Last year I had a baby and my life changed, my daily routine changed, my blog changed. Until then, I had the luxury of time to take before, after, and during-the-process photos and keep a myriad of projects going at once. Now my focus leads me to my babe {my ever-supportive husband}, my baby {my adorable little energy-sucker} and my web design business {my proverbial baby}. While I will forever be doing too many things at once, updating this blog keeps slipping down the list of things I need to do. I’m sad to stop writing it, but for now I think I need to.

So it’s bittersweet. I loved keeping this blog up, but I don’t want another thing to come between me and my three “babies”.

For now, I’ll continue to post photos {sans photo-editing and quippy write-ups} on my Facebook page.

Thank You!

You were key in my creative “coming-of-age”. I only hope to get bolder and better with age!

A look back into my favorite posts:

FYI – I loved writing this “What I Know Now” series and would love to write it into a book. Have your agent call me.

Some friends of mine told me about this Oprah’s Favorite Things party idea, with the premise that we all get ideas for great products from our girlfriends. So the three of us threw a party to do just that. We each invited four people and told each guest to bring a friend {my favorite way to get a good mix of people at a party}. One of the hosts, Kim, told me about Paperlesspost.com for the invitations which proved to be super convenient and adorable; all sorts of digital stationary, fonts and colors to use, as well as reporting of which guests are attending and which guests are bringing friends.

Each guest brought their favorite thing x3. For example, one guest works in the sun and shared her ultimate favorite sunscreen for the smell and shimmer. She brought three bottles of the sunscreen to share. As each guest arrived, they received a number that would ultimately be the order in which they got to pick their favorite thing. We went through the numbers three times, each guest picking one item each time through. We had reusable bags lined up for each guest to pick so they could take home their favorite things in style!

Here’s a list of the things everyone brought. It was definitely a good mix of gifts and everyone was excited to try something new!

1. Homemade Necklaces       
2. Orgins “Piece of Mind” serum
3. “European Wax Center” Gift Certificate
4. Donna Karen Cashmere Mist Deodorant
5. Nalgene bottles w/ Luna Bars & Crystal Light
6. Jillian Michaels Workout DVD
7. Benefit Blush: Benetint
8. Eucerin Moisturizer & Lindt Chocolate
9. L’occitane Hand Lotion
10. Pinkies Nail Salon Gift Certificate
11. The best Tupperware “Rubber Maid Premier”
12. Real Simple Magazine
13. Paul Mitchell Hairspray
14. Hawaiian Tropical Sunscreen: Shimmer Effect
15. Forever 21 Jewelry
16. “East of Eden” Book
17. Nalgene bottles & she recommends the attachment

For this party, I used real dishes because it was a ladie’s-night-out “heels required” party. Seemed only right to have some fabulous dinnerware. The crystal plates were my mom’s from when she was younger and they are the perfect party plates. The silverware is both from my kitchen as well as some very cool pieces picked up at the Goodwill for 15 cents each. The goblets were mostly found at garage sales, with a few borrowed mixed in. I spent no more than $4 on the purchased goblets, which is easily how much I could have spent on throw-aways, but now I have dishes for the next party too!

Nutella-swirled cupcakes-in-a-jar were a hit. Vacuum sealed cupcakes in quilted jelly jars were the perfect compliment to the food. Recipe found here.

Happy Toddler Shark Chair:

With the hand-painted details and appropriate sanding for a vintage look:

with imperfections and personality:

A tip for painting something like this that has lots of nooks, crannies, and joints: use spray paint. It’s nearly impossible to hide brush strokes, and it’ll cut your painting time by over half.

A tip for achieving a vintage look: use desaturated colors, and use a different base color if you plan on doing some sanding. It’ll make those “wear marks” look more authentic.

I girl’d it up for someone special that has her first birthday coming up. My favorite spray paint, 1/2 yard of this great fabric, grossgrain ribbon trim and lots of Mod Podge created this:

Hope she likes it!
{and sidenote, after fabric and mod podge is dry, you can easily remove the fabric and it won’t damage the wood.}

I’m proud to be this little river-creature’s mother and couldn’t pass up the chance to hold a contest for the best caption. Leave a comment with a suggested caption for this picture, and enter to win a $30 Amazon Gift Card. And no, you don’t need to mention it, I’m already sending off the picture to AFP.

{click to enlarge photo for better inspiration}

Comments will close on Wed. May 11 2011. Winner announced the following day.

I bought this adorable growth chart from “KimsSister” on Etsy, and the quality has far surpassed my expectations. It’s super cute and goes great with Owen’s nursery. You can buy one here.