Craft in Style

Valentine crafts~ mini treats

2012-01-26T18:45:00.000+02:00

I'm sorry, but I'm trying to stash as many posts as possible today especially that the girls went to visit their grandparents alone which gave me some time to blog, take a long hot bath and dress to attend a friend's wedding!! yaaay for grandmas and grand pas!!!!
Sarah is still on her midterm vacation she'll return back to school life in 10 days, I hope that'll spare me more time for crafting... so today we did those mini treat bags for her classmates and teachers, filled them with candy ( I'm glad she didn't eat the whole bags) and then made a few punches and tied them on the treat bags.
They look so cute and perfect for valentines... I hope that gave you an Idea for your kids as well!

my craft room reveal~

2012-01-26T18:13:00.000+02:00

It is pretty much the same post except that the shelving unit has glass designer doors now and more wall shelves, not to forget the little additional table in the play area (which still needs chairs) and the little pink couch for Sarah when she wants to imitate her mommy and read!

Below are the pictures before the frosted glass doors, you might wonder why the doors? well it's because I live in a semi-desert country and there is a lot of dust in the air. Who wants to end up cleaning this amount of shelves on daily basis!

Every thing in this room is custom made except for the couches. It's a girly world isn't it!! I love love love it so much! Thanks for the hubby who finally did it for me the way I want it... and nagging works ;)

corners of my home~ dining table edition

2012-01-25T18:31:00.000+02:00

I took the chance to take some snaps for my dining table before our guests had arrived, so here you can see the combination of wood and blues and whites~ I finally took the leap and purchased this vintigi look mirror~

and of course the yummy food!! don't get me wrong I'm not bragging or anything, just had to share the picture after all the effort ;P

Also below is a painting that I've just finished, It feels so good when you accessorize your home with your own creations, that's what makes it so special and full of stories to tell once you invite your friends or family...

And finally one of my blog readers left me a comment asking me to share a picture of the dressing room makeover; this area was somehow empty with no function at all we customized a built in closet a box/ bench and added a strong lighting unit to bring life to the dead space!
I hope you like it and got some ideas for your home...

scent of a woman journal

2012-01-18T13:00:00.000+02:00

These are the journals that I mentioned in my previous post~ It was inspired from "fashion design" please note that all art work is original and created by me~

Dear Diary~

2012-01-16T18:36:00.002+02:00

It's so weird to type the date of the year 2012 and it's even weirder to think that my baby is two days shy from being nine months old! where did my newborn go?!!!
Maya is so funny and happy most of the time but she really hates to dress nicely or to wear headbands and sassy hats, this girl gives me the hardest time while photographing her with some cute hair accessories unlike her big sister Sarah she is a girly girl by all means, but the thing with Sarah is that she doesn't like to smile for the camera! She laughs a lot but when the camera lens is pointed in her direction she just freaks out and frown!
I was supposed to be photographing a customer's baby today and because I rely on natural lighting in my photography and due to the bad weather during last week we agreed to cancel the appointment yesterday; surprisingly the weather was so beautiful and sunny today so I ended up shooting the kiddos instead!

And Sarah~
She is almost four, she is my biggest entertainer these days, sometimes I feel that my heart is jumping from it's place just hearing her talk about her feelings and about what's right and wrong or telling her baby sissy fictional stories about two little sisters who happen to love each other more than anyone else...

The highlight of my days is when I think that my mom will arrive in less than a week from the united states she has been there for almost two months now, I figured how I miss her when she is not around, mommies are really special and important even when they bug you at some issues you just keep missing them and their nagging!
Oh well this is what I was doing today; edit pictures and play with the girls, cooked and finished two lovely journals I've been working on last week I'll post about them later on~

goodbye 2011 and hello 2012

2012-01-02T13:34:00.004+02:00

So instead of only posting pictures of my latest creation I thought it might be fun to answer this tag which no one has tagged me in!!! I just read it and wanted to fill it up!

So here it goes~

1. What did youdo in 2011 that you’d never done before?
I became a mother of two little ones.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for thisyear?
I was so proud of myself when I saw almost all of my last year's resolutions accomplished; they were mainlyhouse renovations and self and family improvement points. And it made me wantto create an even bigger list for this year.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Me! and SO many others!!!

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No.

5. What countries did you visit?
Honestly we haven’t had the chance to go anywhere last year but maybe we’llmake it up this year!

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
Quality time with the family, mmm maybe more money!!

7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
April 19th, 2011, the birth of my beautiful baby girl, Maya Wahbeh!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Had another baby, manage between my work and my family, and not to forget my SLRcamera J

9. What was your biggest failure?
Saving money!

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Just the pregnancy and the delivery day nightmare.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
My SLR camera, the customized craft room furniture and the built in closet in themaster bedroom.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Both my girls are so merit and happy, sometimes they loose the spirit due toshortage of sleep or hungry stomach but they are really cheerful!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
I’d rather not discuss that in blog world J

14. Where did most of your money go?
House renovations and new wordrops for me and the girls :P

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Becoming a family of four.

16. Compared to this time last year, are you:
– happier or sadder? Happier :)
– thinner or fatter? Thinner - NOT pregnant anymore :)
– richer or poorer? Let’s just say that I’m more satisfied with my life style!

17. What do you wish you’d done more of?
family quality time.

18. What do you wish you’d done less of? 
Junk food!

19. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Hate is a big word, and you need to get hurt from people you love so much inorder to hate them due to a series of disappointments~ but Thank godthose I truly love never hurt me~

20. What did you want and get?
Maya I guess!

21. What did you want and not get?
Huge orders, but I didn’t have the time for that anyway!

22. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 30 ...silly right!! Spent a wonderful time with my hubby on adouble birthday date J

23. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?
More stylish and comfy for a mom of two.

24. What kept you sane?
My mother helping me with the girls.

25. Who did you miss?
My grandma and overseas cousins. And best friend Nida’a

26. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011. 
don’t try to impress anyone and change who you are, just be yourself and trustyourself.

it's the last day of the year!

2011-12-31T12:03:00.001+02:00

Yesterday we took the kiddos for an outdoor fun day; we headed to the dead sea the weather was pretty good, not hot not cold so appropriate for kids! My brother and his family joined us, it's really great that baby Maya and baby Faris are oh so alert of their surroundings~ they really enjoyed seeing nice views and people!

I snapped this picture of Faris before we left he was staring at me in a way that says (what the hell is she doing to me??!)

Maya is sitting under the tree at my parents house~

Here are a few of my favorite pictures yesterday~

Happy Holidays everyone and best wishes for 2012

editing pictures & sick babies

2011-12-20T19:15:00.000+02:00

If my mom saw this post she would probably fight me for posting more and new pictures for the girls :P she really hates when I do this "share their pictures online!!"
But in my diffidence I like to post about my new photography and editing levels, I also like to document bits and pieces of my life here on my blog so when I look back in time I see when and where and what I have been doing~
The girls were sick for the last few days and today I didn't send Sasa to school instead we stayed home all day~ eating watching cartoon and playing with some toys, then I played with some photo shoots for the girls and they were both uncooperative so those were the most decent ones to share...

And this is what I was dealing with behind the scenes!!

Everyday life and a free owl printable~

2011-12-16T10:35:00.000+02:00

I gathered some miscellaneous photos from last week to give you an idea what we've been up to!
Sarah and I have made a cute Christmas tree for her class room, the good thing is that everybody loved how simple yet beautiful it turned out~
all you need to do is gather some scrapbooking paper of gift wrappers, roll them in different widths and glue them together horizontally to form the tree! Then ofcourse embellish your "master" creation with a star on top of the tree :))

You might wonder how I find time to work?? well this picture speaks for itself ;)

And last but not least, my love for owls just keeps on growing, I was inspired to create an owl art work on a vintage dictionary paper, and for my loyal followers I created this free printable stationary owl paper... If you are new to this blog welcome and feel free to enjoy this printable too~

Right click on image and open in a new tab to enlarge it

corners of our home~

2011-12-14T21:38:00.002+02:00

Well here -as usual- I'm sharing with you guys some new "stuff" that I got for the house :)
I'm so happy and satisfied with every single item that I got starting with the photo frame cluster in my formal living room, you can check out the entire space here
Below is a vintage elephant sculpted table which was made in India, this was a gift from my parents since they know I'm quite the unique and vintage furniture collector!!

