Where to begin...

Hi friends.

I hardly know where to start...it's been so long! I've spent way too many days recently formulating posts in my head, and I finally just decided to take the plunge. I feel a little as I did many months ago when I first started this blog. The only difference is now I feel like a bit of a let-down after my l-o-n-g break. If you're still out there, and you happen to be checking back in, thank you! I sincerely hope to never have an absence quite so long again...but no promises!

If you write a blog, you've probably dealt with the sense of urgency to keep up with posting on a regular basis. If your blog is more family-focused the pressure might come in the form of capturing and sharing every significant moment of your life in a timely fashion. If you write a crafty or decorating blog, you probably feel more as if you must keep ahead of trends, constantly be thinking of revolutionary wonderful ideas, and producing content faster than your two little hands can complete the projects. I love to blog, and I have loved the community of friends I've made here at Oh Write. BUT, I love my family more, which is why I've been absent for so long. I needed a break to focus my best energy on my family, on my relationship with Jesus, and on my relationships and commitments I have in 'real-life'.

During my time away, I've done some thinking about the direction in which I'd like to take things here at Oh Write. I'm excited to be back, and I have several new projects in the works. I also want to be a little more candid about my life as a wife and mom. Some of my favorite blogs in my reader are those combining fabulous creative ideas and decorating inspiration with reflection and tips on day-to-day living. I really do love to write, and up until now I feel as though I've let the pressure to write great tutorials and to share awe-inspiring before and after projects overshadow the real me. I am not perfect, my house is not perfect, and sometimes I have projects that fail. I have found the blogging community to be an incredible, inspiring resource. But, it can also promote feelings of inadequacy, insecurity, and jealousy. Unfortunately, I'm guilty of being overtaken by all those and more. I want to do my best to avoid stirring up those ugly responses here on my blog, which is why I have a new-found desire for a more candid approach.

Wow...if you've made it this far through my 'ramblings' I thank you! I do want to share a few 'lighter' things with you all!

My pregnancy is going great, and thankfully I've been feeling fabulous since Christmas. I am 20 weeks along, and we are looking forward to finding out if our little one is a boy or a girl bright and early tomorrow morning!

Maren is successfully potty-trained! I'm thinking of sharing more about our experience with you all...interested?

I joined a local quilt guild, but was unable to make it to the first meeting due to a snow-storm. I've got a pattern and the fabric for my first little quilting project, so stay tuned for my progress!

Our list of pre-baby house projects is quite impressive. We'll see how much actually gets accomplished! I do plan to paint and 'face-lift' a few rooms in the next couple of months, so hopefully there will be some fun pictures to come. (And when I say, "I plan to paint", I actually mean, "I plan to pick out the colors and organize a closet or two while my sweet husband paints a few rooms." Ha! I actually hate painting...thankfully Brett doesn't mind the work!)

My first creative projects since the holidays were some new notecards for my Etsy shop. I'm so excited with how these 'layered' cards are turning out. The Valentine's ones are so fun, and I'm hoping to have more listed soon!

What do you think?

Just for fun, here's a little peak at some pictures we had taken at Christmas. I can't believe how much my little lady is growing up!





Thanks again for sticking around! I look forward to spending more 'virtual' time with you in the weeks and months to come!

A good excuse for being a bad blogger...

Well...hello there, strangers! Thank you so much for your emails and inquiries as to my whereabouts. I appreciate your thoughts...and I have a good explanation!

But first...Maren wants to wish you a Happy Halloween! We're honestly not huge Halloween fans around here, but we do go trick-or-treating, and I did put a bit of effort into M's costume this year. The cheerleader outfit was a hand-me-down from a wonderful cousin, and I made the pom-poms out of an orange plastic tablecloth. They didn't turn out how I'd had them pictured in my mind, but Maren was so excited about them, which was all that mattered!

When does time ever start slowing down? It really feels like yesterday this girl was born...oh my, now look at her! She's turned into a little girl!
So...onto my other piece of business...I haven't been blogging {at all} because I've been incredibly sick...you know...tired, nauseated...

Yup! Baby #2 is on the way, and we've had a rough start. All of my energy, creativity, thoughts, and time have gone towards keeping my family fed, clothed, and clean {to some extent!}. I do have great intentions for some Christmas projects...I LOVE Christmas, and I'm hoping that I'll feel up to working on something other than laundry in the weeks to come.

