1st stop

eta: And the winner of the new label stickers is.................

Robin said...

love the cowlick title and those little cows all over--cute!

January 24, 2011 11:56 AM

Robin, please send me an email april@studiocalico.com to claim your prize.

Welcome to the first stop along the Studio Calico CHA Winter 2011 Blog Hop. We're going in alphabetical order from one designer to the next and I happen to be first. In school, I was April Alexander and was always second behind my sister, Amber until Neely Abell came along and bumped me to third place. That name always put me in the front of the class in assigned seating, the front of the line to the bathroom, and first to the cafeteria. Served me well for lots of years.

Too long of a story for this blog hop. One of my favorite products in our release is these label stickers. Yes, they're simple, but versatile and I get to give away a set of all 3 colors to one lucky winner. Just read through this post and comment at the end and go to the next person on the hop for a chance to win another product. Fun, huh?

I used the cream and blue version of these stickers on the Cowlick layout below.

I also used several papers from the Countryside release, a border punch (which is back in stock!) a white gel pen, black pen, and some of the More Color from January's kit. The colors just worked so well with this release.

On my next layout, I used one of my favorite papers from Countryside (that red gingham) along with the State Fair papers.

I was so happy with the way this SUPER CLAIRE layout turned out. Don't you love it when an idea in your head works out on paper?

The journaling reads:
Fighting frowns and general crankiness one grin at a time. Super Claire comes equipped with goos, coos, and winks to combat the worst of scenarios. Warning: spit-up has been known to accompany some crime-fighting situations and poo occurs almost hourly so a change in super-suit is almost always needed. No batteries necessary. Stays charged all night.
Now on to the next stop, my friend in France: Celine Navarro.

If you lose your place along the way, you can always go back to the Studio Calico blog and click on the designers' links in the side bar.

Don't forget to leave a comment here. Say anything you'd like for a chance to win those label stickers. Comments will be closed on Wednesday 12:00am EST and a winner announced shortly thereafter.

who's toy is it anyway?

We're in the midst of CHA-hecticness. For my non-scrapbooking friends, CHA is the trade show where we exhibit to other retailers. We attend this show as both buyers (for the kit division) and exhibitors (for the wholesale division). This show was hectic enough when we were buyers only, now adding a dual role last year, plus the bundle of joy you see above this year, it's going to be a crazy trip. Then add a 2-day stop in Texas on the way back for Claire to meet her great-grandmothers and well, you can see why I haven't been blogging lately.

Once things return to normal, I promise to return with more amazing videos like the one above. I know you're waiting with baited breath.

2 months

I can hardly believe how much our little girl has changed in just a month. She's making eye contact so much better and there's lots of coos and goos exchanged throughout the day. She interacts with her toys now and pulls on them, moves them, talks to them. She REALLY likes a mermaid toy and even chose it after I held 4 different ones up for her...very drawn to that one.

She does that cute laugh where she's smiling then sucks in air from the room making a sort of hiccup sound. LOVE that!

She almost has a daily routine and is working hard to space her daytime feedings to 4 hours. It's tough and we usually don't make it the full 4 hours, but we try anyway! Best of all, she's consistent at sleeping at least 8 hours straight at night. At 2 months exactly, she slept 9 hours and the next night, 9:45. That made her mommy VERY happy.

She still has gorgeous blue eyes, but not nearly as much hair as she used to. All that routine-business is stressing her out!

Just when I thought being Claire's mommy couldn't get any better than it was at one month, she proved me wrong. The more I get to know her, the more I love her.

february sneaks

I was thrilled with Crate's designs this month. So fun and easy to use. I just loved that they reinvented some of their classic designs to match our color palette this month. I hope you love them, too.

This month, my layouts just fell together. Really. I did 3 layouts in under 3 hours, and I'm itching to do more, if I can find the time before CHA. Those Sassafras alphas made it on all 3 of my layouts and are definitely a staple in my scraproom.

This layout used the Pulled Taffy & More Color as well as the XL and L Cloud punches. Those punches are a must this month. Can you see why in the sneak below?

I asked Lorie which layout was her favorite this month and she loved this one (above). This one was made with a combination of the main kit CANDY SHOPPE and PULLED TAFFY.

And my favorite is this pink one. And, I'm not even a "pink" kind of gal. Made with the LOLLIPOP add-on and the main kit, CANDY SHOPPE. I also added some foam dots in there as well.

I can't wait to share the full versions this time. Lots of Claire photos here, I promise!

attack of the farm animals

Claire is really trying to figure out what makes her toys move on her play gym. She usually starts to fuss when they don't move, and fussing involves flailing arms, which usually inadvertently smack a cow or chicken, hence making them move. So, I really think she thinks they move when she fusses. But in this instance, no fussing was involved and boy did they take action!

Yes, this is humor in my house.

bath time = daddy time

We're settling into a nice routine around here which includes a night-time bath ritual.

Claire loves it.

"Love" may not adequately describe her passion for the bath. She could be screaming and we walk into the laundry room and she knows. The laundry-room sink is her perfect tub. Her little seat fits perfectly (this is the seat I referred to with the ugly motif in my FB post earlier this week, hence the reason these photos are in B&W).

Greg has taken over this duty to give me a 30 minute break and give him a fun activity to do with Claire. It's their daddy-daughter bonding time and it's hilarious most nights. Yes, they've had bubbles in the tub (you know which end), pee in the tub, LOTS of poo in the tub.

But most importantly, there's been fun in the tub. She loves splashing and relaxing and having water poured on her. Greg likes letting her float and spraying her with the faucet.

They have a big time, while I have a break...which usually entails folding clothes and stuffing diapers. But hey, I like getting my work done.








She's officially 2 months old today, so I'll have more photos to share later.

Claire's a big sister now!

It's official, Claire's not the baby in the family any more.