Dream In Color

Move Your Body Girl...

ok, so first of all, i made this fun little piece of jewelry today. i was getting lb's morning bottle ready when he woke up  and was staring tiredly at this little shelf by our sink when the idea hit me that the little thread spools that i made to go in the jars would look super super cool as necklaces. (little people were found in the junk cupboards left by the older lady that owned my little house in ohio before i did. SO in love with them.) i immediately woke up, super excited and got to work as soon as londerpants was full and good to go...

and this is what i ended up with.

(please excuse the fact that i didn't shower and still have on only yesterday's makeup in this photo...i was too busy making art to get clean try to look good.)

i obviously switched the fabric on this one and added buttons, but i am also working on one that looks more vintage like the ones in the jars...but with a little added something something. i'll share that soon, hopefully, but i have to wait till nate is home and feeling like taking photos again, as we only have 2 mirrors in our house and they are both little ones above the sinks. therefore, no cool mirror shots of jewelry for this girl. soon though, we will join the rest of the world and give in and buy a mirror. sometimes i think that it might be best that i can't see anything other than my head, but then i go out and catch a glimpse of myself in a store mirror and wonder how the heck nate ever let me leave the house like that.

speaking of making art...i'm super excited for my sister-in-law sara, who has started her own etsy shop, tanglewood treasures, selling little girl's hair bows and hats and baby nuk holders. she sent lb 2 foofoo holders that hold way way better the ones from target that we bought and i cannot WAIT to buy these 2 for baby girl ametewee (and maybe mama will buy some for herself too!;D). not to mention how gorgeous are those little models? i just want to eat them. miss them so much!

in other artsy/everyday news, i am so so excited this evening to be planning a trip to georgetown down in DC for tomorrow. anthropologie, paper stores, bead shops, vintage boutiques, antique stores and yummy restaurants. i'm hoping to come home super inspired and not too tired...although i'm pretty sure the latter is an impossibility. but i'm praying for a relatively pain-free day since there isn't supposed to be rain. it's supposed to be 65 and cloudy...so i'm thinking lots and lots of photos! :)

i'm really really trying to do a little art each day and hopefully at some point maybe get back on some design teams. i a little bit feel like i'm old news in the scrapbook industry, but maybe i'll find someone that would want me to work with them...i just have to figure out how to go about selling myself again. i used to be good at it, if the design teams i was on were any indication, but life got in the way and i got out of it for awhile. crossing my fingers for some new opportunities!

and with that, i'm off to hang with his royal londerpants...who is in rare form tonight, emptying out every drawer and cupboard he can reach. i'm considering selling HIM on etsy.

p.s. what websites inspire you? when i got my new computer i lost all my blog links so i'm on a search for a new list. kinda fun finding new inspiration. here's a few that i've been loving:

sassafrass lass

martha b.

erin terrell clarkson

becky novacek

ginger grace

please send me links you love!

If You Wanna Sing Out, Sing Out...

so time has been going at a crazy mixed pace of fast-forward and slow motion around the ametewee household. it just seems like the days fly by but the weeks never end. on one hand, mr. londerpants is growing and changing way too quickly, but the pain from the pregnancy keeps the due date seemingly far far in the future. speaking of his majesty, LB, i've been doing lots of sleeping these days, which has left him and his daddy tons of time together...which just happens to be their favorite thing. if nate does it, london wants to do it too...from sitting on the couch watching tv, to brushing his teeth, to just laughing at something. it absolutely melts my heart to see lb crawling along behind nate everywhere he goes, and nate patiently walking slowly to give him time to catch up, explaining how things work all the way. and when his daddy leaves for work each day you would think that his little heart was being shattered in a million pieces. he cries and cries and stands at the window watching for nate. it is just absolutely the sweetest thing. my two men, best best buddies...my dream come true.

everyday i thank God for the blessing that is my family.

