granny stripe blanket + some other things

I finished my blanket a couple of weeks ago, and although I've been dying to brag about it, it hasn't been possible. 

Turns out that being pregnant in your third trimester and having an 18 month old makes things HARD. I mean, I always knew it was going to be tricky but in the back of my mind I also thought I could handle it. Yes, I have been able to handle it... that is when I'm not about to have a meltdown. 

The poor hubs just looks at me and tells me "we can do this, don't worry, it CAN be done." I sure hope so. I'm putting all my faith in him.

But not everything is that bad, we have also embraced fall (my favorite season of the year!) and we have been out and about enjoying all the colors of the landscape and also all the yummy baked treats that come with fall weather (pumpkin spice lattes and lots of baking!)

We celebrated Thanksgiving (Canadian Thanksgiving that is), and the hubs really wanted to start a new family tradition where we prepared turkey, cranberry sauce and pecan pie. So there has been lots of leftovers for dinner lately. But it was really nice. 

Santiago and I really enjoy cooking together, and little S is learning to help out with little things around the kitchen (and mostly eating everything his little hands can reach).

Oh yes! back to the blanket topic... It took me around 2 months of crocheting. My goal from the beginning was to crochet at least one line a day, obviously some days I didn't, and some other days I had to stop because my hands started to hurt. 

I was determined to finish before October started, and I manged to do it! Yay for me!

I followed two tutorials for the blanket, one by Lucy at Attic24 and another one by Easy Crochet Pattern.

The edging of the blanket is also from Lucy at Attic24. (I love her blog and all of her projects! if you like to crochet I'm sure you will find her blog to be very useful)

I'll be posting about the creative swapping with Lindsey from The Joyful Owl soon! And I will also post about our baby shower soon!

ps. I've also been working on knitting hats for newborns (surprisingly it is not that hard!!)

what I've been up to

 Summer is gone... you can already feel it in the crisp morning air, the color of the fields and all the fall recipes that are being collected for future reference.

Although we really, really make an effort to enjoy summer as much as we possibly can; I must confess FALL is my favorite season. The clothes, the accessories, the baking... hmm boots, a pumpkin spice latte, a good book, a nice cozy blanket and the couch!!! 

I'm already drooling!

Well... enough of this. I wanted to show you some pics of what I've been up to lately... so here they go!

Pekka and the begining of my granny stripe blanket

Pekka, what used to be my tiny baby bump and my granny striped blanket  progress

Pekka and my blanket

Crocheting in our garden, while Pekka enjoyed the sun and little S napped

More of my blanket

peaches, yogurt and maple syrup...

a yummy carrot cake!

told you it was yummy!

As you can see... my main activity this summer has been eating (the baby must be really grateful! ha) and crocheting... all this has happened between naps, books and more naps! 

I will miss the nice weather!!!!

favorite "loving handmade" pins and a creative swapping idea!

So, if you know me (or follow my blog) you definitely know about my Pinterest obsession...

If you happen to follow me on Pinterest then you know all about my "loving hanmade" board. Thar board has so many pins that I might never be able to keep up with all those amazing projects, but I do have my fave pins and I would like to share them with you.

So here are some of the pins that are top on my Pinterest TO-DO list:

via purlbee

via CRAFTYisCOOL

via The Boy Trifecta (I've already done one for little S here)

via Gleeful Things

via Persia Lou

Ok... the list could go on forever and ever but I really have to go and read with the little one so that would be all of my favorites for today!

Hope you enjoy!

*** About the creative swapping... I got the idea from Lucy's post from Attic24 

(I heart her blog!!! and although I didn't put any pictures from her blog on my list today, you have to know that I follow her patterns and super detailed -and photographed- instructions all the time!)

So I went ahead and asked around on facebook! So far my little sister and my friend Lindsey from the joyful owl are in! I hope I can get more people interested on the idea! 

If you are interested on participating just leave a comment and we can arrange the details! Like my little sister said: the rules are that it has to be something handmade!

