option three: boston

I've never been to Boston, and actually neither has Chase. Chase is all about the beaches, so this will be a stretch.

Here's the facts:

Flights: $300 a piece

Hotel: Expensive. On first glace everything looks to be $350 or more a night.

Things to do:

- Catch a Red Sox game

- Walk the Freedom Trail

- Visit Harvard (Haaaavvvvard...I'm not above buying a sweat shirt and pretending I'm an alum)

- Visiti the north end

I'm sure there are things I'm missing, but I know my friend Kelly can give me all the needed info.

So what do you think? So far I have Seattle, Alaska with a stop in Seattle, and Boston.

30 years.

My dad commissioned me to make a card for my mom for their 30 year anniversary of meeting. I didn't have a lot of time to work on it, so I used an idea I got from Kristina Werner and went to work.

Sorry the picture is bad! I need the days to get longer so I can get some natural lighting.

Paper- SU Kraft
Accesories: Square Scallop Nestability, Real Red SU Marker, Misc Buttons

studio.

Okay, so I don't call it my studio, but that sounds so glamorous. I call it my craft room, but I'm going to thinking about studio from now on.

I just added the leaf to my table. Just using the circle was too small. I also reorganized all of my ribbon into glass containers on old fashioned clothes pins. This works A LOT better than my old system that I got from Real Simple magazine. I like Real Simple, but using coat hangers for holding ribbon = bad idea. Any time I would unroll one I would have to try to hold all the other rolls to keep them from unrolling. Not fun.

So here are the pictures:Also, the letter press drawer above my desk has pictures, embossing powder, glitter, ribbon etc. I got this idea from Ali Edwards. I have one similar to hers in my husband's office.

another step forward.

Do you remember this post? Or this one? Or the latest one? Well, I have an update on our living room. We finally got our chairs in for the room. They make a big difference!

Now all I need are my window pane mirrors!

christmas gifts set one.

I made a few sets of cards for friends and family. I made two types, and I love the way they both turned out. This is a set I made for my grandmother from some Amy Butler papers:Stamps: Sincere Salutations by Stampin Up, Just Rite Stamper
Accessories: Top Note, Martha Stewart Ribbon, 1 3/4 punch, grommets, template by Paper Trey Ink
Paper: Amy Butler, All the Stampin Up In Colors

christmas card slacker.

Merry Christmas from the Bakers.

day two: cruise to Alaska

Next up on my list of options is a cruise to Alaka.

The Facts:

Flight Cost: Same as below

Cruise itenerary:

11-Sep
Seattle, Washington
13-Sep
Juneau, Alaska
14-Sep
Skagway, Alaska
15-Sep
Tracy Arm Fjord, Alaska
17-Sep
Victoria, British Columbia
18-Sep
Vancouver, British Columbia

Cruise Cost:

Interior: $549

Outside: $749

Stuff to do: Well there is all of the below stuff if we can spend more time than just on the boat, dog sleds, glaciers, kayaking, a ton of trails, pretty much all outdoorsy stuff, oh and whale watching. I get really excited about whale watching!

I'm not sure if this surprises you, but I'm 100% okay with that.

So I've gotten a few nods for Seattle. What do you think about Alaska and everything cold? I think I'll review some warm places tomorrow.

Oh and happy Christmas Eve Eve.

day one: seattle

Breaking down the facts:

Flight cost: $420 total if we go early March; $600 in June

Hotel:$230 or less per night

Places on interest:

Mt. Rainer - gorgeous (I'm a sucker for a city beside the ocean and mountains)

Mt. St Helen

Space Needle - We don't need a picture, right?

Day Trip to Victoria Canada

Things to do:

Kayak

Whale Watching (I want to do this so bad)

Ride Bikes (apparently everyone rides bikes and drinks coffee in Seattle)

Go to Pike's Place

Thoughts?

Also, Ray said his favorite vacation was going to San Fran and Monterey. I have actually done a very similar trip with a stop at Yosemite National Park after the two above. Other than my honeymoon in Maui, that was my next favorite. I might also do a little NYC research.

wanting a vaca...

So the girls at work are planning their vacations for next year, and well, I've got the bug as well. What is there about always wanting to plan something to look forward to?

Anyways, I thought in an attempt to talk my sweet, loving, extrememly hot hubby (can you tell I'm trying to butter him up) to go to Seattle, I'm going to break down a few options. Any advice, opinions on these selections is much appreciated.

We just purchased our first house, so this year is a "keep it real" vacation. In other words Italy, Greece, London, Hawaii will not be in the discussion.

This week I'm planning to do a little research on these beauties:

Seattle-

Cruise to no where (actually I will pick somewhere to review, but I'm not sure where yet):

Okay actually those are the only two Chase and I have discussed so far. Any more suggestions I should look into?

finished.

Just a quick post to show you the fireplace all finished:

a quick project.

