Screen Printing

It's always been a dream of mine to incorporate a retail component to my design business.  Worboys Design launched an online shop late last year as a place to find fun prints and cards as well as a holiday subscription box.  I loved working on this with my team but always felt it was lacking that "special" element.  

So, we closed up shop last Friday to spend the day at a private screen printing workshop and I think we're all hooked...

It was an awesome day with an even more awesome team!  Keep an eye out for adult and children's apparel, prints, cards, bags and whatever else we can get our hands on. WD Shop coming soon!!

Repurposed Birthday Cards

I think I'm a hoarder.

I have such a hard time throwing away the sweet little cards that Winslow has received over the years.  There's a part of me that thinks she'll have fun looking at and reading through them when she's able to.  Mother of the year, right?!  To prove to my hubby that I do not, in fact, have hoarding tendencies, I threw all but a couple away.  And I've FINALLY figured out what to do with them.  I picked up 16 two dollar frames from Ikea, threw a deer head into the mix and voila!

Anything to pass the time waiting for Baby Girl #2.  We're ready to meet you, girlfriend!

Hoo Loves You?

There's nothing like waiting till the last minute to figure out what to do for your 2 year old's class for Valentine's day :) Luckily Winslow and her BFF were up for crafting this evening...

Pretty darn cute.  Yes, that's embossed.  Because when you purchase an embossing gun, everything in sight gets embossed.

Happy Heart Day!

A serious treat.

If you know me, you know I have a serious sweet tooth.  It's a problem.  So, it's been really hard cutting out gluten and processed sugar completely from my diet. Until these little nuggets came into my life…

Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Cups

1/2 cup Natural Almond Butter (homemade or store-bought)

2 tbsp Grade B maple syrup

1/2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract

1/4 tsp Sea Salt

7 oz Dark Chocolate (at least 70% cacao)

In a small bowl, stir together the almond butter, maple syrup, vanilla extract and salt until smooth.  Place in freezer while you make the chocolate coating.

Finely chop the chocolate.  Place in a double boiler or a pot of simmering water with a heat proof bowl resting over top, making sure the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl.  Heat over medium-low heat until chocolate is melted, stirring occasionally.

Place 12 mini cupcake liners in a mini cupcake tin or use rubber molds (I found mine at Ikea for $1). Spool one teaspoon of melted chocolate into each liner or mold.  Take the almond butter filling and scoop out 1 teaspoon, forming into a ball, then flatten.  Place in the center of the melted chocolate and cover with another teaspoon of melted chocolate, or until covered.  Top with cacao nibs or coarse sea salt.  Place in the fridge to set.

So easy and seriously delicious.  I try to keep my fridge and office stocked with these so I never feel tempted to go for the bad stuff!

Photo Journal | Our girl is 2!

My sissy's birthday was today and she inspired Winslow's Pony Party, so this post is sort of perfect :)

Our sweet little lady turned 2 (still can't believe it!) and we celebrated this past Saturday with ponies, donkeys, spiked cider and donuts.  Winslow woke up to ponies waiting for her in the front yard and her friends joined her shortly after.  Her reaction was just priceless!

We took it easy on ourselves this year.  None of the up till midnight prepping food the night before.  We brewed up some cider, picked up donuts and called it a day.  The only decorations were a couple dozen pink and orange balloons and fresh flowers.  Done and done.  It was so nice to be able to enjoy the day instead of run around like a crazy person!  And of course, having all of our dear friends join us made it absolutely perfect :)

If you're in the Denver area, I would highly recommend Pony Rides USA for all of your pony riding needs :)  

Andrew Belle.

Think... Coldplay meets Bon Iver.  That's a pretty bold comparison, but Andrew Belle was that good.

I can't remember exactly how I stumbled upon his music, but I started listening to it in/to/from the office and around the house.  When I looked up his tour dates, he just so happened to be playing at The Walnut Room, a teeny tiny venue in Denver, just a couple weeks away.  So I snagged a couple tickets as an anniversary gift for hubs and then dragged along some other friends (you're welcome Zinks!) out to see him play last night.  I felt like I was watching a younger Chris Martin hopping from guitar to piano, belting out well written lyrics, in his cool tone.  Such a great show.

