The Sampler's 2012 Design Team Search!

 2012 

Design Team Search! 

We are on the hunt for new designers for the 2012 design team for The Sampler Kit Club! 2012 is going to be an amazing year, with amazing kits and an amazing team! Check out the call over at The Sampler's Blog and send in your application!

sunshine&bunnies,
holly*

back to diapering post #2

Well, they got here...

The gDiapers gBaby Bundle, Newborn Diapers made their way here. I also purchased 1 package of the gDiapers Cloth Diaper Inserts ... BUT, upon further research, I discovered that there are bundles that come with cloth inserts as opposed to the disposable ones which came with the bundle i originally purchased.You can find the bundle with the cloth inserts over at diapers.com.

 What came in the bundle?
If you read pretty well any ordering information or even the box you will find that the newborn bundle includes 12 tiny gPants (i.e. newborn sized), 6 small gPants (up to 14lbs i think), 6 small gPouches, and 80 small disposable gRefills.

So those are inserts? 

Yup. two kinds. cloth.... 

 

and the disposable/flush-able...

 

The cloth liner definitely looks/feels more comfortable but also puffier.they are both rather long for the newborn and small diapers. (photo: disposable liner over newborn diaper)

                           

the disposable liner reminds me very much of the stiff feeling of a conventional disposable diaper. Not a huge shock. The disposable liner, however, can be flushed apparently. The instructions which came with the bundle informed me that a soiled disposable liner can be torn open on one end, shaken into a toilet, swished around a bit and flushed. Handy swish stick included in bundle with clever quote included...

  

so what about the diapers?
when looking at the gdiapers system, the diaper itself consists of anywhere from 2-4 layers. the gPant is the diaper cover basically. the newborn diapers are pretty well one piece. the small (and subsequently larger sizes) are two pieces: a diaper cover and a pouch. 

the pouch is what holds the insert, so the newborn diaper is basically a pouch with the cloth cover already attached and the larger sizes have a pouch that snaps easily in and out of the diaper. i'm not really sure why...

in the next photo, the cloth liner has been folded in half to fit inside the pouches and fits lovely in both instances. without a proper baby to actually try these on, i am unsure if this will actually be the way we use the liners on baby.

apparently this example of layering is a just fine and complete way to diaper a baby, but most of the bits i have been reading about cloth diapering all recommend another layer when using cloth inserts, a liner. the liner helps contain & dispose of solid waste, prevents some stains and would sit directly on top of the diaper stack shown below. then insert baby, fasten diaper around said baby and off you go. easy huh? for the small and newborn sizes it is undeclared as if a liner is truly necessary. i plant to use them, but have not acquired said liners as of yet so no photos for you! (...yet)

 

 more photos of the newborn sized diapers...

i think this is the back of the diaper...the velcro straps are quite elastic-y which i think will be perfect for a newborn tummy. 

these snaps on the front of are a great feature to a mom who folded down conventional diapers with a first child. for those of you who haven't experienced "the first child" yet, often for the first few days to the first couple weeks you avoid the belly button/umbilical cord with pretty well everything so it can dry up, heal and fall off on its own. folding down the diaper and then attaching it to baby helps achieve this belly button avoidance. the gdiapers come equip to do this as well by using those snaps makes the front of the diaper an inch or so shorter. this should accommodate for belly button spacing. 

ok, that was bundle number one and an overview of what i learned that 1st day with the gdiapers. no practical experience, but it certainly makes more sense to have at least this system  in house and hands on. I feel more prepared to diaper a baby bum when the time comes...

Additional Items To Research & Purchase:
Diaper Liners
Diaper Laundry Products
Diaper Laundry Storage

who says Party Rock can't be pretty too?

despite being 6 months pregnant along with many other things that one does not expect out of a party rocker, I AM A PARTY ROCKER! at heart at least... in truth, my back aches entirely too much to do Party Rock justice. The Party Rock Anthem video, however, does...

BUT, to get a little cheesiness out of the way, i am actually inspired by these guys. i mean really, these guys literally Party Rock for a living. so i made myself a little reminder...

ok, so what if everyday i'm LITERALLY shufflin. still, everyday i'm shufflin.

sunshine&bunnies,
holly*

Random Envelope Mini Album Fall Edition

After seeing this post over at the Crate Paper blog i was inspire to make an album to stash all the Fall memories I've been gathering lately. On hand I had 6x6" envelopes which determined the size of the album along with canvas, burlap ribbon, chipboard, a few sheets from Jillibean Soup's "Apple Cheddar Soup" along with a hand full of pearls & other goodies!

Ok, i'm going to squeak a little and just say that I love how it shaped up! I left a lot of it very simple so i can add photos and other goodies as the months progress into winter. I also love that I can simply stuff more stuff like tags and memorabilia in the envelopes.

I can totally see cranking out more of these mini albums in all kinds of shapes and sizes and for different seasons/events/etc... Great tutorial over at the crate paper blog!

YAY!
Sunshine&Bunnies,
holly*

The Sampler: Oct2011 Sketch Challenge!

