:: Sarah's Birthday Card ::

Today is my wonderful friend Sarah's birthday. Last night, I made her a card to go with her gift.

The outside is pretty simple and is held together with a brad and a little purple bow.

Surprise! The inside features a pop-up cupcake!

Happy Birthday, Sarah!

:: Glazed and Confused ::

A month or so ago, Sarah and I went to Glazed and Confused to paint pottery. I just love the name of the place!

I wanted a dish to put our keys down in, and Sarah decorated a piggy bank for her niece.  Sarah used to work at Glazed and Confused, so she was a seasoned pro. It was my first time, and I had a blast!

 I found this cute little owl dish and decided it would be perfect.

The challenging part was picturing what the colors would look after they were fired. In about a week, we picked them up and got to see the finished product. I was pretty pleased with how mine turned out!

And now our keys have a home :)

:: Painting at My Parent's ::

Part of Mike's Christmas gift to my parents was painting their living room walls. A couple weeks ago, while we were visiting for my sister's birthday, they cashed in on their IOU.

I failed on the documentation because I didn't take a before picture! You can kind of see in this picture, the walls used to be a very pale yellow.

We painted the three walls Gray Beige and one wall a blue color. I think it was called Shades of Evening. I just love paint color names! And yes, I said "we painted"... somehow I got dragged into this gift as well! :) Dad and Mom also helped alot too.

I did take an after picture. I can't wait to see it next time I go home when all of the furniture is back in place and the pictures are hung back on the walls!

That night, we celebrated Colee's birthday with dinner, drinks, and dancing.

I can't believe my little sis is 26! Happy Birthday Colee!

:: Valentine's Day Card ::

Mike and I don't do much for Valentine's day. We are believers in showing love for each other all year long rather than just one day. ;) This year, like last year, I made him a homemade card. I was looking online for some ideas and came across marthastewart.com's Valentine day card post. There are some fun card ideas on there and even files to help you make them! Here is what I came up with:

Love you, Mike!

:: Bridal Shower Invite ::

I had done Jessi's wedding invites last year and was honored when she not only recommended to her friend, Suzy, to do her wedding invitations, but also asked me to design Suzy's bridal shower invites. I love repeat customers!

These where fun to do. I love the beachy theme and the bright colors! I could go for a fruity drink on the beach right about now! :)

:: Wristlet ::

I got this iPhone wristlet for Christmas from my parents. I really liked it, but I it was kind of plain, so I wanted to add a little somethin' somethin' to it. I bought a pendant for a necklace at Michael's, took the jump ring off of it turned it upside down and glued it on the front of the wristlet.

It give it just a little more personality and matched the inside perfectly!

Sewing : Baby Tie

I like to make something special for many of my photo shoots. I made this little tie for my newborn photo shoot with Grayson by following this tutorial.

Grayson was extremely alert for being only 6 days old, so we had a hard time getting him to stay asleep during the photo shoot. I did get this one shot with him in the tie though.

What a handsome little man!

:: Maternity & Newborn ::

When I went up to Iowa to visit my cousin Jessie and family just before Christmas, I had the opportunity to take her maternity pictures. Even though it was December in Northern Iowa, we were blessed with a sunny day and were able to take some outside.

Isn't she gorgeous! ...And Brandon's not too bad either.

I love the light on her hair. I guess pregnancy glow is a real thing! ;)

 

They already have a beautiful three year old who is so full or personality. I couldn't to see wait what their soon to be born little boy would look like.  I didn't have to wait too long because he was born about a month and half later. 

Welcome to the world, Grayson Michael!

The 6-7 hour drive was definitely worth it to see this little guy. Or should I say big guy, he was 9 lbs 13 oz at birth!

 
I LOVE this one with his little smile! :)


Congratulations Jessie and Brandon!

:: New Year's 2013 ::

This year, we had some friends over to say good bye to 2012 and welcome in 2013.

I made a couple decorations for the party, like the platter above behind that delicious champagne. I bought a gold platter at Michael's for $1.

Then, I used painter's tape, Martha Stewart's Silver Liquid Gilding, and a sponge brush to make a two toned chevron pattern and jazz it up a bit.

I also made this fun CHEERS banner. I did the design on the computer, cut each piece out, and punched holes in each corner for the raffia string to link them together. I added gold glitter paint the yellow for some metallic shimmer.

Speaking of metallic, I forgot to share my purple, silver, and gold themed Christmas wreath that I made for my front door. My favorite part is the glittery gold bird. I used the same silver liquid gilding that I used on the platter to paint some of the holly leaves and berries silver. I liked the how it turned out so much that I just took it down about a week ago!

I hope everyone is having a great 2013 so far!

:: Christmas 2013 - Part 2 ::

My cousin, Jessie's family had their get together a few weeks before Christmas at their house up in Iowa because she was due with their son soon and couldn't travel down to Illinois to our Grandparent's this year. Even though it was a 6.5 hour drive, I was happy I got to spend Christmas with them!
She also graduated from nursing school that weekend! Carly helped me make these fun nurse cake pops for her.

I made several gifts to bring up with me. Jess, Amy, and I traveled to New Mexico in July to visit one of our other cousins, Robin. (We are all over the country now!) I made a photobook with memories from our trip for all three of them for Christmas.

I made a wire heart ring for my cousin Sarah. It turned out so cute that I want to make one for myself now too!

 

 And...I made tile coaster for my Aunt Becky, cousin Rachel, and cousin-in-law (is that a thing?) Amy.

 It was a busy and wonderful weekend with family, food, and fun. Congratulations, Jess on graduating!