Party Planning

This week I am in full on party planning mode.  Little hadley turns one on Sunday!

I used this tutorial to make a number 1 pinata.  Next step is tissue paper..

It's surprisingly easy to do, check it out!

My first real painting

Once upon a time I walked into a thrift store with high hopes of finding a cool vintage painting that I could hang on my new bare walls.  I walked out with this piece above.

I thought I had made a good purchase.  I mean yeah it was a bit different than what we were used to.  But I was desperate to cover my walls, and for $12, I just had to take it.

Then I got home.  My husband let me know just how much he did not want this piece in our living room.  It took a while, but finally the veil had been lifted and I realized the same thing.  dang.

So i decided to paint it.  Keep in mind that I haven't really painted anything in my whole life.  It just seemed so intimidating. I'll admit it, that since I was so intimidated I didn't try to make an original painting.  Instead I borrowed an idea from Sarah Goodreau.

She happens to be amazing and you should check out her work.

Annndd after 4 nights of painting (which I LOVED) here is my finished piece.

I think I found a new love in painting.

Winner!

The winner of the business card giveaway is Jacky!

email me, Jacky and we can get started!

Business Card Giveaway!

I am pretty excited to share with you something new in the shop.  They are custom hand-lettered business cards.  Woot! The listing is for the design only, and then you can print some off at vistaprint.com for mega cheap, and BAM you have yourself a cute set of business cards to pass around.

These are perfect for a small business or even for moms on the go.

Guess what else? I'm giving away a set of 15 printed cards and the digital file to one lucky reader!

TO ENTER:

1.) leave a comment about what you will use the cards for.

2.) for an extra entry like my facebook page.

giveaway ends on Monday, August 26th, so hurry!

We're Animals Art Print

new to the SHOP! "We're Animals Custom Family Art Print".

I'm pretty excited about this new design, its especially for families.  A fun new way to represent who you have in your tribe :)

It would be great as a housewarming gift or a baby gift.

And you can pick from foxes, elephants, and deer. 

pretty fun, right?

magic

This little girl is pure magic to me.

I can't look at her and not feel at least a bit of joy.

She loves her some kitties

There are a lot of reasons one might be certain that Hadley is in fact my offspring.  We share noses, smiles, grimaces, the same laugh, to name a few things.

But the minute she fell in love with kitties, I knew it was true.

You see, I love cats. I think the little fluff balls were put here on the earth to make me melt.

Haddie thinks the same.

She loves her kitten book.

Our former pet Abe was her best friend in Oregon.

She can make a meow noise.

And most of all, she hates dogs.

So when I was planning out what kind of 1st birthday party we would be having, it was a no brainer.

A kitten one.

Kitty hats, kitty balloons, kitty cakes.

Its going to be one kitterific time.

I've been fairly cryptic about why we moved to Michigan and all that jazz.  Not on purpose, its just that things were so busy and we're just now finally starting to breathe.

We moved back to Michigan:

a.) to be closer to family, with a wee one in the family now its all the more important.

b.) to be near friends.  we're still good buds with my college friends and we missed them.

c.) to take a leap on a new career path for nate.

you see, Nate is now an employee of Edward Jones.  He's studying to become a financial advisor for the company.  I think that he will do really well at the job, but its a far cry from the landscaping days of his past.

and when you live in western michigan, and you are in finances, you need to shave your beard.

this part I am sad about. I always hate it when he shaves his beard, but this time, its final.

hope i get used to the baby smooth face because i have no choice but to.

Custom Stationery

seriously though, is there nothing better than opening your mailbox and seeing a pretty little handwritten card? I think not. 

introducing my new custom stationery set, there are soon to be many more like this in the shop!

A little help with chores

meh. cleaning. who really likes it anyway? not me.  I struggle with getting the energy to move a mop.  to help encourage me to stay one track with cleaning before the house ends up looking like the ends times, I made this little print for my fridge.  Its just a little prompt telling me what I need to focus on that day.  And hopefully by the end of the week I will have a semi-clean house.

does anyone else loathe cleaning?

I thought you might enjoy this to, so CLICK HERE for a free download. 

happy cleaning!

August Discount!

Ahhh, August.  For some reason I just love this month.  I don't know if it is the lazy feel of Summer or if it is the excitement for Fall, but none the less, I am a fan.

To celebrate this month we are entering into, I am offering 30% off anything in the SHOP.

This works for prints, cards, design sets, ANYTHING.

Just use the code 30AUGUST.  This deal is valid until August 3rd.

So go ahead, grab some ice tea, lay on your hammock, and enjoy a little discount from me.

Bonus! If you tweet about this discount, I will give you 40% off instead.  Just email me with the tweet link and I will create the coupon for you.