i owe you all an explanation (and an announcement.)

so... i've been the absentee designer. i haven't been posting on my blog. i've been intermittent at best with my twitter. if you follow me on twitter or are a friend of mine on facebook, you know i've been suffering with terrible migraines as of late (i am a chronic migraine sufferer anyway, but they've gotten to be unbearable on a daily basis for the past month). and yes, yes, i'm prepping for the stationery show, which also has me going crazy.

but it's not the whole story.

there is a REASON behind all the migraines, the tireds, the everything.

yep! oh, the miracle of life, making women miserable for at least 3 months, all throughout history. =D i am due with our second child at the beginning of november. we're all pretty excited (terrified) about it. anna jae is very into being a big sis now, and can't wait to go with me for my first sonogram next week to see the baby. she'll be almost 4 when he/she is born, so it's going to be a big change. but she's all about that responsibility right now. it's super sweet.

what you see above was the postcard-style announcement we sent out to family members. we did this with my first pregnancy too -- it's a nice way to tell people in a more personal manner that a new little person is coming, even if you can't see them all to break the news. the illustration is actually from my new card line (i didn't have time to make a new one for this occasion, and dave just loved the idea of him getting a big belly, which will never happen).

so, there's our little nugget of info. for all of my friends who have been worried about my migraines, there's nothing to be concerned about. it happened with the first pregnancy too. mother nature is just a bitch. ;-)

wow... it's been so long

happy april all! yes, yes, april. and i haven't posted since january. gah. well, at least you know i've been busy!

a lot has happened over the past few months. a lot of work, firstly... which is never a bad thing. i've been terribly busy. custom, line work (NSS 2012 show prep time!), etc... you're going to see a lot of interesting new stuff from the nic studio this year, and i'm so excited about it. there will be a few sneak peeks at the end of this post.

then, of course, there was life. my little girl was lovingly renamed "the germinator" this year -- as it was her first year at school, she had at least one new cold a week. no exaggeration. and as a result, i was constantly sick. colds, strep (lasted for 2 weeks), and finally a really bad flu that had me in bed for days. ugh. pretty.

and of course, i had the anniversary of my dad's passing on march 25th. the lead-up, day-of, and aftermath were all pretty rough on me, and i crawled into a virtual hole for a couple of weeks. i'm back and i'm fine, but it hit me harder than expected.

but life moves on, and some things are so good that they can't be denied. this upcoming saturday (the day before easter), i get to celebrate 6 years of wedded bliss. dave and i can't celebrate during the holiday weekend, but we will get our celebration the following weekend, which just happens to be our 12 year dating anniversary. gosh, 12 years... we almost say 13, because we were "friends" for a year before we were officially together. he's my best friend, my biggest supporter, and the best daddy ever. yes, i can still get mushy after all this time.

our little miss is bigger and bigger every day. she talks a mile a minute, and i often compare her chatty personality to this volvo commercial from a few years back. she has her moments, of course, but at 3, what else could we expect? she's awesome and funny and sweet, and she makes our world better.

and then there's work! work has been great. i've really expanded my scope and started to incorporate more of what i really love -- painting. i've been painting since i was 10, and once it's in your blood, it never leaves. it's my ultimate joy and therapy, so i'm so happy to be doing more work with it. i've also begun a new luxe line of wedding invitations, and overall things are moving in the right direction.

sneak peeks are below. thanks for reading! i'll keep you all up to date more as the stationery show draws nearer.