And ofcourse the living room is screaming for a makeover; you might think "what the hell is she talking about it looks great!" but pictures deceive; the couch isn't as red as it looks in the pictures!

And finally the new side lamp for my craft room~ my favorite item so far ;)

Thanks for stopping by! have a wonderful evening or morning wherever you are~

the type of music in my house these days!

2011-12-14T11:29:00.000+02:00

So these are the most played songs in my house recently the girls love them a lot..
Baby girl is quite the dancer and baby sissy is the gigglier and (tiptoe dancer)!
Have a wonderful time readers~

A journal and my morning coffee~

2011-12-12T12:09:00.001+02:00

I was talking tomy cousin Sarab a few days ago on Skype and she showed me a nice journal thatshe purchased with a vintage damask felt cover. To be honest- I was a little “jealous” sinceI’m a journal girl myself and a lover of vintage prints~ so I decided that it’smy chance to get creative and create a handmade journal for myself to fillthrough the upcoming year…

Now, beside thedamask printed cover I wanted the colors to be neutral; different from the styleI’ve been known by with all the fun bright colors, so here in this journal I used the colors ofnature; blue which resembles the sky, green for the plants, brown for the earth andyellow for the sun, I confess, it’s a new style for me but I’m really lov’in!!

Here in

Jordan

we don’thave a wide variety of beautiful stationary in general and if some shops happento have nice things they are way too expensive, but nothing industrial iscompared to handmade ~ right??

Its part of who I am to write down my new year’s resolutions in the beginning of each year and start accomplishing them whether they were {to buy, to fix, to create, to participate, to blog, to focus, to organize, to teach, ~~to read~~~ well not that much with this last one but I hope I’ll manage to read more books and novels this year}…

Any way I’ll leave you with some images of my new journal for 2012

If you want to order one please feel free to contact me~

it's December again!

2011-12-06T11:49:00.000+02:00

I know I write this a lot~ but is it just me or does everyone feel that time is R.E.A.L.L.Y flying!!!!!
Last year by this time I was five months pregnant with baby Maya, and now I see her giggling and running around the house with her babywalker as I have known her forever! Thank God for everything~

Growing up I have always appreciated this time of the year with all it's bright and blinky beauty and joy, I love how vintage is now the "new" trend world wide... I also admire using Christmas colors away from the usual green and red ornaments, here I've gathered a few beautiful vintage Christmas photos with the colors that I love~

pictures are linked to the sources

Me and sasa, or let's just say that she sat politely and watched me making some Christmas cards for her teachers :)
I took the pictures below today while she was at school.

and here is what the little mischievous one was doing while I was taking pictures!

creativity through my lens~

2011-11-30T21:30:00.001+02:00

So I made this frame for my craft room, I painted it light purple and I designed this nice saying which is really inspiring~ As you can see I got carried away with how I was going to present it here on my blog and ended up having a cute photo session with baby sissy (Mia!)

Here is the frame before the make over, it used to be brown and boring!

And here it is now :))

And ofcourse because I'm so fond of black and white pictures~

If you like this word art you can create one yourself by printing this!

coming soon

2011-11-27T22:16:00.001+02:00

Thank you for all the sweet comments and lovely thoughts on my previous posts, I'm really happy that I have such wonderful readers and good friends :)) below is an example on some cute card designs I've been working on, I still need to print package and make nice combinations before lunching my card line designs...
If you have any comments, suggestions or ideas please feel free to share I'd love to hear them!

And below is a free printable card for you guys!

(right click and open in new tab for full size)

Enjoy~

My Craft Room/ Home Office~ In Progress

2011-11-21T15:32:00.001+02:00

** Check out the final look here**
This is the "long waited" post about my craft room makeover... I really don't have the guts to post pictures before the makeover cause it was pretty much an ugly small desk with so many re-purposed boxes that has my crafting materials on one side of the room and the other side was an extra closet and the third side was another ugly dark wooden desk with a very old PC... okay enough about that!
My new craft room isn't quite ready the shelving unit has frosted glass doors with a transparent flowery graphical theme , got the idea?? -If not stay tuned for "craft room makeover" post number two!-
My husband had one customized especially for me, it'll arrive by the end of this week :)
Also I bough a cute clock online still waiting for it to arrive. The walls are pretty much empty I have so many ideas for them but one step at a time, also there will be a play area for the girls that is still empty for the time being but will be in place and function very soon...
I guess that sums up everything about my craft room/ home office...

Our 7th Anniversary

2011-11-20T16:14:00.000+02:00

I feel old just typing how long I've been married to my sweetheart! Also I can't believe how fast the year comes and goes!!!
Teddy always buy the sweetest cards along with his gifts to me~

And this was the last one~

My cousin/ best friend Sarab wrote me those wonderful words for this occasion.. I really loved them, and kept reading them over and over I wanna share them here so when I look back in the archive through the year I could still read them :)

{May you always be warmed by each other's smile, Always take time to walk and talk a while, Always know deep down you're each other's best friend, And enjoy the kind of love that grows and knows no end. Wishing you an 'always' kind of love!" Happy Anniversary to my favorite couple Rina & Ra'ed!!! Love you!! XO!!!!!!}

It is.........

2011-11-12T14:23:00.001+02:00

So at this very moment, I'm editing/ blogging Maya is sitting in my lap chewing on her worm toy, and Sarah is being so NAUGHTY as usual, I have no idea why was she spitting or more like sucking on my new craft room couch!! then she confessed that she had a little pee accident and then she is hungry then you look in her direction and see her singing & dancing as if nothing she did was wrong and when I'm mad at her she cries and keeps saying sorry mama! this girl gets on my nerve sometimes~I mean; you can't ground her when she apologizes right???
Anyway, I don't know why I wrote about that, I guess I needed to get it out of my system!!

Some people refer to my blog as the "eye candy" isn't that just wonderful :))))
Thank you guys! This is a new order and some pictures of it~

our eid was something like this~

2011-11-10T13:01:00.000+02:00

Hope yours was as great as ours~

Happy Eid~

Faris~ My Nephew

2011-11-03T13:27:00.001+02:00

This is my handsome nephew Faris, he is ten days older than baby Maya~ when they are together, you can't help but watching all the cuteness coming along their way, they always try to communicate through their mysterious language (gaga gugu), my dad always says that it's like watching documentary program on national geography!!

great {D} photography~

2011-11-01T11:54:00.001+02:00

As most of you already know that I L.O.V.E photography and I'm not a professional photographer yet!! I had a thing for photography since my first daughter was born, but my late compact camera didn't help at all with enhancing this hobby of mine.. so I decided to save and save and ..... save till finally I was able to buy a decent SLR ~ Nikon d90 :))
I haven't been practicing at all lately for the shortage of time in my daily routine, I try every now and then to grab it and start shooting.. I hope some day I'll be as good as any professional photographer!

Now getting to the title of this post, this is what I'll be calling my photography line hoping that someday I'll transfer this hobby into a profession.. inshallah~
You might be wondering why am I calling it great D??
Well the most important thing in my life and the source of my inspiration is my daughters.. I owe to them what I've become these days~ I guess that this pretty much sums it up for you guys!
So here are a few snap shots from the other day playing around with new clothes and my dollies :))

P.S.
I've been receiving questions via email about some things,
- My living room is only the fourth picture in my previous post to avoid any confusion I'll dedicate a post and some pictures of it...
- also I'll be adding more printable word art in the future :)
_ And for {Ella Di Toma} what's new in hair accessories fashion, I'll also be talking about that in later posts

Thanks for the inspiration and the nice words you guys :) :)

Color insight~ Red

2011-10-28T10:24:00.000+02:00

Well, hello there!

