Studio Calico Blog Blitz!

At Studio Calico, we're so excited to bring you 3 new collections:

• Take Note
  
• Abroad
• Classic Calico vol. 2

These products have just begun shipping and they've been so fun to play with....even having to scrap propped up laying down in bed :)

Supplies: Take Note 6x6" Pad; Abroad 6x6" Pad, Calico2 6x6" Pad, POW glitter paper (powder & caramel), vellum, Stepping Stone Alphabet Stamps, Weathervane Ink Pad, Staz-on Jet Black Ink Pad, Precision Pen -03.

I cut strips of vellum, glitter paper, and the patterned papers from Take Note & Abroad 6x6" pads, lined them up down the edge of my paper and adhered them with my glue pen, only in the center of the strip. Next, I punched holes with a circle punch and exacto knife for the center one, and backed it with subtle tone-on-tone papers from the Calico2 6x6" pad.

After adding stamping, journaling, and photos, I escaped bedrest for 2 minutes to stitch these down.


Hope you enjoy the blog blitz!
Next stop is Celine.

If you get lost along the way, you can always go back to the SC blog for the complete list.

Don't forget to leave a comment here. I'm giving away my favorite 6x6" pad from the Take Note Collection.

week in review

1. Claire and I watching "sugar." That's Mary Poppins Spoonful of Sugar on YouTube. She loves musicals and I'm so happy about that. She'll snap her fingers and say "up" as the toys put themselves away.
   
2. Block-stacking practice. Here she has 7, but in the bottom right, you'll see her record of 8. She's got champion fine-motor skills.
3. Outside my window. We've had about 13 gorgeous days in a row.
4. Scrapping in bed.
5. Hugging Tess, my friend's lab.
6. Pushing her boyfriend Grayson.
7. Watching Pooh on YouTube.
8. My lunch. Terrible heartburn lately, but my friend and IVF nurse recommended liquid calcium magnesium and truly it's worked wonders. SO HAPPY about that.
9. The record of 8! Way to go, Claire!
   

I'm 26 weeks and ready for bedrest to be over. There's a million piles of stuff all over the house and it's stressing me out. I want to o-r-g-a-n-i-z-e. Badly. But, I'm thankful these boys are staying put and for all my friends and family who are helping out. I can deal with the piles I suppose.

the spring I'm missing....plus a giveaway winner!

I snapped this photo out my bathroom window yesterday when I was up for a potty break. Look how gorgeous the sky is and I promise you that grass looks like Ireland, even though I've never been....It was so incredibly green and with lots of clover. Our cows *love* clover so we try to keep them happy.

What you can't see in the photo is that it's 75degrees here in March and you can't hear that Claire is giggling and running with her princess ball (my best $2 purchase to date). Greg is bound and determined to get me a lawn sofa-chair-thingy so I can lay around outside and enjoy it. I hope he does! Maybe for once my legs will be tan by summer.

And the winner of the sketchbook class is...............

SO excited to see your giveaway April; I would love to take part of this class with the lack of inspiration these days and the busy schedule with the kids. This is exactly what I need. My SC name is Scrappymimi.

March 25, 2012 7:48 AM

I have the information I need and you'll be added to the class. Hope you enjoy it!

25 weeks

So happy for each and every day of this pregnancy, even if those days are fully comprised of laying the the bed, rotating from one side to the other, balancing a computer on my legs, propping up pillows, cutting scrapbook paper with one free arm, showering in 3 minutes flat, laying down after meals and then burping constantly for 30 minutes thereafter....you get the idea. I'm happy because each day these boys stay put, that gives me hope we won't be spending time in the NICU.

At 25 weeks, I was happy to put on real clothes, make-up and brush my hair for a doctor's visit. Yes, I feel 80 years old because I was looking forward to my doctor visit all week long. That's my approved outing!

At the doctor, I was pleased to learn both babies are doing well. Baby A is measuring a week big, Baby B a week small, but there's no cause for concern since neither is too far off from the norm. Since I wanted to know exact weights I looked online and that's 1lb-14oz and 1lb-7oz. Still too tiny for birth, so our goal is 34 weeks.

