rug rehab

So the thing about dogs is that they eat really gross things and then throw-up all over your house.  It's the dumbest.  And Gesso didn't waste any time throwing up on our dining room rug.  I tried my darndest to clean it up, but jute isn't very conducive to scrubbing and it left a weird stain anyway.  Womp womp.



Now I know that rugs under eating tables are kind of impracticle, but believe me when I say that without one it turns into a giant hairy mess under there.  So we need a rug.   And I couldn't really stand the stain (of course he ralphed right by my chair), and I didn't want to buy another rug.  So I decided to paint it instead.

It was as easy as picking up a couple of tubes of brown paint and some circle sponges and going to town.  It took forever, so it was nice that my mom was in town to babysit my baby.

I went through a few different stages of love/hating it, but in the end I like it!  I think it's a little spunky and not too much like a kindergarten art project (right?!).  

If I use my imagination it looks like we're eating dinner on a bed of river rocks.  Fun!

I had a big heart-to-heart with my blog this morning.  You see, I miss it.  And it misses me.



Before Harvey was born I knew I wanted to create a seperate, more private space to share the millions of baby photos, milestones, and family moments.  And since doing that, I have sort of been ignoring this other space.

And sometimes at 3 am I will read back through my archives and it's so fun for me to remember the little things.  I was sort of surprised!  I put much more time and thought into posts with tutorials, art projects, and other crafty business.  But it's the snapshots and little words that were funnest for me to read.  Probably because I don't keep a journal, so this is the closest thing I have to it.

I had previously decided to reserve this space for art related things, and to leave the randomness out.  I mean, who really cares about the beautiful shadows my succulents made at breakfast this morning?  I do! 

And maybe I do want to share little snapshots of my baby growing up way too fast.

 

 So anyway, about the heart-to-heart.  We decided (HollyHox and I), that it would be okay to post whatever the heck I wanted.

 

 No weird rules.  Because then I get confused and stop posting.

And someday when I finally get a book made of this silly blog, it will be so fun to look back.  Not just on art projects (which are happening, by the way.  I've just been too lazy to blog about them is all), but on the little things that were going on in my world.

Because the little things are sometimes the best things.

So I guess I just wanted to say that I've missed this space.

And I haven't stopped making things.

In fact, I think I've made more things since having this cute baby.  Which is kind of confusing, but I think I'm learning more about this thing called time management.

So I hope to see you again soon, dear blog.

yesterday

Yesterday was one of those days.  We skipped stroller bootcamp (oh yes, that's a thing. and I love it.) in favor of maybe sleeping in a little (no such luck).  By eleven o'clock there had been half a dozen wardrobe changes for both of us (poor baby has super duper reflux).  And then immediately after a bath and fresh change of clothes, I set Harvey on our bed to run some laundry downstairs and came back to find that someone had leaked through his super amazing diaper and left a big soggy blow-out present on my white sheets.  Oh man.  I felt like I just couldn't win!

And then Evan came home for lunch and scooped up the cute (but messy) baby and made us lunch.  He is my hero.



And then after lunch I put my game face back on and made another batch of our new favorite cookies (they are perfectly chewy and special).

And then I surprise painted the front door yellow.  The color is called daffodil.

And for dinner I made some delicious kidney bean and quinoa tacos. Yum!

And then there was an after dinner walk around the neighborhood.  It smells so good outside right now!

So yesterday wasn't so bad after all.

And I am a huge fan of bad days turning into good days :)

nana knits

Harvey has been sooo spoiled with hand-knit goods from his nana and I've finally gotten around to taking pictures of all of them.  He is getting too big and pretty soon most of them will be too small :(  I wanted to be sure to get photographs of these gorgeous knits while they still fit, and I thought you guys might want to see them too!

This is Harvey's sleep-sack/kick-sack/sleeping bag.  It's basically a giant tube sock to keep those wriggly legs warm during naps.  I realize that he looks a little bit like a mermaid in the picture.  But he's not.  He's a baby.

 a little hat for my little friend.  

She made this BEAUTIFUL (ahem, handsome), vest that I love so much and kind of want a matching one for me.  And Evan.  And Gesso....?

Bonus--those buttons really button!

And I've already posted about those socks before, but his chunky legs are almost too big for them now.  Baby, stop growing!

Look!  Harvey can juggle SEVEN balls at once!  Sad story:  Gesso sort of gnawed a hole in the yellow ball.  grrrr.....

