DIY - Easy Burp Cloths

Hi all. Ok so I know I was going to share a post on the diaper/wipes case last week, however I had some issues with my instructions and now have to go back over them to make sure that they are understandable. So with that being said. Hello Monday.......just another manic Monday oooooh oooo ohhhh. I wish it was Sundaaaaay.....*smack* Sorry! Sometimes I just randomly break into song. Seriously, just ask my husband. Anyways, I don't have a Coffee and Conversations post today, but if you are interested in still reading about others, head on over to Simply Free or Love, Laughter, Happily Ever After to check out some awesome bloggers. So in order to not disappoint you completely today, I do have a craft tutorial!!! Yay. Its another quick and simple baby shower gift, enter the Burp Cloth.

Seriously. These can't get any easier. You only sew around the 4 edges! I know you have probably seen a tutorial similar to this, like over here. Seriously, there are hundreds on Pinterest.

What You'll Need:
1 piece 8.5 x 15.5 cotton fabric
1 piece 8.5 x 15.5 flannel fabric

Directions:
1. Cut out your fabric pieces and press. Place your fabric pieces together, right sides facing in.
2. Sew around the sides using a 1/4 inch seam, leaving a 3" opening on one end for turning. Turn your fabric right side out. Push out the corners with your finger, pencil, or any other skinny object. Iron flat.
3. Turn under the opening about 1/4 inch and iron flat. Top stitch around all four sides.
4. Run two seams horizontally through the burp cloths, about 4" from each short end. *Optional*

And Done!

If your ever stuck in a bind and need to throw a couple of additional things in a gift, this is great. Quick, simple and it gets you to use your scraps! You could also do some simple nursing pads also! This tutorial was adapted from Amy Palanjian. Head on over to her cute blog to see other great craft things!

Button Swap?!

I will hopefully have a craft post up later today. Still needing to go through photo's from Florida, pick the best ones and get those up. So until then.....I was thinking about doing a monthly button swap? If anyone is interested please email me at: 2dkimball@gmail.com

<a href="http://2dkimballroad.blogspot.com/"><img border="1px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglgD0S94v8yUBUM6bSG7aYLu6T2nR-DOxRAnAwqyImLbIq3cxg0-cnBU5vQ8I1AGQyIu-NKUv71xAZrgO2LZomwV8Z0Bom1P5_n0QjgOEEIBGq2aMUYrawVf1mSEt8WZJwB3ZH7Hr75Pmj/s1600/Blog+Button.jpg"/></a>

Also I am over at Bloglovin' if you want to go and follow me there!

CnC #5 - Emotions on Edge

Here we are linking up again for Coffee and Conversations like we do every Monday with Lauren at Simply Free and Kalyn at Love, Laughter, Happily Ever After. This weeks question: What are you currently struggling or grappling with in your life?


I haven't really shared my thoughts on this very often in the blog world or with anyone other than my hubby and my parents. Currently I am struggling with coping, coping with feelings of inadequacy. Almost three years ago the hubby and I decided it was time to start a family. I went off birth control, and we said "when it happens it happens." I wasn't ready at the time to have children, but figured we would just let nature take its course. I had a lot of stress on my plate with dealing with the death of my father and many other things that happened in 2011 and 2012. In September of 2012 when I had to deal with my ectopic pregnancy I at least felt relieved that we were at least successful in meeting sperm to egg. I mean 2 years of strange cycles, stress and everything else can make you think that something is wrong with you. So even though we had to deal with the loss, we both felt good that we could at least get there, even with the risks of another one eventually happening.

However here we are, April. 4 months after the go ahead from the doctor to start again and here I am, baby-less. I have cried a lot this month. Those feelings of inadequacy are running really high. I had huge hopes that March would be our month but our last day in Florida I lost my hope. It just sucks. I know so many people that are welcoming their babies into the world over the last month, and all the while I am so happy for them but can't help but wish for my turn. I know I cannot compare myself to others because I don't know what struggles they have gone through for their family, but I see pregnant people everywhere! There's always that joke that there's something in the water, but I know that its not an epidemic, that its on my mind and I am noticing it more. But going to baby showers and feigning excitement is getting really hard. Making tiny gifts and looking at registries just makes me want it more.

I have told the hubby that all I want for my 30th birthday is to be growing a child, but as that date creeps closer and closer (June) it gets harder to imagine success. I know I still have time. I broke down, used some Amazon credits and bought an OPK's to try out. Maybe my little phone app is just off to when I actually ovulate and even though I'm temping, it still is really hard to get an accurate time because I can't really trust the damn thermometer. So were gonna try this for a couple of months and see how it goes. Frankly, almost everyone that I personally know has conceived using them, so I don't know why I waited so long to buy them. I am trying to keep all my thoughts to the positive side, still hopeful that things will come the all natural way. Send me baby dust! I could really use it!