speaking of family...we went in for a sonogram last week and i am so so excited to say that we are for sure having a little GIRL!! the midwife that did the exam was unable to see much else when we were in there (she got NO photos worth printing really...as you can see on the attached layout, which is of her feet) because our little princess was moving like crazy, but she was able to see with absolute certainty that there will soon be a little girl joining us. i cried when she told us and nate is so excited too. he says he's so glad that i'll have someone to do stuff with while him and londerpants are off at the park playing....which effectively melted my heart all over again for the millionth time since i met him. (even though i'm pretty sure that he's going to want to take this newest PINK addition right along with them.)

as for me, i am still struggling with the added pain that this pregnancy has brought on, but the doctors said that she is lying in a way that causes added pain for a normal healthy mom, and that at any time she could switch positions and the pain could ease up. in the meantime, we just have to make sure that we are not out for too long or the pain will overwhelm me. i've also been TRYING to not hold LB as much, but if you met that ornery, super squishy kid you would understand how hard that is for me. overall, though...i have to say that i still love being pregnant. it is just the most amazing feeling in the world and i would take the pain anyday to feel this connection with my child. i cherish every second of it.

here's a couple photos of me nate snapped quick last friday...i don't have nearly as many as the last time, considering i made amy take photos almost every week when i was preggers with LB, but it kinda makes these more special to me:

(and yes, i'm 100% aware that my hair is a disaster area right now, but i'm trying to get back to my normal colors and get some length. we'll see how long it lasts)

and other than that, i don't really have too much to share. i just work on my scrapbooking and some fun projects i've been putting together and hanging with my 2 favorite guys. (by the way, i load photos of LB onto facebook pretty often...we have decided for personal reasons not to post new photos for the time being.)

i'll leave you with one more page for our wedding album...the guests:

goodnight friends!

Welcome To The Good Life...

 just a quick share of this layout i did a few days ago...

i just love this man. sometimes i sit back and wonder how someone like me ended up with someone like him...and right at a time in my life when i never expected it but needed him the most.

he makes my days happier and my heart so so full.

Hello World, Hear The Song That We're Singing...

let me just start by saying, hello: my name is cheryl and i really have nothing interesting going on in my life right now. mostly my time is filled with cooking, cleaning, LBing, wifing and doing art. (yes, i do realize that laundry was left out of that list...not because i don't do laundry, but because i hate it so much that i didn't feel it deserved to be on there.) and you know what? i kinda feel like my life is pretty amazing. probably because i live with 2 of the coolest guys that have ever lived AND get to call them my own and keep them forever.

what hasn't been so amazing is the pain that has accompanied this 2nd pregnancy the last few weeks. i have been doing way more than my share of laying on heating pads, sleeping and the worst: whining to my husband...who has been so amazingly supportive about it all. have i mentioned lately how much i adore him? anyways, we have an appointment next friday with a new doctor, so we'll see what she thinks can be done. it's always scary switching doctors with my medical background. i worry that they won't grasp the full extent of my injuries, that they will think i'm exaggerating the pain, etc etc. but i'm trying to be optimistic about it and i'm really hoping that she will be every bit as good as the one i had for LB. in the meantime i made a list for myself on the to-do list on our fridge and i read it a hundred times a day as a reminder to not let it overwhelm me. it doesn't always work, but it sometimes helps. and i'm not going to lie, despite all the pain, i still say that being pregnant is the most amazing feeling in the entire world...

in other news, nate has helped me set up an art area in our main room, complete with a high 8 foot ikea art table that LB won't be able to reach for a long time and my old comfy/high chair from art school. i just LOVE it. i was going to wait to show photos until it was totally completed and organized, but then i decided that i would probably always have something i wanted to change, so i'll just show it again if i make additions. i would like to mention, however, that the wire hanging from the wall is not going to stay that way for long. it's a photo wire that i got from ikea that our lame paper-thin apartment walls won't support. we have plans for it though...just you wait and see.

