Studio Calico - Napa Valley

Again this month for my kit layouts, I was all about keeping my feet up as much as possible. I'm typically a night-scrapper, which can pose problems when you're feet are HUMONGOUS by 5:00. So, for most of these layouts, I planned them ahead in my head, then ran to my scrapbook room and scrapped each one in about 30-45 minutes.

I've been waiting to scrap this photo for a little while and when I saw the months paper whimsies in the main kit, I knew this would be the perfect layout to use them on. I wish I had taken more photos as G was putting the crib together that night, but the ones I do have, I will treasure. I just love watching him prepare for our first baby.

Another layout about G preparing for the baby. He's been reading this book about child-training for almost the entire 37 weeks I've been pregnant. It's 90 pages, so he's on pace with about 1/3 page per day, so he should finish while I'm in labor. Let's just hope that his slow pace is helping him absorb the message.

This was my favorite layout this month and was made entirely with my favorite add-on: Mendocino. I added the Circle Punch (which is sold out but being restocked) and some Antique Linen Distress ink.

This layout was made with the Sonoma add-on. I wasn't too sure I'd like this add-on when I first saw it all in one place, but I ended up liking all the elements because they're so neutral. They blended so well with the other kits, including the main, so that was helpful in putting layouts together. I've almost used all of those gems in the tape roll by Making Memories.

Last, another of my favorite layouts. This is a photo of me at about 3 years old painting our fence in Texas. My favorite part about the layout is the paintbrush stamp that's included in the Mendocino add-on. I used Stampin Up! inks on kraft cardstock, but the new Jenni Bowlin colors would work very well with this stamp. If I had them at the time I made this layout, I would have used them for sure. Oh, and don't forget to add glossy accents to your cart if you don't have any. Sometimes I forget it's a supply that I have on hand, but with this layout, it really made simple hole-punched circles stand out.

Hope you enjoyed the reveal this month at SC. Kits start shipping on the 3rd!

37 weeks

At 37 weeks:

• I just noticed the my belly looks pointy from above at times. Like in the photo here. I guess it depends on Claire's position and if she's sticking her hiney out. Greg says it looks like a square from the side and is taking photos of my side-view while I'm typing this, threatening to facebook it.
• I haven't had a day of heartburn, but I've had about a million burps in the last hour. That seems to be the thing for me.
• I still don't have stretch marks (knocking vigorously on wood here).
• I didn't gain a pound this past week at the doctor and I was so happy mainly because I predicted it before I stepped onto the scale. The nurse was quite surprised (not sure if she was surprised I hadn't gained since I look enormous, or surprised that I predicted it, but I'm going with the latter).
• It was time for my baby shower. More on that later, but it was FAB-U-LOUS. Swollen ankles and all.
• I ordered my Thank-You cards and have lots to write. Can't wait to get them in and see them. They're super-cool if I do say so myself.
  
• I tried to put on my wedding ring for the first time in 5 months and couldn't even get it on my pinky. I think I've swollen even more than I thought I had.
• There are two more loads of laundry to do before Claire comes, plus I have to finish some artwork for her room. I plan to do that this weekend along with a Halloween party for the college kids from church. We'll see how that goes, though.
• One more thing I'm proud of. Despite my insatiable thirst, my bladder is still holding on strong. I haven't once had to get up in the middle of the night for that reason. Usually, I just wake up and lay here wishing I could sleep.
• And, if I must admit it, I'm a little sad that Claire will be the first grandchild on both sides, mainly because she won't have cousins. She'll just have to adopt some, I suppose.
• Greg has completely cleaned out the car and says it's because I'm nesting. I don't know why he thinks that because I've always liked to organize things, but whatever the case, I didn't argue. I have a clean car!
  

sunday sketch at SC!

If you haven't already, head over to the Studio Calico blog for a fun new sketch this week based on a layout by the hilariously funny and stunningly sentimental Laura Kurz. I loved the layout featured and am hosting the blog today. Above is a sneak of my layout based on the sketch.

happenstance

We're headed to a Halloween/Fall party tonight sans bonfire. I feel so sad about the lack of fire, but we've had no rain here for so long and there's a no-burn ordinance in effect. But, we'll bundle up, head out and take a dessert to the party and have a wonderful time with lots of friends.