So here in lies the truth behind my crafty craze lately! I need to keep my mind, hands, and everything else busy! At least you all get to enjoy the fruits of that! Coming up this week.....baby diaper and wipes case, and hoping to have completed the cute crochet pillow that I talked about here. I also went shopping for fabrics for the hubbies quilt! Stay tuned for an update on that!

Preview of pillow top.

Swimming in things I want to do, oh and Happy 11th Anniversary!

AHHHH! I need to stay off Pinterest and Craftgawker! There are so many cute things to make! The votes are in on the quilt to make for my hubby. By overwhelming popular vote, ok I got about 15 votes, and of course blessing from the receiver himself.....drumroll........

The Hope Valley quilt! Yayayayaya! I really like this one a lot! I thought that it might be complicated and since the link to the Esty store is completely sold out of the pattern I think I am just gonna have to wing this one! Now to shop for fabrics and get busy!

Our friend has also requested some more photo edits from me to complete his loft space. You may remember I did several comic book style prints for him months ago, and he has requested I do a couple more.

AND! I found this great little crochet pillow tutorial! So cute! And since I have leftover yarn from my Christmas gifts this will become the perfect project to add to our bedroom pillow cover collection. Slowly but surely I will recover all the pillows in our home! Haha! Who wouldn't want to make this bad boy?

Well enough chatting and it's time to get crafting! Well after our anniversary dinner! Today marks the 11th anniversary of the hubby and My's first date! I cannot believe it's been 11 years! I love him more as each day passes! Happy Anniversary to the LOVE of my life! I wouldn't be the person I am today without you! Love Love Love!!!!

Our First Vacation in 2002!

Influences and Regrets: Coffee and Conversations #3 and #4

So I kinda missed last weeks CnC because we got in from our flight late in the day on Sunday and I was completely wiped out. So I'll just post about them both in this weeks! Ta Da! You see what I did there right?

Week 3's question was: Who has influenced you the most in your life - personally or professionally - and why?

I would have to say that my hubby and my mom influence me the most. Both personally and professionally. They both are my sounding board when I need to bounce ideas off of. Since I am in a creative field I can describe what I am looking to achieve and they will tell me if it sounds feasible. They are both great listeners and will always support the decisions that I make. They both help me to see different sides of any situation and to make the best decision. I wouldn't call them my "mentors" per say but they truly are my first choice people in all things in life. I am truly blessed to have them in my life.

This weeks question: What would you regret not fully doing, being, or having in your life?

Source

Of course the main thing that I would regret in life is not having a family, but since we are in the works to making that happen then my next go to would have to be to travel the world. Right out of high school I took a UK trip and it forever put that thirst for culture into me....also being an interior designer I love architecture and there are sooooo many places around the world that are just amazing. I want to soak in all the culture I can get, on my limited budget, and just experience different worlds, languages and food of course. After our honeymoon, the bug bit my hubby too and we just want to GO PLACES. Hopefully with our children and help them to experience life within different parts of the world. That is why I started my Lifetime of Memories tab above. It's our bucket list that is ever evolving. We just keep adding to it. Eventually we will get there but it's something that I would truly regret doing or sharing with my love.

Quilting for the Man in my life

Many moons ago when quilting was new and fresh in our household. My hubby uttered the words that should never be uttered to a crafter EVER. "We don't need anymore blankets!" Seriously that statement left this blanket baby with a little sad face. So I went on my merry way, making quilts for gifts and finding new things to do as well. Check out my All Things Crafty tab above to see many things that I have done.

So, it came as a shock to me when just last week he said to me, "When are you gonna make me a quilt?" I was taken aback and said to him that I would gladly make him a one, thinking to myself all the really great and fun patterns that I have seen over the years. I am not a traditional quilter and really like bold patterns and non-traditional fabrics. Well seeing this as a new project I went to work looking for some fabrics to buy online. He did say to me, "Well I can go with you to shop for fabrics....." uh.....really?!?! That statement will never EVER be made again, so I thought I might just take it upon myself to find some great fabrics.

This seemly easy task, is made a little harder to the fact that my hubby doesn't really have any one hobby. He likes a great many of things. So I went looking online to find some of the manliest material I could. In a short while I was able to come up with the above patterns, but still feel the need to go in a store and kick some tires. Check out my Pinterest page for links to all the fabrics. So now that we have some idea of the fabrics, now to choose a pattern. I have found some really great ones thanks to Pinterest and need some opinions. Here are my top choices, now I know that some patterns require quieter fabric also. Please help me out by voting in the comments for your fav!

