it's a girl!

hello, hello!  i'm finally back after my nearly 10-week break from blogging...i hadn't intended to be absent quite that long but Hoss has also been off and so we've been doing a lot of family things together and it's been really wonderful!

without further ado, though, please let me introduce the newest member of our family...

Anemone Sarah

our tiny pink bundle of joy came into the world just after midnight on Tuesday, March 5th.  she was itty bitty at just 6 pounds and 3 ounces and was 18 1/2 inches long.  i don't think she was as tiny as my doctor thought she was going to be--the reason he had me induced a few days early--but she seemed so small to us!

our little Nemy is so, so sweet and growing like a weed!  she is such a good eater and weighs about 11 pounds now at 10 weeks old.  she started smiling right at 6 weeks old and hasn't stopped!

i snapped these photos a few days ago--Daddy was making her laugh. she is very much a daddy's girl.  Hoss was smitten with her the second he met her.  as you may remember (or maybe not, it's been so long!), we didn't know if we were having a boy or a girl and so when she arrived, Hoss got to announce her gender.  he's not a man who gets easily choked up and when he saw that she was indeed a girl, it was pretty emotional for both of us.  i think we had both secretly been hoping for a daughter since we already have a son, so the moment we found out was pretty amazing.  i don't know that we'll have anymore kids but if we decide to, we're definitely going the gender-surprise route again.

as i said, i hadn't intended to take such a long vacation from blogland but we've been so busy that it's been hard to find the time.  funnily enough, it hasn't necessarily been Nemy and Mr. Bagubian taking up all of our time.  we've been busy trying to make the most of the 12 weeks of leave Hoss has had.  we've been on the go pretty much since right after Nemy got here.  i was fully expecting to feel like a hibernating zombie like we did for the first 6 weeks after Gooby was born but that was not the case at all.  we were out and about right away this time and found ourselves with a strange amount of energy.  having the second child, i guess, is not the culture shock that the first one is.  it's been nice not to feel drained all the time and constantly wonder when i will ever sleep!  she doesn't sleep through the night yet but i know she will in a few months and i can deal with that.

   

so we've taken day trips and a long road trip, had a good long visit from my parents (complete with a 3-day jaunt to Vegas!), and are set to see and do as much as we can in the next two weeks.  after that, Hoss returns to work and i figure out how to deal with a new baby and a toddler without him!

luckily, Mr. B is head over heels crazy about his baby sister!  he loves looking at her, kissing her feet, and trying to make her laugh.  and for some reason, he often says to her, "hiya Nems, nice to meetcha!"

i just wanted to finally check in with you folks and let you know i'll slowly be coming back to blogging.  i've gotten some moments here and there in my studio and i can't wait to share what i've been working on with you.  but for tonight, it's late and my sweet Nemy is asleep so i've got to take advantage of that myself...

  

oh hello

hi, all!  happy Friday!  well, i have some news...if it doesn't happen sooner, we are having a baby on Monday, March 4th!  after testing, it looks like Little #2 is still doing great but my doctor would prefer to get him or her out sooner rather than later.  my due date is Thursday the 7th so it's not extremely early or anything.  i have to say, once we started thinking about being induced early, we got used to the idea and were hoping my doctor wouldn't change his mind.  Mr. Bagubian was born on a Sunday afternoon at 1pm.  leading up to that, i had contractions on Wednesday night, Thursday night, and Friday night--all night long--but real labor didn't start until sometime on Saturday.  so i didn't sleep much for about 4 days before he was born and it was exhausting and discouraging...i don't really want to go through that again.  on top of that, my doctor wasn't on call that weekend so another doctor--whom i didn't like AT ALL (he was rude and condescending and LATE to the delivery)--actually delivered Gooby.  i'll happily avoid all of that this time around if i can.  March 4th also happens to be my mom's birthday so it would be really nice to have the baby that day.

so that's what's going on with Little #2...what's going on here are some little pink and gold birdie tags i made.  i told you i've been obsessed with gold for a few months now and there's something about pairing it with light pink that is so dreamy!

i used a small manila shipping tag as the base and i think the cream also enhances the color combination.  the only pink comes from the pile of messy thread behind the bird, but it's enough to compliment the gold.  

the wood veneer birds are from Studio Calico and i LOVE them!  they are just so darn cute and delicate.  i'm getting kinda obsessed with wood shapes anyhow, but these little birdies are definitely at the top of my favorites list.

there are 5 tags, each with a different bird on it.  i covered a mini wood clothespin with gold glitter tape and added another piece of the tape over the adorable sentiment.

the "oh hello" stamp is by Amy Tangerine that i've had for awhile but didn't use until i made these tags.  i'm totally smitten with it now; it's a roller stamp so it has something like 10 different tiny messages on it.  it's incredibly cute and useful!

i'll be putting these up for sale in the Etsy shop a little later today and will also be offering a very similar set of tags in a special pink and gold embellishment kit.  the kit will be available in late March--post baby!