I decided to make Pecan Pumpkin Butter Dessert Squares after having it saved in my RSS folder for a little while. I don't really care for pumpkin, but when I saw these stacked up on Bakerella's blog, they did look scrumptious.

So, today when I realized I needed to make a dessert pronto, I went to my RSS feed and started browsing. This one popped out at me because it's so fallish, but the main ingredient is Pecan Pumpkin Butter from Williams-Sonoma (over an hour away). Thinking the jar looked familiar, I headed to my pantry and what-do-you-know, I had a jar of it! I know it's not something I would buy. Actually, I think one of my former pharma reps gifted it to me a couple years ago, either that or Greg bought it. In either case, it was still in date so the baking commenced.

And, to make up for any out-datedness, I decided to use my primo Watkins Cinnamon instead of Kroger brand.


Just to enable you, they taste as good as they look and I don't even like pumpkin.

clever

Seriously?

How cool is this? I'm trying to justify getting this and hanging it by my front door. I really need to be buying baby items now....or post-pregnancy clothes but isn't this just so fun?

36 weeks

• Claire is moving around so much, I actually video-taped my belly this morning. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but oh well. It was less than a minute, because any more than that I felt was self-indulgent.
  
• I'm still swelling like crazy. When I wear boots, I have to put them on right after I get out of the shower, otherwise they won't ever go on my feet. Then after wearing them a few hours, my toes are numb.
• I still don't have a single stretch mark, although I almost freaked out when I woke up one morning and there was a crease on my belly. Without my contacts in, it looked like 3 humongous stretch marks on my left side.
• Jett is now using my belly as a prop for his front legs so he can kiss my face.
  
• I'm officially an insomniac. I usually wake up at 3:00am and can't go back to sleep.
• I've worked ahead at Studio Calico so I won't have to worry about so much after Claire arrives. That's been my main focus lately.
• I've decided drinking caffeine is okay at this point in my pregnancy. I need my Diet Dr. Pepper with Vanilla from Sonic during Happy Hour to calm my nerves. :)
• Greg's getting anxious to meet Claire. He keeps saying things like, "We're having a baby!" and "Can you believe it, she'll be here in a month!"
  

laundry room

Originally the laundry room was quite small, so this was one area we changed to give us more countertop and cabinet space.

The door you see on the left goes to the water heater. and the door on the right leads to the front porch. Already we had 6 doors leading out of the house, so we decided to get rid of that door and add a window instead. Where the door was, it was offset on the front porch, so we were able to bump out that wall and make the front of the house look completely symmetrical and give us twice the space in the laundry than was originally there.


It's difficult to see how crammed this space really was, but if the washer or dryer door was open, there was about 2-3 inches to spare before hitting the opposite wall/doorway. You might also notice that this washer/dryer is too deep for this space, meaning that this outside door is unusable.

Oh, and did I mention the house came with a bunch of stuff in it?

Even the washer and dryer were full of clothing. Yes, even the washer....ever smelled soured clothing? Well after sitting for a year, multiply the smell you know by 365. We ran several loads of ammonia through it just to get rid of the smell.

First, we removed the upper cabinets on the back wall and added open shelving.

This is a view from the base of the stairs. The dining room is on the left and the doorway past the pew on the right goes into the kitchen.

The cabinets are alder and are only poly-ed. No stain was used on these. The countertops are a stained concrete with a rounded edge. The entire wall is covered with white tile, which apparently was a chore to put up.

Globes: Various Etsy shops and flea market finds.
Milk Crate: Found
Milk Bottles: Ebay, found
Green Ampersand: Pottery Barn from a long time ago (no longer available)
Lunch Box: found
Wooden Spools: found (a good price for these is about $2 apiece at a flea market, but for more interesting ones, expect to pay $5-10)
Locker Baskets: Ebay, Etsy, found
Chalkboard: Found (ThreePotatoFour had this exact one on sale for $110. I paid $5 for mine!)
Brown Baskets: Basket Lady (If you're looking for nice baskets, really this site is awesome. I can't speak enough of the quality.)


Greg made the shelves from thick-cut barnwood. The underside and front were left rough and the top was planed. Then, about 5 coats of poly was applied so there would be a smooth finish to set all the knick knacks on. Also, dusting the shelves would have been impossible with how rough they were before.



