Black Currant Stack

I challenged myself with another stack: Black Currant by Die Cuts With a View. So far I have gotten 11 cards from it, supplies for probably another 4, and that's without any duplicates so when I am done I will have at least 30 cards from this stack! Not bad for $10....

In other news, I decided to start selling my cards at a new local consignment shop. I turned in this whole set of cards, as well as the Mariposa set, yesterday. Already 3 have sold! This feels much easier than running an Etsy shop; no trips to the post office, no angry customers to deal with, no deadlines to miss. The consignment shop is lovely and I feel like I already fit right in! Feel free to check out their blog at http://www.CherryLimeBoutique.blogspot.com. Have a wonderful day!

One Stack, Fourteen Cards

I'm so proud of myself, I actually made some cards this week! Woohoo!

I love to buy paper stacks and see how much I can get out of them. This week I decided to give the Mariposa Stack by Die Cuts With a View a shot. So far I have come up with seven designs, and I have plenty more paper left. Plus, I designed each card so I can recreate it with the duplicates of the paper, and therefore made a total of fourteen cards! Here is a picture of each card individually:

I should note that, even if you can't really see it in the pictures, the butterfly wings are all on pop dots to make them more dimensional. The only supplies I used for these cards are the 12 x 12 Mariposa stack, kraft cardstock, white cardstock (for the insides), adhesive, pop dots, and gold stickles. I'm so happy with how these turned out and I can't wait to try out some more designs!

PS - this post has been linked up!

The Help

You is kind, you is smart, you is important.


Seriously, if you haven't read this book yet, go read it. RIGHT NOW.

What If I Were Brave?

For the most part I feel like a Plain Jane. Plain clothes, plain hair, plain makeup if any. My messy bun and jeans are comfortable and familiar, and with 3 kids now I feel like I have no time for primping any more. Unfortunately, after having Baby J very few of my nicer clothes fit any more, and my wardrobe is going to have to go through a major overhaul.

I always admire those women who dress fashionably. Not with weird points that stick out or obnoxious colors or fads that will disappear by the time any of us can take a second look; but women who just naturally look put together. There's something so eye catching about comfort and beauty, and I want to tap into that part of me somehow.

Some styles seem wearable for me, but honestly, some I just don't feel brave enough to try. I mean, could I really feel okay buying a pair of yellow shoes? Could I try wearing a dress to go grocery shopping? What would it be like to use more than one purse based on what outfit I am wearing that day? What if I wear a pair of shoes that had a heel on them all day and somehow didn't fall over?

I mean,  I don't want to be the kind of person that has a whole closet just for shoes and only adds to the consumerism that made our society's economy a piece of crap. But, I often wonder if I were more brave, could I possibly be the kind of person that makes people think "she looks really nice today"? 

Welcome Baby J Party

Since Baby J is number 3 for us, I decided I didn't want to have a baby shower. I have a few reasons for this; 1) we already have tons of baby stuff, no need to add more to the mix. 2) A lot of people think it's tacky to have a shower for  a baby that's not the first, (my mom included) and I didn't want to be a subject of gossip. 3) This was a really difficult pregnancy in the emotional sense, as we were told everything from the baby having Down Syndrome or other chromosomal disorders to me having Gestational Diabetes to me eventually being diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and plans for giving birth to a very small, possibly very sick baby. None of the health issues for Baby J ended up being true and my hyperthyroidism symptoms have all but disappeared, with a visit to the endocrinologist next week. We wanted to celebrate the fact that God is good and took care of us during these nine months and now Baby J is here and she's so beautiful and perfect.

Instead of a shower I decided I wanted to throw a Welcome Baby party at our home. We had a baked potato bar (I wish I had pictures; it was AWESOME!), a sweets bar, a big tent set up outside for shade and access to the park behind our house for the kiddos. I had been planning the party for awhile but I really kicked it into gear the last two weeks before it came, cleaning the house like a mad woman and making decorations and sweets. I wish I had more pictures from that day, it was lovely.

 Here's the sugar-coma-inducing table. Complete with 3 different kinds of cupcakes, sugar cookies with royal icing (my very first attempt), seven layer bars, apple bars, and danish cookies. Lemon bars came later and filled the empty space on the platter on the left. (PS - my mom and I found all of the silver she has over the years at thrift stores and pull it out for special occasions. Even if it's only plated we buy it because it is so nice to have around for occasions like this.)

You have to remember with those cookies, they were my first time making royal icing. The cupcake toppers and the bunting were made from the Whimsy paper stack at Joann's. 

 Baby J got to wear her first dress at the party, which was also Little Miss's first dress. She pretty much slept the whole entire time.

After everyone went home she woke up to party with Mommy for a few hours. Fortunately we all still got a good night sleep!

PS - this post has been linked up!

One Month Old

Baby J turned one month old yesterday. Where did that time go? She is currently right at 8 lbs. and last I checked still at 21 inches long. She is sleeping very well in large spurts (sometimes up to 7 hours at night! I know, you can be jealous now) and loves to track our fingers.

With Big Kid E I was really good about making sure I had pictures of him every single month for his first year, even went to Sears or JC Penny or Portrait Innovations to get them taken. With Little Miss I made sure to do the every 3 month portraits, which I will probably still do with Baby J. But, I still liked having those pictures every month of Mister E, so I decided to do a bit of a photo shoot at home with Baby J. Here are the results:

(This one is my fave) 

I can't even express how much I love these! I should also note that the blanket she is laying on was made for me by my great grandmother, making it extra special. Happy one month birthday baby girl!

A Frugal Find!

I'm so excited I finally found a great garage sale item! I came across the prettiest fine china I had ever seen yesterday. It had beautiful colors and details, and except for being dirty and not packed well (the owners did NOT take good care of it) it was all in great condition. And they were only asking $15 for it! Of course I absolutely jumped on that one. I have always wanted a set of fine china!

The box came with 12 dinner plates, 12 salad plates, 12 fruit bowls, 24 bread and butter plates, a gravy boat, a creamer, and a sugar bowl. I checked the bottom, and sure enough it's the real thing, actual fine china from Japan. The only damage to any of the dishes is one bread and butter plate has a tiny chip on the side. I cleaned them all up, wrapped and reboxed each piece to keep them safe.

I couldn't help but wonder how much these dishes were worth, even though I am definitely not planning on selling them. My wonderful hubby looked up each piece for me and priced them out, and the total value came to $548!! I can hardly believe it! That definitely makes me want to make sure we take good care of these dishes.

So now my question of the day is, what occasions do you bring out the china for? I don't really host dinner parties or holidays very much, but I can picture having tea parties with my girls later or candlelight dinners with my hubby. Or maybe we will bring them out just for fun and have fancy dinners with our whole family. I'm just happy I found these dishes and I didn't have to pay an arm and a leg to get them!