well, guys, that's it for me today.  it's my hope to be back here for one more post before Monday but there's no guarantee.  i'll definitely pop in after Little #2's arrival with some pictures of him/her.  i can't wait to find out whether we're having a boy or a girl!  i'm so glad we waited to be surprised--and it hasn't been easy through 6 ultrasounds.  we have one more today so there's still an opportunity for someone to blow the surprise.  everyone's got their opinions and it's been fun playing the guessing game.  Hoss is convinced it's a girl based on the smaller size...we shall see!  we've had a girl's name picked out since long before Mr. Bagubian, but are still unsettled on a boy's name...we'd better get going on that, don't you think?!  oh, well, it'll be good to have something to think about during those wonderful contractions.  take care and, as always, thank you so much for stopping by!

taking it easy

good morning, all!  it's Monday again.  it seems like last week flew by; it's likely due to the fact that Hoss was off on Monday and i was busy organizing all week.  we had sort of an up and down weekend, and were forced to take it easy on Saturday and Sunday.

my obstetrician has been concerned for the last couple of months that Little #2 is not growing fast enough.  we've had a few ultrasounds and about a month ago, it looked like the baby was going to be just fine.  however, at my appointment last week, he ordered another sonogram, just to be on the safe side, which i had on Friday.  after looking at the results, he's concerned that s/he is still too small for the gestational age and so he told me to cancel any weekend plans we had and just take it easy.  he wants to start monitoring the baby's heart-rate, which we'll do today, because very small babies, apparently, don't handle stress inside the womb very well.  depending on how the test goes, we may end up inducing before the due date.  the doctor said that he's not worried, but he does want to stay on top of it.  we have our appointment this afternoon so i'll keep you posted.  i have quite a few questions for him!

i have a rare layout for you today.  i don't scrapbook much, mostly because i'm honestly not sure what to do with the layouts after they're done!  i could start an album but then you have to find a place for it.  i could display it, but you have to buy a huge frame to keep it from getting dusty...and then find a place for it.  i'm not anti-scrap, by any means; i just prefer projects on a smaller scale.  i do like having the large canvas on which to create, though.  i like that a lot...although it also intimidates me when it's time to adhere everything.  it has to be just so and there are many, many more details that have to be in place...it kinda makes me nervous to put it all together!



the layout was inspired by the Creative Weekly assignment on Crate Paper this month.  we were asked to focus on the color RED.  after Christmas and Valentine's Day, i was a little red-ded out but once i got into picking and choosing my embellishments, i actually found it difficult to narrow down my color choices.  i almost ended up with yet another red and yellow pairing but in the end, after seeing all of the beautiful gold elements from DIY Shop, i went with those instead.



i've definitely been on a gold kick since the fall anyhow and i don't see it fading anytime soon.  i used a couple different shades of gold for my layout; a dark, antiqued shade and a lighter, shinier hue.

i painted a bitty clothespin with my gold leaf pen to clip a few different tags together.  i absolutely LOVE the cream tag with the gold glitter dots on it.  it's from DIY Shop and the whole collection is so classic and beautiful--it's by far my favorite of all the new releases from Crate this season!

Hoss took this photo of Mr. Bagubian and me 2 years ago during our first trip up to the Redwoods in Northern California.  Gooby was just 2 months old and i wondered if we were crazy to set off on a major road trip with such a young baby, but he slept almost the whole time we were in the car--and we were in the car a lot!  the photo was taken in sepia and i wanted to tone it down just a bit so i sewed a piece of vellum over it to soften it up and add to the layout's subdued, old-time look.

if all goes well this week, i hope to be back with you again in a day or two with a bit more gold.  in the meantime, wish us luck at our appointment today...let's hope Little #2 is nice and relaxed.  

birthday cards

whew!  how is everyone doing today?  i have been pretty busy this week, thanks to our productive weekend.  Hoss had a long weekend in honor of President's Day so we had 4 whole days to get things done and we took full advantage.  except for a couple of hanging shelves, i am all moved out of my old studio and into my cozy spot in our old living room.  there's still quite a bit of organizing to do, but if i needed to, i could get some work done in there.  we got Mr. Bagubian a new bed and put it together and he loves it!  we even spent one day doing errands.  i feel a little better about our baby-prep progress...but of course, it may never be fully done.

i have a couple of cards to share today that i made earlier in the season.  i used older supplies on them and they have a Valentine feel, though they are birthday cards.  i know a few ladies with birthdays very close to Valentine's Day and so i'm usually making birthday cards first and V-Day cards second.

the paper on my first card is from Sassafras Lass while the chipboard pieces are from Basic Grey and are a few years old.  i made the paper flower out of book pages.  i love the bright pop of color from the yellow gingham ribbon--yellow and red has definitely been my signature color pair this season!

i made the two cards one right after the other so some of the details are similar...the book paper flowers, felt hearts, the white doily.  the large polka dot die cut heart is from Paper Source and i got it several years ago while i was working there.  

