Thursday, June 30, 2011

inspiration board: stripes

A week has flown by and it's already time for
week 2 of inspiration board.
My goal is to eventually share some sewing
projects as a result of the inspirations but
I am currently working on three sewing project
and have yet to finish one.
* *
I love simplicity of stripes.
So versatile.
They look great on their own
or layered with other patterns or colors.

I'm dying to sew some stripes into Avery's wardrobe!

Monday, June 27, 2011

summer activities

I don't have any kids in school yet but summer still feels like summer.
I just wanted to share some summer activities we have been doing.

{dress up}

{side walk chalk}

{painting}
What have you been doing this summer?

Saturday, June 25, 2011

English Vintage family photos

Here are some of the family pictures!
They say a picture says a 1000 words so instead of explain each one
I will let the picture say it all.
This one of Elliot and Avery holding hands is my all time favorite!
Such a precious moment.
In this picture Andrew is pointing at England and Elliot is pointing at AZ.
I made Avery's dress and hat specifically for these pictures.
I also made Elliot's vest and bow tie.
Making them added a personal touch to these pictures.
And there you have it!
I specifically asked Ashley to take a lot of candid photos. I didn't want every picture to be too planned out. That's because I wanted to capture my family just the way we are. They really turned out wonderful! I couldn't be more pleased.
Now that I have updated photos
I can print and frame them for my house.
Can't wait!
p.s. what's your favorite picture?

{photos by Betty Photography.}

Friday, June 24, 2011

"English Vintage" sneak peek

I got the family pictures and I'm dying to share them! Ashley labeled the cd "English Vintage" and I really liked that. If you don't know already my husband was born and raised in England. In fact, apart from the year he studied abroad at NAU and met me, he lived there until the age of 27. Elliot was also born in England and he has dual citizenship. We still have to apply for Avery's dual citizenship but for now she's my American with English blood. That being said I wanted the pictures to have a Sunday afternoon family outing feel and I think it worked out! My only regret is that I forgot to get pictures of just Andrew and me. Oops! Maybe next time! Come back tomorrow for the pictures!

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Inspiration Board: ruche dresses

Since I started designing and sewing dresses for Avery I realized how much fun it is.

It took me forever but I finally started my very own design inspiration folder.

Each week I will share some snippets from my folder of things that inspire me.

3. dreamy green floral dress
(all dress from ruche)

Today I started a dress that was supposed to look similarto the writing letters dress but I made so many mistakes that I have to take the design a different way.

Right now sewing feels like playing the piano.
With piano I can read all the notes, since I'm a musician,but my fingers won't play them the way I want. With sewing I pick a pattern and some fabric and have a design in mind but my inexperienced sewing skills won't allow my clothes to look the way I want.

Are you like that about anything?

Saturday, June 18, 2011

pinetop

Last night we had our family pictures and I can't wait to see the results!
The scenery was perfect and the photographers were awesome!
Thanks for those that helped me with my hair dilemma.
Sometimes it's just nice to have a second opinion.

Andrew is paint balling all day today (like 6:00am-3:30pm)
Since I'm going to miss him I have some fun things planned to keep me busy.
My niece, Lizette, turns 2 today so Avery and I
have a girly tea party to go to for her and then we're swimming all afternoon.
Maybe I'll even squeeze in a craft or sewing project!

I mentioned before that last weekend we were in Pinetop with family.
antique stores
pine trees
lakes
perfect weather
hammocks
family
bbq
I honestly can't think of a better way to spend my weekend.
Now if only we could find a way to get out of the desert every weekend.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Indicision

Excuse me for a moment while I be vain
but I was wondering what you think.
We are having family pictures tomorrow night
and I can't for the life of me decide on something;
curly hair or straight hair?
Keep in mind Avery will have curly hair for the photos
and I will also have my hair half up like in a couple of the above photos.
Last summer I had my hair pulled back.
I thought it looked cute but I wanted to try something different.
Leave a message below to tell me what you think I should do!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Manning family pics

Sometimes I like to pretend I'm a great photographer
that takes amazing pictures.
I just think taking pictures is fun.
A bunch of my family spent the weekend in Pinetop
and Julie and James wanted to take advantage of the
beautiful scenery and take a few family pictures.
I took a few pics with my camera
but mostly used theirs.
I love their camera - it's so much better than mine.
Their pictures would have turned out so much better
if I hadn't accidentally had it on the wrong setting
which made them all turn out too dark.
Proof that I really have no idea what I'm doing.
Ha ha! Oh well!
These are the pics from my camera.
Such a cute little family!
Pinetop was so beautiful!
Arizona is so beautiful!