Tuesday, December 25, 2012

happy birthday, merry christmas :)


happy birthday december babies! We celebrated little r's first birthday with a mini birthday party in our home a few days ago. Its so hard to plan december parties outside! I never really thought about it until now with our little guy. The morning of the party we woke up to light rain and next thing you know, by the afternoon the sun was shining and so bright. It's such moody weather :)  I loved it. it was perfect and our little guy didn't seem to notice since he was having a blast playing and sharing his toys with his 2 fun cousins. 

So does this garland look familiar to anyone? I had seen it in an at&t commercial early this summer and everytime the commercial came on i was always drawn towards the garland in the background hahaa :) I found this pretty wool garland at the rose bowl flea market early this month. It is even better in person! Little r loves looking at it as much as i do hehee.


see? he gave it a round of applause ;) jk. he was actually clapping at everyone cheering him on to smile for the camera. what a ham. Always the center of attention that silly guy. 


When i was planning his party i knew i wanted a cute zoo animal theme but not too over the top. So I bought a few cute bento goodies to decorate his cake and bento boxes for the kids to snack on at the party. i LOVE that sweet lion! And the lego candle is of course more for his daddy who is a die hard lego fan. they both were very fitting ;)


We had decided to take little r to the zoo for his birthday ( his first time ) and he LOVED it. he kept OOOOOH! and OH! at everything. here his is bird watching. he kept trying to whistle at them but it sounded like a funny hissing sound hahaa. poor birds.  


and here he is with his girlfriend the happy hippo. she loved the camera too. she kept going back and forth and bobbing up and down showing of her cute smile. little r got scared towards the end and i think he thought she was going to come through the glass. at least he has a new friend ;P


So this is our little version of our fun at the zoo. I LOVE the bright colors and animal figures. 


and party love inside the cake too! I made the cake again ;P Vanilla + strawberry filling & white fluffy whip frosting on top. I added orange and yellow layers for a bit of fun. I loved how it turned out, even more, i love that it was super yummy ;) The tiger agrees. ( i did eat this for breakfast the next day ha!)


The decorations were simple. I made this cute little shadowbox for the centerpiece. The r is a last years anthro ornament turned superstar surrounded by my lovely collection of felted balls. I kept buying them thinking i would make a garland out of them but in the end i loved them best all scrunched together here ;)  


so all in all, a very happy birthday was had. I am thankful for the blessing that our little r is to our family. He is a happy little guy. He is surrounded with friends a family who love him very much. And I am counting my blessings for that the most this year.  nothing we could ever buy him could ever matter more than that. 


so this is our second christmas as a family. ( also a bit of proof that my december daily has a least once page finished! hahaa! and then i turned it into our christmas card ;) i hope we show little r that christmas is all year blessings.  Not just one day a year.  so here's a little smile from us to you.  may your day be filled with love and blessings too many to count. 

We send you our happiest, merry christmas love,

xo 
d, mr.handsome & little r

Monday, December 10, 2012

sweet december


I'm overwhelmed with joy today. Our little guy turns 1! I'm smitten :) 

About 5 months ago I made this page to share with family. I left everything simple again. I printed out teeny tiny photos ( about less than an inch each ) from my instagram feed ( you can follow me here!) and left white space along the edges to mimic a polaroid. And i finally got to use one of my favorite papers I'd been hoarding ;P  I love the design as it goes well with either a boy or girl theme. And I purchased the paper way before i knew if we were having a boy or little girl. I am so happy, it's the perfect paper!



Yesterday we took photos at a park, totally not planned *wink*wink* ( i gotta keep all planned photo shoots a secret from mr.handsome... hahaa ;)  he's not much of a photo lover) but i'm happy with the shots we captured. it's just us.  and this silly kiddo.  

could you tell he just survived a super long day at the rose bowl flea market? as we were walking up and down the aisle along with the mass of people everywhere, he was happily waiving to everyone like if he was on top of one of the floats in the rose bowl parade. left and right, waving and smiling. far and near, he attracted so many new friends and happy smiles. all the while mr.handsome and i kept thinking where does he get it from?!?! hahahaaa! he gets funnier every day. he makes us happier too.  Not everyday is perfect. buy i love having these moments to hang onto. xo



oh my word. 
i really love that little r likes leaves and wouldn't put this one down. No problem buddy, have 20 leaves. hey, have a park full! all free AND they held his attention span for a whole 20 seconds ;)
i love that round tummy. xo


these are the invites for his party, hand stamped neon orange R's + cute wooden giraffe's made into a magnet ( we just added a wee magnet to the back) perfect to hold cute photos of this cute kid and the invitation. Way too much fun. Thankfully we are keeping things small for his first birthday and i didn't have to make 50+ invites. That will be next year hahaa! 

i love december xoxo


i created a teeny tiny calendar to add to my december daily pages. Now available in the shop :) ( 2013 mini calendars coming soon ! )


And here's my accountability photo for my december daily. I decided that if i were to finish this i seriously needed to post it somewhere visible. and so here it is. my little collection of pretty papers that i decided will do for this years december daily. I looked back at my first december daily and realized that it was 2 whole years ago!!! hahaa, so much for a yearly tradition :(  I'm sucking it up and just going to do this year and not worry about it.  Paper love is forever. even if you skip a couple of pages/years ;)

