{wall art} for my mom

One of the handmade gifts I made last year is this canvas for my mom. It has the names of everyone in our immediate family. I used THIS tutorial as the basis, changing the paint behind the text to a shimmery blue, the background as a shimmery periwinkle, and the color highlighting the text as a pearlized dark purple (all Martha Stewart paints).  My mom's favorite color is purple, and I chose colors to match some the art she already has up in her living room.  I also used three different sized vinyl letters instead of just one.  It's kinda cool to see what our family looked like at this point, and how it will change in the future as my sister's baby is born and more grandbabies are added.  Definitely saving a moment in time in art form.  XO

 

{baby shower} for amber & waylon

Last weekend I threw Amber and Waylon a baby shower with the help of my wonderful family. For decoration we strung a rope with onesies and clothespins (to look like a clothesline), used lots of colorful flowers, all the colors of the rainbow for the different paper plates, napkins, and utensils, and my purple dragonfly dishes to hold all the goodies for our breakfast bar (waffles, quiche, french toast, fruit, sausage, bacon, and green smoothies). I was so busy getting everything ready that I didn't get photos of a lot of things, like the vintage fabric dolls I had purchased from the thrift store, golden books, a minibook I handmade out of library pockets with library cards to hold advice and wishes for the baby, or any of the filled out madlib cards I designed especially for this event. There was so much laughter from the madlibs, it was a blast, and at the end of the party I handed out embroidery kits that I'd put together, and we hand embroidered the onsies.

 

We also had a mimosa bar with orange juice, grapefruit juice, grenadine, maraschino cherries, and champagne. I had a very large mason jar filled with grapefruit juice, grenadine and champagne....it was so tart and delicious! However, one of my favorite things was the photobooth Ryan helped me set up using THIS tutorial for the backdrop. We had a lot of fun picking out the propts to make it silly and fun. Oh, and the giant cake I made was a rainbow cake with 7 layers. One layer for each color of the rainbow, and it turned out AMAZING! All the colors were super vibrant, so bummed I didn't get a photo.  And last but not least, my sister Sarah made the cutest diaper cake!  Enjoy!!  XO

(All photos by Ryan except the photobooth pics by moi.  You can click on each photo to see it larger in Flickr.)

 

My outfit:  Dress with belt | Hand-me-down from my grandma, Blouse | Thrift Store, Sweater and Tights | Target

{invitaions} to amber's baby shower

The end of December I created these invitations for (my sister) Amber and Waylon's baby shower. They were quite a bit of work, but worth it with how sweet and fun they turned out. I created homemade tags, sewed gold thread across the tag, added brown baker's twine and a cute baby animal on top. I also learned a new technique for creating glitter splatter using THIS tutorial. There is quite a bit of printed vellum (you can see how I do this HERE), and a bit of printing directly onto the card itself. For the inside, I attached the printed vellum with gold thread along the left side.  (You can click on each image to view it larger in Flickr.)  Next I'll share a few pics from the actual baby shower, so stay tuned.  XO

 

{what i wore} to the sunset bonfire

The second weekend in January my brother visited us from his home in Utah. Sunday evening we spent some time together around a bonfire in my mom's backyard. Most of us played catch with the football, we all took turns warming ourselves by the fire, and just enjoyed each other's company. The dramatic lighting from the setting sun was beautiful. At one point Amber and I took a little walk down the culdesac after short trip for some hot drinks from the coffee shop.  Love family time so much.  XO

 

My outfit: Jacket | Zara, Scarf & Mittens | Target, Earrings | Target, Headband | Gift from my Mom, Blouse | H&M, Jeans & Sweater | Target, Boots | Aldo

{project life} week 1

 

Hello and welcome to my first week of Project Life!  I've personally found Ali Edwards to be the biggest inspiration with documenting an entire year using this method, and am thrilled to finally be starting this fun project.  So, let's get to it.

 

Ryan's friend (since they were kids) was visiting from San Diego this week.  All the photos I took were from my camera phone as well as mostly being Instagrams.  The two main activities I joined in on were a hike to the Twin Falls, a visit to Snoqualmie Falls, and a day trip to the EMP at Seattle Center.  In addition to the two page protectors, I added in a coin pocket page for all the extra pics.

 

All the nature pics are from our visit to the falls.  The Instagrams from the EMP are all from their horror exhibit (which we LOVED!), one pic from the guitar exhibit (also awesome....especially with the audio guide giving you the option to listen to each of the guitars being played), one pic of the Nirvana exhibit sign outside, Ryan and Andy outside the EMP with the mirrored wall behind them, my gluten free peach pie and ginger beer lunch from the mall at Seattle Center, and two pics of the Space Needle.  There are also two pics from New Years Day when my Mom and sister came for visit to do some baby shopping (so fun!).

 

The zombie badge was a souvenir from the EMP as well as the member sticker I wore while visiting.

 

We went to a movie and saw Parental Guidance.  It was so funny and heartwarming.....a great family movie (plus we love Billy Crystal).  We all thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

One night we all sat down and watched a DVD I had gifted Ryan for Christmas called High Road to China.  It's an 80s action, adventure movie with Tom Selleck where a Buddhist monk says, "The oxen are slow, but the earth is patient," which started an entire conversation about how the guys use to repeat that quote when they were kids.  So of course it had to be added in ; )

 

I also threw in a pic taken from the car while driving Andy to the airport during the Seahawks game.  The Space Needle was flying a #12 Seahawks flag, and they ended up winning their game, making it to the playoffs.  Exciting memory.

 

During our hike to the Twin Falls, I listened to slacker satellite radio and the combination of hiking in the winter (there were even icicles), getting exercise, and listening to music gave me the best natural high.  I was in heaven....skipping, and dancing along, enjoying the prettiest views.  I wanted to make sure to document this, so I added a little extra text in the Instagram page pockets.

And I think that's pretty much it.  Putting this spread together was fairly easy and not too time consuming, plus I know that once I get the hang of documenting this way the process will go even faster.  Anyone else doing Project Life this year?  XO

{twenty12}

Instagrams of 2012 from Carrie Elias on Vimeo with original music by Human Fragments.

So a few days ago I saw THIS video recap of 2012 using Instagrams by @kraftybuns and loved it!......hope you enjoy my version.  Twenty 13 you are gonna rock!!!  XO

{ballard} locks and garden

 

Today I decided to share a post with photos from this past summer.  Since it's wintertime I thought we could all use a little warmth and sunshine, and so here are the last of my summer Instagram photos which happens to be Ryan and my first summer visit to the Ballard Locks and Japanese Gardens. 

 

We walked through the grounds surrounded by the greenest grass, trees blowing in the wind, a multitude of lovely flowers in bloom, and people enjoying picnics all around.  I think my favorite flowers were the hydrangeas.  Such a soothing color and shape.

 

And then there were the locks.  It is so cool to watch the locks fill up with boats on one end, have a gate close behind them, the water beneath them rise at least a story, and then have the gates on the other end open to let them through to the other side.  This fairly slow process is quite captivating, and you can see a boat leaving the locks in the very last photo at the end of this post.  A blue sky day perfect for such a unique visit.

 

Stay tuned for a post with a video highlighting 2012.  Happy Twenty 13 everyone!  XO