because having to scoot around on the floor painting baseboards while you're nearly 6 months pregnant really really sucks.  Not exactly painless, but totally worth it.

link love - 3.4.11

You might think from this week's favorites that I've been holed up in my hotel room all week eating chocolate and reading chick lit, but I promise that's not the case... these all just really grabbed me for one reason or another.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

  • The SISTERS photography assignment on Pioneer Woman - I love PW, I love her photography assignments, and I especially love my sister.  She's been in South Africa the past two weeks and these photos make me miss her even more.  Life is just lonelier without a sister to obsessively play Words with Friends with.
  • No Big Dill's Love You Forever Skirt - While I love the Once Upon a Thread series, I love the book from this entry more than I love the skirt.  I'd never heard of it before, but after reading this quote I will definitely be buying it to read to my baby: "I'll love you forever.  I'll like you for always.  As long as I'm living my baby you'll be."  Seriously... total goner.  I can't even type those words without getting choked up by thoughts of her first day of school, seeing my little girl walk down the aisle, watching her become a mother.  I know, I know... but you try having a little person growing inside you and not get completely overwhelmed with love and cheesiness!
  • Selina's first quilt on The Fabulous Life of a Bean - I was so excited to finally see how Selina's first quilt turned out (amazingly, of course) but what really blew me away was the beautiful story that developed around it.  She set out to make a quilt for a friend's baby, and ended up helping her grandmother rediscover her passion for sewing.  The story is so touching, and I highly recommend taking a couple minutes to read it - even if you don't sew.

inside my makeup bag

Disclaimer: This post has absolutely nothing to do with sewing or crafting. I'm traveling for work this week which means taking a forced (and much needed) break from nursery prep.  So while I'm holed up in my hotel room in Miami watching Adventures in Babysitting, I thought I'd write about one of my other little pleasures in life - makeup.  I have drawers full up makeup at home, but when I travel I always try to bring only my go-to products.  Here's what I brought with me:

From top left:

1) L'Oreal Tanslucide Naturally Luminous Powder in Translucent - I use this interchangeably with Bare Escentuals Mineral Veil.  I put it on as the very last step before I put on mascara.  It's really lightweight and helps control shine throughout the day.

2) Tarte Natural Beauty Cheek Stain - I put a very small amount of this on with a foundation brush after foundation and before powder blush.  The color is perfect for fair skin... it matches the color of my cheeks when I've been working out.

3) Laura Mercier Hydra Smoothing Gel Mask - This isn't an every day product, but I always bring it with me when I travel to rehydrate my skin after flying.  A salesgirl at Nordstrom turned me on to this amazing mask just before my wedding, and now I use it any time I have a big event or when my skin is looking particularly dull.

4) Bare Escentuals bareMinerals Matte foundation in Fair and Fairly Light - I started using bareMinerals when it first came out several years ago but wasn't a huge fan of how cakey it looked by the end of the day.  After trying a lot of other foundations since then, I recently went back to bareMinerals - but this time with their new Matte formula.  It's SO much better.  I use the Fairly Light all over, and the Fair as a concealer.  I love how it looks and feels on my skin, it stays matte throughout the day, and doesn't cake up like the old formula did.  Plus it doesn't feel like I'm wearing a lot of makeup, which is always nice.

5) NARS blush in Deep Throat - Dear NARS, please never ever stop making this blush.  Thank you.  Sincerely, fair skinned girls everywhere.

 

From top left:

1) Maybelline Expert Eyes Brow Pencil in Blonde - Finding a natural looking brow pencil when you have light eye brows isn't easy.  I've tried a ton of brow products (powders, waxes, pencils) from both expensive and drugstore brands, and this is the second most natural looking one I've found.  The best one is by Cover Girl in Soft Blonde, but I can never find it anywhere.

2) Bare Escentuals Prime Time lid primer - My eyeshadow always gets creasy if I don't use a primer, and while I prefer Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion, there's no Sephora in downtown Portland where I can buy it so this is the next best thing.

3) Maybelline Line Stiletto liquid liner in Brownish Black - I just started using this but am liking it so far.  The applicator is easy to use and the liner stays put.  Can't ask for much more than that.

4) bareMinerals Flawless Definition Volumizing mascara - Best mascara I've used in a long time, maybe ever.  1 coat is great for every day, and 2 coats looks like I'm wearing false lashes. Either way, it doesn't budge during the day, doesn't end up on my brow bone, and comes off super easily with eye makeup remover.

5) MAC Eyeshadow in Blanc Type - I use this from lash to brow as a base for my other shadows.  Nothing special, really... just what I've always used.

6) Stila Eyeshadow Quad - I have no idea how old this is, definitely a seasonal palette, but the gold color inside is perfect so I dread the day it finally runs out.  I think the closest color they make right now is Sparkle.

