Wisconsin here we come

I am so excited about going on vacation to Wisconsin. Riley is just going to love seeing all the farms and farm animals, not to mention the cheese (he LOVES cheese). I have not been up there for a couple of years now, and Sean will be going for the first time. We are going to me moving around a lot while we are up there so we can see as much as possible. My parents are going too, so that will be a lot of fun. They will be our tour guides...
I will update as soon as we get back.

Movement

Wow, I can really feel this baby more now. Mostly at night when I am sitting at my computer or laying down. I am 17 1/2 weeks along. It is so truly amazing. I am getting really excited to find out what this baby is, only 2 more weeks till my ultrasound... I want to start decorating the baby's room.

Junkitz, Junkitz and more Junkitz

I have been wanting to do a LO of my brothers wedding for a while now. I found this Junkitz paper and it matched the color of our bridesmaids dresses. So I cut the dress and sewed it onto a piece of black cardstock making it into a pocket. I sewed the photo to the papers then pinned the 2 pieces of paper to the fabric/cardstock. I stamped a foam heart 3 times using a watermark pad. I punched holes around the design and hand stitched around the 3 hearts. I wrote on the page using a white pen (you can get them at K2). I had some other photos that Lori had given to me, in a black folder which I added some patterned paper and ribbon to and used that to hold my extra photos and a place to journal. The binder clip on the page says "look what I did" so my journaling in response was:
Yeah, look what you did. You married my brother. (wow my little brother is married) Actually I couldn't be happier for the two of you. I am so excited to finally have a sister (especially one that shares the same love for scrapbooking ad photography that I do). You both compliment each others personality so well, you are a perfect match. I love you both very much
-open folder to view more photos of Ryan and Lori's perfect day
love, Nikki


Our Destination: the Florida Keys
This LO was so much fun to do. I had been wanting to scrapbook this trip, but all the picts and stuff were sitting in a bag for the last year... I didn't know what to do with it all. I saw this wavy Junkitz paper and the LO was born. I had fun finding ephemera to use as my letter "O"'s in both the words "our" and "Florida". I was so happy to find the keys in my supplies to use as a substitute for the word "Keys", it just made the page.



I had a lot of fun making this LO too. I cut 12 3x3 inch squares and adhered them down to a piece of cardstock. I then sewed up the 3 vertical lines using a "whip"? stitch (sorry I do not know the names of my stitches too well), then I cross stitched the horizontal lines. I cut the end of the tag with a pinking shears as well as the ribbon. I inked the edges of the tag using purple and red ink. I cut out a paisley from Janna's paper adhered it to the tag, stitched 3 cross stitches on it and wrote my journaling. (the page would be quick and easy if you didn't sew, but I have to say the sewing gives it a really "finished" look)

Cute Huh?

I found these unfinished wood animals at Michael's and thought that they would be a cute addition to my design room. I painted them last night, and they turned out so cute I wanted to share. My son Riley loves animals so much that I am thinking of getting some more to paint and hang in his room too. They have about 30 different designs... The bees I made for my friend Julie who just had a little baby girl Olivia. She decorated Olivia's room in a bee decor.

Inspiration: Becky Higgins Sketch

I completed a 2 page LO today using a Becky Higgins sketch as inspiration.
It was a little harder than I thought it would be, mainly because I used 16 photos on it.
I really do like how it turned out though. Thanks for looking!

Run Run Run...

Here are 2 pages I just added to my "me" album.

I was never a runner before I started working out with Tomi. She and I met when we were pregnant (we delivered 3 weeks apart). We started walking when the boys were 2 weeks old, then after a couple of months she wanted to start running. I told her I would try it, mainly because I did not want to lose my workout partner! Well, needless to say I love it.
We ran Gasparilla in Feb of 05, we did some adventure runs last summer in Tampa, we ran a Thanksgiving turkey run, Bill's Beer run, the Ringling Bridge Run, and Gasparilla 1/2 marathon this past Feb. As you know I am pregnant and on a short hiatus from running, but very excited to get back to it and my running partner!!!

(thanks Tomi for being such a great friend and workout partner- love you)

Blogcrastinating

Well I have to say that I have been procrastinating in updating my blog.
My computer was down for 3 weeks, I left to go on vacation, bla bla bla...
I finally sat down today and started blogging.
I cheated and back dated my entries, but I am really glad I did it.
Instead of feeling dread of all that I had to post I actually had alot of fun updating.
Jeanine (one of the awesome girls at K2) had a lot to do with me updating. I was in the store cropping yesterday when she showed me her blog. All I can say is this, WOW! She has tons of posts and doesn't even have internet at home. She goes to the library!!! So I thought NO more excuses. Check out her blog it's www.jeaninepierce.typepad.com

I am really sorry to whoever took the time to check out my blog in the last month and saw no updates. I will be better!

Heidi Grace Paper Layouts

Have you checked out the new Heidi Grace (HG) paper?? It's flocked and really beautiful. When you go to K2 the next time don't just look at it, feel how great the paper is. I made these 2 great layouts from the 4 papers they have at K2. I normally use cardstock as my background, but with these 2 LO's I used a combination of the HG papers. I had a lot of fun with these two. Both of these LO's are at the studio, so check them out next time you are in.

Pinwheel Window Displays

Karen asked me to add to the window displays at the studio. We wanted to do something fun, and because of the season, patriotic. We decided on pinwheels. I found these great tins at Wal-mart and filled them with play box sand. I decorated the tins with mini flags, metallic red, white and blue sprays that looks like fireworks and pinwheels made with the 4th of July paper you will find at K2. I made one tin for each of the front windows and one for the desk. You need to check them out. I made a few extra pinwheels that they are keeping at the register, and who ever is working will be glad to show you how they are made.
You need to make some for the 4th, they are too fun!!!

Energy and Painting

I thought being pregnant while working (outside the house) full time was hard, but that is nothing compared to being pregnant and chasing around an almost 2 year old! The last 6 weeks I felt like I got run over by a truck by about 11 each morning, and that I was going to just die if I couldn't close my eyes for a minute. But, you can't do that!!! I have felt like doing NOTHING but sleep! I took naps when Riley did, and went to bed early (between 8 and 9) every night... All you ladies with multiple kids out there know what I am talking about.

I see a light at the end of the tunnel (at least till the last few weeks of my pregnancy when you are tired again) Finally I am not feeling so tired. I have some energy- Halleluia!!!!

I painted Riley's new room yesterday. It looks really great. The color is wash basin blue-perfect for a little boys room. We are moving Riley to a new room, so we can put the baby in the room across the hall from us. The transition to a new room, bed and area of the house went smooth and without complaints, thank God!