Hope Valley Quilt

Plus Quilt

Modern Block

Ascend Quilt

The Isle of Catalina

Here it is....the post everyone has been waiting for. Well maybe not everyone, but I have put it off too long so here is a recap of our Catalina Trip! Sorry for the photo bomb in advance....we got some really cool shots! We awoke bright and early Sunday excited to have a mini vacation just the two of us. Made sure that everything was organized, threw our luggage in the car and made the trek to Long Beach for our ferry to the island. We met some cool people, as we always do, and boarded the ship buzzing with electric excitement. D heard that the bartenders make a killer Bloody Mary, so of course he had to partake. A quick hour ride and we were there, docked and made our quick walk over to the hotel. At this point the city of Avalon was hopping. We got to the hotel, checked in and were told to come back in 45 minutes because our room was still being cleaned. We ate a quick lunch, grabbed our things and went to our room. We tinkered around for about 10 minutes grabbed the camera and went down to explore the island. In the time we were up there the entire hustle and bustle just DIED! It was a ghost town! We took the opportunity anyway and wandered around, taking photos and whatnot. The gloomy weather made for some pretty cool photos though, I.M.O. We went back to the hotel and booked our zipline. I was super nervous! We went and had an early dinner and went to the local arcade. I schooled D at a little Ski Ball but he thoroughly walloped me at air hockey! It was like we were teenagers again. We walked into the sweets store and bought some jelly beans, not too many though because we realized as we were eating lunch earlier in the day that D had forgotten his insulin! Bad bad bad. At least he had plenty in his pump so we didn't worry too much, but did make sure to find a pharmacy just in case. After the arcade we wandered around and realized that there wasn't much more to do because the city had closed for the night. We went back to the hotel and watched the Grammy's and conked out.

The Harbor

The round building in the back is the old casino

I had set my alarm early the next day so I/we could get up to witness the sunrise. We were on the wrong side of the island for the sunset so we bombed ourselves out of bed and wandered over to the pier for some really great scenery. While over there we met a little seal pup who had fallen asleep on the pier. He was so cute! Also in the distance could be heard a very large and loud seal sitting on a buoy barking away. We moseyed back to the hotel, had some coffee and muffins and then proceeded to TRY and sleep some more before ziplining. This was NOT happening with me. I was terrified already. We had watched the YouTube video that shows the course and I was freaking out. D kept saying "you'll be fine" but I was having a panic attack!

Harbor and Pier Sunrise View

At 10:30 we walked over to the course. I was hyperventilating as we were filling out the paperwork and looking up at the platforms above my head. The girl managed to terrify me even more by saying "that's not even the highest one!" Great thanks! The guys that took us up the hill were really great, cracking jokes and telling stories about the island, but nothing eased my fear. We walked onto the first platform and BAM! Sheer panic, shaking and if I didn't have sunglasses on they would have seen the tears welling in my eyes. We were the last couple to go, that was by design! I kept backing away and D kept falling behind me not letting me run up the stairs and back down the hill. My turn.....he hooks me up to the wire and its time to JUMP! Yea, no. That wasn't happening. So he held my harness so I could feel how it would support my body. That eased my mind just enough that when he said anytime your ready, I bunny hopped off the platform tucked and screaming with terror! There may have been a few expletives exclaimed, but honestly they were completely warranted! D came soaring in behind me with a big smile on his face. The next line, the longest and highest, I wasn't even given the opportunity to panic because I had to be launched off the platform to guarantee I would get all the way across. I looked down about halfway across to see my teeny tiny shadow on the ground beneath me. It was an exhilarating and terrifying experience and I am so glad that I did it! I know D was proud too! One more check off the bucket list!  

Our last day we rented a golf cart and toured around the island. Of course it was the day that a cruise ship was in port and the island was once again hopping with tourists. We drove around, stopping every so often to take in the scenery and of course some photos. We saw the Wrigley mansion; you know Wrigley field and gum, he bought the island for 2 million dollars in the early 1900s. To put it into perspective, the zipline course cost 2 million dollars to install in 2010. We missed the botanical gardens and didn't get to hike or kayak, but that will be for our next trip there! On our drive we went past the zipline course again and were able to take a couple of photos of other people on the course.

View of Avalon from Wrigley Mansion

One of the Zipline Runs

The girl is really hard to see, about a third of the ways from the
left right above the power lines.

We had such a great time on our little weekend getaway! We both have memories for a lifetime and want to go back soon. Thanks again to my parents for one of the most memorable Christmas gifts!! And to D's folks for watching our fur baby! I can't wait for our next adventure!!!!