So for this year's collection i wanted it to be less "festive" as i don't think little r gets the concept of christmas yet. So this is me documenting us and our month long hoopla that is life.  everyday is a great day to have fun for little r :) Not just birthdays and not just christmas. So i picked neutral colors as i also wasn't going to be focusing on too many "christmas" activities. I can't wait to bake gingerbread ninja's with little r and share snowmen marshmallows with hot cocoa over a christmas movie later on.  maybe i'm gonna like christmas more than him hahahaaa!  i love christmas. i hope you to are filling your hearts with great memories with loved ones and creating to your little hearts content.

So off to celebrate the most handsome little fella in the universe.
happy days to you
xo
-d

Thursday, November 22, 2012

so very thankful


I'm so thankful for many things this year, so many actually. But to share a few I am thankful for this corner of our home. Although it's not the biggest house, the cleanest, the most pristine or highly decorated, this little space makes me so happy. like nothing else. it's not because of the "stuff", more about how happy this place makes me in our home.  work, play, fun i love it all. its here. 


and this month it was featured on the front cover of STUDIOS magazine. sharing this little place is another thing I'm thankful for. Reminds me to count my blessings and be thankful for right now. This small little space. its here. and years ago it was just a dream. 


this month we were also featured in Country Living Magazine and the small paper tags that we sell in Inspire Lovely were featured on the front cover :) There is also a page that features a pretty green twine we sell in the shop as well. They did such a beautiful job shooting the cover, i'm wanting a mini cubby space just like that now! how gorgeous! Makes me want to package all day long :)  


I'm thankful for health, even though i've been a bit under the weather lately i'm getting better each day. I'm thankful that i have a healthy & happy little r, and mr.handsome. Beyond any of the wishes I could have ever wished i am so thankful that my family is better than i could have ever imagined. we're far from perfect, a bit crazy and too silly but i wouldn't change it. 


thank you kindly for being patient, coming back and reading along now and again. i'm wishing you a 
happy thanksgiving. xoxo

kindly,
-d

Thursday, November 15, 2012

t'was market eve


Happy November my dear friends!  Since we are here in san diego and the leaves don't quite change the same as other parts of the world I wanted to make a few goodies for fall.  Fabric, felt and paper leaves = fall happiness. :)


I even made a new fall collection with rich browns, soft feathers and pretty papers.  Perfect for collectors :)  I am so smitten for the little wee pine cone and vintage mushroom! xo


I made this little gathering using the fall leaf embellishment pack (now in the shop! ). Look at the cute little horse!!! oh man, makes my heart so happy with these little guys :) The embellishment pack comes with Velvet, Fabric, felt, paper leaves (pictured above)  + mini pine cone + heart, mini starburst, horse & leaves paper punches = a handful of happiness.  


 I love the neutral colors. I'm loving the simple. the easy and quick projects. I'm sure your world is also spinning a mile a minute and it's nice to finish something super quick right?! I finished these in mere minutes. Not gonna fret over placement or anything, just here, it's done. whoo hoo :)



And my amazing friend Katie made this beautiful GOLD shimmery twine. GOLD. umm Katie, you are awesome and so is this twine. be still my heart!


I had to make a quick pom pom garland and its so pretty and simple I love the way the shimmery gold specks catch the light just right.  So soft and perfect. All these little bits are now available in the shop :), just finishing up a fun market and i wanted to invite you to come :)


I'm getting my holiday shopping done here as I made a promise to support handmade for my gift giving. it's a blessing to be a part of something like this and can't wait to support these ladies and their amazing work. 

I hope you are warm and bundled up
cozy feet
happy smile
sweet wishes,
-d

ps: i miss you ;)

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

enough of my face and cake!



well, enough of my face. but cake can stay :)
hehee.

so wow. hi. how are ya? it's october right? the last week in october? seriously?! i'm winning as the most absent blogger in this corner people. sheesh.

let me share some october loves yes? via instagram of course ;)

up top: baby pine cones. i've actually wished many times that these were real acorns but nope. still pine cones. although they are SO adorable being all 1inch of cuteness. i find them while taking little r walking around our block. and mr.handsome always seems embarrassed i pick up crap. well, i remind him, it's free crap :) 

paper hearts. um. enough said. puffy hearts xoxo

handmade crochet beads. awesome. my yarn love runs deep. except its still 80 degrees here and cozying up with yarn is not exactly fresh. i mean it's fall right? i'm dying to wear sweaters, my cute cowls and sexy ear muffs. okay, so no ear muffs but boy that would be cute ;P


reorganizing my cubbies. i'm taking inventory of the shop and decided to play around instead. cleaning is only fun if its pretty. you can quote me on that. ehem.


look at this drool fest! i sometimes wonder how other mamas get anything done working from home and taking care of a little one. i'm surprised when anything gets done really :)  this little guy is well on his way to 11 months and each month he gets cuter and funner and sillier. ( i think several of you mentioned that to me before and its SO TRUE!)  i'm really glad we're in each others lives. no more kids. how can anything be better? he's the best i can do. ugh. i'm gonna go pinch his cheeks. srsly!

