Forest and I are traveling today to visit more family, specifically Uncle John. But, I thought I would share one of my quickest projects with you. Some background: we planned to send out Christmas cards. Then we had a baby. Then I thought, a ha- New Years Cards. But now it is almost February. So we are sending out a Valentine card. It’s not our official baby announcement since it’s just a picture and is just going to grandparents and uncles but I love our little man’s face in this shot. Someday we will announce (on paper) that Forest was born. But I’m struggling with what I want the announcement to look like. So until then, here’s the little man who we have fallen madly in love with:
21 Days of Love: Homemade Valentine Kit
My nieces LOVE arts and crafts. Give them two packs of stickers and they will go nuts. They both love to paint and the older one has started to handwrite thank you notes. The spelling is creative and the handwriting is big but the cuteness factor is incredibly high. So rather than send them a valentine, I put together a fun Valentine kit so they can make their own. They have a lot of art supplies so I just went to Target and found lots of stickers, felt shapes and doily hearts. I can’t wait to see what they came up with.
21 Days of Love
I am working on Valentines right now and am going to be posting different quotes or cards over the next three weeks. I was trying to think of my favorite love songs and L-O-V-E came to mind. My favorite memory of this song is when my youngest brother (the talented John Thackston) sang it in his elementary school talent show and brought the house down, as a second grader.
My mornings
Now that I am at home with Forest, some of my day has changed. I have to stop projects or work more often to feed him or put him down for a nap or play with him. Usually he’s very happy to play in the morning so we listen to music and he hangs out on his little farm activity mat. I have tried to explain that he will see real cows and real pigs and real chickens when we go to the farm. This is too much for him to comprehend so we’ll stick with the stuffed versions for now.
He has sort of* figured out that if he moves his shoulder, this mysterious hand will swing by and hit the pig or the chicken. And this is very fun for him. I think it must be an amazing magic show for him; these crazy arms seeming to come from nowhere to make these animals move and make noise. The colors of the mat are bright and happy so the pictures I took turned out really well.
*Yes, I recognize that developmentally he may not be ready to make such a connection. But isn’t every parent supposed to think their baby is advanced?
Mel and Liza
My friend Melina has the best taste. She is one of those women who looks totally glamorous without even trying and throw together an amazing dinner party in a second. Melina started a blog with her friend Liza and I love reading it. I really appreciated today’s post about how to wear big and bold jewelry inspired by the Golden Globes. I wear the same silver hoops and cross anytime I “accessorize.” I’m thinking about trying something a little more exciting like the JCrew bubble necklace Liza mentions (see picture below).
From ideas about fashion to instructions for decorating for a party, these ladies write a fantastic blog that will encourage you to live a more beautiful life. You can find them here.
Pirates and Princesses
My sister in law, Heather, emailed me right away when my niece requested a “Pirates and Princesses” birthday party. I started playing around in Illustrator and came up with this: 
Artist’s Block
I am often dissatisfied with my work. I wish my calligraphy was more consistent. I wish my handwriting was more even. I want my designs to be more polished. Or I have an idea but no idea of how to create it. But the frustrating thing is that all of these things, these media, these projects take practice. I actually enjoy practicing and working and improving my work but sometimes, I wish there was a shortcut. I want to be at the end already. I felt that way about being pregnant too. I am just not good at waiting. This post is not meant to be a Debbie Downer but rather just an open post about how I work, how I feel about the work and some inspiration I have found lately.
The first encouraging message is from Ira Glass, host of This American Life on NPR:
The second is from Andy Warhol:
Source: static1.modcloth.com via Jane on Pinterest
What about you? What do you do when you feel stuck or have writer’s block?
New Years Eve
I have never been a big fan of celebrating New Year’s Eve. I appreciate that it’s a new year, a new start, a chance to reinvent or improve but staying up until midnight always seems anticlimactic. Psychologists might trace my strong dislike back to the days when my mom had us celebrate New Years on East Coast time (we lived on the West Coast). At nine o’clock, we would watch the ball drop in New York and go to bed. One year we even celebrated Nova Scotia time and were in bed by eight. This must be the case because no one in my family likes New Years Eve. My brother even wrote a song about it (see video here).
But, if I were one to celebrate New Year’s Eve, I would definitely want to use these invitations:
Source: luellajune.com via Viva on Pinterest
and wear a shirt like this:
Source: forever21.com via Amy on Pinterest
and I would watch this video over and over:
Source: youtube.com via Jane on Pinterest
2011: My 10 favorite projects
I loved being able to do more custom work this year and to branch out using new and different materials. I’m also dreaming up new creative endeavors for 2012- more knitting, quilting, drawing and calligraphy. And more cooking now that I will be home full time. Stay tuned.
PS: One of my favorite artists, Gina of Lettergirl/Dreamland, also just posted her top ten for 2011. Check them out on her blog.
Stationery for Mary using recycled magazines
Birthday invitations for sweet Carter (and getting to go to the party in Seattle!)
Making my own wrapping paper for a friend’s baby shower
Starting a quilt (I will finish it in 2012)
Slanted calligraphy on envelopes
This invitation to a charity event
A fun, inspired invitation to Becca’s shower
Bright red invites for a beach weekend
Submitting designs to Minted’s Designer Challenges. Vote here.
And of course, finally meeting this guy who had been kicking me, making me sick and tired from April through December. I’m so glad for all of it because I get to be Forest’s mom.
Where to buy grab bags
In my last post, I wrote about these great variety packs of cards but neglected to tell you where to purchase them. You can click here to go to the Plain Jane’s store on Etsy.
