How much cuteness can you handle?

I am definitely enjoying my new sock monkey slippers (Wendy, I know you will be so jealous - but I know where to find them!)
Yet more scrappin' today, I'm really in the groove - feels good to drop all these pages into my album. Also working more on my pregnancy journal/minibook which I will have to photograph sometime soon. If you want to see more of my layouts, check my flickr set.
Speaking of cute - what about these onesies for baby W? awwww... and the rooster was a gift from Bill's parents. I love it - perfect to perch in the farm-themed nursery.
Today I was browsing Etsy to look for some more farm artwork and found LilyPig's photographs. I think these would be hilarious framed as a group!

Christmas scrapbooking

I had a lovely lazy Saturday at home today - and armed with new photo printer ink and paper, and my collection of Love, Elsie Noel paper, I was ready to do some major scrapbooking. I love the tiny size of this Maya Road mini (2 1/2 x 2 1/2") and the pinks and blues in the Elsie paper.

I finished the mini and several layouts, but I'm still up for more scrapping tomorrow, since I have so many fun photos from the week (thank goodness for a mom, brother and sister who love to take photos)! Better head to bed for some beauty rest!

Class Samples

I'm teaching two classes in this round at Reminisce. The first is a baby album for photos from baby's first year on January 17. The concept is that people who are either behind in their baby scrapbooking or making a gift for someone can come to class and leave with a finished album ready for 4x6 photos of baby for each month of the first year.

My next class is "Fun with Felt" on February 5th - felt is hip and happening in the scrapbooking world, so it is fun to play around with the products we have right now. The class is this tag, gift bag, and a felt card - plus a 2 pg. 12x12 layout using felt items.

So, if you're in the neighborhood, I hope you can join me for one of them!

Happy Christmas!

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. We had so much fun and good family time in both Des Moines and Iowa City over Christmas. These are a few of my favorite moments - more photos are in my flickr set. Of course, everyone was so generous with gifts, and I've been spending the last couple nights learning about my new camera (I knew was coming) and my new iPhone (total surprise!! in an awesome way!). Looking forward to having the next few days off work to work on setting up the nursery (we picked up the furniture last weekend while in Des Moines) and scrapbooking some of the fun photos from this week. Of course - I'll be back with photos of the nursery, adorable things that baby W got in his stocking, and my projects for upcoming classes at Reminisce. :) Have a great weekend!

Crafty Goodness

I've been up to some craftiness today... loved this idea for cocoa mixes in a jar. And the Love, Elsie Noel line is so cute. The tree and pocket tag were punched out on the Accucut machine at Reminisce and I used my QuicKutz to make the name. Fun & quick gifts - I have a little assembly line out on the kitchen counter as we speak.

Also started working on some fabric tissue holders (here's a great tutorial), but I only finished these two before my sewing machine got messed up somehow.


And finally, a great find while shopping with Wendy today - an egg basket for the nursery - great for the farm theme, eh? I will be able to find lots of baby cuteness to fill it with, I'm sure. And check out the adorable sock monkey ornament!

cool.

Now you can search for etsy shops by location - Shop Local. This makes me happy!

Working up to those last days before Christmas with lots of wrapping, last minute making, and hanging out with friends and family. Also getting the crib/nursery furniture situation handled (thank you Craigslist) and I'm so excited to start putting it together! Oh, and remember this dresser - I bought it and my sis drove it over from Des Moines today. Now I'm thinking about what color to paint it - maybe a bright red?

That's the update for now!

Thursday happenings

Working on some last minute crafting projects tonight, which included making these new paper beads. Must say that I really love this batch. Also working on checking over all our Christmas gifts to make sure what else I need to pick up. The shopping is very close to being all done!
In case you were wondering, here's the baby belly at 22 weeks and a shot of one of our many icy trees. Luckily we haven't lost any trees or big branches in our yard yet. The ice is a slippery mess around town, but it really was beautiful to see the sun shine through the trees this afternoon.

ice ice baby

So, I guess my first clue that there was some big weather coming was when I stopped for groceries at Hy-Vee on my way home and it was *insane*. Seriously, I thought the world was coming to an end. Anyway, Tuesday we did get lots of ice and nasty weather (I think we're due for just a nice fluffy snowstorm!) and school was canceled for the day.

I used part of the day to work on finishing up our Christmas cards and getting them addressed and ready to send. I didn't want to commit to one design and get tired of it, so instead I bought some Northern Exposure and played around with several different designs, then repeated the ones I really liked. Yeah! Check one thing off the list - now on to wrapping gifts!
Of course, some of the day had to be spent lounging around and playing on the Macbook. Cleo was happy to be of assistance.

It's a Boy!

We had our first ultrasound yesterday and all I can say is Amazing. We decided ahead of time that we would find out the sex if we could and even though Bill already knew *wink wink* it was a boy, it was still very exciting to hear the news! I can't believe how much detail and depth they can show in the ultrasound - getting to see his little fingers and toes and face and the heart working... just amazing. Everything feels much more real now that I feel like I've really seen him and met him! We went out for dinner with Bill's parents to celebrate and Bill's mom brought me his little blue baby booties!

