We are expecting baby #2 around February 17th!

I am extremely excited, but still sick…hoping that it fades super soon. That is a big reason why my shop had been closed so long the beginning of the summer. I will be taking another big break right after Christmas, until sometime after the baby is born.

Check out my flickr for baby bump photos. I’ll be updating them before every dr appointment. It’s kind of ridiculous how much I popped already but I suppose since this is my second baby that’s normal.

Our big ultrasound is in five weeks…I can’t wait!!

I am so excited to share these adorable photos from our shoot with Caitlin Domanico!!

We got a few of Cash too

I am SO happy with these photos!!!! I’ve added them to my etsy listings, and you can view the full album on my facebook fan page. Caitlin was just AMAZING to work with. She is super friendly, high energy, and just awesome with kids. She really just exceeded all of my expectations. I highly recommend her!!!

It’s been a busy summer. I am exhausted! But I am still plugging away. It’s great to be busy, I’ve just been feeling a bit overwhelmed lately.

Here is a little sneak peek of my studio makeover. I finally got around to taking more pictures!

You can see the rest of the photos on my facebook fan page.

I have a big update coming next week but I haven’t posted so long so I thought I should. Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

I came across this pie recipe on Posie Gets Cozy, one of my most favorite blogs. I bookmarked it, hoping that I’d get a chance to make it this summer for one of the many get togethers we’d be attending.

I also got to make use of my new apple peeler/corer/slicer- that thing freaking rules!!

Anyway, the pie was awesomely delicious, and perfect for summer. I made it twice so far, and will be looking for any excuse to make it again.

I am still alive. I’ve just been all over the place!

Two weeks ago we spent a long weekend up at our mountain house, and while we were there, Nikki and Trav had their bridal shower party. I made this apron for Nikki, using the Emmeline pattern from Sew Liberated (click for larger photo). Super cute apron, and I will definitely be making my own. I have a stash of the midnight snack fabric I’ve been saving that will be perfect for it!

After we got home from the mountains, Cash and I got ready to leave again early Monday morning. We went down to Virginia Beach to watch my amazing cousin Jess play in the USA Field Hockey tournament, then afterwards down to our beach house in Corolla, NC.

It was ridiculously HOT the entire time, which meant lots and lots of pool time. Cash was re-introduced to the beach and the ocean, both of which he wasn’t really into. It was kind of funny, he wouldn’t walk in the sand because it was uneven and I think it was freaking him out. Once he got to the sand down near the ocean he was happier cause it was solid there.

Once we got home from NC, we went off to Jersey for a friend’s wedding, came home the next day and went down to Baltimore to see my brother’s last regular season football game. It was really sad, actually, how nasty the fans there were. It was unbelievable and sickening. Trav played his heart out, and he actually ended up playing defense AND offense, coming in at fullback. It’s sad that the season is over, but we had a blast watching him, as always!

In other news, my studio is nearing completion. I’ve begun moving in, out of necessity, but it still needs trim, shelves, and my dad is making me a new sewing table & an ironing table! My shop is still closed, until I can get things back in order.

Hope everyone has an awesome weekend!

I took a couple shots at the playground yesterday- and had some fun playing around with editing them in photoshop. This year I really wanted to take more advantage of my awesome camera and teach myself a little bit more about editing. I have no intention of becoming any sort of photographer, but I’d like to get better at it. You can check out the rest of the photos here.

Things have been kinda crazy over here.

My diaper covers are now being carried by VIX Emporium in West Philly, which is totally awesome. Emily (the owner) is also a fellow cloth diapering mama!! I’m very excited to be a part of the shop, and hopefully meet some new people along the way. While I was there dropping off covers, I picked up this adorable knitted/crocheted cupcake pincushion and some soaps for mother’s day gifts. If you are in the area, make sure to stop by!

We hosted a Mother’s Day get together last Sunday, which was fun but stressful. Justin and I then left to go see Say Anything in Lancaster=amazing! It was my second time seeing them (first being last november) but they played a bunch of different songs. It was a great show, even though standing for 4+ hours straight after being up since 6am was quite exhausting.