 

here's a little closer-up shot of the business side of it all...the pinwheels are going to be moved into our bedroom soon but for now they are way up there so that LB doesn't poke his eye out with them. also, notice...in very un-cheryllike fashion i have learned to decorate with plain white walls. kinda fun.
 

and here is a closer up of the art. the thing that i made of my parents and LB is actually a jewelry holder from forever 21, and the little book beside it was a gift i gave to nate the night before our wedding. (you can see it close-up and the inside here.)

in tragic ametewee news, our brand new external harddrive seems to have died. devastating to me because all the photos i have taken in the past 10 years or so were just transferred onto it. i am praying so so hard that someone, somehow will be able to retrieve them for me. we are hoping that the warranty covers this sort of thing, especially because it was so new that i hadn't even backed it up yet. nate thinks that it can be fixed, but i panic a little everytime i think about it.

as a direct result, however, i've been making more cards. i have a few photos printed both from the wedding and everyday life, and i realize that alot of them are online somewhere or on friends' computers, but i don't really have that liberating feeling when i go to create that i might just find the exact photo that inspires me at that moment. which brings me back to cards. something i'm not that great at, but i have been attempting more and more lately. a little bit in an effort to get all my wedding thank-yous out before the next century, and  a little due to the photo tragedy. and although i don't usually photograph them, i did remember to take a couple shots of this simple one i did for my grandma. i was attempting at ruffles, but i don't think that they are normally stapled so i'm going to go ahead and call it a fail. she'll love it though.

and i leave you with a link to the most amazing new show ever. it just premiered tonight and it follows the buyer for anthropologie around the world hunting flea markets for cool anthro worthy stuff. i want to be him. well, i want to be me with his job. the show is called man travels globe and is on the sundance channel. i had to stop halfway in because i found myself coveting his job so much i thought i might die. i'll have to finish it later when i'm feeling less of a jealous spirit in me.

and with that i'd like to just say goodnight, gentle readers, and thank you for reading my latest book about nothing...

ArtMail...

ARTMAIL (noun)...cheryl word for when i send my friends e-mails full of art. and since i don't have a better title, that's what i'll call this post. because it's all just about more wedding layouts.

let me just preface this by saying that i have clearly not mastered the art of photographing my layouts. pointers VERY welcome.

 

 and two quick non-wedding ones...i'm really loving this new, simpler style of scrapping. it's still bright and colorful and cherylish, but it just doesn't take as long. 

 

and with that i'm off to grab me some london love. i can hear him talking and laughing in his crib so i'm pretty sure nap-time is officially over.

Mostly To Share The Art, and Through That...Her Soul.

not going to say much tonight except for a few words of love...for my amazing husband, for the friends that are always there, and for amy's amazing photography...which makes me fall in love with my wedding all over again every time i go through the photos she took.

a sneak peek of the wedding album (not posted in any order):

 

i'm trying to keep all the layouts relatively simple so that it doesn't take me years to finish my album and so that i don't get sick of the whole themed idea. not that i'm even close yet, but i've heard that happens.

 

you should be able to click on each layout to make it bigger and read the journaling...

i think one of the things i love most about my photos is that there are so many colors that you can go so many directions with them. they look great on all different backgrounds, which also means they can go with almost any room. i'm so glad that i stayed true to myself and went with multi-color instead of the traditional white and one bridesmaid color.

 

and a baby one. this pregnancy just FEELS different...which has me focusing only on girl names until i hear different from a doctor. =)

and with that, i'm off to bed. i forgot so fast how exhausted being pregnant makes me. especially with a child that doesn't particularly love to sleep. thank god his daddy is so good with him and lets me have nap time.

Scrapbuck.com...

good morning, world! i'm jumping on for just a few minutes to share a few pieces of art i did using products from the fabulous scrapbuck.com, a super cool online scrapbook dollar store. if you haven't heard of it before, definately go check it out...i think you might be suprised at some of the fun stuff they sell for just a couple dollars.

first some thank you notes i handmade for the wedding...