My playlists go from Eric Church to Justin Beiber to Cali Swag District, so I can't always be trusted, but I assure you, Andrew Belle is worth a download.

Favorite song...

Pieces

You and me
Got ourselves a problem
I can see this
Better than I solve em

I believed
I found a way around it
I will leave
This better than I found it

There's too much smoke to see it
There's too much broke to feel this
Well I love you, I love you
And all of your pieces


There's too much smoke to see it
There's too much broke to feel this
Well I love you, I love you
And all of your pieces

 

History's a letter made of scarlet

Victories look better when you've called it

Misery's the moment when I lost you

It's pleasure in a costume

It's more than what it cost you

There's too much smoke to see it
There's too much broke to feel this
Well I love you, I love you
And all of your pieces

There's too much smoke to see it
There's too much broke to feel this
Well I love you, I love you
And all of your pieces

And all of your pieces

There's too much smoke to see it
There's too much broke to feel this
Well I love you, I love you
And all of your pieces

There's too much smoke to see it
There's too much broke to feel this
Well I love you, I love you
And all of your pieces

{ Photo Credit: andrewbelle.com }

The. Best.

Could there actually be anything better than an anniversary gift made by your 23 month old?! Doubtful.

It was topped off with, "Look!!  Present for you!  By myself!" when I walked in the door.  Proud lil Boo.

The. Best.

Winslow's nanny couldn't be more sweet and thoughtful.  SO THANKFUL for her!

Home Updates.

Holy forever it's been since I've posted to this poor blog.  I love it for so many reasons, so I'm going to try to get back at it!

Life has been absolutely crazy.  Just insane.  In mostly good ways, of course.  I've taken on some really fun & challenging new design projects, started working with an amazing new designer, have had family visits, traveled to see some dear friends, decorated the house, started Winslow in swim class, started exercising again... oh my goodness, the list goes on and on but I will spare you.

With all that is on my plate, we're still settling into our new home and working on projects here and there.  Since the first couple months were spent amongst the contractors painting and repairing and ripping up and installing, I don't think we had 30 seconds to stop and realize how incredibly lucky we are to call this home ours.  After searching for 7 months, we found her and she's absolutely perfect.  So, so blessed.

A couple updates to the house...

Added a mantel.

The living room fireplace before we covered the sweet little cut out with a TV (broke my heart but Hubbs HAD to have it!) and added the gas fireplace (because this icebox was built in 1918 )...

After, with the TV and fireplace...

Oh, Mr. Fireplace installer, we need a mantel to prevent the TV from melting?!  Thanks for the heads up.  Does cardboard work?  And yes, that's The Notebook :)

So thankful to have a friend like Travis at Reclaimed Design Works to help us pick out our mantel.  Such a cool showroom, I could hang out there all day, dreaming of ways to cover our home in this stuff!

We wanted something that wasn't wimpy but would fit in the small space under the TV and not take away from the tile work.  Here she is, off an old barn in Upstate NY :)  In all her glory... love, love love!

Built a walk-in closet.

The master bedroom had a beautiful sitting room off the bathroom, surrounded by windows and bright sunlight...  So beautiful.

BUT it only gave us a 4x4 closet to share.  Obvi that wasn't going to work!  So we closed up the wall to that teeny tiny closet and combined it with Winslow's room to create a bigger walk in for her.  Because every 1 year old needs a walk in closet, ha.  We threw down some carpet and designed a shelving layout that would work in that space while still allowing some sunlight to come through...

I love this space so much it's ridiculous...

Cozied up the breakfast nook.

Our kitchen is white.  Very white.  White walls, white marble counters, open white shelves, white chandelier.  And we love it!  But the breakfast nook, where we surprisingly eat a lot of meals, and its white cafe curtains, white bench and white chairs needed some coziness.

Nothing a thick grey/white striped cushion and bright pillows couldn't handle!

Custom cushions - Denver Upholstery | Pillows - West Elm

Next on the list... landscaping, putting up some artwork and decorating the basement.  Oye!


We already have so many special memories in the short 7 months we've been here, I can't WAIT to see what else goes down in this place!