I'm having about 2-3 contractions and hour, so I don't have to start on oral medication yet. Yay! Still, they make me nervous.

After the doctor, Mom took me through the drive-through at Sonic. As you know, I'm well-known there, which is the mark of a true addict. While I was waiting on my drink, the manager came to the window and asked how much longer I had before my due date. Mom told him, "3 months," to which his jaw dropped and it was obvious by my size that he thought I was ready to pop any second. He quickly recovered and said, "Oh, but it's twins, right?"

So, yes, I'm HUGE. I think I'm as big now as I was full term with Claire, but it's hard to tell by weight because I had swollen so much with her.

Here I am at 23 weeks with Claire, trying to stick out my belly.
and at 24 weeks. You can see, there's a distinct difference in size from the first photo in this post.

We're still working on names and making very little progress. Greg's list is getting longer when it should be going in the reverse direction. Sigh.

Sketchbook Class giveaway + a sneak!

Join Kelly Purkey in another installment of her popular Sketchbook class! Sketchbook 4 is a four week class filled with fresh sketches, easy instructions, beautiful examples, and lots of fun. This class is designed to be used at any time and over + over again when you need inspiration.

Sketchbook is different from any other sketch class out there because Kelly and the contributors offer design tips and detailed explanation of what makes a page work. It's more than sketches - they’ll deliver valuable pointers for creating great layouts.

By the end of the class, you'll have a complete sketchbook of 12 original sketches, 38 layouts, and an ADDITIONAL 38 sketches based on those creative pages. All the examples are brand new layouts, exclusive to this class... you won't see them anywhere else! You will be receiving an example layout from Kelly for each of the sketches, along with two example layouts from a Studio Calico Design Team member and some of your favorite SC Guest Designers.

As a tease, here's a sneak of my sketch layout that I just completed. I LOVED this sketch and I love the end result even more. I'm actually toying with the idea of doing a second layout based on the same sketch, that's how versatile it is! So, please join me along with tons of others in this class. You won't regret it!


To win a spot in this class, just leave a comment here by midnight EST on Monday. A winner will be randomly chosen on Tuesday and posted here, so be sure to check back so we can get you enrolled before the class starts. Also, if you're already enrolled and win, we'll refund your money, so there's no reason not to enter to win!

sneak peeks!

I'm very limited on what I can do scrappy-wise since being on bedrest, but this month, my Silhouette Cameo and I have become best friends. I make files laying here in bed and then when I'm up for a bathroom break, I plug and cut. Also, one of our wonderful members posted regarding sharing your library of shapes from one computer to another (only for personal use, no file stealing!) which would make this even easier for me.


Here's a sneak of my favorite layout this month. I designed this word art on the Silhouette Studio software and cut it on white cardstock. From there, I adhered it to my page and outlined it with a precision pen to make it stand out a bit more. I still thought it needed something, so I misted with Piglet into a ramekin from my kitchen and then dipped a paintbrush into it, then into some water and water-colored the heart.

On this same layout, I included some hidden journaling. I wanted to use the Dear Lizzy vellum on the die-cutter and it worked wonderfully. I love the layers of vellum!
This layout was made using the main kit plus the Versailles add-on.

Another layout I made in bed. I think stitching by hand is one of the easiest techniques to do while on my back. This took LOTS of embroidery floss, but I like the outcome. The layout combined the main kit, Versailles add-on and Montmarte add-on.

This is my layout made using only the main kit...and it's a 2-pager at that! I love this gray polka paper. It's an exclusive this month, so be sure to grab some SC patterned paper as I'm sure you'll want more.


And last, a picture to either warm your heart or gross you out.