I’ve been trying to post something here for the last fewdays but every time I try to sit and blog something comes up and I just have towait!! Between the feeds and changing diapers, phone calls and door bells, “mommyplay with me” requests, interesting T.Vshows, laptop malfunctions and so on…

The good news is that we painted almost half of our house,the craft room furniture is in, and the room is starting to see light, we alsocustom made a built in closet in the master bedroom at last!! Pictures will be added soon J

As usual, the new color and source of inspiration for thenew projects and my fashion collection is RED~

It is known that a touch of this color in a certain ambiance adds something extra and spicy to the general theme. The picture below shows myliving room in deep red, even that I’m bored from looking at this couch overthe last five years but still I love to see the color red in interior design!!

I've created this wall art for a customer a while ago, it is red and was placed in a blue living room, the contrast was beautiful...Also the latest trend in jewelry is the eye catching goldpieces decorated with Ruby red gem stones, those are my new purchases forwinter fashion…

It’s funny when we think how the pieces of our life are gathered with some colors; we all have new obsessions from time to time otherwiselife will be so boring and happiness will fade every day little bit more...

half a birthday!

2011-10-28T08:59:00.000+02:00

Maya is six months and counting!! She is a very cute andprecious baby she really brought us and her sister so much joy~ I spare a fewminutes each day to count my blessings and thank God for my beloved family.

Maya;

Celebrating your half a birthday with baked cheese cake was special;here is what’s happening in your world right now;

You started solids

You know how to sit up all by yourself J

You love to play in your door jumping bouncer (not all thetime)

You reach out and try to grab anything around you,especially my hair!

You LOVE your cousin Faris and make the cutest sounds everytime you see him

You adore your sister

You don’t like to sit in your swing anymore

You love to come with me to pick your sister from school andlaugh when all the kids surround your mommy to touch your feet!

You drink juices now

You love to cuddle

You really hate to be kissed though!

out and about~

2011-10-10T10:15:00.000+03:00

One of the happiest moments in my life is to hear my child's giggles and laughter and to see her playing running eating and enjoying her childhood... I'm one of those parents who tries her best to create beautiful memories in her child's head (ofcourse I have my fare share of battles with her as well!!) But deep inside I want her to grow up confident and to be close to me...
I'm not an expert in nice locations in Jordan, but this one is a good choice, it's called "nab3 elba7ath" and it's located in "wadi alshita" for those of you who would like to try it!

We went with our friends and their cute sons last week; so here is a picture idea about our trip!

Turning 30 & Teacher's Day

2011-10-05T23:50:00.000+03:00

Let me start by saying, last Saturday I turnedthe big 30. And I’ve embraced it! It’s funny how I’ve been dreading the day tocome and jump from my twenties to thirties! But it doesn’t feel bad at all!

Yes; when I look back in time I see how my lifehas evolved, let’s say over a decade ago, non of what I love the most now-existed;my wonderful husband and best friend, my sweet little daughters, my home, mycrafting business ( I didn’t even know what scrapbooking was!!) my photographyobsession~

So life is treating me well so far thank Godfor EVERYTHING!
Oh, I forgot to mention that the hubby turned 31 on the same day!!
Happy Birthday honey :))

I've been absent for the last few days fromblog land because Mia and I caught a bad flue but we’re dealing with italright~

And today marks “The Teacher’s Day” on Sasa’sschool year calendar, which gave us the chance to get creative and do somethingwiwil bit creative!!! Sarah painted the birdies and I helped her cutting thebeaks and gluing the eyes!
Voila~ the cards were ready to give to the teachers, we added handmadecloth pins to add something extra and fun to the final look…

I’ve been waiting for this era to come~ the oneI get creative making things with my school kid!!

Craft Room~ Sneak Peak!!

2011-09-29T08:51:00.000+03:00

*** checkout the craft room work in progress here
So this is my craft room in progress... The make over of this room is my husband's gift to me for my birthday next Saturday :)) But it will not be ready until the mid of October~ I hope!

passions & dreams scrapbook

2011-09-28T10:32:00.001+03:00

A new order~ hope you like it!

I've been receiving emails on how the pages of my scrapbooks look, so here I've added detailed pictures and close ups for all the pages of this scrapbook the size is 20X 20 cm. It includes 6 regular detailed pages 3 dividers (mini pages) two pockets and a bunch of embellishments and tags plus a nice detailed handmade cover... If you like what you see and want to customize one for yourself or as a gift for a loved one please email me or message me on face book! we can arrange something with the color combinations and details that you desire~

featuring our nursery~

2011-09-24T10:59:00.000+03:00

Dropping by to tell you that our flowery nursery was featured in {Baby life styles blog/ magazine} I'm so excited about that :))))
You can check the original post here~
I've added some more pictures of it so make sure to see them and read the full interview with me!

Have a LOVELY day folks~

she is 5 months

2011-09-19T12:15:00.000+03:00

Nothing much to share here except that Sarah loves school!! yes~ she really does! she wakes up every morning and asks me to take her to see her teachers and friends; I'm the happiest mother ever to see that my baby is all grown and having a life of her own!! She always entertains me with all the silly details that happened during the day.
As for the little cutie pie she is five months already, can you imagine that!!! wow time is flying!

Have a nice day everyone~

Hello yellow!

2011-09-16T13:25:00.000+03:00

{All pictures are linked to the sources}

Besides the nice weather and the sunny morning of this beautiful day, and despite the screaming baby in my lap (which is starting to calm down and fall asleep), I wanted to talk about a new favorite color in the book of my life... I have never ever thought that I'd be so in love with this yellow gradient, until I started seeing it that often in nature, fashion and interior design...

I'm always inspired by color combinations to put together my art creations, and the colors I'm using right now in my recent project are black, white, grey and yellow...

Isn't this door so unique??

Simple,neat, adorable and yellow! As I have mentioned this is not supposed to be one of my colors, but lately I'm loving it!!

The combination below between the bold yellow chairs and printed pillows and zebra rug will diffidently create a very relaxing and inspiring atmosphere~

I was Playing with this beautiful online fashion and design making! check it out here you'll be hooked just like me!!

And speaking of fashion I've just purchased this adorable purse, I'm still waiting for it to ship though.. I really really can't wait to get my hands on it!!!

We are off to take ~~the girls~~ Sarah swimming ~ poor Maya she is still too young to go regularly, we usually take her but not every time... I hope you are also having great plans for the weekend~ enjoy!

Free Printable Word Art Poster

2011-09-09T23:04:00.000+03:00

Click image to enlarge

Inspired from all the online word posters and art I wanted to make my own frames for my house and use my own colors. And luckily I'm in the mood to spread some creativity in your direction :))
If you like the poster above please feel free to enlarge it, printed it and frame it~
This is in celebration of 200 posts already~ I know I'm such a lazy blogger ;)

Here are a couple of my favorites

Source

I had this one long time ago I forgot where I got it from! Sorry I will not be able to give credits.

Mia it is!

2011-09-08T11:07:00.002+03:00

Wanted to share a couple of photos of baby Maya~ Since Sarah started going to preschool I have been sparing some photo sessions/ playing time for Maya, or Mia as Sarah calls her!!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone~

fabric rosettes

2011-09-05T17:01:00.001+03:00

Well our day started with a wide smile and excitement to revisit the school, Sarah kept telling stories about her teachers yesterday! As I was preparing her lunch box she sat right next to me observing, she promised not to cry at all today, we drove to the school and entered the classroom she waved at the teachers and said "Hi" then when I kissed her goodbye, she started crying and clinging to me, the teacher had to peel her off of my leg as I darted out never looking back... My heart was melting and I couldn't wait to pick her up at eleven o'clock. When I went to get her I saw her sitting and smiling and communicating nicely with the teachers and a couple of her new friends... I hope she'll stay positive about it tomorrow "fingers crossed"

So to keep myself entertained, I've been making fabric flowers to embellish the scrapbooks that I'm working on lately, I used recycled vintage fabric, I made over 20 rosettes yesterday but didn't take a picture of them, I use them as scrapbook embellishments and headband accessories~
I love to combine fabric with paper a lot, it adds something sassy to the scrapbook cover as well as the layouts!

eid and starting preschool

2011-09-04T20:46:00.002+03:00

Hello everyone J

I hope that you had a wonderful Eid with your beloved ones~

Ours was pretty active, we had the chance to see all our beloved family members and some of our {long time no see} friends in the three short days that we had, the good thing is that baby girl introduced her baby sissy to family members, she was a proud big sister with a wide smile on her face…

Here are some pictures from the Eid

Below is the girls with their grandparents (Ted's parents)

In other news~ Today was Sarah’s first day at preschool.. yaaay for school girls! Ted and I took her this morning and introduced her to her lovely teachers (Ugina and Mimi). Then it was time for all parents to leave so she shredded a few tears on our way out from her classroom, but the teachers insisted that we have to leave, so we did! And surprisingly I handled today with a strong heart, I thought I would cry or feel bad but instead I felt good about her getting into the real life and dealing with things on her own…

The first two days of school are from 9-11A.M then starting from the third day it’ll be full time from 9A.M- 1P.M imagine the free time that I’ll have!

