new at the company 5.03

There are so many great new things at P&co today! You have to check them out, they're all great deals today too! Here's what have for you...

*just so you know... you can get a 5x7" print of this when you place an order from Persnickety Prints tomorrow {iNSD} May 4th! They're planning on some great print deals tomorrow too, & they are super awesome to work with + their quality is beyone compare!

now on to the releases...

love this collab with a few of the other amazing designers at P&co. Here's a look of my portion...

& now a little inspiration with the Homebody kit...

by {becca dickson}

by {claudia harvey}

by {me}

there's a reason I LOVED the idea behind this kit because our home means so much to me. We love just hanging out there & we are so lucky to have something we've worked so hard to have & love so very much. I really loved working with this kit. So much goodness in there. I also used my enamel dots on there too :)

remember everything is 35% off through the weekend! We also extended the $1 May Stash kits through the end of the day today! how awesome is that?

I'll be hosting a chat tomorrow at P&Co too! right before the first Speed Scrap! {11:00 am mountain, 12:00 pm central}. Come join me! I may have something special just for you!

happy shopping & scrapping!

{robyn}

what we've been up to...

cross country meets with Collin

Dan & Evan having lots of hitting practice & playing catch

fall days outside

school. and lots of homework {for all 3}

an impromptu, late birthday present for Dan of a ballgame in St Louis... hoping they get their wild card spot & our beloved mr Pujols decides to stay :)

babysitting this sweetie... my great niece Kaydelynn

enjoying fall flavors, like pumpkin chocolate chip muffins & pumpkin spice coffee

making up some fall/halloween decor

taking down these vinyl fishscales

& replacing them with these cedar look shakes {more pics to come later}

a campfire/weinie roast with friends

that's just a little catch-up on our lives lately!

{robyn}

new layouts...new stuff

hey everyone... just thought I would show you some layouts I put together this afternoon.  I had fun playing around with a few of the kits that I released today, but hadn't gotten the chance to use myself!  the first two layouts are using primarily the Feels Like Home September mini kit

for this one about my favorite part of the year... bringing out the fall decorations I also used the solid blue texture from Cozy & the Tears Set 2 from Tiffany Tillman so cool {DHD} & Stitching from Katie Pertiet Stamped Stitches no9 {DD}.

for this layout about Dan turning the big 40 I also used some parts from a Katie Pertiet Layered Template Just Look at You {the frame & stitches}, the same stitching set again from above & parts from Karen Funks Back 2 School Layered Template {modified slightly}.

and I love this one I created of Evan's first day of 3rd grade with the Sweet Fall v2 patterned & solid papers...

I again used the Karen Funk Back 2 School Layered Template, modified slightly... these are really awesome templates btw.

I've had a great time doing some layouts today & I hope you've gotten to stop over to my shop at DHD & take advantage of the 30% off... don't forget they'll be on sale until Sunday!  You should also go & check out the great new kits from everyone else in the store that are just on sale for TODAY.  I tried to link to everything I used from the DHD shop, so shop away my friends :)

{robyn}

home tour... a girly room for Lydia

I've recently had some kind requests from a few friends for a tour of our home... I've wanted to do this for some time to tell our story about how much craziness, love & just plain hard work has gone into this place. For those of you that don't know the story, I'll give you a little background.  Dan & I bought this old farmhouse and acreage about 6 years ago on auction.  It's a lovely setting in the country, we liked the size & style of the house, but knew it would need a total remodel.  Well... we spent one entire year working tirelessly on this place before moving in {along with lots of help from family}, although it was not in any way "done".  We started in early June I believe pulling down plaster walls & ceilings, pulling out lath & nails, old wiring, insulation, crappy carpet, plywood paneling that was covering a good portion of the downstairs walls.... I could go on & on.  Long story short: we took it down to the studs, rewired, replumbed, reinsulated, redrywalled, refinished floors... & since moving in we've jacked the house up to put a new basement under it, built a wrap around porch, resided & reshingled.

