S's Announcements II

I have been cramping all day today. They have been getting progressively closer together and I am praying that tonight will be tonight (we actually went to the hospital and were sent home because, although regular, they are not intense enough). Throughout the cramping I have been working on the announcements. I have them pretty much finished. I need S's picture to glue onto the right side of the announcement and need his birth information. Otherwise they are done. Now I am going to continue working on lining the envelopes until hopefully I can get myself to either go to sleep or go into full blown labor.

Here's version one (sorry its kinda blurry and the colors are a bit off cause I took the photos in the living room in poor lighting):

Version two:

And the envelopes:

Announcements I

I continued working on the announcements tonight. I'm not going to post any pictures until they are all glued together. It took a long time but I finally got all the letters cut out on the Cricut, glued the monkeys together and onto the cards, and managed to glue the word "Monkey" onto each of the cards. I also spent some time lining envelopes. Still have more envelopes to line and need to glue the rest of the letters on. Then the announcements will be ready for S to be born so his picture and birth information can be put on the card. Hopefully that won't be too much longer. Been contracting and cramping more intensely but still irregularly. I'm so eager to meet my little boy and to be done with this whole being pregnant thing. Soon hopefully.

Preparing for baby

I've been a bit preoccupied the last few days with baby preparations. We set up the crib, I've washed and organized clothes, blankets, bibs, etc. I've set up the area downstairs where we are going to spend the days of the first few weeks (since I am not supposed to go up and down the stairs during the day). All while having contractions, sleeping a whole heck of a lot, peeing like crazy, and just physically getting ready for my son's birth (and apparently dilating as well!). So crafting has been a bit on the back burner. BUT I have done some crafting.

Yesterday I spent a couple hours putting together the baby announcements that I started a few weeks ago. I am still making some decisions about them and having a very hard time committing to anything. But I think, perhaps this afternoon, I am ready to move on to the next step. I'm hesitant to put S's name on the announcements because I am fearful that he will turn out to be a girl and that the announcements will have to be completely re-done (right now they are more boy than girl but could be passed for girl if necessary). I also intend to line the envelopes and made a pattern for that yesterday. Need to use my Cricut and do some monkey cutouts. I'll put up pictures in a post later tonight of what I have done (assuming I don't go into labor). And maybe I can attack that diaper bag. But then again, the nursery needs attention too...

Later (11:16 pm):
I spent some time with my Cricut and with my camera. Here are some pictures of what my announcements look like so far. And here are the monkeys that will be glued on, hopefully tomorrow. Still no regular contractions so I might get them done before Sherwood comes. Although it wouldn't hurt my feelings if that isn't the case. :)

Here's one version of the card. On the right will be a picture of S once he is born and on the left will be the monkey.

And here's another version:

And the monkey:

I think it will be really cute when it is all done but we will see. 

Mother's Day gifts revealed

So here is what I made for Mother's Day. I found a poem online from a company who sells bracelets and I borrowed the concept. I am not going to include the poem because it is copyrighted but basically each colored bead holds a meaning. Both of the bracelets are very similar but I tried to make them slightly different just like each mom is different. Hope you enjoy.

And here are the gifts with their cards and the little bags:

Diaper Bag I

I got started tonight on the diaper bag project. I made several decisions today, and then changed my mind again. But what I ended up deciding was to go ahead and make the diaper bag as is, with the exception of creating a longer strap using d-rings to make it adjustable. Otherwise I am going to follow the pattern and see how it turns out. It might turn out in a way that I love or it might be too small (as I am guessing it might be). But if it is too small than I will have it to use and can go ahead and make another one with the adjustments needed to make it bigger at another time. Meanwhile I am going to try to find myself a store-bought large diaper bag somewhere that I really like. That way I will have a large durable diaper bag and then my two smaller ones as well.

I didn't get very far. Mostly ironed the fabric (that still doesn't look very ironed), cut out the pieces, and laid them all out so that I could see what I needed. Tomorrow hopefully I can tackle pinning and cutting out the fabric. It was just too much standing for me tonight with my feet as big as balloons.

So here's my ironing board covered with the project, and a picture of the fabric. More to come.

Pre-mommy frustrations

I want to make a diaper bag. That's where my frustrations began. But the diaper bag I wanted to make is not as big as I thought it was going to be. So I began to search for another pattern. I searched for ideas on how big diaper bags should be or usually are. For some reason the diaper bag that I bought (back when I first found out that I was pregnant) doesn't seem to hold very much stuff. I don't know why because it is a decent sized bag. It will probably be great for going out for short term trips and such. But right now it has a couple of outfits, two receiving blankets, my nursing cover, and a small teddy bear in it and it is stuffed. No diaper changing pad, no diapers, and no wipes. If I took out an outfit or two it would fit the changing pad, a couple of diapers, and probably some wipes but that's it. I don't necessarily need a whole lot on a day to day basis but I do need to have room for certain things and wanted to combine my purse with the diaper bag so that I am not carrying both.

Long story short I am a bit frustrated. So after a long time of measuring bags, looking at the standard size of diaper bags online, studying the pattern I own, and realizing that I needed to wash the fabric that I want to use to create the bag, I decided it was time to give up for tonight. So two nights in a row where I failed at crafting anything. (We did set up the crib yesterday, though, does that count?) Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day for crafting. I have so many ideas for projects and just for some reason just don't have the energy or the umph needed to get them done. Truthfully this blog has been instrumental in me getting anything done. Its nice to have a place to hold me accountable.

Here's a photo of the pattern that I want to make. I am going to use a light brown on the outside and a striped green and yellow-ish material on the inside. I won't do the ribbon or anything cause I don't like it. I am thinking of extending the size a bit and making it a little bit longer and taller. I also want to adjust the strap so that it is long enough that I can put it over my head. Probably should invest in some D rings so that I can adjust the size of the strap but am a bit unsure on how to do that. We'll see. I still need to stew over it. And iron the fabric when it comes out of the dryer. (Yuck!) More updates to come.