Wait a minute… did I say free time??

Have you ever had one million IMPORTANT things on your to do list that needs to be done, but instead of accomplishing anything you just lie there on the couch yawning and blogging???!!

This is what’s happening with me right now, I really don’t have any idea from where to start… I’m still a newbie on the whole (having a school kid) life, I barely manage to keep a system for more than two days in a row, I love change, I don’t like to cook regularly at lunch time, I prefer dinners especially that Ted always comes in late, I never prepare my weekly menus (who am I kidding) I never prepare what I’m going to cook in the following day either!! I’m lousy at leaving the house early in the morning especially with baby Maya here … and I work on random orders at different times depending on my mood in that day… All that needs to be CHANGED…

I need a plan to stick with, any ideas ladies?? I’ve been browsing the net in the last few weeks for family organizing ideas and menus, printable planners, lunch box ideas (which by the way are so brilliant and cute).

I really don’t know how some ladies manage to do it all together, I mean; I find my self pretty organized and I try to be a perfectionist in anything I do, but sometimes I sit and wonder if I will keep up with the pace… in my parenting methods, to keep the house as clean and tidy as possible, work on orders and managing my home based business in general, not to forget all the day to day extras and pressures…

Okay enough of that; if you happen to read this post and have any helpful tips please pass them on :)))

The pictures below will give you an itty bitty idea of our first day at school~

Here she is happy and excited to start the day, she still looks so sleepy in this picture!

Holding her dad's hand to cross the street

Posing infront of the school name

Meeting the classmates, yet trying not to get involved in anything serious!

Time for us to leave, so here the teacher is bribing her with a story book.

And the dreadful moment! the good thing is that she is happy and somehow excited to try again tomorrow, she keeps talking about the school and teachers, I showed her the silly pictures of her crying and she laughed and kept saying (ana habooleh!)-- (I'm silly!)

call it a tradition~

2011-08-29T00:12:00.002+03:00

Throughout my life I've always been known as the sensational one among my friends, I care about people a lot and hold on to those good friends that I have, one of the things that has become a tradition to me is collecting tangible memories throughout different stages in my life other than pictures, cards or even letters.
I remember ten years ago when I first met my husband and started dating, I kept a piece of tangible memory on each day we went out such as a napkin with his handwriting, a box of matches from the restaurant we were at, cinema tickets, the ribbon that was wrapped around the rose which he gave me ( yes, he used to be so romantic~ he still is that same guy when his mind is clear from the business rush and meeting deadlines ;) ) And so many other items from the day he won the university's elections to the graduation, first time at work and so on...
I remember sitting with my best friend Nido on my bedroom floor telling her all the details and showing her all the treasured "junks" as we exchanged stories about our lives...

I still have that box~ and now I've created two lovely boxes for the girls with all the hospital items, ultrasound images and VHS, pacifiers, their giveaways, cards from friends and relatives, the covers of their first formula buckets, the hospital name bracelets/ tags and the items just keep on growing! so this is a nice way to treasure your child's memories through life, and it's a very good inspirational source to tell them interesting stories through the years...

I hope this will inspire you to put together a treasury box for the lovely things and people in your life~

Alast!!!!

2011-08-27T18:15:00.001+03:00

I'm so happy to announce the arrival of my new NikonD90 last Wednesday--- yaaaaaaaaaay! I've been playing with my new toy since then~ I'm in love all over again!!!
Yesterday we took the girls to the playground to test the camera in outdoor spaces and I'm loving the results, still there are so many features and advanced techniques that I need to be learning in that camera.
I have always loved photography and I've been following so many photography oriented blogs lately, I hope that with my new SLR digital camera (which was highly recommended for me by great online photographers whom I questioned) I'll be able to create beautiful photographs like the ones I've always seen...

Here are some of my shots~

sarah's three year old photos

2011-08-24T15:34:00.002+03:00

My baby is a preschooler now!!! oh how time flies!
I'm preparing her for the big day (first day of school), I'm really dreading that day especially the "screaming and grabbing my leg part" who knows maybe she'll handle it better than I could imagine...
We had the cutest conversation ever today, it went like this;
Sarah: morning mama, I'm sorry
Me: morning habeebty what for?!
Sarah: because I left your hand and I walked in the dark
Me: really! when was that??
Sarah: when I was sleeping in my head
Me: oh you mean in your dream?
Sarah: yes yes in my dreen! (as if she knows what that is!!!)

Pocket Mini Album~ Tutorial

2011-08-13T05:43:00.003+03:00

Beautiful sunny weather was my inspiration to create this tutorial for Family Flavours Magazine for this month's edition, I know I haven't been so loyal to adding all the monthly tutorials which I've been creating for the magazine... I hope this one will make it up for you :))
If you love cute paper and paper crafting like me, this tutorial will show you how to create a lovely mini scrapbook pocket album~

The materials that you will need for this project:

- Scrapbook patterned papers

- A pair of scissors

- Double sided tape or any desired adhesive

- Brads

- Flowers or other embellishments

Steps:
Seal the envelop and cut it in half or ¾ to the middle.

Cut the patterned paper and adhere it to both sides of the envelop using double sided tape.

Trim the corners from the open side of the envelop.

Add a different patterned paper to the inner sides of the envelop.

Fold one of the ends and leave the other one straight.

You can always add some fun touches to your projects; I've added some nice paper flowers with a brad in the center to secure the folded end.

This mini is perfect to hold pictures business cards or notes in the pockets, also you can embellish and adhere photos and tags on the sides.

dear baby maya~

2011-08-12T18:27:00.003+03:00

You are a happy baby.

You have the most beautiful smile.

You are starting the baby talk phase.

You LOVE your sister very much.

You scream so loud when you are hungry.

You really hate pacifiers.

You love to kick back in your Graco swing and watch (shark tale)

You're rolling from tummy to back.

You love being on your back and not your tummy.

You are so alert and aware of your surroundings.

You are so calm, peaceful and cute.

You bring us so much joy.

Love mommy~

yesterday we made

2011-08-08T15:09:00.001+03:00

I've noticed that during August I usually become more active! I like indoor activities especially that the weather is too hot to go out during the day. Yesterday me and Sarah made those yummy whoopie pies which I've been trying to make for quite some time! There was a huge mess after we were done, I really got tired from cleaning the kitchen from all the powdered sugar and other greasy ingredients especially that baby Sarah loves to explore the kitchen cabinets with her (SO DIRTY HANDS), NO more whoopies for us in the near future ;<

The best part was taking pictures for the yummyness :))

Here is the recipe for you if you'd like to try them:

Cake:

1/2 c shortening/ butter

1 c sugar

2 c flour

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

1/2 c cocoa

1 egg

1 c milk

1 t vanilla

1 t red food color

Filling:

1/2 c cream cheese

1/2 c butter

1 c powdered sugar

1 c cut cherries

1 t vanilla

1t food color red

Add dry ingredients together and liquid ingredients together, combine them gradually with a mixer preheat oven to 190 degrees C (375 degrees F), drop the mix above on a non stick baking tray with a small/ medium spoon (depends on how large you want them to be) bake for 9-12 minutes

Leave to cool…

Mix the filling ingredients then sandwich two pieces from the cake with the filling…

Bone appetite

a little inspired today~

2011-08-06T15:03:00.005+03:00

All pictures are linked to the sources

Part of my regular routine when I wake up in the morning and have that blah feeling is to open my laptop, turn on soft music, then start digging in the infinite inspirational folders which I've created over the years for different topics, such as décor , fashion & beauty, cooking, crafting, color combos, photography, ideas for kids, graphics and more.

