Another Fab Sale

Just a quick hello to let you know about another Fab.com sale I'm doing, this time with Fab Europe.  It runs for 7 days again.  

The past month has been full of ups and downs, with my first major cold since being pregnant and with the third trimester in full swing, I've not had a lot of energy to do much, let alone blog.  But I will post again soon. Really :)

All About Baby

The past month or so has been mostly about baby. Preparing for her arrival by making space in our home, buying essential furniture, etc., attending prenatal classes and watching informative dvds/reading appropriate books. You name it. We've been keeping busy with expectant mom & dad activities. (Yesterday we finally set up the crib in our bedroom, which makes it a bit more real to know that our babe will be sleeping in it soon)

So suffice it to say that I've felt a little overwhelmed (ie. stressed out - my poor hubby) with it all at times. Since Matt and I have both been busy working a lot as well, it feels like there's been little time to breathe or even to catch our breath. I've definitely neglected any kind of personal work in the last several months. My sketchbook has been untouched really for 2 or 3, except for being moved around, or written in. Napping, though much wanted and probably needed, was a luxury. Dishes sat in the sink for weeks...

And our baby girl has not even made her appearance yet!

We did manage to sneak in a photo session last weekend though, after months of no pregnancy "progress" photos. These are a few of the better ones of us.


I'm quite relieved that the shop is now closed for my maternity leave, but it feels a bit weird too since I would routinely check it in the morning as soon as I got up. Still, it is one less thing to worry about at the time being. All orders have been packaged and sent out as of today, including the blog giveaway packages. Now I just need to mail out some Christmas cards and a baby shower gift for this crafty expectant mom (who shares the same due date as me) before the week's end.

With Christmas less than a week away, I'm finally shifting my focus on making our home more festive. I was hoping to get this mini artificial tree since space is at a premium but the two Canadian Tire locations I went to were out of them, so I'm not about to trek all over the city just for that. We may end up getting a real tree from down the street since it doesn't quite feel like Christmas without one to me. I did pick up some cute stockings and wrapping paper from Ikea on my last few trips there. Deciding where to hang the stockings is the question, as we don't have a mantel/fireplace.

So my week is shaping up like this:
Today was my last shopping day out, getting last-minute gifts and post-pregnancy items.
Tomorrow I'll be baking up a storm since I have to stay home all day for a delivery.
Wednesday is yet another prenatal visit and I'll be delivering some Christmas goodies to a few people/places.
Thursday, I'll be happy to be at home and nest.
And Christmas day I suggested that we order take out for dinner. Yes, it'll be a quiet Christmas, which is fine by me. Matt will be working pretty much every day except Christmas up until the baby comes, so slaving away for a whole day in the kitchen for just the two of us seems a bit like overkill. Hopefully there are some decent restaurants open. Of course, who wants to work on Christmas?

Well, if I don't get a chance to wish everyone a Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays before Friday, let me do so now. May your day(s) be merry and bright!

Hello Weekend!

Matt emailed me this image that he came across yesterday morning. I thought it was too cute not to share and it sets a light-hearted tone for the last weekend of the summer.

This week was semi-productive, but I never seem to get as much done as I would like. Things usually end up taking way longer than I estimate them to take.

My belly is definitely expanding quite easily these days. Sitting on my ass coupled with not leaving the house for a few days certainly helps its growth. All I can say is, thank goodness for drawstring pants.


Here's a peek at what I was working on for most of the latter part of this week.


I'd been toying with an owl and pussycat idea for some time now and it finally occurred to me to make a pattern out of the animal pair. Each critter will also be made into individual screens too and I'm excited to print them onto scarves, totes and other textiles.

I'm loving the new clever kitty, as I like to think of "her".

The owl took a bit more trial and error until I was finally satisfied with "him". Getting him to look as cute as the kitty was tricky, but I think they look good together now.
Another nice online surprise I got yesterday morning was discovering that one of my items is currently in an etsy gift guide. I think that's the first time I've been featured in one, that I've known of anyways.

Hope everyone else had a great week and has a happy weekend! Bye for now.

Woo Hoo!

My Too Cute bookmark made the front page in this great looking treasury last night. Thanks to Jenn for letting me know about it. And thank you to the new blog and twitter followers. There's still a few days left to enter my August giveaway! Winner to be announced on September 1st.

