Some Art I've Been Working On

Way back (about a year ago!), I got involved in a collaborative with Pam and a couple others with the theme of Motherhood/Birds. Well, life got hectic, as you all know, and I never had a chance to work in Pam's book. So I have finally taken the time to do it, and here are the results. The top piece I really love, but I'm not so crazy about the second piece. Here they are:
Here's a detail of the piece I like:

And here's the one I don't like so much:

Then I also made a frame for her, sort of as a thank-you for waiting so long, but also as a thank-you because she sent me a wonderful vintage baby album a couple months ago when she heard I was pregnant. What a sweetie! Anyway, this stuff got sent out a couple days ago, so will probably arrive at her house while she's away at Artfest. I'm sure it will be quite a surprise to come home to, as she's probably forgotten all about this collaboration at this point! I hope she likes it all! Here's the frame:

I also did a spread in Riley's book about him learning to talk. He says about four things at this point, the cutest being "thank you" every time you hand him something. I struggled a lot with this spread, but in the end, I'm really pleased with the results. Here it is:

Finally, I did a spread in Noah's book as well. It's about him being fussy and spending a lot of time in this swaddling wrap that I bought. He's a tremendously sweet baby, but I think I got a little spoiled with Riley, who literally never cried as a baby. So a normal fussy baby is new to me! Thank goodness for this wrap, because he loves it in there! Here's the artwork:

I've also been doing a bit of decorating in the boys' rooms, especially Noah's, but I'll wait for another post to show that. I haven't taken photos yet, plus I'd like to be closer to finished before I show how things look... So I'll leave you with a glimpse of what a lot of my day looks like:

I'm Pretty Darn Impressed With Myself!

My mother-in-law is visiting for the week, so as a result, I've had a little extra time to work on various projects. So I decided to tackle a bedspread/quilt for Riley's toddler bed. Now keep in mind that I've never really done any quilting, and that I'm a mediocre seamstress at best. So here is the result- it really came out well! I didn't run into any major problems while sewing it, which is amazing, since I seem to have problems with just about every sewing project I ever take on.

It certainly isn't the work of a master quilter by far, but I somewhat enjoy the handmade quality of it. And I might be fooling myself, but I envision Riley looking back and remembering this bedspread- the pom-poms. the pictures and characters on the fabrics, etc. I know that I remember my childhood bedspreads with fondness-the red calico, the "Holly Hobby"-style pastel patchwork print, and the pink ruffled one when I decided to decorate my whole room in pink...

Anyway, here are some photos. I took a photo of the whole room, in addition to just the bedspread, to give some perspective on why I chose the colors that I did. And although he isn't actually sleeping in it yet, Riley seems to approve!

Not Much Writing, But Lots of Photos

Here are some things I've been up to. I don't have a lot of time to write, but thought you'd appreciate some photos!

A photoshoot on the couch with Noah:

And how about this? I did a similar photoshoot with Riley when he was about this age, and as I looked through the two sets, I found these two photos. The top one's Noah,and the bottom one's Riley. Although they have very different coloring (hard to see with the sepia), they are definitely brothers!

I found these two cuties at a children's consignment shop. I think the circus-themed one will go in Noah's room, and the bird one will go in my still-coming-together studio:

Some more decorating. Jason painted the kitchen dark brown (to contrast with the yucky "peach"/whitewash-y cabinets), and I hung some doll figures above them. The cabinets are almost tolerable now! And I painted/hung some shelves in Riley's soon-to-be room. See the photos a couple posts ago to see the curtains in that room. I still want to make a bedspread for his little toddler bed:

And finally, a spread in Riley's book. As I'm sure all new second-time moms feel (and add to it everything else that's been happening in my life the last few months), I constantly feel like I'm neglecting Riley and not giving him enough attention. So this spread is about that (you can see a closer view on my website if you're interested):

Not too bad, but there's still so much more I want to do! It just kills me being limited to one naptime a day to really get things done! Never enough time...

Progress...

I've gotten a couple more things done in the past few days, amidst the naps, the feedings, the trips to the store, and the games of "I'm gonna get you!". Firstly, I made a slipcover for the crib bumper to match the new curtains in Noah's room. Here's a photo of him on top of it.

It isn't in the crib yet because I still need to add the ties that attach it into the crib. But I think it came out pretty cute, if I do say so myself! And the most amazing thing is that the only fabric I purchased for it was the offwhite chenille for about $9! Everything else was from my fabric stash- it really didn't take a lot of any one kind of fabric, but it did take lots and lots of small "squares" of different fabrics. But I think it's the cutest! Next step in there is to paint the walls (that's Jason's territory, so it will have to take a place in his endless queue of "honey-do's"...).

I also finished the first spread in Noah's book. It's a spread about the details of his birth. I did a similar one in Riley's book when he was born. I am just so afraid that I'll forget the details of how things took place, so I wanted to get them down on paper. This birth was so different from Riley's. With Riley, I had an epidural for probably a good 10 hours, so I was so much more aware of everything that was happening since I wasn't in pain. But without an epidural during Noah's birth, I wasn't able to focus on anything but my pain, so I sort of feel like I missed a lot. But oh well, it was different, but it was still as wonderful!

So anyway, I also used some significant items in this piece. The "It's a Boy" plastic piece was in a bouquet of flowers sent by Noah's grandfather when he was born. And the blue crepe paper was hanging from a "Welcome Home, Noah!" sign that his aunt made when we returned from the hospital. I always like to use mementoes like this when possible. In fact, there's a whole section in my book about it!

I'm not sure what my next project will be. Maybe I'll start doing some work in Riley's room... I'll keep you all posted!