From there, I boost my energy to tidy up the house quickly since I no longer have a maid (which by the way is a relief for me!! Yes… Call me crazy!) Then I start a project from whatever inspired me in one way or another…

Ever since I started planning for a craft room make over, I was so obsessed with the mix and match/ vintage and modern furniture pieces and home accessories, I really want this room to be my getaway space, inspirational source for my crafting and art projects.

Here are some of the inspiring photos to me today~

A few of my eye candy images for some sweetness for the day!
And a very true and inspiring quote below~

fun.colorful.scrapbook

2011-08-02T21:56:00.001+03:00

Baby Sarah is sick, she caught a bad flue when I was on my mini vacation, she had a high fever since yesterday, I feel so bad for her and I'm starting to get a sore throat and a stuffy nose too; so I'm officially SICK :( bring on the hot chocolate it's our only ally for now!!
As usual... I wanted to share my latest project/ order with you! this is a fun colorful girly scrapbook filled with layers of stitched paper and embellished with butterflies flowers buttons ribbons and more.. it was so fun to make especially that the person who ordered it didn't have any color limitation i.e he wanted it to be so colorful :)
Here are some pictures from it~

Petra and Aqaba~ Jordan

2011-08-01T08:58:00.001+03:00

We went to Petra and Aqaba last Thursday with Sarab (my cousin) and Ahmad (my brother) it was a very spontaneous and beautiful getaway! My parents baby sat the girls for us, it was so refreshing to have fun time with no responsibilities at all.. I felt like a newlywed again!!

Sarab is a camera freak just like me! We took around three hundred pictures, and we walked around 8KM in Petra alone!!! We were exhausted and laughing all our way back from khazneh to the car...

Ted and Ahmad dared to climb a huge rocky hill then Sarab followed and finally they got me convinced to do the same :) I should be called Mrs. vertigo... I'm really REALLY afraid of heights!

It took us 25 minutes walking fast to finish the seeq (narrow rocky path) to reach Al Khazneh, it's the 7th wonder in the world and each time I visit Petra I have the same Wow feeling at the end of the seeq, it's amazing...

Our entertainers; they are both so fun to be with~

Sarab did this jump almost everywhere we went, and she made me do it with her infront of the camels :))

Talking about the camels, we had a great camel ride it's so fun, this is my third time riding them they aren't as scary as riding elephants which I did in Srilanka!!

We finished from Petra and hit the road, after 1.5 hour we reached Aqaba, down is a picture from our room showing the lovely view. Aqaba is located on the red sea it has wonderful shores, the weather was hot but not for those who were swimming~

Girly luggage and a cozy room

We swam in the pool then in the sea then again in the pool ...etc. here are the guys splashing, there was a lot of small fish which swam around it felt so great!

The best part was the breakfast I have been to so many fancy hotels around the world but this was one of the greatest buffets I've seen tasted and enjoyed~

I'm back to semi normal life now, I really missed the girls and I wished if they were with me during this lovely mini vacation, maybe soon!

And Ramadan Kareem to all Muslims out there I hope this month will bring true blessings to our souls and hearts~

this and that~

2011-07-23T18:35:00.002+03:00

I wanted to have a more organized post, but I have so many bits and pieces which I want to share starting with my lovely cousin (Sarab) who arrived last week from California... she is one of my best friends and we are already having a growing to do list for fun during her stay... Sarah loved her so much; I'm glad they are getting along very well :)
She is so much into crafting just like me, imagine how much time we're going to spend in my crafting studio~ which I'll be redecorating during her stay, I already picked the colors and I'm starting to purchase things, finally a work in process :))))

I'm sharing some pictures of the things that Sarab got me, they are so adorable and tempting to start new projects with. hmmm...

Well, down is a picture of what I'm working on right now, it's a personalized scrapbook for Sarah I'll add some of my favorite pictures for her since she was born, and once I'm done I'll start making one for baby sissy which I'll be using more neutral and natural colors in...

Here is my sweet babygirl in her new outfit, smiling mischievously, yes she is being way too naughty lately; I keep reminding myself that she is only three!! no one has ever mentioned how difficult three year olds are!!

And this is babygirl's idea of playing with her baby sissy!! the thing is~ no matter how toughly Sarah plays with Maya she never objects or reveals how much she is annoyed! she keeps on smiling and cooing, is that a sign of love?!

And last but not least; my new obsession is editing photos, working with professional camera (which I don't have yet) is so important for the quality and clarity of the pictures, but editing those pictures will turn them into beautiful photographs worth documenting and displaying.
Here is the original picture that I've taken for baby sissy~

And here is the edited virgin, yet again, It would be more clear and beautiful if the camera wasn't Canon compact... yes COMPACT!!!! Notice the 'great D photography' sign... that I'll be discussing in later posts ;)

Have a pleasant day all~

Go Magazine~ Blogger of the Month

2011-07-20T08:08:00.000+03:00

One of the greatest things about blogging is that you get to meet very talented, creative and sweet people at all times; Kinzi was one of the greatest people I've met online she writes for Go Magazine and picked me as the blogger of this month~ thanks Kinzi :)
So here is a link about all the sweet things she said about me and my crafts...

A day @ the poOl

2011-07-18T13:27:00.000+03:00

So we took the girls to the pool last Friday, Sarah enjoyed every detail in that day except for the water!!! YES she was terrified the whole time! She used to love swimming last year and I remember how we always needed a way to trick her into getting out from the water! I guess she is more alert about the drowning dangers; she was clutching me like a monkey the whole time, I'm sure she'll get over her fears before we even know it, this girl was meant to be a mermaid for her love of water, and what makes me so sure about that is how she keeps on asking me "mama is today Friday I want to swim??"

Minimalist Architects~ Modern Office

2011-07-03T00:00:00.003+03:00

Okay I admit; I wanted to take a break from blogging and the internet but it didn't work! I was organizing some folders on my computer and I came across Ted's office pictures and here I am enthusiastic about sharing and blogging about the office modern interior design...
Before I got married I was so in love with country and shabby chic decorating styles, but not anymore; Ted changed my whole decorative taste...
'Minimalist Architects' office was a whole new experience to me, it is so neat with clean lines and simple touches, there is the color white wherever you glance- the ceiling, the floor, the couch, the lighting, the desk...etc.

Here is what he says:
Architecture is a path I have been following all my life. It is the deep thorough feeling that tackles the inner "Chi" hiding within the body. A career I have been aiming all my life; a profession in which you enhance your Creativity, Innovation, and Character.

Pardon the temporary kitchen chairs on the left!! The budget was a little tight, we've purchased only the "essentials", but the progression is great so far; I think it's more fun to get few things at a time-- this way you'll feel great about any additional items...

take a break~

2011-06-28T15:32:00.000+03:00

With the enormous growing of my to do list these days I've decided to take a break from the ~~blog~~ internet world for a few weeks “fingers crossed”~ seriously I need a break to finish all the pending projects and house holds, to take a better care of my girls…

I need to organize my life and I barely have the time to do so… I've finished the last two orders I've been working on, and I will not be taking any more orders for the upcoming month… I’m sorry for that, but if you are interested please bear with me at this stage and send me an email I’ll get back to you as soon as I can!

Have a blessed and wonderful time~

Rina

Mixed media wall art~

2011-06-23T14:12:00.003+03:00

Ghada and I have become good friends since I have designed her cook book last year, she is a very talented lady and a passionate cook, she was steered to my direction from the style that I work with; as you can see we both are so fond of girly colors and vintage items…

She asked me to design a mixed media collage wall art for her ‘new’ cooking school which I’m sharing with you today~

Although I have become so found of modern architecture and interior design, there is one thing that’ll always capture my eye and heart and that is the Victorian flower patterns!