We relocated the washer and dryer to the left side of the room, nestled next to the door that holds the hot-water heater. To the right of the washer and dryer, is some open space, perfect for holding the dog food and an extra laundry basket.

The ironing board pulls out from one of the top drawers there on the right.

We added a sink in here as well, which is perfect for rinsing clothing, but mostly gets used when the dogs need a bath. And, Addy needed baths quite frequently there for awhile after her run in with Pepe-la-Peu.


I seriously love my laundry room and I've never been able to say that at any house I've lived in except this one.

before you

One of the prompts in Claire's baby book begins "Before me....."

I really liked the idea of this prompt, but for a long time, I was stumped as to what to say or when to write it. I didn't know the approach to take. Should I write it before she is born to have the 100% accurate viewpoint of what life was like? Or, should I write if after she is born so that I could compare one stage in life to another?

I decided to go ahead and tackle it because I really don't know how much time I'll have to write after she's born, plus there's plenty of other pages to fill at that time.



Before you, your dad and I were married for 9.5 years. That's much longer than we thought we'd be married before you came along, but it's given us more time to wait, prepare, and anticipate your arrival.

Before you, your dad worked for Grainger for 10 years and has received several promotions during that time, but always chose to keep a job that brings him home at night so he would always be home to play with you in the evenings, eat dinner, and tuck you in to bed. I worked for 5 years with a pharmaceutical company, taking one promotion that kept me away 4 nights a week. During that time, we learned we would have to have fertility treatment in order to become pregnant. Since that was most important to us, I left that job to work full-time for Studio Calico. I wanted to be home every day to play with you, eat every meal with you, and tuck you into bed at night.

Before you, your dad and I traveled to many places: Egypt, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Bahamas, St. Croix, Mexico, Germany, Switzerland, France, Austria, and many cities and states in our great country. Seeing all those places is such a blessing, but it doesn't compare to the blessing you will bring to us. We can't wait for you to grow up and travel with us so you can have fun memories of times on the road as well.

Before you, we made the decision to move from the city to the country. We like the idea of you having lots of space to run and play. There's so much to do in the country, we're sure you'll have great adventures here.

Before you, we only had Addy and Jett as part of our family. They keep us entertained with all their antics. Addy loves to chase frisbee and rocks. Jett loves to be held and cuddled. Both love to chase turkeys and any wild animal....Addy even got sprayed by a skunk!

Before you, we've had a lot of experiences and learned so much. We've worked on our relationship with one another and grown closer to God. We've prepared for you to be a part of our family and are excited to meet you!

from awhile ago

I recently came across this layout that I made a year or so ago. It's been awhile.

2 things surprised me.

• Greg had long hair and it looks so dark!
• This is a 2-page layout...a rarity for me.

I used the contents from the Playground kit (sold out long ago). That orange scalloped paper is what inspired the re-creation of the Dollhouse paper from the Home Front line, which is now on sale at SC.

paintin' the town

Just a quick post to say that you really need the Mendocino add-on when it goes live at 12:00 EST (pm on the 27th for subscribers; am on the 28th for regular folks). You might also want these inks:

• Chili Powder
• Lemon Drops
• Chicken Feed
• Stick Candy
• Spice Tin
• Brown Sugar

Oh and a little glossy accents for good measure.....

I also used Mister Huey's Warm Calico on this sneak, which is available at LSS's and other online retailers now. It's the most perfect gray ever.

tv room (upstairs)

This is the last room I have to show you upstairs until the nursery is ready (and I'm D-Y-I-N-G to show that one!). This room was originally a bedroom. Painted Red. Really really red.


This photo shows what you saw when you first walked in off the hallway. The door on the left was a bathroom (which we kept as a bathroom but rearranged and made larger to open to the hallway instead of the room). The two doors in the middle were both small closets. Originally the house had 3 dormers along the front, two of which opened in this room (to the left and right of the closet doors). This was just unused space, only wide enough for a window. We combined the 3 dormers into one shed dormer (photos of the outside later) and that gave much more usable space to this room (and bathroom) for a relatively low cost.

Here's the right dormer windo. Note the long unusable hallway. This room radiates red.

And the left dormer. Although this space looked like it was used circa 1983 by the date of that computer. Oh, and did I mention this room was red?

