A cut and a color

Back in December I was just checking Instagram one day like I love to do, and stumbled across this picture in Becky Higgins’ stream. And I instantly thought… “That is totally my next hair style!”

Luckily the darling lady was tagged in the picture, so I clicked over to her Instagram feed and was so excited to find tons of pictures of her sweet hair cut and lots of different ways that she styles it. Her name is Becki and she is the founder of Whippy Cake. You can follow her Instagram HERE. She also has a few hair tutorials on YouTube!

So of course I showed the pictures to Hannah, my cousin and hairstylist, and she said that the texture of my hair would be perfect for the cut! So I started making plans, deciding what products to try and dreaming of short hair. And on Monday the 21st we made it happen!

I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!!

I’ve had it short for a week now, and I am loving the texture of, how playful it is and yet still really feminine. I can’t wait to try a few more of Becki’s tutorials and see how it looks with curls and lots of volume. Its not the exact color I was going for yet, but my hair was pretty dark, so it will take a couple more processes and it will be perfect. Hannah did such a great job. I am so excited about this style!

And my little puppy Gibson had to get in on the photo action too! He is just the cutest thing. I’m pretty smitten. Look at that face!!

What is the most drastic change of style you’ve ever done?
Do you like short hair? Would you try it?

My newest designs

I have been working hard on a few designs lately and I’m excited to share some of the results of these projects.

The first is a header design for the lovely Niamh at Finding the Joys in my Journey. She was the winner of my header giveaway at Hope Squared in October. We had a lot of fun talking back and forth about colors and textures and how she wanted the header to look. I love the final product which captures the brightness of her personality and her blog. My favorite things are the geometric shapes and how all the colors look together. She was a pleasure to work with, and her blog is a fun space to visit. Take a look at her header live on her blog HERE.

Next is a complete blog makeover for Rebecca at Our Busy Little Bunch. She received a blogger grant from Mom Central to give her blog a makeover and she chose me as her designer! She knew exactly the color scheme she wanted and sent me these pictures of fabric as a starting off point.

I loved the bright colors and grey as a neutral. She is an amazing quilter and sewer and initially I wanted to do a pretty literal interpretation of that in her design. But after some conversation I realized Rebecca didn’t want to be completely contained by that. So I went back to the drawing board and focused more on the colors with just a little bit of frill. And I added a hint of stitching/thread feel to some of the design elements. I love how everything came together, and Rebecca has been blogging up a storm since the design went live. I’m so excited for the future growth of her blog and am so glad she likes the design. See it for yourself on her blog HERE.

And the final project I have to share is for Gretchen, mother to darling little Arabella whose blog is full of stories of her little girl, her favorite etsy finds and real life moments. I had fun working with her color scheme and using pictures of Arabella. This header was a lot of fun to create!

 

We worked together to come up with a goal for her blog and something to tie everything together. In just a couple sentences that we used for her sidebar I think we accomplished just that: “I’m taking a cue from my daughter Arabella and living life to the fullest. Telling her stories, sharing our everyday life and encouraging others to live their best life wherever they are with all that they have.” I know you’ll enjoy reading her blog. Visit Gretchen and little Arabella HERE.

I am currently working with my friend and photographer Marta of VonGrey Photography to design her website using Showit. This is my first time really digging into the software and I’m having fun learning something new. Can’t wait to reveal the final website once its complete, so stay tuned!

So this is a big part of why I’ve been pretty quiet here on my own blog. Most of December and January was almost full time hours at the Credit Union and my spare time has been spent working on these design projects. I feel like I’ve hit my stride and am really in “my dream job”…working with the public by day and designing and blogging by night. I just need to work on balancing things better so I have time to share here too. Thanks for sticking around in the meantime and for your comments. They just make my day!

If you visit the blogs I shared today be sure to leave a comment! I’m sure that would make them smile too. Thanks!

Our new family member

So this happened last week…

We got a puppy!! Chris and I have been talking about getting a puppy for awhile. After everything that transpired with the puppy we used to have, Spencer, we knew we wanted our situation to be just right before we moved forward with finding the dog for us. And everything came together this week!

Chris found a local Miniature Schnauzer breeder who had two puppies available. We went and visited them on Thursday night and I fell in love with this little salt and pepper boy. He is so sweet, very affectionate, has the best personality and fell asleep on my chest. I couldn’t get him out of my mind. My parents were staying with us for the weekend and they helped us to make the decision, purchase him and get him comfortable in our house. It was really special to have them here for the whole process. They have a mini schnauzer named Tucker, and he has a special place in my heart and was a big reason why we went with this breed of dog.

We decided to name him Gibson…like the guitar. He is pretty stinkin’ cute!

I’m so excited to have a little one running around underfoot. He’s very playful and comical and cuddly….all the things you’d expect a puppy to be.

He’s been the best part of 2013 so far, hands down! Yay for being “puppy parents!”

I’m looking forward to sharing some good Gibson stories here on my blog. I’m sure he’ll be very entertaining, and the companion that we’ve been searching for.