Claire spends Mondays at my friend Ashley's house. This week, she played outside almost all day since the weather was so pretty and chased their dog, Tess around. She *loves* big dogs. LOVES them. Wants to hug them and kiss them. And once that's accomplished, she wants more hugs and kisses. Poor Tess didn't know what to do with so much attention.

week in review

Well, it's been an interesting and monotonous week all at the same time. Here goes:

1. Starting my week at 2:00am Sunday morning with pain so bad, I had to call the doctor. Went straight to the hospital and found out I was having contractions, and after some medicine and a stern warning to take it easy, the contractions eased and I was sent home. The whole time I was there, I was terrified. I was in Labor & Delivery and unlike when I was there for Claire, I was not excited. Such a surreal feeling since most people arrive with such anticipation. For me, when I rang the bell to be let in, I was all alone, not in a wheelchair (Greg was parking the car that was literally on dead empty we were worried it wouldn't make it to restart if he didn't park it right then.), and I was scared to death. Fortunately, we caught the preterm labor early enough to reverse it for the most part and I'm so thankful for that. Funny thing, it was my OB on call that night and I looked so terrible, hair slicked back, no make-up, glasses, that he actually introduced himself when he walked in the room. ha!
   
2. On bedrest planning the July and August Studio Calico kits. Big belly, a book (not telling you which supplier) and my computer.
3. Claire wanting to be like Grammy eating a protein bar, took the wrapper and put her cinnamon roll in it. Then held it and took bites.
   
4. Kangaroo. Oh, the kangaroo. Claire's latest toy obsession. Forbid what happens if we lose that one!
5. Watching "Under the Sea" on my computer. She says "eee eee" and sways back and forth. Gets me every time. By the way, what did parents do before YouTube?
6. Together for snuggle time before leaving for the doctor. I feel like an 80-year-old since going to the doctor is my "outing." I got to fix my hair, wear make-up and put on real clothes. Even though I looked good, and the doctor actually recognized me, I'm still on bedrest. (contractions....still....) He's positive about the likelihood of making it to 34 weeks. I'm 23 weeks now, so I'm down for the long haul.
   
7. Going home from the doctor, Claire having a snack. She loves those cracker sandwiches with the pepperjack cheese, well, it's cheese substitute. There is a method to eating them, that involves splitting the crackers apart, scraping the cheese off with her thumb and eating that first before eating the crackers plain. Appetizing, huh?
8. On her scooter, which is actually the carrier of the bell. She loves ringing the bell and has finally gotten enough strength in her fingers to do it by herself. Look how proud she is!
9. Now Claire's a pro at bedrest. Computer, "under the sea", yep, that's all she needs.
   

rise and shine

Recently, I snuck in Claire's room with camera in hand and raised the shade so I could snap some photos of how cute she is waking up in her crib. She's such a great sleeper and wakes up in a fantastic mood, but definitely loves time to wallow in the bed before getting up.

Our plan is to move her to a twin bed (with rail) before the babies arrive. I'm so worried she won't transition well because this girl LOVES.HER.CRIB. Loves it.

Any advice for me to make it as smooth as possible for an 18month old...hopefully the babies will give me until that time?

sunday afternoon

Just something simple and sweet that makes me happy.

Wonder how he'll balance 3 kids on that lap in a few months?

week in review

This past week, Greg was in Florida for a meeting, so I took way more instagrams than I normally do, just to keep him in the loop of the local happenings. Documenting the everyday of this week really makes me wish I was on the Project Life bandwagon, but I need to accept my limitations, and I truly do NOT have time for it. Will I make time in the future? Yes. But, for now, I'm telling myself to be content with this type of documentation.

From the top and left to right:

1. After bathtime, a particularly sweet moment with Claire on top of my belly. This was right after she stepped about 6 inches into the mud and fell into it while I was unloading groceries. I really needed this snuggle!
2. Claire with a Mickey sticker left over from Disney. We got 8 stickers for free the first day and wow, have we made them last!
3. Me, particularly happy I actually fit into this normal (non-maternity) shirt. I probably won't fit it next week, but it made me happy nonetheless.
4. Reading time, which is practically 50% of the time. I'm so happy Claire loves books.
5. While shopping for Claire some pants that actually fit, I snapped this photo of these Fossil pouches. I meant to send to Greg as a hint since my birthday is this coming week, but I forgot. Silly me....and why must I love Fossil so much?
6. My 21 week belly and someone tugging at my side.
7. Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo! Claire is obsessed. She's waving her imaginary wand.
8. Sunday bathtime.
9. Me. I combined turquoise with red. Gasp...I think it worked okay.