7) Maybelline Cover Stick in Ivory - Again, under eye concealer is another one where I feel like I've tried them all and I always come back to this oldie but goodie.

8 ) bareMinerals Big & Bright Eyeliner in Chocolate - I use this on the inner rim of my lower lids.  It's just so-so, but I haven't made the effort to replace it.  I'll probably go back to MAC liner in Teddy once it runs out.

 

From left to right:

1) L'Oreal Colour Juice in Cherry on Top - I love these Colour Juices.  They're just like Lancome's Juicy Tubes, but less expensive.  This color is great on it's own but I usually pair it with lipstick or liner.

2) Bobbi Brown Lip Color in Soft Rose - I was a pinkish nude lip color wearer for a long time, but have recently started embracing wearing a slightly brighter lip.  This color is what I wore for my wedding and it looks pretty much how it sounds - a nice warm pink. I was never really big on lipstick because I felt like it dried my lips out, but this one is actually fairly moisturizing.

So there you have it... it probably seems like a lot, but the whole routine takes me about 10 minutes from start to finish.  We'll see if I can still swing all those steps after the kiddo's born. :-)

link love - 2.25.11

Here are some of my favorite things from around the web this week:

  • The "Ask a Photographer" series on ohdeeoh... as someone who's still learning how to use her camera properly (and not just making up for it after the fact thanks to Photoshop, which is my default approach to photography), this series has been so so so helpful.  There's a big focus on photographing kids and kids' things, but the advice they give is pretty universal.
  • Obsessed with this photo series from Irina Werning... isn't it fantastic?  Makes me want to reenact this photo and give the before and after to my mom for Christmas:

Come on, we could totally still rock those easter dresses.

{nursery progress} the baby quilt

 

The baby quilt is DONE!  It took me a little over a week, which honestly wasn't as long as I thought it would take. I'm not sure why I was always so intimidated about quilting... I think it's the whole culture of it.  Or at least the culture I always saw at the fabric store - middle aged to elderly women scouring for batiks and taking forever at the cutting counter with their 1/4 yard cuts of 100 different fabrics. It just seemed like it wasn't for me. But I was determined to make a quilt for my little girl and when I started piecing it together I was delighted to discover that I actually really like quilting. It's like putting together a pretty puzzle... kinda nerdy, kinda artistic, definitely challenging, and all the sewing is in straight lines! What's not to love? And the more I googled for tips and inspiration, the more I realized that there's a whole new generation of quilters making really amazing, fun, modern quilts. I might be hooked.

Okay, enough babbling... here's how things went down with my first quilt.  I started with Amy Butler's Patchwork Crib/Playtime Quilt pattern from her Little Stitches for Little Ones book, and made some small deviations along the way. She laid out a specific order for piecing the blocks together, but I reordered things so that the blue and yellow would be alternated. I also used a straight-line approach for the quilting instead of stitch-in-the-ditch like AB used in the pattern.

I used 2 1/2" bias strips for the binding instead of the 3 1/4" specified in the pattern, because that's what worked with the attachment I had for my bias tape maker.  The pattern was pretty weak on instructions for doing the binding, but thankfully this tutorial and this tutorial saved me.

The last step to finishing the quilt was to applique our baby's name to the bottom right corner.  I used the same approach described here and hand embroidered the letters with white embroidery thread.  It pretty much makes the whole quilt so I'm sad I can't show you pics until after she's born (we're keeping the name a secret).  So until then, here's a not-nearly-as-cute idea of how it looks (thanks Photoshop!):

Oh, and here are the fabrics I used: the yellow checks and blue checks are both City Weekend by Liesl Gibson for Oliver + S for Moda, and the yellow and blue dots and blue with white birds are both Hideaway by Lauren + Jessi Jung for Moda.

Now that I've gotten over my quilt-phobia, I'm already planning my next quilt!  The fabric arrived last week, but I have a lot of other sewing to get done for the nursery before I can dive back into quilt land.  Next up... the ottoman.

 

17 things

  1. I love the smell of my dog's stinky feet.
  2. My iPhone is the best and worst purchase I've ever made.
  3. I wish Tim Riggins played for the Eagles.
  4. I fight the urge every single morning to wear yoga pants and a hoodie to work.
  5. I've cried more this week than I have in the past year.
  6. I've peed approximately 136 times today.
  7. I haven't finished my first quilt yet but I've already ordered the fabric for my second one.
  8. Jared doesn't know about #7.
  9. Jared thinks I take on too much.
  10. Jared is sometimes right.
  11. Where is that neighbor girl with my Girl Scout cookie order?
  12. I've entered to win the HGTV Dream Home giveaway almost every day for the past month and a half.
  13. I am not going to win the HGTV Dream Home giveaway.
  14. We've known what we were going to name our daughter since before we got married.
  15. I have a theme song for my pregnancy.
  16. I like making things to keep or give to friends and family way way way more than I like making things to sell.
  17. My sister is a incredible person.