In the meantime...please don't abandon ship! I do miss visiting with you all, and sharing bits of my life with you. For the time being, those bits might just be a little less-inspiring! {Unless you find yourself in my same situation, in which case, there's nothing better than empathy, right?}

Sunday Giveaway

I have a terrible cold right now, and it is just about knocking me out of commission. No. Fun. Especially with a busy 2-year-old running circles around me. I hope it's short-lived!

Have you been to Kim's blog?



She's having some fabulous giveaways to celebrate her blogiversary...the giveaways will close later tonight.

If you want another chance at winning something from my Etsy store, you can go here.

Good luck!

And the Winners Are...

Thank you all for your kind words as I celebrated reaching 100 followers! It's nice to know that you enjoy what I write...and it makes me want to keep working at putting out new ideas and tutorials. YOU are what makes blogging worth it for me!

I chose the winners tonight via random.org. It's late, though, and I'm having trouble getting the little pictures of the actual integer-thing to upload, so you'll have to trust me that I didn't rig this...ha!

Are you ready?

The grand prize $20 credit to my Etsy store goes to......

Tony and Heather

*I actually know Heather in real life! She's got twins...I'm glad you won, Heather!

And, the 4 runners-up (you get to pick a set of notecards!) are...

Liz
Amber
Laura
and Heather

If you were a winner...email me to claim your prize!

Congrats!

Always these same colors...

This afternoon during Maren's nap I put together a fun little treasury at Etsy.

Go take a peak!

Antique Child's Toy Telephone from Bettys World 4U

Going once...

If you haven't entered my 100 followers giveaway yet, go here and get your name on the list!

There will be 5 winners, and you could be one of them. I'll choose the winner tomorrow night at 9 pm Mountain Time.

Dimensional Leaf Garland

Well hello there!

I have been in a bit of creative slump recently, and this weekend I broke out of it! There are fabulous garlands of all shapes and sizes out there in blogland. I wanted to make something simple, autumnal, and a bit whimsical for my home.

This is what I created:
This is a simple project, and you can adjust colors, sizes, length and really any other details to make your own version. Here's what you'll need:

• Some sort of stuffing
• Wood beads (or other large, chunky bead)
• Ribbon (Quite a long piece...just be sure to account for all the knots, leaves, and beads)
• Fabric scraps (I did use some regular cotton, but it was the trickiest to work with for this project. I preferred the heavier stuff like wool felt, corduroy, and denim.)

1. With wrong-sides of fabric together, cut out all your leaf shapes. Mine were between 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 inches long and about 1 1/2 or 2 inches wide.

See...you should have 2 pieces cut from the same fabric that look like this when you 'open' them up:

I did not follow any sort of pattern. I wanted all my leaves to be somewhat varied. If you're a perfectionist-type-of-person, you could cut yourself a little pattern from some card stock or heavier paper. Here's my little collection all ready to be sewn:

2. Stitch around the individual leaves like this, leaving an opening on one side:

3. Stuff a bit of fluff into the leaf like this:
4. Finish stitching the leaf closed.

This is about how puffy you want the finished leaf:

This is what it looks like all stitched up:

5. Keep sewing all your leaves together until you have a nice little pile like this:

6. Arrange the leaves in the order you'd like them stitched together. Be sure your ribbon and beads are close at hand.

7. Leave about a 6-inch tail at one end of the ribbon, and start stitching the ribbon down the middle of the first leaf, being sure to back-stitch at the beginning and end. This is what the ribbon side will look like:

This is what the opposite side will look like:

8. Tie a knot near the end of the first leaf. Thread a bead onto the ribbon, and tie another knot to secure the bead in place.

9. Line up your second leaf as close to the last knot as possible, and stitch the leaf to the ribbon.

10. Continue stitching leaves, adding knots and beads until all your leaves are in place. Your garland will look something like this:

11. Walk all over your house with your new accessory until you find the perfect place to display your lovely creation. Sigh when you realize it is quite a difficult spot to photograph.

12. I love how it adds just a subtle bit of autumn to my front room. I'm already thinking of what sort of Christmas garland I could replace it with...Christmas is just around the corner, you know!
P.S. Do you like my nails? I LOVE this color for fall/winter...it's my new guilty pleasure...literally, that's what it's called: Guilty Pleasure from Sally Hansen's Complete Salon Manicure line. You can buy it at Target.


Okay, back to the garland...I'm sharing it over at these fine places this week: