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.

Halloween Things

I love Halloween! This year I have been having a bit of trouble getting into the spirit of the holiday due to a bit of a battle with depression that hit me with no warning. Today, however, is the last weekday before Halloween and I want to take advantage of the last couple of days with my kids to do fun, spooky, cute crafts! I've been scouring the internet for fun craft ideas and printable projects to do with the kids. Here are a few things I am looking forward to playing with this weekend:

Come on! The cuteness is almost too much! :)

From babalisme

Check out all her awesome printables while you're there!

I think these Halloween shadow makers are so cool! Spooky and fun, perfect for some Halloween puppet show theater! I know my kids will love them.

from mini-eco

I'm planning to make a haunted house with my oldest today. We'll probably start on it while my kindergartener is at school and then work on it with her when she gets home. I found these cool tombstone templates that I plan to cut out and have the kids decorate for a little graveyard by the haunted house.

from cheeky magpie

I'll have to post pictures of our haunted house later. Maybe tomorrow.

these are the days

Whew!

We took our fourth annual trip to Nelson's Pumpkin Patch in Emerado, ND on Sunday. We always have a great time and the girls look forward to it each year. It's hard to believe that next October Alex will be the same age that Marah was the first time we took her! As I was going through the pictures I took on Sunday I was struck by how sweet it is that we have these pictures of the kids each year and how much they have grown. So I thought I should post them here and wish you all a wonderfully pleasant October and harvest season! We are certainly enjoying it here.

2007- Marah (3) and Jenna (7)

2008- Jenna (8), Alex (2 itty bitty weeks!), Marah (4)

2009- Jenna (9), Alex (1), Marah (5)

2010- Jenna (10), Alex (2), Marah (6)

And then, just because I couldn't resist, my little gooby-goob each year on the hayride :)

2008- 2 weeks

2009- 1 year

2010- 2 years

Sigh... memories. They make my heart happy :)

Make each day count!

Funky Polkadot Giraffe Party!

My dear friend, Kyla, is the mastermind behind Funky Polkadot Giraffe. If you have a little one in your life, you should really go check her out! I think Kyla's work is best defined by her creative hair clips. Seriously, take a look at her amazing work!

Sleeping Beauty Princess Hair Clip

Cute Chocolate Chip Cupcake Clippie

Darling Halloween Witch Hair Clip

Small Thanksgiving Turkey Hair Clippie

Fancy Dancy Brown, Pink, and Blue Paisley Camera Strap

And that's just a very small sampling of her wonderful creations! This week Funky Polkadot Giraffe is having a blog party to celebrate her awesome fans and I have been asked to sponsor a giveaway! My giveaway will be on Friday morning and will be an offer of one custom designed, printable silhouette.

I am very excited to be a part of this because I think silhouettes are so fun and unique and I love to make them! Besides that, I am happy to have Kyla's fans take a look at my work. It is quite an honor for me!

So be sure to tune in to the blog party at Funky Polkadot Giraffe all week long for fun tutorials, giveaways, and more! If you like what you've seen here you might want to go over to FPG's Facebook page and "like" it in order to keep up with what she's making and any giveaways she offers.

Branding

Things have been busy but, now that the new school year craziness has settled a bit, I am ready to get back to work! I have been thinking a lot about branding and about how to best present my products to my customers. There is so much to consider! I'm enjoying the process, though, and just having fun designing new things and coming up with ideas for future products.

Be on the lookout in the near future for a special giveaway to enter! You won't want to miss it!

Meanwhile, here is a little sneak peek at the designs I ordered from Moo.com. These are 6 mini card designs that I came up with. I'll show you how they look in person when they get here!

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

Well, since I only had four people who submitted their name for the giveaway I'm just going to give to all four :)

I have some ideas for new giveaways so keep a lookout for them in the near future.

I'll be emailing the winners and they can submit their photos to me.

Thanks for entering!