I'm super excited about it, I think it's nice to do something special for others! ****

ps. I always try to link the images to the correct source but if you find some mistake on my links please let me know!

things I've been thinking about lately

Yes. I guess it's time to man up and confess I've been thinking about yarn bombing my house!!!!

I haven't told the hubs yet, I'm not sure how he will take it, he will probably smile and then say "you are crazy!"... or something sweeter like "I'm sure you are probably beginning with the -nesting- phase of pregnancy"... to be truly sincere with you, it's probably true... I am a little crazy and I've been feeling this strange compulsory need to start arranging everything for the new baby.

But don't you think it would look awesome if I just did a little yarn bombing here and there around the place? maybe the staircase and then the sofa in my office... I don't know, I think it will look cool and at the same time I think it will look super tacky!!!

Maybe I should just let it be an idea. One of those ideas that is always there in the back of your mind but that never truly gets done.

When we lived in Vancouver we saw some public spaces like benches and parks with some yarn bombing, I thought it looked neat. I haven't seen anything like it here though... so maybe it isn't such a good idea.

I guess I just had to say it out loud to realize how crazy the whole thing is! It does make me happy though to be able to write it down and put it out there. 

I embrace my weirdness! 

crocheted cushions

There's been so much going on around lately that I don't even remember most of the things I want to blog about!

The weather has been so nice, we have spent most of the time outside on our little backyard! 

Pekka and I spend most of little S's naps there, enjoying the sun and reading peacefully while the baby sleeps... It's been awesome!

Although little S keeps me super busy all day long, I've managed to find some "me" time. If I'm not reading you can find me crocheting... here are some pics of my latest project.

I must confess I have developed an addiction to granny squares... just last night I started a granny stripe blanket to go with my cushions!

Hope you enjoy!

let's keep it simple

As much as I love to sit down and admire lovely and wonderful blogs, I sometimes get overwhelmed by all the amazingness out there and wish design glimpse could get a little (or a very big) upgrade.  –Sigh-

And then I land back into reality. Santi is trying to get control of the keyboard, the mouse and everything else his little hands can reach…. Seriously, try to keep a 15 month old still while you try to figure out how to write a code (I believe that is how they’re called) to make your blog look nice.  It is not easy at all!! Then add my OCD to the mix and somehow I end up sitting on the floor coloring with little S and trying really hard not to get upset about my blog.

This has been how I have spent the last few days:

I’m trying to blog and upgrade design glimpse. Santi wants to sit on my lap and type or use the mouse or grab a pen or just do whatever a 15 month old can do with a computer. I put Santi on the floor and bring lots of toys for him to play. Pekka gets frustrated nobody is throwing her rat at her so she can play and starts barking. Pekka ends up sitting behind the safety gate at the stairs. Santi is walking all around the place carrying things from one room to the other. My computer is about to go to sleep and I’m still staring at my blog’s “template” design page trying to figure out how to make it work. .... It’s never ending.

So I’m keeping it very simple and I will not worry about the template, the codes and whatever else I was worrying about.

Besides nothing beats coloring with little S! (Even Pekka is starting to like that activity and she sits next to us and takes little naps while we are just having fun.)

ps. I've been working on some crochet cushions for my bedroom... I'll post pictures soon!

Little S's Elmo's first birthday party

Although Santi's bday party was three months ago... I'm posting some pictures of all the food and decor we (the hubs and I) made for him and his little friends.

I got many ideas from Pinterest, and I'm adding the links here.

Elmo Cake Pops 

Food and table setting 

Birthday Hat

Tissue Paper Pom Poms

Hope you enjoy!

Red and white polka dots... oh! and Elmo

This week little S turns one!!!! I can't believe it... it's been so fast. He is no longer a little baby!

We have been crazy busy planning his birthday, of course it is an ELMO themed party! What else could it be?

Since I want to do everything myself, there are some things that need practice like cake pops... so here is pic of our first try at Elmo Cake Pops!  

I followed bakerella's instructions. You can find them here. She has the most AWESOME ideas ever!!!!

Oh!!! and I also did this little hat for the birthday boy! It still needs some work done, when everything is ready I'll share more pics!

