Inspiration

Yay for Jannie Ho (aka ChickenGirl) and getting her all time favorite word featured for this week’s Illustration Friday theme – CHICKEN. Jannie is an AMAZING illustrator and designer. Her characters are always full of personality and fun. Check out her blog to see her super fun and amazing work :)

Here is my ‘chicken’ illustration for this week. I have to say that this is a very old illustration and I can definitely see how my style has changed. There are elements of this style that I love and sometimes feel bad that I’ve changed. I love the looser/messier feel to this illustration as I really enjoy drawing with more freedom and less precision. My work has become a lot tighter and more precise over the years. I think being tighter works well for certain projects but I also want to try to bring some of this looser style back into my work for the right assignments. What do you think? Love to hear your feedback on my style now verses then!

Most of you that follow my blog know that I am expecting another baby boy in March next year. My belly is getting big and we are getting very excited! And I think Isaac has finally decided that the baby is in mommy’s belly and not his! I’m at the 25 week mark now so I definitely feel pregnant! As soon as I found out the baby’s gender, I started the nursery design. I LOVE decorating kids rooms! I posted about Isaac’s new room a few months ago. He’s now officially in a big boy bed and doing really well. The kid hasn’t left his bed ONCE since being in it for over 2 weeks. He actually still calls for us in the morning to get him out of bed. I’m guessing this might pass, but for now, I’m happy the transition has been so smooth.

With the help of many artisans on Etsy, I’ve designed/decorated the room just how I’d imagined. I might add a few finishing touches here and there, but I’m overall very satisfied with the look. I’ve posted some photos of the items I purchased on Etsy so I’ll also include the links to each store below. I’d love to hear what you think of baby #2′s new room! And while you’re at it, feel free to send some name suggestions! lol We are having trouble deciding on a name for our new little bundle :)

Etsy Shops:
Alphabet Print
Animal Bookends
Pillow Cases + Window Panels
Raccoon
Porcupine Clock

A friend of mine was browsing the Sevi Christmas catalog when she came across this adorable nativity set. She immediately thought of me and emailed me the link. I fell in love! I’ve seen Sevi toys around and they are so well made and beautifully designed but I hadn’t come across this set. I’m a sucker for good design and this is the perfect way to teach Isaac about Christmas! I searched the internet to find this for Isaac. Thankfully after being disappointed with most stores being sold out, a local kid’s consignment store came to my rescue!

My plan is to incorporate this nativity into our advent activity. We have advent boxes hanging on the window in the playroom. I wanted to avoid the chocolate advent calendars as Isaac is only 2 years old, but more importantly, has a dairy sensitivity and can’t consume too much chocolate. I wanted to place something significant but fun in each box. I’ve decided to place each character from the nativity in each individual box so that slowly over the month, we will assemble the entire nativity. With each item we add to the scene, I will give him a brief story… keeping it fun and simple. Baby Jesus will be saved for the 25th box. The actual nativity doesn’t have 25 pieces so a few of the days will have a surprise candy to make up for it :)

I love to find inspiration from everywhere and everything. Even when I buy the simplest item, I will only buy it if I like the design. Just recently I couldn’t make myself buy a pair of scissors because I didn’t like the colour of the handle. Ok, this sounds extreme and you’ll likely think I’m crazy but I observe everything and care that my environment is well designed!

I find inspiration in the design of things like kids backpacks, stuffed toys, Christmas decor, and so much more! Lately I’ve been excited about decorating and preparing for Christmas. I wanted to do an advent calendar with Isaac this year to start teaching him the real meaning of Christmas. In my search for the perfect advent calendar, I found some really cute and inspiring designs that I wanted to share with you. These are my top picks for advent calendars this year. We decided to go ahead with the one from Stampin’ Up (#4) because it has the most storage room for hiding little toys, treats, and messages. My plan is to tuck in a Bible verse, holiday activity, and little treat or toy into each box :)

Are you doing advent with your kids this year? I’d love to hear about your traditions or unique advent calendar ideas.

The Advent calendars pictured above are as follows:
1. Martha Stewart
2. JulieMarie’s Etsy Store
3. Pottery Barn Kids
4. Stampin’ Up
5. The Land of Nod

We had our first ultrasound last week and found out Isaac is going to have a baby BROTHER in the New Year! We are super excited for our growing family and can’t wait to meet him. As soon as I found out the gender, the nursery design began! I had a perfect theme either way but now that we know we are having a boy, my woodland nursery is about the come to life! I’ve been perusing Etsy and making lots of fun orders. I’m collecting owl toys, leafy fabrics, woodsy accents and furniture, and more. While shopping, I stumbled upon an Etsy store called Graphic Spaces and was immediately drawn in to their amazing wood creations.

They are a family run business and create amazing, high quality kid’s products. I was so drawn into their bookends that I bought the owl and squirrel right away! They are too cute to pass up and will work perfectly in our woodland nursery. I was so excited to find this store that I had to share it with all of you. They also have some very cute wall stickers which I might be needing soon as well :)

I received my bookends a couple days ago and was delighted by the care taken in the packaging. They were so creatively and well wrapped and I truly felt I was buying a quality gift for my son. The bookends are on sale right now for 2 for $130. Normally each bookend retails for $80 each. These would make excellent Christmas gifts. The company didn’t ask me to promote their business at all – I was just so impressed by their products, I just had to tell someone :) Check out their Etsy Store and Website too see more!