i think--think--that the striped card is Pink Paislee but i'm not 100% sure--if anyone remembers these, please correct me if i'm wrong.  i stamped "celebrate" from Papertrey Ink and used stickers to spell "y-o-u."

here's my flower for this card, layered on top of a wad of messy thread in pink and aqua.

for the inside i stamped "Happy Birthday" and cross-stitched "To You" on a paper doily.

i hope to get back with you again tomorrow or Saturday.  it's been fun setting up my new studio space and finally making progress as we get ready to welcome Little #2.  i haven't done anything crafty in about a week, though, and i feel like i want to today.  i have to say that even though i downsized my space, it might actually be nice.  the way we set everything up makes most of my supplies very accessible from my desk chair and that's pretty convenient.  so i'm hoping to get to work on something today.  after all, i only have a couple more weeks before there's a new baby taking over my life!

happy valentine's day!

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!  i hope you're all having a nice day, whether you get right into this lovey-dovey, mushy (created by greeting card companies?) holiday or not.  Hoss and i are not extremely into it, but we do like a good excuse to go out and eat a great meal alone!  i think we're going to Lucille's, a really yummy bar-b-que place where they have fantastic fried dill pickles.  i crave them (even when i'm not pregnant)!  it's low-key and not fancy which is good since i'm only wearing yoga pants these days!  3 weeks to go and i'm pretty uncomfortable in anything else so a romantic, expensive restaurant is out of the question.  we're pretty un-fancy anyhow so this is perfect.

i do like to create for Valentine's Day, though, because you can allow yourself to be super-sweet and corny and no one will care.  i started working on this set of mini cards a few weeks ago, when i first got the Fourteen products from Crate Paper.  i loved the idea of creating minis and wrapping them up in these 5" paper doilies.  

i won't go into explicit detail about every single card because there are 7 of them and we'd be here all day.  i'll just point out a couple of highlights when needed and otherwise let you quietly browse...i wadded up a vellum garland from CP's On Trend line and stuck it behind the XOXO garland die cut.  on top of the die cut is some of my favorite washi tape which has different words in gold type. 

this wrap comes tied with embroidery floss and a couple of buttons for added detail.

the wrap is the same for this card.

sweet-heart...i love this bicycle built for 2!

to close the wraps on the vertical cards and one of the horizontals, i used the stitched labels--they ended up being the perfect embellishment for this project.

i only used stickers on this mini, staggering them for a tiered effect.

scallop circles and more stickers here...the vertical cards were a little harder to decorate and i'm actually not too crazy about the way they turned out.

this one is okay, i think.  i love the "Be Mine" heart paper and really wanted to make something with it for this set.  it was the last card i made, and probably the easiest.  now if only the photo had turned out better...

not overly smitten with this one :)

...but these little wraps are cute...

the last card is another made from the red hearts "Sweetheart" paper.

all right, folks...that's all from me today.  whether you're planning a fun evening with your kids, have a hot date, or are just hanging out with your friends, i hope you have a great night!

more valentine packaging

here we go!  i'm back with a few more packaging ideas for all of your Valentine sweets.  i carried the same colors and heart theme over from yesterday's packages but instead of wrapping chocolate boxes in scrapbook paper, i put the treats in glassine envelopes.

the first one is a 4x4 envelope on which i adhered a pink scallop die cut frame from Crate Paper's Fourteen collection.  all of the coordinates are from Fourteen, actually.  

i'm having a love affair with these tiny tags and little paper punches.  they're so small and simple but there's something about them that compels me to keep making and using them.  i layered a few elements here: the tags, a strip of lace, and a heart die cut.  then i covered a mini clothespin with matching patterned paper (not washi tape this time!) and a button to attach the bundle to the envelope. 

a few simple punched hearts in the lower corner and this envelope is ready for a card, a photo, a gift card...i can think of lots of items to put inside.

the next treat uses a 3x5.5 glassine bag.  i wrapped lace and pink seam binding around the package and tucked half of a paper doily underneath them.

a typed vellum strip...

...and another tiny heart tag.

you may remember this decor from yesterday; i liked it so much on the box of chocolates that i made another one for this envelope of chocolates.  there is another lace and ribbon wrap and doily but i removed the blue punched hearts and used a heart toothpick flag instead.

my last treat is another 4x4 envelope filled with a garland of pink hearts.

more layers of embellishments, attached with 2 bitty clothespins.

i've been making a lot of these heart garlands lately, too.  initially i was going to wrap them around the packages, but in the process of putting everything together and testing out different goodies inside them, i decided i liked the way you could see all the hearts and gold thread through the thin layer of glassine instead.

mini hearts...

tomorrow is Valentine's Day...do you have plans yet?  Hoss and i will probably go out to dinner--it could end up being the last time we get to go out alone for a very long time so even though we don't know where we're going yet, we'd better make the most of it!

thank you so much for stopping by today!