I was inspired to put together a mixed media wall art that has the touch of oldness and vintage feel combined with my colorful fun style I hope you like it!

My sweet girls ♥

2011-06-20T14:38:00.000+03:00

Maya is two months old!!! Time really flies by~

A new photo session and still no new camera... I have to buy one soOn~ It's number one on my priority list!

My Life Lately~

2011-06-18T07:48:00.001+03:00

With Maya in our life mobility isn't as easy as it used to be... we have some restrictions on where to go and how the weather feels... but for sure this is one place I took her to even that the weather was HOT!! I missed Souq Jara this year; for those readers who don't know what it is, it's a flee market I used to participate in to sell my handmade creations...

I met all my "Jara" friends and showed them the new addition... it was a nice reunion :)

What could be better than a very cold glass of lemonade with mint on a hot day, Sarah chose strawberry and ended up drinking my lemonade!!!!!

Here is the daddy entertaining the girls (Sarah & Maya)...

Oh and this was the highlight of my week, I just adored this Sandals the moment I saw it!! I knew I should get it for babygirl and I was right; it looked so gorgeous on her :))))

I really love it!

a sneak peak

2011-06-18T07:00:00.002+03:00

So here is a sneak peak of the project I'm working on at the moment...

And here is how I do it!! these swings are made from heaven! baby sissy loves to kick back and play in it all day long, she tries to talk to the elephants and smiles and giggles which gives me some space and time to finish the house work and then to craft :) and usually I send babygirl (Sarah) to her grandma's house when I have a deadline to meet...

Fun Pen Toppers

2011-06-14T09:09:00.001+03:00

This is a fun and easy tutorial to encourage all the little kids to study!

All we need to do is add vibrant fun colors to boring pencils so they won’t get bored easily. These cute pencil toppers are great as giveaways with birthday favor bags.

The materials that you will need for this project:

- Cute colorful buttons in different sizes

- Thin wires

- Wire cutter

- Pencils

Steps:

1) Decide on which buttons and colors you’ll be using for the pencil topper. Layer the buttons according to the size.

2) Fold the tip of the wire into a “U” shape (about 1/3 of the whole wire). Add the buttons from the smaller to the larger.

3) Twist the wire to secure the end.

4) Then again twist the rest of the wire on a pencil and cut the excessive wire.

Created for Family Flavours Magazine

Always remember that handmade things add personal touches to your world!

Sisters~

2011-06-04T12:53:00.002+03:00

Spreading some cuteness to start the day with ♥♥♥

Paper Recycling~ Magazine Tutorial

2011-06-03T06:26:00.000+03:00

So I’m a little behind on the monthly magazine tutorial updates! What can I say~ Life has been a little hectic here!!!

Here is the April tutorial created for family flavours magazine:
If you happen to find any old books, novels or notebooks filled with your handwriting and you no longer care to keep them don’t throw them away for I’m about to show you the best way to preserve them and somehow benefit from the outcome!

These are the materials that you will need for this project:

- Any old books novels, notebooks, paper to recycle.
- Card stock.
- A pair of scissors.
- A thread and a needle.
- Pencil.
- Buttons and ribbons.
- Hot glue gun

Steps:

1) Cut and fold the cardstock to form a card base.
2) Draw flowers in different sizes on the different pieces of paper that you want to recycle.
3) Cut the flowers and wrinkle them using your hands then open the wrinkled folds; this will give the flowers clear shabby layers when you put then on top of each other.
4) Adhere the layers to each other then to the card stock.
5) Add ribbons buttons stems or any other desired embellishments to the cards.

These cute cards could be customized and used for any occasion, you could make heart shapes, gift boxes, flowers circles, balloons etc.

Sarah's Birthday Party

2011-05-27T08:58:00.001+03:00

Babygirl is 3!!!
A lovely day it was; we threw the party at my parents' house... Maya was sleeping the whole time so no available pictures for her in this post!
It was so much fun; let the pictures tell you the story :))

My wonderful mother helped me plan and prepare the whole party! I love you mom!!!

Sasa was helping in the decoration process...

and posing for the camera :)

The food...

and the gang...

Ted, my brother and our friend

My sister in-law and my friend

My grandma! she hates taking pictures, I snapped this one without her permission ;P

Friends and relatives

What can I say! I love my mom!!!!

Birthday girl......

Opening the presents

Maya & Faris

2011-05-25T10:37:00.001+03:00

Maya and her cousin Faris, she is 10 days younger than him... don't they look just like twins????
these pictures were taken a couple of weeks ago, they look like newborns in them...

This is my mom proudly showing her new grandchildren :))

And this is my brother Ra'd with his son...

Happy Independence Day JORDAN!

Happy Birthday Sasa

2011-05-23T10:56:00.007+03:00

I can not express how much joy you bring into our lives. You bring smiles wherever you are… looking forward to your birthday party next Thursday!

Three years of you made me the happiest mother ever!

she is ONE month already!

2011-05-21T19:10:00.000+03:00

Hard to believe!!
Maya is already one month old, she is bigger, cuter and more alert, she loves to be carried around all the time unlike her big sister, Sarah is somehow wild from the day she was born she doesn't like to sit in laps and refuses to be kissed yet she gives a lot of fly kisses!

Maya is so sweet and delicate, I must say that she is way too louder than her big sister! especially when she's hungry!!

This is one of my favorite pictures at the hospital...

Sponge Bob Scrapbook

2011-05-16T21:05:00.000+03:00

A quick sharing of a Sponge Bob scrapbook that I made, I'm sorry I don't have much time to write about the details; I hope that the pictures will give you an idea!!

back to business…

2011-05-14T14:33:00.000+03:00

This is a new wedding guestbook design that I made a couple of days ago, the theme is all about bridal dresses and tuxedos, so lovely and pretty and I like it very much!

And this is the sassy cute little stylish shopper, me and her are having so much quality time together, we love to shop and our famous saying is "like mother like daughter!"

{Introducing Maya}

2011-05-08T11:42:00.000+03:00

Maya Wahbeh
April 19th, 2011
Before you were conceived I wanted you Before you were born I loved you Before you were here an hour I would die for you This is the miracle of life...

Maya looks a lot like her big sister but she is somehow fairer, she took our breath away the moment we met her... She is a dream come true...

God bless her

Here is the big sister, she looks so grown to me now! It's funny how a tiny little person can do so much change in our life!! Sarah loves her little sissy so much, I have placed Maya in her lap a few times and I can feel the love from her kisses and pats... she is so passionate with a huge heart, I believe that this is the dream of every mom; seeing her kids loving each other.

Maya's giveaways; as I have mentioned before they were a gift from my dear brother.

A miscellaneous picture from my life, this is what mommies do when their three year olds finish eating their lollipops in the car, you don't want to end up having a sticky car so you hold it untill you reach your destination!!!

Maya is here

2011-04-26T00:26:00.002+03:00

All because two people fell in love we are a family of four...

