I have been putting off crafting with the kids for so long and today I wondered why?! Why do I get so paranoid about the mess it creates? Why do I let my laziness get in the way of the good times I have when I create with the kids? Why have I let myself miss out on seeing how creative my kids are?! They really surprised me today with their cleverness. I even stole some of their ideas for my own Valentines!

I started by showing them a craft I remembered doing when I was in school. The classic heart guy with accordion arms and legs. Do you remember making these? So simple and the girls really enjoyed putting their own twist on these little characters.

Then we made monster valentines for any boys on the list. These were fun and turned out so cute! I love the details the girls came up with.

Mine was totally the most plain and boring!

I made a silly little feathered bird just for the heck of it.

Marah made her own heart girl for her cousin and a little book to send to her as well.

Alex hasn't gotten in on craft time yet (though I do let him paint on occasion) but he was in a much happier mood today. Looks like those antibiotics are working their magic. Thank the good Lord for medicine!

What are you doing for Valentine's day? Be sure to check out my cute little Valentine printable cards over on my design blog: http://ashtinafayelou.blogspot.com

Just so you know

I want to say that I have not given up on the challenge. I just have had to deal with a sick family and it's taken up most of my spare time. I did make a couple of things, I just haven't posted them yet. I also had some paid jobs I had to take care of. Here are some silhouettes I have done recently:

If you are interested in purchasing a custom designed silhouette keepsake, please check out my Etsy shop!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ashtinafayelou

Here is what people have been saying about these silhouettes:

"I absolutely love it!

And I adore the little curl. :)" - Becket

"These look great!

The glasses on the man are fab!" - Tara

"Ashley, these are darling...thank you so much for all your hard work. I will definitely use you again." - Lorie

"Ashley, You captured him perfectly, this is beyond what I expected. I'm going to place 3 more orders for my other kids." - September

"These are so fantastic. I love the girls eyelashes. You captured Brooke's pouty lips perfectly. I can't thank you enough for such beautiful work." - September

For the Boys

Alright, 2 days down, 26 to go! Here is the boy valentine card for you to print and share. Enjoy!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD!

again, there is no weird blocky stuff in the middle of this card. I don't know why they keep showing up like that in the preview, but it will download blank for you to add a photo.

A Challenge You Say?

Today I made a plea to my Facebook friends: made it through the first month of 2011 without drinking any pop. Now... what to change for February? Any ideas?

If I can be honest here, I still haven't come up with the perfect February change. However, my

brother did sort of challenge me to create something every day. Of course, I use the word challenge

in a loose sort of way since he didn't actually challenge me, but he did throw it out there. A

suggestion, I think, but I'll consider it a challenge and take him up on it, thankyouverymuch.

I have been creating bit by bit, here and there. Seems I always am moving from one thing

to another, rarely completely finishing. Perhaps I need to focus on smaller, bite size pieces rather

than trying to finish something on a large scale. Maybe my flighty personality requires a bit less to

chew on. I don't know. All I know is that my plan for the next month is to make something, anything,

every day. Some days it may be completely ridiculous, but that's okay! Just something to get my

creative juices flowing, I suppose.

I'm going to try at least. I know that I rarely follow through with these things. But I really will try. I also

will not give up if I miss a day or two. I will keep going. :)

I decided to make something and give something here on this first day. So here you go. If you like,

you can add your child's photo to this card and print them out for Valentine's day. They can sign

their name on the back or tape some candy to it or you can send them to friends and family,

whatever. I think they're cute. So enjoy :)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE .PNG FILE.

PS. Not sure why the file looks like it has random blue squares on it. It does not. Just a weird preview from 4shared.