"me" time...

i value the importance of spending time with myself, and i'm not afraid to say it!  as much as i love being a wife and a mom, it is one of the things that i learned to indulge in from time to time to create balance in my life.  it is as important as date nights with my mister, and dates with my kiddos too!

i miss painting on canvas, spending hours layering paints.  unfortunately, time is often taken up by more important things (see photo above).  so yesterday, i decided to do some nail art for fun!   i found this tutorial from michelle of the laquer files.  i don't wear animal prints, so i decided to dress my nails with it!  plus the added bonus of painting, but my nails as the canvas!!! the best reason:  it was quick!

so here are my leopard pattern inspired nails in turquoise, lime green, and black / dark teal: 

here are the colors i used:

dark teal - ski teal we drop, OPI
turquoise - ocean love potion, sephora by OPI
lime green - gargantuan green grape, OPI
black - black onyx, OPI (no photo)


i used black polish instead of the dark teal to make the pattern pop against the lime green.  you can use the dark teal for a more subtle look!

life gets quite hectic sometimes, what do you do for yourself?

have a great week!
xo, carla

the 4 year old & the 2 month old

hello everyone,

it's been a long time since i posted here in the blogitty-blog...  i miss all of you.  i hope you are all doing well.  my littles are giving me some free time at the moment to post a photo (one's napping and the other is watching a movie) - so i will!  we did a photo session this morning.  here's a favorite of mine among the bunch:

i found this amazing blog through pinterest called, young house love.  i am absolutely in love with this blog, created by sherry petersik!  she writes about her life, filled with love, and renovations too.  they also featured 52 photos of their daughter, clara (one for every week of the year) - which is the inspiration for this photo.  it was such an amazing idea, that i had to attempt to take one at least every month for a year of both kiddos.  it was also very generous of sherry to share the process and tips of doing your own shoot!  so, thank you sherry!!!  maybe, this will be a new tradition every month for as long as i can do it...

hope you have an inspiring week!
xoxo,
carla

our lil' man turns four!

it's amazing how time flies...  i can't believe that dom is already 4 years old!  he is such a great big brother to his new sister, solana.  he makes us laugh everyday, and is growing up to be a wonderful lil' man.  we are so proud of him, and love him wholeheartedly. 

happy 4th birthday dominic!

always,
mom, dad, and solana

card love: buntings and landscape

i wanted to sneak in just one more post...  i wanted to share some cards that i made today.  lil' man and i had a few hours of arts and crafts.  we played with some play doh, he cut some paper with scissors and my tonic cutter, he also learned how to use wood mounted rubber stamps.  we even sang along with the songs on the radio.  basically, it was a perfect day...

here's lil' man's stamping work

here are the cards that i made today:

bunting cards

bunting card detail - i love the button brads!

landscape card (front) - inspired by a design from paper crafts magazine.

landscape card (inside)

handmade stamp and my name :)

well, i'm off to have a baby tomorrow morning...

have a great weekend!!!
xo, carla

2 more days...

two more days, until solana's arrival! 

i just wanted to let you know that this could possibly be one of my last posts in a while.  i'll be in hiatus until our precious new cargo and i are settled at home.  my c-section is on friday, 29th of april, at 9 am...  i'll be in the hospital for up to 4 days. lil' man will be with my mister's parents - i'm going to miss him while we're at the hospital.

i will post a photo of our newest as soon as i get a chance and share our journey as a family of four with you - and it will be a busy and exciting journey, for sure!

i'll leave you with some cute custom portraits i found on etsy:

custom portraits from thepapermama (thanks to TART for introducing me to her work)

custom digital portrait by ohrobinwhite

custom hand embroidered family portrait by marysgranddaughter

custom portrait by nan lawson

custom carved rubber stamps by kozue

custom pop art portrait by superstudio

custom illustrated portrait by umbrellaclassics

don't you just love these portraits?  if you know of any artists that sell custom portraits, leave a link on the comment box, i love discovering new works...

happy blogging and reading, i'll be back before you know it!
xo, carla