Matryoshka Baby Shower: Pinterest Invitation Inspiration

Are you on pinterest yet? It's a great source of inspiration. I'm using it for lots of ideas for A&O's baby shower (which is happening in a couple weeks). I can't wait to show you all the details, but I'll start with the invitations since they've gone out.

O is Russian and since it's a two-mommy baby shower we decided on a matryoshka theme. There were several matryoshka themed invitations that we looked at on pinterest:

This was an early favorite:

Source: Pinterest via Minted

Then there was this, since they're having a boy:

Source: Pinterest via PaperCrave

So I was all settled to do something like this:

Images purchased from LilyBimble & heavily modified

But then I saw one more pin that totally sealed the deal:

Source: Pinterest via melstampz

Holy cow.

Stay tuned for how it all came together!

Healthy

There has been a sudden surge of this image on Pinterest:

Um. Kate Moss is a coke head anorexic. She is not a role model. She is not healthy. Oh, and she can kiss my big fat ass.

THIS is what I'd prefer to see:

discuss...

Just a thought

Pin-Up

Pinterest is having it's first Meet-Up tomorrow in Venice. Anyone going?

Tah Dah: Very Hungry Caterpillar (Updated with Pattern Idea)

So I realize I've been super quiet. Our Red Roses winner is patiently waiting for her CD. It's taken a little longer than I would have hoped because she's really interested in getting it signed & I was out of town last weekend so I didn't see AJ at church. I'm working during his Mass this Sunday, so I'll be sending it with Dad to get autographed... assuming AJ is in town. I can't keep up with him. :)

I had to scroll through past entries to see if I had already shared this next project. I'm REALLY excited about it. My bestie is expecting a boy & her favorite book growing up was The Very Hungry Caterpillar. I absolutely love Eric Carle's illustrations and decided to try to make a baby "cocoon" & hat that looked like the caterpillar in the book.

I started with some Araucania Pomaire Solid that I received as a gift & had left over from the Forest vest. I bought a couple different colors of Araucania Patagonia, which is more "bumpy" with it's thick/thin texture. I think the tonal dye on both of them coupled with the bumpiness mimics the look of the paintings pretty well. I actually kind of wish I could have replaced the Pomaire with a similarly colored Patagonia, but it's a hard yarn to find and the price on this little piece got out of control anyway.

I improvised it for the most part. I think the cocoon itself might be a little big, but I'm not too concerned. The hat was just a basic baby hat shape with a rolled brim. I made the face out of scraps of Knit Picks Shine.

Overall I'm really happy with how it turned out. Such a quick knit and a satisfying result. The momma already has the book, so I bought a little Very Hungry Caterpillar rattle to go with the set. The family baby shower is a book theme, so I plan to give it to her then. I'm hosting the friend shower and have a whole stack of gifts I'm giving at that one. :)

For those asking for a pattern... I just free handed this and have no idea what I did. HOWEVER... you could just knit a basic baby hat pattern (like this one) and then crochet the details from this pattern. I just knit a tube for the cocoon. Basically something like this with alternated colors. Have fun!

Now what to do with the left over weird yarn......

Red Roses Winner

If you're wondering if you won... please see the original post!

Red Roses

Update: Jessica Fernandes is our big winner!

Jessica wrote: My favorite song by AJ is "When we say" because that was the first song I heard with him. It's amazing and it's actually one of the two and only songs I have ever cried while hearing. As far as my favorite craft I would say bracelets. Colorfull in everyway possible! By the way, sorry to hear about your mom. Hope you feel better, though it's always hard to lose someone. At least AJ's music will cheer you up!

Jessica.. email me at liacreates [at] gmail [dot] com to give me your contact info!

If you've been around here a while you know one of my favorite musical artists is AJ Rafael. AJ has been playing piano at my church since he was a child. He's incredibly talented and for the past 6 years has worked full time on his solo career. He's had a lot of success marketing himself on youtube and has used that success to spread the love. He did two VERY successful fundraising concerts at our church and has raised thousands for Autism Speaks through his series of concerts called Music Speaks.

This year AJ worked with some outstanding musicians and recorded his first full-length album in his friend's house. Still unsigned, his album Red Roses was picked up by a distributor & will be sold starting tomorrow in Target, Best Buy, f.y.e and Barnes & Noble nationwide! You can also download it on iTunes & Amazon.

There's really no way to express just how happy I am about this. I've been a fan of AJ's for a long time and I'm so happy to see him succeeding. On a personal level, AJ and his mom were a huge support for me when my mom passed away. AJ's mom is a surgical nurse at the hospital my mom was in during the last week of her life. Ms. Rafael would sit in the waiting room with me and just keep me company while I was there all night. AJ and his choir sang at mom's funeral and went above & beyond, even going up against the head of the music ministry when she didn't want to allow us to use some of the music we had selected.

To make this all the more dear to me, AJ's release date is June 7th... which is the anniversary of my mom's passing. I know if she were still here she would have made me drive her all over town picking up AJ's cd everywhere they'll sell it.

To celebrate my boy's success, I'm giving away one copy of Red Roses to one of you!* You can preview all the songs in the video below. AJ features a lot of other amazing talent on this album. It has broad appeal, strong lyrics, great vocals and you can play each and every song around your kids. :)

To enter: Leave a comment below telling me your favorite song and your favorite craft! On Friday, June 10th I'll randomly choose one comment & send you a free copy of Red Roses and a special treat selected just for you based on your craft!

Be sure to leave some kind of contact info! Email, twitter, whatever...

I'm so excited to share this great music with you! And for those of you who don't win... the cd is a bargin! Look for it!

*Open worldwide... but if you're in Canada I'll have to wait until the postal strike is over to send it out!

Edit: OK, worldwide assuming it's legal to ship there from the United States. :)