Just in time I received this sweet onesie from Harrilu's etsy shop. Isn't it the cutest?
Oh, and I have one more spot on my Handmade PIF if you want to play! Come play!

Handmade PIF

So, this is a new idea for me - but I loved it right away when I had the chance to read Zhenia's blog today.

Here’s how the PIF works:

I will send a handmade gift to the first three people who leave a comment and tell me that they want to pay it forward. If you’re interested you must have a blog and you must write a post offering to send your own handmade items to three of your readers.

The time line is pretty generous too: I have a year to send out my handmade items and you have a year to send out yours to the people who comment on your blog.

As Miss Fish points out:

Please don’t be intimidated by the whole handmade thing. No one is expecting you to make a quilt, knit a sweater, or fold 1000 origami cranes. How about some handmade soap, or marble magnets, or a pretty ornament?

You know, you only need to send some hand-crafted love in the mail. It’s all good.

Don't be shy - come play along!

gift from afar

What a treat to receive this box from Australia in the mail! Kristi and Josh are living in Melbourne right now and they sent us this wonderful Christmas package. Enclosed was a cute kangaroo card and ornament and aussie candy. But the really fun thing was for baby W - an Australian animal mobile for the nursery. It was hard to photograph - but SO cute! Can't wait to hang it up...

cozy.

Rain and ice and snow - oh my!

Man, is it nasty out there. I am so glad that I don't have a good reason to leave the house today. Very happily staying warm and cozy inside... enjoying our Christmas decorations... listing some new ornaments and jewelry on etsy (btw - if you are in the market for ornaments, check out Zhenia's sweet birds!)... listening to music... making new paper beads for some extra special people with custom jewelry requests... and definitely thinking about having soup and/or hot chocolate soon.

Excited!

It's that time of year - the holidays are upon us and time flies by as there is so much to do and make and accomplish! I am super excited for our WeMiKiWi open house that is tomorrow afternoon. I've been busy sewing ornaments and making wine charms and more fun paper bead earrings. Hopefully there will be a good turn-out, but mainly I'm looking forward to seeing some friend s that I haven't seen in awhile. Don't worry if you can't make it - there will definitely be an Etsy shop update this weekend!Also excited that the baby belly is starting to show (not that I had a flat 6-pack before, hah) and that we finally get to have an ultrasound in a little over a week! This weekend we put up our trees (last year I bought a 2nd one knowing that we were looking for a new house with more space) and I am so happy to have all the sparkling lights and special ornaments back out again. Not as excited about the monster-sized mouse hunt that is currently underway at our house (don't worry Cleo, I still love you even though you aren't a mouser) but hey, mice want to come in from the cold, too - right?

Hope everyone is staying happy and healthy! Take care and enjoy the season!

First snow

Last night we got our first dusting of snow, just in time for Thanksgiving and a lazy day of hanging out and eating good food. So nice....
Check out these beautiful beads that Wendy made last time we got together to make stuff. Yummy. We're getting ready for an open house with all of our hand made crafts Thursday November 29th from 3:30 to 6:00pm at Wendy's friend Alicia's house. We are displaying our jewelry along with a few other handmade items like felt ornaments and knit hats. We have been so busy creating new kinds of jewelry... bracelets, pins, wine charms, and festive pieces for the upcoming holidays.

I'm also working on some plans for Christmas gifts, top secret of course... but let's just say that I'm very inspired by these, and this, and these, and pretty much everything here.

Wishing everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving and start to the holiday season!

shopping fun

So, I finally got back into work at Reminisce last night only to discover (of course) that there is so much *great* new stuff in! I could not leave without some of this delicious KI Memories lace paper. Can't wait to play with it - hopefully I can rock it half as hard as the awesome Shelley.

Also had a shopping weekend in Des Moines with mom and we had a great time looking for baby stuff and picking out some cute maternity clothes to get me through the winter. I've decided to go with a farm theme for the nursery and found some adorable (gender neutral) crib bedding with embroidered farm animals. I have some ideas swirling about artwork for the walls in the form of a little mural and possibly framed animal paintings. I saw this dresser while we were shopping and really fell in love. I didn't buy it, but now I'm regretting it and thinking about buying it after all. What do you think? For a nursery? Have a good week, all!

So Excited!

Wendy and I submitted some of our WeMiKiWi jewelry to the new Bead Trends magazine, and today I received our copies of our published work! Wow! Very cool to see it in print. I love how they perched the earrings and pendant on a bird candle, too. Check it out on page 124-5 in the premier Nov/Dec issue.

Also, big congrats to Wendy who is now an officially National Board Certified teacher. Lots of work and talent involved in accomplishing that one! woo-hoo! Have a great weekend, everyone!

Felt Heart Ornament

I posted some photos on flickr of felt heart ornaments I made this weekend, and also posted the step-by-step instructions on the E.C. blog, if you're interested!

