Lucy's First Birthday Party!

We celebrated Lucy's birthday on Friday and I spent all day taking my time putting it all together with the help of Kelly of course. Earlier in the week I created a month by month poster of Lucy on photoshop with an instagram photo from each month. I found all the party plates and napkins at TJ Maxx. Target has a cute party brand called Spritz where I got the birthday banner and some other extras. I created the big letters on the window, which I admit, I went over the top where my doodling turned into this elegant scripty style which was cute but not what you picture for a first birthday party haha. 

We had a lot of sweet friends come, many not pictured. It was so sweet to have everyone there celebrating this first year with our Lulu. 

Lucy was such a sport the whole party. She actually woke up with a low grade fever which later in the afternoon turned into a higher temperature. That was the worst news to hear after working hard all day to get prepared, but her medicine kicked in enough for her to enjoy her friends, presents and a little cake. 

We got cupcakes from Flour Child Fine Foods (Lemon Curd with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting,) which by the way I just have to say are the most amazing cupcakes I've ever put in my mouth. I will admit I might have had a couple before the party because I knew they would be devoured before I could get my hands on one. Even though we had the cupcakes, I wanted to make a cake for her. I stuck to just using boxed cake mix, but made homemade strawberry buttercream frosting and chocolate ganache for the cakes. I wasn't quite sure how I wanted to decorate it, so at the last minute I bought some random candy and right before the party started I threw this together.

Lucy was a little too distracted by her toys to try her cake. And that was fine by Kelly, since he wants Lucy to avoid sugar altogether. 

Happy Birthday Lucy, you're the sweetest and the cutest. 

Happy Birthday Lulu!

Totally pathetic that I haven't post since February. Oh well... I'm sorry blog for neglecting you. The end. 

In other big news my sweet little Lucy is officially a ONE year old tomorrow. I can't imagine life without her. She's seriously been such a great baby, I am so incredibly blessed. Happy Birthday Sweet Lulu! We're having a little party for her on Friday, so I guess I can count on that as a future post. :)

If you have time to blog, I hate you....

Well... not really... but it does seem that everyone is having fun but me. Or that's what I'm perceiving from the people around me true or not.

I know everyone is busy with something so I will not complain about being busy. I'm having to put all of my happy creative thoughts in list form and save them for a rainy day though and that's kinda of sad for me.

I have until the end of March until my portfolio is due and then MAYBE I can begin to put my thinking into some doing.

In case you're interested I have Valentine's from years past in my Etsy shop!

Introducing... Lucy Scot

Hi I'm Lucy Scot Carr I was born June 27, 2011 at 4:31 in the afternoon.

I weighed 5lb. 11oz. and was 19.25 inches long.

My favorite things to do are sleep, of course, look out the window, meeting new people, hanging out in the moby wrap (thanks Ali) and taking bathes.

I don't like crying, being woken up by loud noises, getting dressed, or getting shots.

I'm not sure what to think about Sulu the beagle, getting my diaper changed, daddy's beard, or the hiccups.

Props the the photographer Micah Dorsey for capturing amazing moments in time of sweet Lucy.

mint&honey summer projects

I fit in a couple of more mint&honey orders before Lucy was born. Now I'm taking a short break to get adjusted to having her in my life. Things have definitely slowed now that she is sleeping much longer through the night and having her here is not as daunting as it was at the beginning. At first, I thought I would never get anything accomplished with all the bottles I had to wash, diapers I had to change and the feedings that seemed like they were starting just as we had finished the last one. Now at seven weeks old, I feel like I know exactly what to expect each day with her and having her here finally is the greatest!

Bathroom Makeover: Before & After

Our last big undertaking in our house was the main bathroom. We knew there was going to be a lot involved in updating and transforming it, so we put it off to the end. Kelly again is such a trooper taking this on. He completely stripped down the room by removing drywall, ripping up the tile to the sub floor, and removing the handicap shower stall. And then, we knew there was no turning back. After many hours spent watching youtube videos about how to do this and that and talking with the people at Home Depot and Lowe's who probably knew Kelly by name at the end of all this, he finally finished. It took from January to May but WE'RE FINISHED! So, to put this room back together again; Kelly installed a bathtub (because he loves his baths), tiled the walls around the tub, tiled the floor, tiled the countertops, installed new drywall on the walls and the ceiling, painted, put up new trim and installed all the hardware and I'm sure I'm leaving some things out. Again, I'm so proud and thankful he's such a hard worker and see's projects to their very end. Doing this ourselves saved us so much money.

Tile: Lowe's

Sink & Faucet: Lowe's

Mirror: Target

Light Fixture: Pendant - Amazon; Shade - Ikea

Bathroom rug: West Elm

Shower curtain: West Elm

Knobs: Anthropologie

Art: groundwork

Frames: Ikea

Lucy's Nursery: Before & After

Lucy's nursery is complete except for some very minor details, so I'm going to show off the cutest parts. Before there were even these wood floors, there was some very old knotted carpet that Kelly had to rip up. He sanded the wood floors and and added a light coat of varnish. He painted a fresh coat of paint and completely changed the shelving in the closet. I am so thankful for him, he worked so hard on getting everything ready for me to decorate. I love how everything turned out. The nursery feels calming, there's lots of natural light and we feel it really reflects our style on a budget.