Thanks for sharing in our excitement!!

Life at this moment

I am currently:

Drinking…peach iced tea, but contemplating a glass of wine after the long day I had.

Watching…Downton Abbey on HULU while I work.

Wearing…very soft pj’s that my mom gave me and my slippers. Pretty cozy!

Reading…the Bible book of Ruth for my daily bible reading and I have a few books from the library that I’m deciding if I really want to read them.

Weather…has been extremely cold the last few days here. Icy roads and parking lots, but they say its supposed to be 30 degrees again by the weekend, and that’s an improvement!

Wanting…to complete my blog posts about my One Little Word. I have a summary of how flourish was a huge part of 2012 and another post introducing my word for 2013. I’m excited to share.

Thinking… about blog design and coding. Its taken over every spare spot in my brain lately. I wish I could get over this hump of learning and just know how to do what I want to do.

Wishing… for the Seafoam edition of Project Life to be available on Amazon soon. I am going to try it this year, and I think that color story that Elise designed is just perfect.

Feeling… anxious for a new hair cut. I’m in love with Becki of Whippy Cake’s hair. I’ve been stalking her instagram for styling ideas and I’m hoping Hannah and I can get together soon to make it happen.

Deciding…what color to pain the big wall in our house. We have a few swatches taped up, and I think we’ve agreed on the one that we’ll choose. Looking forward to doing some more decorating and making our house a home.

Enjoying… my job. I have so much fun and feel fulfilled in my work, even on long days like this.

Loving…my husband. I’m such a lucky girl to have that guy in my life.

What are you up to currently?
Link me to your blog so I can see how you’ve been!

12 favorite things from 2012

It is really the end of the year…the last couple days of the last month of 2012. Whew! What a journey of unraveling and putting bits back together…a convergence of new life lessons and milestones…and growing older in all the right ways. Its been a great year…and I thought to finish it out right I’d share some of my favorite things and moments and treasures with you.

1. Becoming an Auntie to my nephew Emerson and watching him grow up through text message pictures and videos and a couple visits.

2. Getting hired at Horizon Credit Union. Read the story of how it all came together here, thoughts on my first day here, and my week of training here.

3. My 12 favorite songs of 2012: “Figure 8” by Ellie Goulding, “King and Lionheart” by Of Monsters and Men, the entire “Red” album by Taylor Swift, “Home” by Phillip Phillips, “Call Me Maybe” cover by Ben Howard, “This Is the New Year” by Ian Axel, “Hanging On” by Britt Nicole, “Somebody That I Used to Know” cover by Walk Off The Earth, “Its Time” by Imagine Dragons, “As It Seems” by Lily Kershaw, “Poison & Wine” by The Civil Wars, “Be Mine” by Robyn, “Xyz” by Jack and White.

4. Rebranding my blog to shadylaneblog.com and the month-long blog party all about celebrating the everyday. I had some amazing guest bloggers share their thoughts on the topic. And from then on this blog focused on cherishing the little things and remembering that even though “every day might not be good, but there is something good in every day.”

5. All of my Hair Diaries and experiments this year.

6. Riding the elephant at the fair! Total highlight of the year and my life!

7. Celebrating our 5th Wedding Anniversary and sharing our love story together on my blog. It was so much fun to write together and share with all of you. I am so grateful for Chris and the love he’s brought into my life. Our relationship flourished this year and I hope it continues to grow even more. 

8. Instagram for Android!!! I loved seeing the world through those little filtered squares this year and I hope to keep taking and sharing pictures with this platform. It’s a fun way to celebrate the little everyday things.

9. Visits with family. I was a bad blogger and didn’t really take many pictures of this, but this year we had quite a few visits with our families. My papa and his new wife came to stay with us, we went to Whidbey Island and saw Chris’ grandparents and were there for their 65th wedding anniversary. My Canadian family came and spent a couple nights with us and we spent a lot of time singing and playing music together. My mum stayed with us a few times and so did my sister Megan and her husband. It was something I really enjoyed about 2012 and it made me really happy that we have a guest room in our home to share.

10. Starting our journey of learning Russian! We joined the Russian group in our congregation in May of this year and slowly but surely we’re learning the language. It is an exciting time in the history of Jehovah’s people to be involved in a foreign language group. We can’t wait to see where it will lead and what other doors it might open to us.

11. Learning and growing with my blog designing. I got to meet some really amazing ladies and design for some friends this year. I am hoping to continue to grow my skills and my business with blog design.

12. Getting answers about my health. I got sick at the end of 2011 and throughout 2012 I went through lots of ups and downs trying to figure out what it was and then how to get it under control. I was diagnosed with IBS and was able to see a specialist and got the tools I need to continue forward in as much control of it as possible. Getting sick and going through this process has taught me a lot…I’ve learned humility and to rely on Chris even more. It brought us closer together. I am glad to be on the road to health again, and hopefully feeling even more like my self again soon.

It has been quite a year…and I am so excited to welcome in 2013 and see what it brings us.

What were the best parts of your 2012?