Well, we decided to change that.....


Rug: Yep, that's the cowhide rug I got at the flea market. Cheap and real cow. Don't be buying the $400 version from West Elm, unless you just like labels. Greg r-e-a-l-l-y wanted a cowhide rug after seeing it on his mistress' blog.
Sofa: Natuzzi from Macy's
Stools: Stolen from my mom. She says she's going to take them back, but I don't believe her.
Shearling Throw: Pottery Barn on sale ages ago. It's my favorite snuggle blanket. The dogs love it, too.
Canvases: Carnival Ride Art by Restoration Hardware.

The wall behind the sofa is painted with chalkboard paint and a friend of ours did the mural.

Table & Chairs: Table was found at an antique mall in wonderful condition. Chairs are left-over from my parents' house and covered with slipcovers. These aren't by Pottery Barn. Can't remember where I bought them, but they were only $15/each.

This shot of the room shows how much combining the dormers really opened up the room. In the dead center is where those two closet doors used to be.

Storage Baskets: This was the splurge in the room. I loved it and it's perfect for holding blankets. From Arhaus.
Pillow: RUPiper

You can't really see it in this photo, but the Route 66 canvas is one we get asked about all the time. Actually the people who bought our last house wanted to purchase it to stay in the TV room there, but I knew I couldn't find it anywhere so I kept it. It's another purchase like the ceramic bike disc that I got at market with a friend of mine. Don't know the source, but it's so cool. :)

Light Fixture: Calhoun Glass Pendant by Pottery Barn.
Console: Antique Barn in Asheville, NC. Greg and I loved this place. LOVED IT. It was a huge warehouse full of stuff. Full. And the prices were decent. Not flea market pricing, but close and the best thing about it was that a guy named George helped by delivering all the way to our house. Yes, there was a fee, but it wasn't terrible. But, next time we go, we'll know to take the trailer. Uh huh. You heard right. We have a trailer. We live on a farm...gotta have one of those.

Inside, we just put a bunch of the $0.25 books on the shelves, some photos and other memorabilia. Drums Greg got on vacation somewhere (probably the Bahamas at that Straw Market), a Louisville Slugger bat with our names and wedding date on it (Our rehearsal dinner was at the Slugger Museum), cheap $1.50 vases from IKEA that I bought and never knew what to do with them.




This is one of the most used rooms in the house. We might add some bamboo blinds to the windows, but I'm not sold on that yet.

Oh, and I didn't mention that we use the chalkboard wall to keep score for card games. Fun stuff!

at 35 weeks

• I'm at a 31 lb weight gain and on the last hole in my belt. ACK! What will I use for the next 5 weeks to define my waist? (if you want to call it that....)
• Claire is still kicking me like crazy especially at night. Greg loves to watch the lumps that appear in my stomach, or when she's pushed to one side and I look lop-sided. It's a new experience that both of us are enjoying.
• When I get up in the morning, my feet are numb.
  
• I'm still not worried about the labor and delivery. Am I crazy?
• We are about finished with all our baby purchases, just 3 things left to get for her and 1 thing left for me (a stylish bag). We've really not bought a ton of things other than the necessities. I just think it's ridiculous to spend a fortune when we don't even know her likes/dislikes yet. Actually, she got the $6 bath sponge and the people in line ahead of us bought the $36 bath spa for their baby. I figure she's going to scream when she gets a bath anyway, so she might as well do it in the $6 sponge rather than the $36 "spa". I did buy her Burt's Bees body wash, though. Good skin care is essential.
• I finished (with the help of my mom) washing all her linens and 0-3 month clothes.
  
• All her cloth diapers are adjusted and washed, although we'll be using disposable for the first week or two. More on the cloth diapers later, I'm sure....
• I bought clothes for the hospital and am now contemplating packing a bag. Just in case.
  

sneak peeks!

At first, I wasn't sure how much I would love the November kit and add-ons because of my (still-fond) affection for On the Easel. But, as I've used it to make quick & easy & fast layouts (that's all my feet can take right now...), I really like what I've made. So, I guess that's the sign of a good kit, liking the outcome.

This layout combined the main kit (Napa Valley) with the Sonoma add-on. Plus, I added some foam dots, my favorite pen, and the worn lipstick distress ink, although I really wish I had used this new ink instead.