Our birth story~

It all started last Monday when I went to my gynecologist for a regular check up, the plan was to have an induced labor on Thursday due to his conference trip and I didn’t want to risk it and end up delivering the baby with an unfamiliar doctor, so the induction was a good choice at 38 weeks which means that I am full term and that the baby is already cooked and ready to enter this world…

The internal examination showed that I was already 2cm dilated! When I went home a series of contractions began and were making me extremely uncomfortable so I called Ted and told him that I think we’re having this baby soon. He was so excited unlike me; I was emotional and terrified. When the contractions became 10 minutes apart we went to the hospital to see what was going on. The midwife hooked me to some machines and told me that the contractions are regular but not strong enough and she suggested that I return in the morning if I’m still having them. The surprise was that in the following morning when I went for another check up at 10 am and I was 4 to 5cm dilated which means that I was in labor, the contractions became stronger and stronger so I demanded the epidural and they gave it to me around 10:30 am. All I could remember was seeing my mom entering the delivery room, I felt so weak then and I said “I feel dizzy I feel dizzy” then I heard people screaming in the back ground; when I woke up I saw so many doctors and nurses in the room one of the anesthesiologist has a firm grip on my nick the bed was almost upside down and nurses were running all over the place, my mom crying, Ted’s face as pale as the white walls and an oxygen mask on my face that made my chest ache from the strong air streaming down my lungs… it was like waking up from death! I was told that I had an allergy to the epidural and a severe hypotension; my blood pressure reached 50/18 and that I passed out for 10 minutes then they brought me back to life…
So I had to go through the whole contractions saga without any epidurals and yes I felt so much pain all the way… when I was at 9- 10cm and it was time for me to push, Maya wasn’t engaged yet and she refused to. It was 3:45 pm by then; the next thing I knew was that my baby’s heart beats were low so my doctor claimed a c-section immediately. They took me to the operation room which was so cold and scary and after an hour and five minutes Maya was here… At 4:50 P.M

The recovery wasn’t so bad Ted was standing by my side holding my hand and he was so happy and told me that Maya was the most beautiful baby he has ever seen…
The moment they brought her to me all the pains and aches which I have gone through for the last 24 hours disappeared, the scary part of the anesthesia threatening my life was nothing but a story to tell.. she is worth everything… I love her and can’t remember my life without her!

Thank God for everything we are home and safe with our two adorable girls, life is good to me now I’m recovering and I can’t wait to start living my life from a different prospective, God gave me a second chance and I will make the best out of it…

Finally the Nursery is Ready!

2011-04-13T19:32:00.006+03:00

We still could be calling it nursery even when shared by a preschooler right?
Anyhow, this is one part of my private life I have been enjoying and decorating lately, I hope it'll inspire you in one way or another as I was inspired by the people out there sharing their cute and lovely nurseries with the world... Click here to see our featured nursery in babylifestyles~
I'll leave you with tons of pictures now!

See this cute elephant? My brother's gift to baby Maya is a whole elephant giveaway collection with chocolates and a pretty pretty tray decorated with all the goodies! this I will share once it's ready i.e. when baby sissy arrives :)

I'm really lucky to have such a loving and caring family, and my daughters are so blessed and pampered ;)

i'm officially a new aunt :)))))

2011-04-11T11:46:00.002+03:00

Welcoming baby Faris my NEPHEW...

A beautiful baby boy born April 10th 2011

at 1:05 A.M

Have I ever mentioned that me and my sister inlaw's (brother's wife) due dates are only two weeks apart!! Isn't that unique??
I fell in love with him the moment I saw him he is soOooO beautiful, God bless him..
And now I can't wait to meet my beautiful baby girl toO!

Ready to go…

2011-04-08T13:16:00.000+03:00

In case you haven’t heard yet… YES we are having a {girl} and we are so thrilled about it!!! A small baby sissy to fill our house with more JOY, I’m so excited for Sarah to have a baby sister (the thing I’ve wanted all my life being the only girl with two brothers)… Sarah refers to her as “my sister” all the time and it melts my heart to see her kissing and pointing at my belly.
The other day she saw my belly moves then she giggled and said “She wants to come out”, after that day the whole {pregnancy and baby in the belly concept} became more real to her…
Yes we are so ready for her to make her grand entrance, next week baby sissy will be considered Full Term so until then I hope she won’t decide to come out…

Hospital bag is packed, baby bag is loaded with all the new baby’s essentials that we’ll need, plans are set for when I go into labor at anytime during the day. We even started collecting a big sister’s gift from the new baby, so when Sarah comes to visit at the hospital she’ll love how sincere her sister is…

I really can’t imagine that in less than a month we’ll be having another little one in our home, I keep wondering how Sarah will react; I don’t want her to feel abandoned or less important, sometimes she still requests to sleep in her crib, it’s so hard to let go of…
The nursery is almost ready and the hospital is already chosen, I’m so happy right now and I can’t stop wondering how my life will change in the few short weeks that are left!
Love;
Rina A.W

Simple Turquoise Touches

2011-04-05T14:10:00.008+03:00

I believe I have mentioned before in one of my posts how obsessed I have become with adding the turquoise touch in my formal living room to the colors beige brown and white.

I started collecting and adding glass items to accessorize it then I found a couple of nice cushions bluish and turquoise gradients, but the hubby suggested that the glass touch was sufficient and from the same braid; adding textile will drive the whole "somehow" modern theme to the edge and I didn't want that to happen anyway… But when I purchased some new throw pillows I found them pretty appealing :)) they really brought the room theme and colors together!

So I was deeply convinced with what I have for now but still I’m seeing a nicer rug and a wall art steel mirror in the future... I want to hang it in the dinning table area, any suggestions where I can get that mirror here in Jordan???

I purchased this table lamp a couple of months ago, I've always wanted this super cute clear-ball stand, it adds something extra to the room especially when lit at night.

This center piece didn't coast me much; I got the plate 50% off and the balls where 75% off, I love to shop in the sale time although I find it pretty hard to find decent things left, I'm always late ALWAYS!

Above is our house entrance~
and this is a painting which I made~

And below is a vintage sculpted elephant table which was made in India, this was a gift from my parents since they know I'm quite the unique and vintage furniture collector!!

This is a front view for the saloon on the left from the door entrance, and below is our dining table~

I fell in love with this sculptured ball through a store window display, and I went in and got it!! This is me; I can't say no to anything home related!!!

I cherish this photo for me and Ted on our wedding day

{Pregnancy Update}

2011-04-02T00:18:00.004+03:00

Happy Friday and beginning of April every one!! so I'm off to the 9th month tomorrow and I'm so excited about it :) but still not exactly READY for the new family addition, the nursery is progressing and babygirl is sleeping in her new ~~toddler's~~ big girl's bed now… she really gave us hard time to accommodate, she loves her crib so much but she already had her fair share sleeping on it!

In another news, my grandma came from the U.S two weeks ago, she got baby#2 so many lovely gifts and outfits can’t wait to try them on the new baby! She also got Sarah a nice baby toy that cries and moves her facial features while crying.. Oh, I really fell in love with it!

For documentation; I was comparing the two belly pictures when I was 4 months and 8 months pregnant, see how enormously I have grown?!

Handmade Cupcake Toppers

2011-03-30T20:56:00.000+03:00

A few weeks ago I was talking about planning Sarah’s 3rd birthday party and how I want to add a crafty touch to the general theme.

Birthday ideas are unlimited, and cupcakes are generally served at all occasions; this is a beautiful and fancy way to dress your cupcakes according to the party theme, just add a little topping on the cupcakes and then stick one of the toppers on top… how cute is that??

I finished this entire order last week and it left me with an aching back and ribs! I think I shouldn’t be taking anymore orders until the baby is born…

This order consisted of one hundred flowery toppers and one hundred cupcake-shaped toppers…

A close-up and the final packages

picture source

That was in the way of my camera lens the whole time I was taking pictures... funny ha? I feel bad for Sarah she keeps asking me when I’ll be able to carry her again she misses that part of our life! I can’t wait to carry her and play with her again without feeling guilty about hurting baby#2

Tomorrow we have an ultrasound, I’m so excited to see how large baby#2 has got, I really miss that cute little face so much… The good thing is that we'll be checking with our dr. every week from now on, the finish line is getting closer everyday :D

{Decorated Cookies with Royal Icing}

2011-03-24T13:17:00.003+02:00

I made these lovely decorated cookies yesterday while Sarah was napping on the couch; the whole idea started when Sarah brought me an imaginary cup of tea with her pink and purple little tea cups, then I asked her to bring me some cookies, she frowned and looked at me and said “we don’t have cookies!” I asked her if she wants to make some and she said “yes mommy!”

The poor thing she fell asleep on the couch while we were waiting for the cookies to bake, and she missed the whole decorating process…

My best friend Nida’a gave me the recipe for the cookies:

½ cup sugar
½ cup butter
2 eggs
2 ½ cups flour
2 tea spoons baking powder
¼ tea spoon salt
1 tea spoon vanilla
Mix the liquid ingredients alone and the dry ones alone then add the dry ingredients a little at a time until dough is ready, roll dough on a lightly floured surface and cut in the desired shape.