There is a new sketch challenge up over at The Sampler's blog! Great sketch and always makes finishing a layout a touch easier for me!

sketch:

layout:

details:



i used the October2011 kit from The Sampler with a touch of ribbon from the September2011 kit! Speaking of the Oct2011 kit, as many of us do I love the products from the SMASH line and October's kit has some of the stickies! soooo... excited! thats where those bees come from! super cute!

sunshine&bunnies,
holly*

ps. if you havent already, be sure to join The Sampler's NEW Flickr Group!

back to diapering post #1

ok so i am by no means PROmom. i have no parenting degree or even education other than what i've gained through parenting itself. i mess up. a lot. but, we live our life to the best of our abilities and take each situation as it comes, preparing as we can. i have experiences to share. while we each experience situations differently, i have found others who have shared their experiences (through personal stories on and offline) have helped me go through a similar situations.

ok, so now i want to share something with y'all, that was an issue with our 1st child and derail the crafting train. at least occasionally. diapering. you have a baby, you have to put something on it to contain the things that comes out of it. right?

how about some background?
with our 1st child (the boy, now five), we experienced some "minor" skin issues. we used conventional huggies from birth. at around 8 months we 1st noticed a few dry, red splotches on his diaper area, mostly his lower back/bum. they were very faint at first but then grew more intense as we entered summer and things heated up. no amount of diaper rash creams or sprays changed the rash. it started to seem that the rash was causing discomfort. it was time to take the boy to the pediatrician. he diagnosed a possible case of eczema and set him up with a steroid cream. the cream worked but i hated the idea of using a steroid cream on his little bum and, if we didn't use it constantly, then the rash returned promptly. so i started looking into what causes these kinds of skin issues and if there was anything i could do.

after reading and posting and reading and sharing, we started to gain some ground and started removing potential skin irritants. since the rashes were limited to his diaper area, obviously changing the diapering routines seem to be the best starting point. soooo... after a lot of trial and error we found a combination of products (Seventh Generation Diapers, chlorine/alcohol free wipes, and the occasional slathering of California Baby Calendula Cream) that improved our situation and the skin issues cleared up. neat huh?

i want to throw in here that i did try cloth with the boy around the time he was a year old and the rash was peaking with not so great results. looking back, it was the wrong time to attempt to transition to cloth. there was a heatwave, the boy's rash was at its peak and i was freaking frustrated already! never  mind that i had ZERO prior knowledge of cloth diapering and, while over all fairly simple, there are a lot of options and that crap is effing confusing. srs. 

ohay! we're having a baby!
so we're expecting our 2nd addition now and i know i am dreading diapering again. so, i'm also expecting our 1st set of gdiapers to arrive. our plan is to use the chlorine free diapers from seventh generation along with cloth diapers (read below for my initial cloth diaper choice) in hopes of preventing or at least lessening the possibility of skin irritation from day one.

the "green" factor honestly is a smaller portion of this decision than it seems others have. there are disposable inserts(not planning on using these tbh) which have a waste factor and even washing the cloth inserts leave some kind of footprint in terms of detergents, waste water and energy consumed... while reducing and reusing is in my daily thought process and obviously to benefit our children, but baby and her comfort are numero uno in terms of this decision.

why gdiapers?
well, i am the kind of person that will bend over backwards to not burden others will my decisions. husband is pretty well able to go with the flow on some things and willing to learn especially when it comes to the benefit of our children. BUT, what about others involved with our children? Grandmas? Aunties? Friends? we hope to share our children with our friends and family and that occasionally involves changing a diaper...

when i first told my mom we would cloth diapering at least part time, she pretty much just told me she would have a stash of disposables on hand. OK, one pampers isn't going to ruin baby forever, BUT it does defeat the purpose of this investment. I'm sure i will get her set up with the chlorine free disposables, BUT why can't a cloth diaper be as easy as a disposable diaper?

after poking around the internet, i pretty well became smitten with the idea and look of the gdiapers. they seem less bulky than some of the others. they come in bundles to help get you started. i can obtain inserts and accessories at the grocery store (whole foods and places of the like). they have velcro and vaguely look like a fancy disposable diaper. and, with a little effort, i bet i can pre-load the diaper covers with the inserts and liners so guest diaper-ers can just pull out a fresh diaper when needed. it seemed like a good jumping off point.

ps. some of the colors are really cute and i bet they would make for a great "diaper butt" and husband and i have coined it. we're a little obsessed with diaper butt. ah! cuteness!  

So, here we are.
I am waiting on our 1st shipment of gDiapers (the newborn bundle to be specific) so I can get back into practicing and see if i can gain a little confidence with this system. i do have plans to report back and share the experience. hopefully with photos. this post is dryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy....

sunshine&bunnies,
holly*

a goodbye and a hello...

so, while i wasn't paying attention very closely, the gals over at Sassy Little Sketches made the tough decision to refocus their creative energies and close their sketch sites. While its sad, they are having a huge send off and celebrating the whole month FULL of sketches and awesomeness.

I created a layout using their sketch #1 and I love how it turned out. I will miss SLS and the wonderful sketches! Best wishes to all those involved and their future ventures...

to end on an up note, we have a huge hello to the "Mrs. Weasley" kit from The Sampler! Its a very lovely kit and i can't seem to put it down. The layout above (yes that is our new addition at a startling 9weeks, development from cells to baby is nothing short of amazing) is using the october kit and i love it! the embellishments in this kit really do it for me!

check out the sampler's kit page for full details on the kit and the sampler's blog for all the inspiration in the world (literally) using this month's kit!

sunshine&bunnnies,
holly*

this weekend:

pumpkin patch was visited

small sewing projects were created

pumpkins were transformed (pie filling and roasted seeds, NOM)

bacon, lettuce, avacado sammiches were made

brownies devoured

fellowship of the ring was watched

family time was well spent

noses were picked

sunshine&bunnies,
holly*