 

 

and a couple layouts. i think that i made them big enough that if you click on them you can read the journaling... (please pardon the bad colors...i photographed them when it was getting dark out)

 

 

i'll be back soon with some wedding layouts...i am over halfway through scrapping my photos. :)

in the meantime, definately go check out scrapbuck.com!

Here She Comes With A Bang, Bang, Bang...

we, the ametewees, are incredibly happy to announce...

there is about to be another ametewee added into the mix.

something we are crazy excited about.

we don't have an exact due date yet, but we are hoping to find out as soon as we find a doctor here in DC and i'll be sure to update when i know more.  

this pregnancy has been so so different than the last one. i'm still exhausted all the time and the pain is elevated some, but the morning sickness is nothing compared to how i felt with LB.

and the best part is that this time i have someone amazing by my side to share it all with. one that has already proved a million times over what an amazing father he is...

i'm just feeling pretty happy with my life right now.

(top 2 photos by my sister angie)

They Said I'd Never Change, And Then They Took It All Away...

hello world! i'm at the library close to our apartment and just wanted to check in and let everyone know that we haven't died. worse, really...we're without internet in our new apartment, despite promises of free wiFi. i am hoping to get hooked up very soon so we can rejoin the world of communication with no contact. all these phone conversations are actually, and quite scarily almost turning me back into a people person.
the good news is that i've actually been tricking nathan into thinking that i'm the perfect 50's style housewife, minus the cool clothes and perfect makeup. i have been cleaning and organizing and cooking daily as well as doing art in my abundance of spare time.
i just miss the good old days when watching tv and being online consumed all my time...
back soon...hopefully!
in the meantime, you can catch all my random comments on twitter, which i can still do from my phone. the link is on the right column of my blog...

I Bottled It Up, We Hit The Red Carpet And Modeled It Up...

thought i'd share a little bit of art to shake things up a little. min came for a total of 10 days to spend the week before the wedding with me and along with helping make everything go smoothly as far as for the wedding, we fit in a little bit of art as well. because nobody inspires me like mindy inspires me. i so love this girl. and lb fell completely in love with her during that week too. i wish she lived next door so that we could hang out together everyday...

we took a little time to do a photoshoot in the middle of the week...so fun to be inspired by my buddy in real life. usually it's just through texts and e-mails and a phone call here and there.

first, a couple i took of her. clearly not nearly the artist she is behind the lens, but i tried. :)

 

took this one using my peace sign earring as a shadow.

 

and this is one that min took of me. while i'm aware i look like a total idiot when i laugh, it's probably the realest photo of me ever considering that's what i'm doing 98.7% of the time.

 

and one of londerpants and i that i will cherish forever because it is our final photo before it wasn't just the 2 of us anymore:

and i guess that's all the photos from that shoot i can share because my photoshop is acting all wanky today and keeps shutting down on me. very annoying considering min is such a great photographer. she was my second photographer at the wedding, though...so i'm sure i'll have lots more to share very soon.

moving on to the art:

i'm so in love with these 2 men right now. especially because they are so in love with each other. i never EVER dreamed that lb would have such an amazing father. but nate has surpassed my expectations by far. and it makes me happy each time londerpants chooses him over me.

 

made this for our new place: 

 

and finally, our wedding invitation. i made it myself...nothing fancy but it fit me. so excited to have my first something to put in our wedding album. i am so super excited to scrap all the stuff from our big day:

first the invite and then the page i did using it:

 

i will forever cherish these photos by amy at the carnival in our little ohio town. all artwork is created using photos she took.

and before i leave, one last photo of my buddy and me on my wedding day. one of my very favorites from the entire day. i'm just so pumped that she was able to come...because my day just wouldn't have been the same without her.