This layout is a quick, simple one without a lot of journaling, but I love it just the same. It's made entirely with the main kit, Napa Valley, and after doing this layout, I can confidently say, "I LOVE THIS KIT!"

Last, but not least, my favorite layout this month was made with the Mendocino add-on. On this one, I added a journaling pen and the Circle Edge Punch (which by the way is on backorder at EK and won't likely be in the shop for this reveal). One I do have my eye on this month is this one, because it is just so pretty and will be perfect for my Claire layouts coming up.

I hope to do at least one more kit layout this month....already have an idea for a layout that I'm itching to create, so expect to see at least one more sneak from me.

happy family

In the past, I haven't really thought of scrapbooking as a way of documenting my memories. I've thought of it more as an artistic outlet: a way to use pretty things in pretty ways and then justify buying more pretty things to use in other pretty ways.

After becoming pregnant through IVF in the summer of 2009, I was hesitant to start putting any of my pregnancy thoughts on paper (scrapbook paper, that is). It felt odd to put such personal feelings "out there" and seemed risky to me, even though I didn't mind blogging about the feelings I was having. Something about the words being ON PAPER just made them more permanent.

So, in the fall, when the Studio Calico Yearbook Kit was about to be released, I began working on this layout.

I listed many of Greg's traits (good and bad).

I listed many of my traits (good and bad)

I pondered what our baby would inherit.

But in the 4th column, I listed all the things I knew that would be true about our family no matter who that little person was that we would soon meet.

The layout was constructed in its entirety except for an ultrasound photo, which I had ordered and was waiting to receive in the mail. In the meantime, I learned about our miscarriage.

Even though I loved the layout and the thoughts behind it, I couldn't even think about posting the layout in the gallery, neither did I want to look at it myself.

Now, a year later, I feel so much differently. I'm glad I never affixed that original ultrasound photo to the page, because today, I was looking through my old album and found this layout. I read it and had all the same thoughts as I did before, only this time, it was about Claire, the baby who's been kicking me and causing me to swell for the last several weeks. That's the baby I will meet and get to know and discover.

I know whatever type of person she is (hopefully a punctual one and one that closes cabinet doors), I will love her and she will be part of our family.


So, a little bit about the layout construction. All of the journaling was done with a typewriter. Of course a 12" sheet of cardstock won't fit through a typewriter, so I cut the page in half. Then, I cut 4 strips of patterned paper into 3" strips and punched with a 2" square. Those were lightly adhered to the two 6" sections of kraft and fed through the typewriter. After that, I stitched around each square and added the photos and embellishments.

Let me know if you have any questions!

twin bedroom

I wish I had more photos of this room because it was, well, interesting when we first bought the house. There was a scene painted in the room: grass and trees and clouds. And then there was the dollhouse opposite the gunrack.

It is a very small room with an even smaller closet, so I think the previous owners used it more as a playroom than a bedroom.



We decided it would be the perfect place for a twin bed. Actually, I plan to buy another bed just like this and put my extra mattress/box springs on it and have 2 beds in this room. But for now, this is how it looks.

Quilt Pattern & Fabric: Denyse Schmidt, Katie Jump Rope
Roman Shade: Pottery Barn Ribbon Tie Curtain (although you can't really see it here)
Rug: Unknown
Cedar Chest: Unknown. Mine from childhood. If I opened it, you would see some of my prized stuffed animals: Baby Smurfette, a Zucchini Ballerina, Anne of Green Gables, Bedtime CareBear, Pink Panther, just to name a few.
Bed: French Academie by Restoration Hardware
Pillows: Ticking by RUPiper Designs and Rooster Feedsack by Garnet Hill
I'm so proud of this quilt because I made it myself.

ENTIRELY by hand.

EVERY stitch.

And, the other thing I'm proud of is that I had never made a quilt before or been shown how to so this was a trial and error type of process. I followed the instructions from Denyse's Single Girl Quilt pattern and then watched a lot of YouTube videos for how to make a quilter's knot, how to do binding, and lots of others. So, this truly would not have been possible for me without those videos!

