happy valentine's day!

my 3 year old daughter, luciana, came home from pre-school yesterday with a note from her teacher letting us know all the names of her classmates in case we wanted to do valentine’s day cards. yes, it was a little last minute but lucy had been home from school all week while our city was digging out from the 2+ feet of snow we got over the weekend. earlier today i had been out running errands and had a fleeting thought of, i wonder if i’m supposed to do cards or if they’re going to make them during school…? i don’t even know how many kids are in her class. i didn’t buy anything. lucky for me, i have a ton of card-making supplies on hand (it is my business, after all) and i love the personal touch of something homemade. plus, my mom had just sent us a package of valentine’s chocolates and fun accessories and stickers (phew). lucy looooooves stickers. of course, they don’t last very long before being stuck to everything in sight (though i try to enforce the rule of “stickers on paper or people only” so we’re not scraping them off of walls or furniture).

decorated by lucy

i found some blank cards (hot pink on one side, white on the other) and put lucy to work. i set up an assembly line and told her to add stickers to each one (we counted together to make sure each card had the same number of stickers). then i gave her pink and red markers and had her color whatever she wanted on each one. i just added the date, “happy valentine’s day” and “from lucy” (I also added classmates names after i took the photos). here’s what we ended up with:

front

front detail

back

she only had to make 6 but i still wanted to keep it simple so she didn’t lose interest before making them all (sorry half completed christmas ornaments at the bottom of my closet, the painting and the glitter and the glue was just too much! maybe next year). i love the fact that they’re all different. it was a fun afternoon activity to do together and she was so proud that she made them herself! i sent her on the bus with them in her backpack so i hope they make it to school without all the stickers peeled off and stuck to her shoes...

 

a handwritten note for you...

NOTES:

* for more information about National Handwriting Day and its sponsor, the Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association (WIMA), visit their website www.WIMA.com

* i apologize for any typos and/or spelling errors (no spellcheck!)

* i also apologize for anyone reading this on their cell - i hope it's legible!

* the ironic thing is that i wrote this in the morning and it took me until now to find the time to upload it to my computer and post!

happy new year!

2012 was pretty eventful and now i'm looking forward to what 2013 will bring! i know i don't usually get into TOO many personal details here, but let me quickly bring you up to speed. so, this happened...

anabella gilda centofanti  ~  born 7/14/12  ~  8lbs, 13 oz  ~  21 inches

my laid-back and sweet older daughter (luciana) did nothing to prepare me for the arrival of this little firecracker of a baby girl. aside from her wreaking havoc on my petite self during the pregnancy (back pain pretty much from day 1, constantly thinking, "why do you have so many elbows?!", plus i gained 10 more pounds than i did the first time around), i had false labor pains for almost 4 weeks before my eventual induction, which was a week after my due date. did i mention she was almost 9 pounds?! she was the biggest baby in the nursery (by a LOT) and i'm the size of an average 6th grader so i was pretty shocked (my doctor was too).

my 3 1/2 year old was very content as a baby. she would just sit back and observe everything. she was a late roller, late crawler, late walker. she was just happy with whatever was within her reach (even if it was playing with her own feet). anabella is the exact opposite. 

my type-A husband wanted a junior and he got one - in anabella. she's very curious and motivated and gets bored easily. starting when she was only a few weeks old i noticed that she preferred to be out and about and she still doesn't like to be in the same place for too long. now she's 6 months old and she can move (roll), so she's constantly trying to explore and grab (and eat) EVERYTHING she sees. she's usually squealing and giggling and happy but then she can go from zero to screeching in an instant.

luciana is the gentle, nurturing, proud older sister. there is nothing better than watching them play together. 

 

so 2012 was spent focusing on my family and adjusting to life with 2 kids. i'm hoping in 2013 to also find some time for my business and this blog. i know i have to organize my time better (damn you facebook and pinterest!) and also let go of my need for perfection. especially here. i have so many posts i have started and abandoned because they weren't worded just right or i didn't have the perfectly edited photo to go with it. i really have to learn to let go. i'm sure my new camera from santa (canon EOS rebel T3i!!!!!) will come in handy and will make up for my lack of photoshop skills.

even though i haven't documented it here (yet), i have done lots of creative projects this year. stay tuned for posts about luciana's grover-themed birthday party, our halloween costumes, anabella's birth announcements, our christmas cards... well, don't want to give it all away now do i?

ok, one more pic of my girls. aren't they the cutest?

luciana really did fall asleep curled up on this chair, after i was done taking pictures for my christmas card. of course i had to take a few more pics before i moved her to her bed!

where does the time go...?