Paint: Turtledove by Behr & Moonlight White by Benjamin Moore

Crib: Hand me down

Bedding: Duvet from Urban Outfitters, transformed into bedding by GreenNeedle

Dresser: Hand me down

Knobs: Anthropologie

Rocking Chair: Ikea

Quilt: Pennington's Quilts

Art: Matte Stephens, Rifle Paper Co. and Becca Stadtlander

Frames: Ikea

Curtains: Urban Outfitters

And my sister just bought this vintage embroidered piece to hang in the nursery, it's sooo cute!

Lucy's Shower!

I've had an amazing three showers for Lucy and cannot believe the generosity of family, friends and friends of family I barely know. I feel the closest to being ready for Lucy's arrival than I've ever felt. I'm still incredibly anxious about the exact day this will all happen but that's a given I think.

Below is an invitation I designed for one of my showers. I literally couldn't help myself from doing it, I know it's suppose to be someone else's job but I wanted to do something to contribute to the showers.

One of the most memorable gifts of the shower is this incredible quilt from Brooke. She only started quilting recently and her quilts appear as though she's been doing this forever. The shot below is from her blog but is pretty much exactly what Lucy's quilt looks like. It will be something we will care for and treasure always! There's no tellings the countless hours Brooke put into making this and Kelly and I are just amazed by her talent and gesture! You should definitely bookmark her Etsy shop Pennington's Quilts, she is always working on something new for her shop!

Coming soon are pictures of our bathroom makeover, and Lucy's nursery (which is so close to being finished!)

mint&honey event postcards

I have slowed down working with mint&honey since entering my third trimester. School has required a bit more of my time and since I've decided to pursue a national board certification next year. I really want to focus on preparing for that before this school year ends.

This spring I have worked on these pretty postcards, I keep incorporating more watercolor into mint&honey and I'm really loving the look. I have a couple of more paper goods to get to before Miss Lucy gets here so I'll be spending the rest of my May working on those.

I hope in the next couple of weeks to get some photos of the nursery and our finished bathroom! Sooo happy we can turn our back on that project and begin enjoying our home that is free of tools lying around and the layer of dust that was constantly there.

Nursery: Stuffed Animals & Pillows

This past week I lifted the burden of completing my baby registry. I have been reading reviews and combing websites since January trying to find items with reasonable prices with the style we're wanting to achieve in the nursery. Along the way I bookmarked a lot of cute things in and out of my price range.

I was never really attached to any of my stuffed animals growing up, though they were a comfort to have around and I loved piling them up then jumping into them. They were not that special to me. A teddy bear looked like every other teddy bear out there, no uniqueness to them. So I became real excited when I came across cute stuffed animals and pillows on Etsy and other sites, I just had to share.

Stripey Pipey ($42) - The Black Rabbit

Double Decker Bus Pillow ($85) - Bliss Living

Orla Kiely Fabric Cats ($24) - Jane Foster Screen Printed Products

Mabel Marigold the Spring Bunny Plush ($26) - Sleepy King

Liam the Woodland Fox ($38) - Sleepy King

Lion Screen Printed Pillow ($26) - Sass & Peril

Little Red Riding Hood Softie Pillow ($23) - Pink Nounou

Bathroom Redo

According to my diligent and hard working husband, our bathroom makeover that has been in progress since the middle of January is down to two weeks until completion. I was very surprised and pleased to hear this. But I'm going to give him a month anyway, because I've learned there are always set backs.

Here is a little of what I've envisioned for the bathroom. And some pictures of some of the accessories I have picked out.

• Gut shower stall, install new bathtub (check)
• New tiling around bathtub (check)
• Replace ceiling tiles with drywall (check)
• Replace paneling with better walls (check)
• Replace floor (almost there)
• Replace sink (bought not yet installed)
• Replace tile for countertop (almost there)
• Fresh coat of paint on everything (in progress)

Above are the two pictures that are our inspiration in color and style of the bathroom.

Floor tile design we have picked out from Lowes.

I would love the find a pendant shade similar to this, but unfortunately this one is out of my budget.

I love this raw wood shelving with iron brackets from Pottery Barn, but yet again it would be a tight fit into the budget.

Untraditional choice for a bathroom rug/mat, but I wanted a splash of pink in there and I got a good deal on Overstock for this one.

Shower curtain from west elm

Nursery Art

The search begins and it needs to begin now because I am incredibly picky and indecisive about picking out things for our house. So I've been creating a wish list on wishpot.com of all the things I've come across online that I am considering for the baby and our nursery. There is not a definite color scheme I have in mind, or maybe I just want it to appear that I don't have a color scheme. Regardless, what hangs on the wall is a defining part of the feel of a room. Here is some cute art prints I've come across that goes with what we envision for the nursery.