Books: Goodwill
Clock: Clockworks Universe
Poster: David Gray from Hatch, found at a flea market
Metal Clock Art: Jenni Bowlin
Chair: Pottery Barn Tolix Chair
Table: Antique Barn in Asheville, NC


Again, it's a small room, but I do love this space. Hope you enjoyed it, too!

grainy but still the jettster shines through

2 things:

• Jett constantly is leaving his tongue sticking out, but this is the most we've ever been able to capture it. I can't figure out if it's too big for his mouth, if he's just so relaxed it sticks out, or if there's some sort of doggie strategy to keeping it that way. Whatever the case, it's cute and we love looking at him.
• Yes, that's a cow rug. And I got it at the flea market. It doesn't get more Kentucky than that, folks!
  

it's a good thing

Greg texted me this photo not too long ago. Seems like a normal occurrence, but for this calf to be up on all 4's sucking on momma was something we didn't anticipate.

You see, this calf had/has black leg.

Duh...I know the calf is black so she has 4 black legs.

I'm referring to a debilitating disease calves get between the ages of 6-12 months. It's from eating feed or grass with bacteria which causes their muscles to deteriorate and usually is fatal within 12-48 hours. It's very rare to cure black leg, which is why this calf should have been vaccinated for it.

It's a good thing Dad and Greg were out looking at the property one afternoon, because they noticed this calf away from the group, laying down by the creek. Immediately they noticed her leg being inflamed and called the vet, who wasn't optimistic of the outcome, but advised us to give her penicillin anyway. We gave her a big dose, and continued to monitor her and now she's doing quite well.

Will she gain back full use of the leg? Probably not.
Will we have to put her down? No.
Will we eat her? Maybe...but only after 60 days following her last dose.

It's a good thing.

landing

This was one area I didn't like in the house when we first purchased it. Originally there was a wall where you see the header now and it was all attic space. The wall really made the hallway seem cramped and boring.

My idea was to knock out the wall and open up the space. We wanted to take the wall all the way back to the chimney, but that was impossible without bringing in a beam to stretch the distance. To do so would have required a hole being cut in Claire's room (behind the door in the photo below) so that the beam could come straight in and be set. Not impossible, but expensive, so we opted to keep a support there (where the pencil is) and not incur the extra cost.

To the left of the chimney is a bookcase & magazine rack (pictured below). The white column that sits next to the chimney is an additional bookcase that opens to the other side, but that area is too narrow to get a photo of. Trust me, it look fabulous! :)

To the right of the chimney is a desk area (shown further down this post).

Sources for items in this photo:

Bicycle Disc: Unknown. My designer friend and I picked this up at market in Atlanta 4 or 5 years ago. It used to be in my scrapbook room, but here it's in a much more visible spot. It's a sketch of a bike on a ceramic disc. I must say it's super-cool and I've been asked a thousand times where I got it, but I don't even know the artist's name, let alone the supplier. I keep waiting for Stephen to steal it from me, though. And truly he deserves it since he actually rides a bike, but I love it too much to give it. Perhaps I should make a will right now and promise it to him.
Framed Art: Our House & Reading is Cool by DazeyChic, School Card by StoriesDivinations, my WKU degree (sorry this one is not for sale on etsy)
Frames: Unknown, probably Target or Kohl's picked up at one point or another.
Metal Basket Shelf: Wisteria
Pencil Art: Pottery Barn from 2 years ago. Got it on clearance. No longer available.
Fire Extinguisher: Greg picked that up at a local auction. Not sure what it's worth (if anything), but we like it.


The walls on the slanted portion of the ceiling are painted a pale pale blue.

Sources for items in the above photo:

Desk Chairs: Flea Market (Nashville) & Salvage Yard (Louisville). Each cost about $30-40 and needed the casters replaced, which Greg did, ever so happily (not!).
F: Flea Market (Nashville)
Typewriter: Not sure how we acquired this.
Framed Art: Greg's WKU degree, Dave Matthews Poster
Toolbox (below): from Greg's dad who used it to keep his army men in as a kid.


Books are such cheap decorative items. These we got from goodwill for $0.25 each. Some just have the cover folded back and tied with twine and others are covered in vintage maps. I bought a whole slew of them at the flea market last month and I know the guy thought I was crazy with a capital "C". But, oh well.


Loved how this area turned out. It was something I had envisioned from the very beginning, but didn't know if the subcontractors and specifically the cabinet people would understand my vision. It could've been bad..........but thankfully it wasn't :)