And I'll finally be able to find out if we're expecting a boy or a girl on the 2nd! My doctor is making me wait - poo on him! - until then. At least he/she is kicking lots, which makes me happy.

Have a great weekend! I'll be back in a day or two to unveil some new items.

Missing in Action

Baby bump at 17.5 weeks

Oh, Blog! How I've neglected you.
You could say I went AWOL.
(This post should make up for it. Beware, it's a big long-winded)

But I had good reason to these past several weeks.

Various projects have been keeping me busy. A graphic design job - my first big design job really - has been taking up most of my time. It's been fun and a good learning experience, but reminds me that I'm not creating my own things. So I'm looking forward to when I finally finish everything and can get back into creating for myself.

I also had a few wholesale/custom orders to fulfill. And some shops to restock.

But most significantly, Matt and I had a rather unnerving development with the pregnancy the other week...when I got a phone call from my doctor's office. You know how they tell you no news is good news? Well, to put it mildly, I was not too happy to have received that call.

I had gone for my 3rd prenatal visit mid-month and since I was around 15 weeks, I was due for some genetic screening. This is optional, but I didn't know that until after doing some reading on the internet. My doctor seemed to have thought my results would be normal. But 4 days after I had my blood taken, I got a call asking me to go in to speak with my doctor about the results. No other explanation really and since it was the end of the day he had already left. It was not a good night for us. Matt and I both had sinking feelings.

So the next day I got in touch with him to find out more. I was partly glad I did, but also a sobbing mess after I had. The gist of it was that my blood test indicated I was at a higher risk for a baby with a chromosomal disorder, specifically Down Syndrome. It didn't mean it was definitely true, but it certainly wasn't good news to us.

To hear this after months of carrying this little growing miracle inside me, after months of trying to get pregnant, after years of trying not to, was just a little devastating. We all hope for healthy babies and to be told that yours may not be is a big blow. You wonder if you could have done anything different? You wonder "Why us"? You pray (even though you're not religious) that things will turn out alright.

After a night of soul-searching and deep discussion, Matt and I decided that we would continue with the pregnancy, and we would love our baby no matter what. And we opted not to have an amniocentesis - the invasive procedure involving a needle going into my amniotic sac - even if it would tell us one way or the other whether our baby was healthy. The slight risk of miscarriage was not worth it to us.

I know the thought of terminating a pregnancy wouldn't ever cross some people's minds, even if they knew their baby had some kind of deficiency. But I have to be honest and say that it did cross mine. I may be getting myself into some sticky territory here by admitting that, but becoming a parent is scary enough to me. To think that we'd have to raise a child who was born with a disadvantage terrified me. I didn't think I could handle it. But I know it was just my fear getting to me. Plus I couldn't imagine ever going through with that.

The next day, Matt and I were able to see my doctor in person and he went over my results again, and explained that the next thing to do would be to get an amniocentesis, if we wanted. He said that most people who had the procedure and did find out that their baby had Downs decided to terminate. Since we'd already decided against one, the appointment was more of a formality. The doctor just wanted us to be aware of our options.

Anyways, we took our time getting home from the doctor's. When we finally did get back, there happened to be a message from him. Another phone call! What could have happened in the few hours that I had seen him? I called him back immediately and was floored by what he told me. Apparently he was faxed new blood test results and this time the news was much better... like 250% better!

The weird thing is that I never had any more blood taken. So where was this coming from? And why had they done the test again? Or was it not my results that they initially gave me? Matt and I were pretty confused but a lot relieved. The doctor told me not to worry anymore and well, I'm trying not to. It's all really a waiting game now. And I'll find out more in a few weeks' time at my next checkup.

So, now for the winner of my second blog giveaway! Matt picked the name again and the lucky winner is Kim! Although there were only 4 comments on the blog post, other ways to enter the draw including buying something from my shop and also being one of my Happy Customers on flickr. Kim sent me a photo of herself in one of my mustache kitty tees a while back, so earned an entry into the draw. I'm not sure what this month's giveaway will entail yet, but I promise it will be another good one.

That's all for now. Happy (Long) Weekend (to my fellow Maple Leafs)!