i can't believe my last post was about halloween! it's funny because i am constantly writing in my head. i always have so much to say and everything is worded perfectly until i'm actually in front of a computer. then my brain pretty much shuts off and i spend too much time reading other blogs or online shopping (well, browsing - i don't ever buy anything) or on various social network sites.

i've had a couple of completed design projects since october but the main thing i have going on is....

i'm pregnant!

i actually found out right around halloween so i'm about 4 months along, due at the beginning of july. my main goal with this blog is to talk about my various creative projects (a term which i use pretty loosely) so i don't really plan on detailing all the various stages of this pregnancy. i love reading it in other blogs (actually, it's ALL i'm reading about these days - is everyone preggo?) but sharing everything i'm going through just isn't me. i'm sure little things will come up here & there. and of course i plan on sharing nursery ideas, birth announcement designs & various other baby-related artsy things. we find out next week whether it's a boy or a girl so i'll be sure to share that news. i might also tell the story about when we found out we were having a girl the first time around, since it's a pretty cool story & it was a pretty unique way to find out. maybe i'll work on that for next week.

i'll try not to let another 3 months go by without writing!

getting ready to trick or treat!

i love halloween. i love dressing up, i love being crafty and i love getting bags of candy for free. i have dressed up for probably 17 out of the last 20 years. i don't like to do the obvious "sexy" thing (why do girls always use halloween as an excuse to look super slutty?) and i prefer to make my own costume. a lot of the store bought stuff just doesn't fit me (at just about 5 feet tall i would have to buy an xl youth size) and it is usually just cheesy looking.

here are some of my favorite costumes that i've made:

madonna ("like a virgin" era)

 i found most of these items at a thrift store or at random stores in the mall (macys, claires). after i found the white lace bustier, which was key, everything else just came together... white lace gloves with the fingers cut off, white thigh-highs cut to capri-length, white kitten heels, white socks, a white slip cut short, a white garter belt, tulle, misc bangles, white belts, red lipstick and black eyeliner. the "boy toy" belt buckle was made out of cardboard which i just drew on with black & silver markers and glued to one of the white belts.

wonder woman & superman

my husband wore a store-bought superman costume but we added the superman curl.

for wonder woman, most of the items came from a craft store or department store. i found a white bustier, which i dyed red, white "granny" undies, which i dyed blue with white hand-cut stars glued on, a red and gold cape, panty hose, a 70's feathered wig, gold rope and a fairly stiff gold fabric for the accessories and embellishments. for the boots i used red socks stretched over knee-high boots (with holes cut out for the heels), accented with white electrical tape.

rocky balboa (& adrian)

i couldn't find any pictures of me dressed like adrian. i basically just wore really plain clothes, a wig, and cat-eye glasses. everyone was asking me who i was all night. i would just tell them to look at my husband and then they'd know. 

i used a red bathrobe with fabric glued to the edges and back, boots (found at a thift store) spray-painted red with fringe glued on, mesh shorts, a championship belt made out of cardboard, fabric and ribbon, a black wig, putty make-up and lots of fake blood, boxing gloves (borrowed) and first aid tape.

dr evil and a fembot

dr. evil was a store-bought costume but i had to do the make-up, bald cap and scar.  he also added his college class ring on his pinkie (it's all about details)...

for the fem-bot i used a white nightgown dyed pink, pink boas sewn to the top & bottom, light pink gloves and blond wig (which i attempted to make into a bouffant 'do) accented with pink feathers. the shoes (not shown - darn) were white strappy sandals with pink boa feathers glued to them. my favorite part was the metal funnels i glued to the top under the feathers for the "machine-gun jubblies".

dr. octopus

my husband was spiderman (not shown) in a store-bought costume.

as dr. octopus i wore black pants, a black button-down shirt, a black wig and black sunglasses. the coat was a white lab coat from a costume shop (which probably said something obnoxious like gynecologist or something), which i dyed gray. the arms are aluminum tubes from home depot, with ends cut and bent out. i cut holes in the coat and fed them through which held them in place.

hot dog, ketchup & mustard

for my daughter's second halloween, i let my husband decide what she should be. he picked a hot dog and wanted us to be the ketchup & mustard. she was 15 months old at the time and i think the combination of being uncomfortable in her costume (an infant size with leg holes cut out) and being scared of everyone else dressed up just made her miserable. this was taken during the 3 minutes she actually had her costume on.

i know my husband wanted us to wear those pre-made and totally ridiculous full body ketchup & mustard costumes. no way was i spending the money on those! i went more subtle. i found pictures of the labels online, resized them, printed them on iron-on transfer paper and put them on red and yellow long sleeve t-shirts.

don't you love the face my hubby is making? this is the nicest one i got...

this year we have a toy story theme. my daughter is being jesse, my husband is being woody and i'm being buzz. i will be sure to take pictures and post them soon...

happy trick-or-treating!