1. Canal Street New Orleans by Matte Stephens
2. Dear You, Mister Bear by blackoutwell

3. Uh Oh by Rifle Paper Co.

4. Friends of Violet by Studio Violet

5. Doudou ABC Print by Kayatine

2011 Valentine Cards

I finally got my new Valentine cards in the shop. I know I'm a week or two behind. But that's what you can come to expect from someone doing this on the side for fun. I always do two kinds of cards, one you can give to just about anyone and another that's more for that special someone. I choose to do "XO" this year because it reminds me of my grandmother. No matter what the occasion, in a card or letter, she would always sign off my putting lots of x's and o's. So I've picked up that tradition with the cards I give to my family members. It's a sweet way of remembering her. The XO is made up of floral elements. I love it when designers and artists incorporate illustration with typography, and it inspired me with the design of this card.

My second card is a print and is fairly simple. It kind of came to me on a whim. It states "you are my one and only." I found a nice big chunky number one that I could fit this message into. The words are hand drawn by myself and printed with black ink onto an off white matte card stock. Both of the cards are 5"x7" and come with a craft brown envelope. You can purchase these cards as well as two of my previous cards from last year in my Etsy shop. There is free shipping within the U.S. from now until Valentine's Day.

Goodbye 2010!

I was looking back at the New Year's Resolutions I made last January to see how faithful I had been to my goal for 2010, and I was really surprised by all that we were able to accomplish.
Goal: Progress on House (Paint: Den, Bedroom, Studio; Carpet: Studio; Retile: Bathroom)

I had a whole bunch of projects for our house and almost every single thing I mentioned got finished; with the exception of the bathroom. But it such a relief to almost have our home completely updated. And I couldn't have done it without Kelly's help. He played a MAJOR role in getting most things finished and looking right. But our bathroom is about to be tackled we've almost reached our goal in our savings to be able to start working on it. It will be one of our biggest undertakings yet.
Goal: Find inexpensive/modern/mid-century furniture for our home.

Second, I realized that the dream of getting all the furniture I wanted for our house was going to be a little difficult with our funds and my pickiness. And that's okay, we did manage to get my grandmother's couch reupholstered and as soon as I find the perfect fabric I will get her wingback reupholstered as well. I scored so really great pieces of art and bought curtains for most of the rooms.
Goal: Get my sewing machine out of the box that I get for Christmas last year and get crafty.

Third, I guess you can say I halfway met this goal. I got the sewing machine out of the box. I just didn't take the time this year to learn how to use it. So I will carry that resolution over to 2011.
Goal: Create a 2011 calendar.

Fourth, I did start on my 2011 calendar very early in the year in fact. But some unforeseen events, put my interests elsewhere and I was unable to finish it. Oh well, these thing happen and I'm not too sad about it.
Goal: Be health conscious

Fifth, I actually feel really good about this resolution. I did drink way more water this year, I cooked really healthy and for a while this past year I ran and did yoga. So hooray, goal accomplished.
2010 has been really great to us! I was able to be involved with some art related projects in our community. And we are expecting our first child summer 2011. So no doubt 2011 will also be an incredibly memorable year, since I'll be spending the first half pregnant and the second half getting acquainted to motherhood.

Green Needle

My wonderful friend Melanie is the talent behind Green Needle. She is a committed stay-at-home mom who uses her free time to create almost anything using fabric and her sewing machine. She is always thinking of new ways of re-creating things in her home too. I designed a business card for her this summer. It is one of my favorite things I've made so far.

If your curious where you can purchase Green Needle items, she displays purses, headbands, phone cases, scarves and many other fashionable accessories in the Paper Dolls consignment shop in town. You can also find other adorable items, such as, onesies and burp clothes in her Etsy shop.

I asked Mel to fill out a short survey. To find out what she has in store for her business and some of the items she's currently working on.

1. What is your favorite thing about fall?

My favorite thing about fall is the smell! from the smell of the crisp air in the morning to the cinnamon apple candles burning in the living room, and lets not forget the sweet smell of pumpkin cookies baking in my kitchen.

2. How many hours a week do you spend at your sewing machine?

Depending on my families schedule, I spend anywhere from 5 to 10 hours a week on the sewing machine.

3. Are there new things your going to create this fall/winter?

In honor of my family finding out that we are having our first little boy in Feb. some new stuff that I will be working on this fall/winter are some Jon Jon's and cloth diapers. Some other projects are clutch purses, owl back packs, ornaments, and dog toys.

4. What are your favorite things to create when sewing?

My favorite things to create when sewing are appliqués, I love taking different fabrics and sewing them together to make little designs on onsies, purses, wallets, and clothes.

5. Where do you get your inspiration from?

I get my inspiration from friends, family, sites like etsy and different peoples blogs. the best is when you know the person really well and know exactly what to create them just by knowing them and what they are into.

6. Is there an important goal you have for Green Needle before the new year begins?

Before the new year begins I really want to have everything ready for my little man when he comes. when my girls were born I didn't know how to sew yet so this is the first one of my own I can make crib bedding and all that fun stuff for, I am really excited. I also would like to make a bunch of stuff to have lots of inventory ready for different fairs and concessions.