Preheat oven to 375 degree bake 10 to 15 minutes

I decorated the cookies with Royal Icing (this is my first time to make it I’m so proud of the out come), I found the royal icing recipe here it’s easy and oh so yummy!

As for the pregnancy news I’m 34 weeks along today! Sarah came at 36 weeks, I hope this little one will not come out as early as the big sister!! I can’t pull together all the missing details in the house and nursery within the following two weeks!!! I’m not ready yet to have this baby I really need more time!! I feel so huge like a whale and I wonder how I’ll be looking at the end of this pregnancy, sorry no available pictures at the moment!!!!!!!!!!

Pretty Package Presentation

2011-03-20T08:58:00.000+02:00

I find it pretty amusing and interesting to present all my orders in a nice way but I always forget to take pictures of the final packages!! I’m one of those people who feels extra happy when receiving some additional and unexpected details when I order things online, so why not add a special touch to my creations followed by a smile drawn on customers’ faces J

Why am I blogging about this? Well, simply because I’m a girl who loves pretty things and I have a new order I have to start working on which made me think of the way I’m gonna present it in a nice package!

Have a great beginning of the week everyone!

Rina

lets get RICH

2011-03-19T21:40:00.002+02:00

So I stumbled upon this CUTE song ~ which I dedicate to my beloved Ted~
The lyrics are so us living by the day! There is something about this song that is so special, embracing life and loving it with its ups and downs reveals the strong will of a human being...

I also found this lovely home decor art for the same song~

Picture source Me Oh My

Mother’s Day Altered Jar

2011-03-16T14:53:00.003+02:00

At some point of the year we all get creative and try to get our mom’s nice gifts to honor them on mother’s day. Being a crafty kind of girl I see nothing is as precious and priceless as something you make from scratch that shows your gratitude and love for your mother. This is an affordable project that kids can make with some supervision. School art teachers can use it too as an activity for mother’s day presents.

You will need for this project:

Recycled (altered) empty jar or tin
Gift wrap or nicely patterned magazine paper
Hot glue gun or any other strong adhesive
Ribbons

Directions:

1) Cut the gift wrap in the right measurements to cover the entire jar nicely.
2) Add a little amount of hot glue or any other adhesive on one side, wrap the paper all over the jar and seal the ends with a little more glue.
3) Add the wood colors one at a time all over the jar, using very little amount of the hot glue.
4) Give it a final touch with a nice ribbon tied around the jar.

Fill this nicely decorated handmade vase with some flowers and give it to your mother!

Created for Family Flavours Magazine

When is my birthday mommy??

2011-03-11T20:18:00.004+02:00

Sarah came to me today and asked me about her birthday! She is old enough to start understanding the beauty of such a thing!

Her innocence made me start digging and browsing the net for lovely and pretty birthday party ideas and themes…

To be honest I didn’t put much thought and effort in planning her 2nd birthday party as the 1st one, but her 3rd party has to be special now that she is old enough to appreciate!

The thing is; baby #2 will be here inshallah to join us celebrating Sarah’s birthday party would that be easy to plan?? I guess so, with some help from my mother and friends :)

These are some pictures from her first Birthday party May 23rd 2009 I figured that I haven’t mentioned them here on my blog… the theme was mainly flowery with the colors red, pink and white…

I want to add handmade decorational touches and ornaments this time and I guarantee that the hubby will be involved in the crafting process, especially that he and Sarah are good friends these days :)

So this was my day in this cold weather, hanging around the house watching TV and browsing the net for ideas. I hope you had a great cozy day yourself!

Life is good :)

2011-03-08T15:01:00.002+02:00

Last weekend was so special to me, we headed to Jerash to buy some new plants for the house and I ended up admiring a plant called kalla, and guess what??... I bought it for a very reasonable price :))

I love the plants presence in the house it makes me feel fresh and alive, I don't have green fingers though and I barely keep a plant alive for more than one year, but this time I'll work on taking care of the plants that I got to replace the artificial ones, yuck!

Sarah always sleeps during the long car drives, when we reached our destination it was really hard to wake her up! we carried her out of the car and she was still sleeping, called her name and kissed her cheeks over and over until she woke up... she had this special look on her face- you know the one that says (where the hell are we NOW!)

Here she is in the phase of waking up

On another note, I finished this entire scrapbook order over the weekend :) yay me!!

I had my share of back pain especially that my sewing machine wasn't cooperating! but finally it did the job! sometimes I don't know what is that I'm doing wrong, I use the same technique EVERY SINGLE TIME! sometimes it works well and other times the needle just keeps breaking and the thread tangles blah blah blah...

Can you tell that I'm a huge fan of turquoise these days??
I even started to decorate my house with it, with brown beige and white it added a really beautiful touch... I promise to post pictures soon :)
I don't know what's going with me these days I think It's the "nesting" phase of pregnancy; with only a few weeks left to my due date I have the continuous urge to keep my house crispy clean and buy new items to decorate...

Okay then, I'll leave you with my latest design; so beautiful and neat and there is enough room to add as many pictures as possible...

Above are detailed images for the cover

and below are some of the inside pages

So what do you think :)

the corporate identity reveal~

2011-03-02T10:34:00.001+02:00

Remember Ghada? She is the professional chef whom I designed her cook book last year...

She is about to open her own cooking school this spring and I'm really excited for her!!

I've been working on her corporate identity~ logo, business cards, stickers, flyers, notebooks...etc.

The image above is one of her yummy deserts!

Here is babygirl curious and excited to open and check the package that arrived from the printing house, how cute is that :))

And this is the style that we've been using for this girly chef! I hope you like it!!

My favorite song these days...

2011-03-02T09:53:00.001+02:00

Lyrics to Capri :

She’s got a baby inside

And holds her belly tight

All through the night

Just so she knows

She’s sleeping so

Safely to keep

Her growing

And oh when she'll open her eyes

There'll be no surprise

That she'll grow to be

So beautifully

Just like her mother

That’s carrying

Oh Capri

She’s beauty

Baby inside she’s loving

Oh Capri

She’s beauty

There is an angel growin’ peacefully

Oh Capri

Sweet baby

And things will be hard at times

But I've learned to try

Just listening

Patiently, oh Capri

Sweet baby

Oh Capri

She’s beauty

Baby inside she’s loving

Oh Capri

Your beauty

Just like your mother

That’s carrying...Oh Capri

tomorrow brings joy~

2011-02-20T15:34:00.001+02:00

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."~ Picasso

Yesterday I took Babygirl to a birthday party in one of the indoor-play areas with lots of fun machine rides… the thing that made my heart melt was listening to her loud giggles among the other kids… she was so confident, happy and active, I kept thinking how proud I am to be her mother…
Sarah never gets tired from observing the world around her; she keeps asking all sorts of questions… I believe that this girl will be someone important in the future… she is important to us now! But I mean in the FUTURE!

Oh well, I try to document my life through pictures here on my blog and this one above was so special to me… she looks like a little model in it :P

{special to my heart}

2011-02-17T15:53:00.000+02:00

Here are a couple digital pages that I designed earlier today... I just wanted to play around with the pink and blue color combos that I have... and I loved adding so many embellishment/ details to each page to make it look so scrappy!

valentine hearts tutorial

2011-02-16T14:24:00.002+02:00

I’m sorry it’s a bit late!! But you can make these sweet hearts in any shape and for any occasion! So here is the original article from the magazine~

With the Arrival of February- the month of hearts- there are more reasons to give symbolic gifts to best friends, wonderful teachers, grandparents and all those beloved ones. So we start thinking of all sorts of affordable yet thoughtful gift ideas to share on this special day.

Here is one of my favorite crafts of all times; mini heart magnets…

You will need for this project:

Non bake clay
Paint
Cookie cutters
Magnets
strong glue

Directions:

1) Roll the clay on a non stick surface into the desired thickness.
2) Cut the hearts with the cookie cutters and set to dry.

3) Paint and decorate the hearts.
4) Adhere magnets on the back of the hearts.

Always fun to decorate your refrigerators and office metal boards with a personal touch and some special photos and cards!