What color are you?

you are lightcyan #E0FFFF

Your dominant hues are green and blue. You're smart and you know it, and want to use your power to help people and relate to others. Even though you tend to battle with yourself, you solve other people's conflicts well. Your saturation level is very low - you have better things to do than jump headfirst into every little project. You make sure your actions are going to really accomplish something before you start because you hate wasting energy making everyone else think you're working. Your outlook on life is very bright. You are sunny and optimistic about life and others find it very encouraging, but remember to tone it down if you sense irritation.

the spacefem.com html color quiz

You should probably go find out what color you are. I'm going to stay here and keep trying to get over my latest round of yuck.

Happy Halloween!

Hope everyone has a spooky day and night!

Recently...

Wow - I have been a bad blogger! But a busy one, too. A fair amount of sciatic nerve pain, most likely pregnancy related, and a short but nasty head cold, most likely preschool teacher related put me out of commission for about a week. Then mom and Bethany came into town for the annual Marathon crop at Reminisce and we did tons of scrapping and chatting. I made my first sock monkey that has happily arrived at her new home, and worked with Wendy on a custom order of paper bead jewelry. This weekend, Bill and I took a quick trip to Chicago with our brother and sister-in-law where much shopping and good eating was had. Trying to enjoy the lovely autumn weather before it turns to winter and gearing up for the Halloween excitement. Oh, and I went to see Across the Universe, which I highly recommend for the great soundtrack (of course) and the all around artistry. Hope everyone has a productive week!

Still here!

Just busy being pregnant! It sure wears you out! I am 13 weeks along and finally coming out of the constantly exhausted stage. I was lucky enough to miss out on the morning sickness, so I can't complain. We got to hear the baby's heartbeat on Monday at an appointment with the midwife. That was SO exciting. Really made it feel *real*! Does that mean it's time to start shopping? Hee hee...

Also keeping busy with work and the artsy hobbies. I made my first sock monkey last weekend and I *might* be addicted. Also making lots of jewelry with Wendy for the shop and a couple great custom orders. Also formulating some class ideas for the next go around at Reminisce and organizing an Arbonne party at my house on Thursday. Phew - I guess I better get back to tackling my to-do list! Here are a few of my favorite "non-kid" photos from Preucil lately.

new batch of paper beads

new paper beads, originally uploaded by Kirsten W.

You know what that means... an WeMiKiWi shop update soon!

Hand-decorated paper, step by step

I'm hosting a hand-decorated paper swap over at the Embellished Circus and this weekend I made my paper. I was going for a warm, layered polka dot pattern.

Step 1: I punched out small circles from patterned paper and glued them to the white background. Step 2: Cut out circles from orange tissue paper and attach them with a layer of clear gel medium.
Step 3 & 4: Paint loose circles around the tissue circles with gesso, then paint into the gesso with orange paint.
Step 5: Paint over the entire sheet with a wash of watered down orange paint to fill in the white spaces with color.

Ta dah!

Weekend wrap-up

We had a great time at Jake's 4th birthday party last night - can you guess what the theme was? He and Dylan are both growing up so fast! We went straight from that party to a going away party for our friends that are moving to Hawaii - lucky ducks!

This morning we were awakened by some loud mooing. Now, it is not unusual to hear a few moo's coming from the cows that graze next to us - but not so loud and frequent - I turned to Bill and said, "I think there's a cow emergency". hee hee - so we got dressed and went outside and found this little guy wandering in our yard. Momma cow was on the other side of the fence mooing up a storm, but he couldn't find his way back out. Luckily we got ahold of the farmer and he came to pick up little lost cow.
Speaking of cows, this is my latest and last (for now) self portrait for the 365 days project on Flickr. Day 62. I've been forgetting to take it every day, and I just can't get inspired to keep it up. So, I'm throwing in the towel. I will continue to take some - just not EVERY day! You can check out the set here if you'd like to see them.

Linky goodness

Do you need some cuteness in your life? Then you better check this out:
the itty bitty kitty committee

Happy Friday everyone!

Celebrating...

Two years ago yesterday, Bill and I were married on a beautiful September afternoon. I am so thankful I have so many amazing photographs to remember all the details of the day.

Yesterday Bill had to work late, but he took my car to be cleaned (treat!) and when I came back to get it he had beautiful roses for me. Awwww... very sweet! It has been a great 2 years of marriage and almost 10 years of being together - looking forward to many more!
In other creations, I've been working on insect atcs for a swap at the Embellished Circus, a seriously challenging Dare, and reteaching myself how to knit. More photos to come.

New jewelry & New music

Hellooo - still here, just a busy week!

Make sure to check out the new earrings and pendants in our WeMiKiWi Etsy shop.

I just purchased the latest Grey's Anatomy Soundtrack. You just really can't go wrong there. Such a good mix of fun and emotional music. Also picked out the soundtrack for the movie "Once" that Wendy and I went to see last week. I highly recommend the album and the movie. Unique, moving, and lovely!

Hello from Scrapfest!

Having fun up in MN at the Mall of America this weekend - attending Scrapfest (sponsored by Archivers) classes, shopping, eating out, and doing some scrapping. I came with Rachel, her mom Cheryl, and Cheryl's friend Rose. They are fun to hang out with!
Yesterday I got to meet Elsie. She's so cute (duh) and our project from class (a travel book) is great. I'll post more photos soon!