Anthro Artist Love

One of the reasons I love shopping at Anthropologie, is they seek out artists to sell at their stores. Case in point, my post here. 

I had seen (and admired) Starla Michelle Halfmann's work over the years..... It was exciting to see the products Anthropologie requested her to design. Of course, prints of her paintings (pictured below) was an obvious choice. My link goes to the peacock one, but if you do a search on their site for Starla, they will all come up.

 I can't seem to find the link to these cute dishes online, but here is one for the serveware (platter and pitcher) that is offered.

 Other considerations with her gorgeous designs are: 

lounge pants

rug

puzzle

tote

I hope I am not missing anything..... I love all of the whimsical creatures, but of course I am most drawn to the peacocks. I was happy to find that you can purchase any of Michelle's prints at Skyline Art Editions. You can select the size you want, and material you want it printed on! I've created just a small collage below of some of the peacock offerings. It is so hard to decide which one I like best..... I am leaning towards the biggest one pictured I think. And, I'll have to decide where to put it. I am thinking our main floor bathroom. I guess I can still think about it since I didn't get my request into Santa on time.

Holiday Wishes

As we prepare for Christmas Eve, I just wanted to pop in to wish you a very Merry Christmas! Here is our card..... we had a newborn photo session when Carson was a week old with our family photographer Chris (who did our maternity session and last years family session).

Last week, I felt ready to jump back into blogging. I was excited and inspired. While I still feel that way, life is just so busy right now. I have to take every day as it comes. Plans and schedules change. Often, I have to choose between something I want to do and sleep. Sleep is winning right now.

I hope to be back soon with more posts.... until then, enjoy every moment of this magical season!

Recent DIY

Remember when we did my maternity photo shoot? I wanted to come up with some unique way to display the pictures. I just love a collage or grouping of similar pictures. For our last family session, I found a huge frame with an already made mat in it. I love it, but since I've been on my "use what I have/shop my home" kick I did not want to go out to purchase another frame like that.

I can't say this is my original idea, but I just tweaked it for my own use. 

I've always loved the idea I'd seen on Pinterest where people put decorative fabric into embroidery hoops and then hang them in a grouping. I couldn't really think of a use for that in the new house though. Then a lightbulb went off when thinking of displaying these pictures. I actually stitched the pictures onto fabric, and then added some embellishments.

I had the embroidery hoops from decorating for a bridal shower I threw last year - I picked them up at the local Charitable Union store for a quarter each. Of course I had thread, buttons, lace and some fabric flowers (some of which were leftover from the shower too). The only thing I was coming up short with was some fabric. That seemed to work out well when I was at Pier 1 looking at something else when I came across napkins on clearance. Such a perfect size! And at 98 cents each, I didn't mind that they were my only new purchase for this project. Well, besides getting the pictures printed. I sort of felt the urge to go to other stores and look at their napkin selection, but I restrained myself. The colors and textures I found there fit the colors of Carson's room, which is where these hang. You can see the theme here, as we used the same stuff Richard had - just in the new house. Hanging these in his room will show him how excited we were for his arrival!

It was hard to photograph this project, due to the glare of the pictures (even though I always opt for matte finish). I took a close up of each hoop so you could see the different types of stitches and embellishments I used. I had gotten all of the pictures sewn on before baby, and was actually hanging the arrangement the morning I was having contractions! I added the embellishments after I had him. I am over the moon with how this turned out! 

Third Trimester Review

My first 2 trimesters were full of skirts and dresses. The third trimester was all about jeans (one pair in particular), a tank, and a cardigan. I still managed to wear a few skirts, and my black maxi dress was the most used as seen in 3 of the pics. The biggest challenge during this time was shoes. As swelling continued to go up, my options were more and more limited. I relied most on my Minnetonka Mocs and one pair of boots that fit me. Now that I have experienced this end time in both the Spring and Fall/Winter, I will say that Spring is much easier in the footwear department. You don't have to worry about the addition of socks or keeping your toes covered, so stuffing your feet into something is much easier in the warmer weather.

While I do miss "dressing the bump", I am anxious to start putting together outfits with pieces I haven't been able to wear.

Carson

Since starting my blog, anytime that I am absent from it for a period of time I have a hard time transitioning back in. Not for lack of idea posts, but just that odd "hey, here I am again". But I guess the best way is to just jump right in. Having a baby is a pretty good excuse, right?

Carson was born on November 14th at 6:26 p.m. - a week early

I cannot believe how fast the time has gone, and that he is a month old already! 

He is beyond wonderful.