I fixed up a few bags of treats for some friend. Obviously I can't get enough of this patterened paper.

I used Figgy Pudding paper and Merry and Bright from PaperTrey Ink.

a busy weekend.

***Please note that I had to resize these pictures in blogger. I'm not sure what the deal is, but it wasn't easy. I'm sure there are several that are skewed.

I've been complaining that I keep giving myself new projects all the time, but when the opportunity for my dad to come help Chase and I (mostly Chase) with our fireplace, I couldn't pass it up. Here is the visual story:

My Dad and I checking out a picture I found online. ***This idea originally came from Layla at The Lettered Cottage. You can read my original post about our Living Room here.

The first piece goes up.

The grid is up, crown molding is up. I think all of the dots on this picture is dust! There was a lot of sanding going on. Painting (we had to do three coats plus primer).
Finished! I was hoping to take a picture with the place cleaned up and the tv back on the wall (or at least a picture with the plug coverings back up). But you get the point. I'm in love.
We have another party tonight so hopefully I'll get a good one!

Thanks Dad and Chase for all of your work on this! It's beautiful.

a new project at the baker home.

Chase said this is the last project he is doing this winter. I honestly can't blame him. Moving was hard, and then I had a ton on my to-do list. Here's a preview of our weekend project.

Details to come! (oh and I know this is crazy blurry, but Chase's face cracks me up).

snow... i know amazing.

How shocking!

christmas party!

We had our first party in our new house. It was a lot of fun and a lot of work. We had some much to get done before we had people over. Here's a few pictures of the fun:

december daily, day one.

I know I'm going backwards here, but since the first page required me to get pictures printed, day two was completed first.
Once I finished day one, my day two looked different:

december daily: day two

I finished one of my pages! I didn't actually have any pictures from today, but it still turned out pretty cute: (sorry my picture is blurry)

bookmark number two

Here's the second one bookmark. I think once I got done with both, I think I like the first one best!
Stamps: Just Rite Stamper
Ribbon: Martha Stewart
Accessories: Lil' Davis Designs chipboard, Black Paint, Versa Mark, White Embossing Powder

bookmark number one

I am in a book club, but I'm a pretty stinky member. I usually get the books and if it's fiction, I read it all. If it's non-fiction, I read a quarter of the book. This month we are reading Jesus For President. Well, I only picked up the book two days before our meeting, nice.

This month we gave bookmarks as our Christmas exchange. I got Mary Anna's name, and I wasn't too crazy about the first one so I made two. Here's the first:
Stamps: Stampin Up So Swirly
Accessories: Thickers, Prima Flower
Paper: Kraft
Ink: Craft White

a birthday card for my grandmother.

I got a call from my grandmother last night that she needed a birthday card. She was going to a birthday party for a man at church that was turning 103!

Here's what I came up with:
Stamps: Guidelines, Sincere Salutations
Ink: Left- Craft White with white embossing powder; Right, White Craft, Embossing powder and
chocolate chip
Paper: Kraft, White
Silver and Gold Embossing Powder, Glitz Stickles, Liquid Pearls, Pewter, Li'l Davis Designs Chipboard
Ribbon

christmas card number one.

I've got a long way to go when it comes to Christmas cards. Honestly, I'm not sure if I'll even send that many this year.

It seems like the theme of this Christmas is Basic Grey's Figgy Pudding. I love this paper.

Stamps: Merry And Bright Paper Trey Ink
Paper: Basic Grey Figgy Pudding, Old Olive, White
Ink: Old Olive, Bravo Burgundy, Bashful Blue
Accessories: Ribbon, Nestabilities

christmas project number 3

Yes, I know another wreath! I just couldn't help myself. This is totally cased from Elise Blaha. Her homemade Christmas was very inspiring this year.

I had a cardboard box downstairs, so I went to work. It actually didn't take nearly as long as my other wreath:

december daily: day one

I've got some super exciting pictures for the first day of my December Daily album, right. Basically I worked late today, worked out, came home to a husband with a paper due, and started painted some coasters for Amy at work (I'm loving the 'f' by the way).

So that's day one. I'm planning on taking my card to Wal-greens every ten days to get pictures printed and in my book.

christmas tags.

I've wrapped about a quarter of my gifts. I'm hoping I can finish soon.

I made this tag to look like an old post card. I love the little stamp (sorry the image is a little blurry):
Paper: Real Red, White
Ink: Jim Holtz Distress Ink Tea Dye, Stazon Black, Old Olive, Real Red
Stamps: Merry and Bright: Paper Trey Ink

a family photo.

My family took a photo on Thanksgiving. It's the first one we have had in awhile:

christmas project number 2

I originally got this idea from my friend Emily, and I believe the originally got her idea from Real Simple magazine. She was using red ornaments to hang from her banister. I decided to do something similar with a bunch of handmade stuff that I had used on my tree. Oh, and this year's theme is pretty rustic.