In other awesome news, Cash has said bye bye to day time diapers! Yes- he is now telling us when he has to go and staying dry during naptimes, or getting up when he has to go. Accidents still happen sometimes, of course, but I am so proud of all the progress he has made. And quite sick of all the criticism, unwanted advice, and unsupportive comments. My family has been super supportive and awesome about it- others, not so much. I know it doesn’t really matter what other people think, it just makes me sad to hear the subtle jabs and backhanded comments about it. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised at all though- I’ve been hearing them for awhile about many of our parenting choices, especially the cloth diapering. But that’s just what they are: OUR choices, NOT anyone else’s, and I wouldn’t change anything we have done.

Tonight we are going to prime the studio. I have a small amount of my necessary things (sewing machine/cutting table/snap press/fabrics/notions) in our back room for the time being while we work on finishing up the studio and its been frustrating because its one big giant mess. I drew up a floor plan for all of my ideas on shelving and organization- I’m soooooo excited for it!! I also splurged yesterday and bought a brand new sewing machine. I really needed one. My current machine does the trick fine but I wanted something with a stronger motor and a little more heavy duty. So my old machine will serve as back up (something else I really needed!).

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

When we first moved into this house, my studio was in what is now Cash’s bedroom (our smallest bedroom). When I found out I was pregnant, we moved everything into our back guest room. But I had to share the space with our “office” & guest bed. Needless to say it was a tight squeeze and I knew it wouldn’t be a permanent space for me.

Last year, towards the end of the summer, I decided to take advantage of the space we had in the basement. When you go down stairs in our house (a ranch house, by the way), we have a big finished family room (our Eagles room), a sizeable laundry room, then a large room in the back that is the size of our two upstairs bedrooms. It’s all waterproofed, and half of that storage space was partially finished with some drywall. This was where I moved my stuff. It’s an awesome spot, SO much space, all my own, but not finished, had bad lighting and always looks messy.

This weekend my awesome FIL & hubby worked their butts off on my studio- making it into a “real” room. We split the room in half, building a wall and framing out a door, so that my studio and our storage space is separate. My FIL also installed electricity, outlets, and put up lighting fixtures that I found at IKEA. And now, the room has a ceiling!!

We still have to paint (this weekend) and put in some sort of floor (in the next few weeks), so its still a work in progress. My dad is going to build me some shelves (definitely taking advantage of the wall space!), and I am going to turn an old wooden table into a large ironing table. And I am trying to come up with other creative ways to display and store my tools. If anyone has ANY ideas, please let me know!! You can see the rest of the progress photos here.

So I’m looking at my blog and realizing its been about a month since I last posted! Oops…
Well here’s a mini update of what’s been going on around here…

My diaper cover business has gotten busy- which is amazing and I am so grateful and excited about it. It is awesome to think of all the babies that will be sporting their brookieBABY covers this year! I also started offering snap closures on my covers- I needed to get some more use out of my snap press and I know there are lots of people who prefer snaps to velcro.

This past weekend I did my first craft show of the year, Crafty Balboa April Showers. It was in South Philadelphia at the Passyunk Fountain. The forecast was cloudy, but it ended up being a gorgeous sunny day and there were so many people there. It was a great turn out! You can check out photos of my booth here.

brookiellen designs is also going to be represented by Hello Bluebird at Art Star Craft Bazaar on May 15-16th at Penn’s Landing. She will be selling my diaper covers, snack and sandwich baggies and handbags. If you are in the area make sure to stop by and say hi to Alex!

This weekend my hubby and FIL are going to be redoing my studio- currently it is a partially finished space but after this weekend it will be an actual room with great lighting! I am SO excited! I am going to make it exactly how I want it, which is good and bad because I am having trouble coming up with creative storage ideas and other ways to decorate it. I will be sure to post before and after shots of this huge and awesome project.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Sometimes the simplest phrases can be so incredibly powerful…motivational…and encouraging. They keep reminding me of what’s important and that life is precious-and that everything WILL be ok…
(click for larger photo)

clockwise from left:
Today Is The Day Watercolor print by Stephanie Corfee
Everything Is Going To Be Ok postcard by PleaseBeStill
Cape & Tiara Journal by Curly Girl Design