and so... here is Lydia's room 

BEFORE

and here it is

AFTER

Notice the walls are once again pink... hopefully a little more appealing than the original paint job.  The window & door trim, baseboard & crown moulding were all made by Dan & my brother & is the same all throughout the entire house.  It's one of my most loved things.  We've used the same paint color on the trim through the house too {Craft White.  Eddie Bauer. Valspar}.  The pink on the walls is Pale Peony {Valspar}.  The floors are original to the house, but had to be refinished after we unearthed them from carpet foam & glue.  They are a really lovely pine varied plank with lots of character.  Her bed & her dresser are antique finds from one of the sweetest places near Kalona, Ia called Sister's Garden.  I love the place, but nearly every time I go there I end up with a piece of furniture in my car.  The photos were taken by two amazing local photographers Amy Becker {1 yr photos} & Kathie Brune {baby photos}.  

So there you go... room #1 on the Meierotto Farm house tour!  This is going to be a long process, as having 3 kids in the house I will try to photograph rooms as we finally complete them & before the kids do too much damage!  

{robyn}

around here...

we're gearing up for a new school year starting next week.  

The boys start Thursday for 2 half days & Lydia starts preschool the next week.  Trying to get school supplies organized, making sure clothes fit, & that we have "real" shoes that fit.  We've been to preschool to meet Lydia's new teachers & although we knew who Collin's teacher was going to be, we weren't quite sure who Evan was going to have & were happy to get a note from his teacher this week!  I think it will be a challenging year, with Collin entering the 6th grade, he's just has one more year before he moves into jr high {really?} & with all 3 of them in school!  Somehow I'm not as sad about Lydia going to preschool as I thought I'd be.  I think it's because I see how completely excited she is about it.

We're moving the kids' rooms around.  

The boys decided to put the bunk beds up again that we had set up when we first moved in & room with each other again.  They're excited to make the room their own with a new color scheme.  This means that Lydia is moving into Evan's room & she'll finally have a real room with a closet {yay!} & a door.  Yes a door.  Oh & wall space {that I've already been informed will be pink} to hang lots of girly stuff on.  When we bought this house we thought we weren't going to have any more little  people besides the boys, but I guess someone had a different plan for us! This meant the only free room was my studio space, which was a wide open room at the top of the steps that really doesn't have a way to put a door on.  The room is big & I love it for her, but it's just not practical as a bedroom.  This room will again become my workspace, but will also become a family workspace, where everyone will have a desk or table space to do homework, projects, etc.  I think this will be nice & will hopefully keep our island & dining room table less cluttered {I can dream, right?}.

We're trying to get in the last of summer.

Trying to figure out how to stick a little more fun into the summer.  Hopefully we'll find a day or two to get to the pool before school starts.  Plus the boys are trying to get the most of video games, computer games, playing outside, riding 4 wheelers, relaxing on the couch... oh yeh, just not doing homework.  

Making lists.

Dan's got a list of things he wants to try to get accomplished around here over the next few months & a long list of things we need to try to complete this fall & winter.  He always has lofty goals of what he plans on accomplishing over the months when he has to be stuck inside.  Hopefully we can work together to complete several partially finished things around the house {heated floors, putting flooring down in the basement, trim, paint, etc, etc}.  

Getting ready for school/church sales.

Dan & I are on our final year of our churches God's Acre Sale committee.  It's been lots of work & lots of fun. All our local churches have these annual sales to support our church & Holy Trinity Schools {where our kids attend school}.  These sales are so great... charity auctions, great meals {ours is a yummy turkey dinner} & seeing friends & family that all come together for a great cause.  

Working, working, working.

Although I've been trying to spend some more time with the kids before they go back to school, I've been working hard on new digital products for my Etsy shop & new ideas for my blog/website.  The design work isn't the hard part... figuring out how to get people to the website & thinking about what advertising options are best are really what can be puzzling!  I'm sure anyone who has a website can relate.  I'm so thankful for everyone who has supported me so far :)  You're all the best.

Anyway... lots of work to get to today.  Cleaning closets & dressers & moving stuff around & hopefully some painting are in the works for this weekend!  Hope you all have a productive weekend as well.

{robyn}