This blanket -- oh I love it!  It has all my favorite colors in it (I might have picked them out....), and it is so snuggly soft.

 I'm so glad I have my own personal knitting machine, otherwise I might have to learn how to knit!  haha!

s.o.t.m. club

Something that Evan and I like to do sometimes is memorize a scripture together.  And I came up with an idea to do one a month starting last month (you know, a scripture of the month club).  I picked this scripture because I love thinking about trees clapping their hands (I'm pretty sure they'd have to be aspen trees).  And if I'm being completely honest, environmental scriptures are my favorites.  They just are.

And so one afternoon I did a little watercolor mark up of this scripture and I think I'm going to try to do one every month.  Because wouldn't that be kind of fun to have a collection of favorite illustrated scriptures?  I think so!

p.s. Harvey was almost an Isaiah!

t shirt factory

It's been so good to have little projects started that I can tackle in bite sized pieces (or nap sized pieces if we're going to be specific).  Because as it turns out, I'm not very good at not having a little project (a baby is, for the record, a rather large project).   I was needing to make a little thank you present and I finally decided on what to make....some t shirts, of course!



I love freezer paper stencils so much.   So much.  

I made a pair of vw bus tshirts to send to a couple of cute nephews.  And then I spotted a tiny tool belt (tool apron?) at the home depot (77 cents, yo!) and made a little patch to cover up the blazing orange logo. 

 It got me excited to make Harvey some shirts, you know, once he stops puking on everything :)

eastering

 

 

 

 

 

I love holidays.  And as I was thinking of ways to make Harvey's first Easter extra special (because he totally cares, right?!), I thought:  CARROT CAKE!  Can you believe I've never made one before?  I know.  Shame on me.

We spent Saturday celebrating the arrival of spring by hiking with our little moss baby in the moss covered mountains. Sunday was spent eating Easter appropriate food (pasta primavera, carrot cake, and Harvey's easter candy {burp}), a blossom sniffing walk, and an afternoon of church with a super reverent baby (oh thank goodness).

Carrot Cake

from allrecipes.com (with added notes from me)

cake:

4 eggs

1 1/4 c. canola oil

2 c. sugar (I did one cup each of brown and white)

2 t. vanilla (I did 3 t.)

2 c. flour

2 t. baking soda

2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

2 t. cinnamon (I did 3 t.)

3 c. grated carrots

pecans (I didn't add any because somebody in our house doesn't appreciate nuts in baked goods)

(I added 1/4 t. nutmeg and a couple of big spoonfuls of crushed pineapple (maybe 8 oz.?)

frosting:
1/2 c. butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
4 c. powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.
In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Fold in pecans. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in chopped pecans. Frost the cooled cake.

(I used two 9" round pans and reduced baking time to 35 minutes)

Verdict:  super delicious!  I will definitely be making this cake again next year.

Hope you had a wonderful Easter!
  

wildflower waiting

During the week before Harvey was born I got SUPER DUPER grouchy.  I swear everyone was asking me ridiculous questions that I didn't have the answer to (when's that baby going to come out? or my favorite, did you have your baby yet?  said to my face).   It was getting really hard for me to be patient and field these questions all day long.  So I decided that I was going to focus on something other then my still pregnant self.  I was going to draw one wildflower a day until I gave birth.

It turned out to be a really good idea.  And it helped me be just a little less snarky.

I'd been toying with the idea of doing a desert wildflower series, and this was the push I needed to get started.

Let me introduce you to:



Vetch

Desert Stickweed

Desert Paintbrush

 Globe Mallow.

And then I had a baby :)

Not sure when I'll start up again.  I sort of have a different project in mind, and we all know I can only focus on one thing at a time...

p.s. there are only 3 things you should say to a pregnant lady

for the bookworm

We just got back from a quick trip to visit family in Utah.  We just happened to be there for my mom's birthday, and so I whipped up this watercolored quote to bring with me (and when I say whipped up, I really mean that I snuck in some painting time over the course of a few naptimes...).

You see, my mom is a bookworm.  And a children's librarian.  So this quote was perfect for her.  And I have to agree, there's not much that can compare with a delicious novel :)

Snapshots

 

  

Oh hi!  I know I am totally neglecting this little blog, and I'm actually fine with it. There will be time for creating things soon enough, but for now there is a super cute baby here who likes to hang out with me all day.  It's pretty nice!  Here is a little peak into what's been going on around here.

Also, Gesso would like some attention please?