I found a super cute tutorial on how to make your own birthday hat! You can find it here.

Have an awesome week!!!

(I can't believe he is turning 1 on Wednesday!)

spring is here!!!

We went to Ikea on Saturday to buy some shelves, but it just seems impossible to stick to my budget when I go there... we bought the shelves, and got a little something for S's room!

We had some friends over on Sunday. It was Renee's birthday and they brought a yummy carrot cake...

There's still some left, I might just go get a little piece and a cup of tea! 

It's been so nice, sunny and warm the last couple of days and that makes me very happy!

keep on bloggin'

For the last couple of months I've been trying to decide if I should keep design glimpse or not.

I kept thinking, and thinking, and thinking about it. I still couldn't make up my mind. 

Yes, I enjoy blogging. Yes, I like to share. No, I'm not good at being constant about it. 

So should I or shouldn't I continue with this project? ... decisions, decisions.

Yesterday, as I was unloading the dishwasher, I was making a mental list of things I want to post on the blog... and then I got my answer. I haven't blogged in like forever but I have a little notebook (yes, I'm the kind of girl that carries a Moleskine and a pen everywhere) full of ideas for the blog. 

Some doodles and silly things I like to draw just because!

Yes. I will continue blogging. 

I like it, it makes me happy, and it gives me a sense of accomplishment.

a dino-hat for S

Life can definitely get a bit crazy with a wee one around the house... specially when he starts crawling!! But we have managed to survive and also have some "free" time to crochet a bit.

I saw a super cute "dino spike crochet pattern" on Pinterest and of course I had repin it to my never ending lists of things I want for the little one. 

The pattern was only for the spikes, so I started looking for a baby hat with ear flaps and ended up finding this amazing baby crochet monkey hat (which is next on my baby to-do list).

I added a bit of my own to the patterns, specially since I had my little model around. It was way easier this way, I tried the hay on him several times until I was completely happy with the results and then went on to crocheting the spikes! They were easy and I decided to make a little one and three of the same size, just because I thought it looked cute!

So here are the pics

Here are the links to the spikes and the baby hat patterns.

So, what do you think?  (I think he looks adorable! the hubs thinks he looks like a little hooligan... hahaha)

almost thanksgiving

I can not believe it's been almost two years now since I started blogging!

Having this project has been amazing and I have enjoyed everything I've done and posted on the blog so far! 

Thanks to all of you who read and follow the blog, I really enjoy sharing my thoughts, ideas and projects with others.

Have a great weekend everyone!! 

welcome to S's room

I have finally managed to take some pictures of the nursery… It has been lots of fun to start working on his room, specially trying to display all the special things I got for him from my friends and family!

a little bumble bee hanging above his crib... my sister did this cutie (and the rest of the mobiles creatures)

S doesn’t know it but his room has a lot of “hand-made” things made especially for him, which is what I like most about his room! All those owls, mobiles and little details that remind me of my friends back in Vancouver (I miss you a lot guys!).

Here are some pictures I've been working on. I will post more pictures when the room is completely ready… it is still missing a couple of things… I want to print some family pictures, frame them and hang them over his crib… and I’m also working on a garland I want to put on his closet doors… and lots of other things that I will eventually do.

I love the colors of the bedding... what I like the most is that owl's hair!

my sister and I worked on this mobile... she did the stuffed animals... I did the display! (she's awesome!)

we found this amazing rug 2 weeks ago.. the colors work perfect with Cheryl's  painting!

Cheryl's mobile close-up

All kinds of owls for Santi! (thanks Cheryl... he loves the painting)

Cheryl sent me some pics of the process for the owls! How amazing!!! (she's so talented)

Cheryl's mobile and owls for the baby!

  

The baby shower owls and a special little guy Cailin made for Santi and I! (thanks Cailin!)

 For now I hope you like what I've been doing with his room!

** special thanks to everyone who has made Santi's room possible... thanks for taking the time to do such lovely things for him! I truly appreciate all your talent and hard work! xoxo**