have you tried these? brownie pops? i bought the box on sale for a dollar and one day when little r was not wanting to nap i made them. i almost ate them all. i needed that sugar kick. it was awesomeness . I do hope you try them. i made them again using the ghirardelli's brownie mix and it was divine. super moist. i only added extra walnuts because i'm a nut for nuts and i love them more that way. it was so hard to share! hahahaaa!


and new items for the shop. I realized this past week i have yet to stock up the shop with several new items created for upcoming fairs. Well here's one :) Handmade xoxo stickers


and us... here we are on the very steps the handsome man and i married 3 years ago. it was such a beautiful day, all i wanted for october was another family photo. Look at those twinsies?! flannel men. cute cute. this is the best we could do with the self-timer and a 10 month old that is more interested in everything else but the camera. hahaaa!   

so goodbye october. 

hello fall.

hello you.

and before i go, i have to share this bit of cheer. little r loves his cousin and uncle. i love all the giggles. later when he's twenty something i can't wait to show him just how silly he was when he was little. ha! :)  



i'm happy. i know it. i'm gonna go twirl around now :)
xoxo
-d

Thursday, September 20, 2012

the backwards birthday



Oh birthdays, i heart you. Am i the only one? I feel as though the more birthdays one has its become less appealing to "celebrate". I don't dread turning another year "older". I still say i'm 25. hahaa. okay that's pushing it, maybe 30? hehee. Just don't ask me because i do forget that i'm 33. Nevertheless, birthdays are fun! ( and so are my bangs! i got bangs and a trim for my birthday, woot woot) We should all celebrate another awesome year, the WHOLE year :)




And so i did. a bit backwards if you will. 
- you see, i turned 33 on the 15th of this month. had a nice lunch with my family at cheesecake factory ( a huge fav of mine :)
- mr.handsome shot my birthday photo (1st photo above) on the 16th (little r was napping in the stroller next to me -off camera- so he missed this shot :(
- made my birthday cake on the 17th
- decorated said cake and shared slices of it by delivering it to family just like the cake fairy would do all on the 18th.

whew! now that's stretching a birthday celebration a bit ha!


well i wasn't going to let my birthday month go by without a cake and pretty pictures. it's such a therapy for me. i don't really know why because it does seem stressful baking a huge cake ( never done that before, i'm more of a cupcake connoisseur :) and in true ombre style. And then on top of that play with the cake and style it but i was giddy as a school girl meeting justin bieber ;P


i found this vintage napkin while thrifting on my "birthday thrifting adventure". i love making excuses to celebrate. birthday thrifting, birthday starbucks, birthday dinner etc. :) once a year ain't too bad.


oh pretty layers. extra tasty when they are in pink colors.


i triple heart those wooden buttons, satin spools of ribbon and the doily the cake pedestal is on. also a birthday thrift find. digging around pays off :)


oh my. 

everything i love in a cake. moist vanilla cake + layers of vanilla custard filling + whipped cream frosting ( even better tasting than cool whip) although thinking back now it could've used like 2 extra inches of that stuff, oh we don't count calories on a birthday week! hehee.


and my birthday flowers... awwww. he gets me. 


and little r still napping. it's what he does best :)


my first birthday as a mama. what a good year. this little guy is growing up too fast. 9 months and our lives are so blessed with him in it. the happiest baby ever. makes my heart so happy getting to know him better each day. he's pretty awesome. :)

here's to more birthdays. more love. more flowers. more pretty pictures. more blessings. more happy memories. and maybe even more naps ;)

happy unbirthday to you lovely,
(oh, we have extra cake left over for you ;)
- mama d

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

remembering xo

New York 911 Memorial, September 2011 Photo by debee ruiz  
and always praying for peace xoxo
-d


Sunday, September 9, 2012

oh my


oh geez, for the past couple of weeks I had been worrying about little r not wanting to crawl, sit up or pull himself up. And wouldn't ya know it, he did it ALL in one day... and hasn't stopped since.  Sure thanks little r for picking a great week to be AMAZING, i had to take a break from updating the shop to give him standing ovations and happy kisses.  I mean look at that face?! This is him about ready to pull up on me so he can stand. 

and this is his celebration "happy me" face. ( a bit blurry from trying to hold him steady and the camera :) umm... excuse the crazy messy hair. he puts his head down on my tummy while trying to balance and get his feet underneath him. (he might be ready for his third haircut!) Adorable. ugh. there i go again. but look at that face. okay. i gotta stop :p Sometimes i feel like i'm raising a class clown hahaa! i love it.

So little r is mobile and now I'm wondering why he can't just stay put ha! 

So here we are, late as ever but with a few shiny new glorious items to fill the shop.  











I love all these pretty things in the shop now. Funny how most of the items are a pale blue, so refreshing and tranquil. Sigh.  I hope you took some time to relax this weekend.  It's been wonderful to do a bit of updating in the shop and now I'm a wee bit tired :)

nap time? 
;)
xo
-d