Way behind....

So... as you may have already noticed... I have been way behind on posting here on my blog. Time lately just keeps slipping on by so quickly and I can't seem to keep up. Oh, well... here is a quick update.

It has been a while since we have been able to just do something with the kids so this last Saturday, we started with some Blackberry picking. Unfortunately, when we arrived at 8am all the ripe blackberries had already been picked... and get this... they opened at 7am. I guess we just were not early enough. All that was left were all the blackberries that were not yet ripe.

We were able to find about 4 or 5 ripe blackberries and they were GOOD! We had a great time! We will definitely have to make the trip back to Duck Creek soon and try to get some blackberries of our own to take home.

Then we headed off to the Air Show in Denton, Texas. That was so much FUN! However, I did get a bit red... for some reason, I lather up the kids with sunscreen and simply forget to put some on myself... go figure! All in all we had a wonderful and relaxing weekend. Great way to kick off the summer and celebrate Father's Day.

OH... and I want to send a big THANK YOU to Miss Sherri Howard for my adorable Pay It Forward gift. You are so sweet and I {heart} my new cards!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIRLS!!!!

Today is Bonnie and Camille's Birthday!!! Yes, both of them. Camille was born on her mom's birthday. How cool is that! These two women are creative geniuses and completely awesome to hang out with. Be sure to go over and wish them a Happy Birthday today!

So, girls go out and have fun! Have a wonderful Birthday!

Princess Party Recap

Where does the time go? There just always to be something going on this past week and I am ready for a break. First our air conditioning unit for one side of our house breaks (again, I might add - twice in a year and a half... darn parts!) then our oven heating coil that resides in the bottom of the oven, burns out by shooting a white flame from the coil. Luckily we have a double oven so we were able to use the lower one until the upper oven is fixed - thank goodness for warranties! Lots of laundry to do, birthday presents to make, all in the evenings after I get done with my day job. WHEW!!!! So sorry I have been MIA, but I think I am back to my normal routine.

So... finally, here are a few pics from Paige's 4th Birthday Party.

Princess Pea Blanket

Just thought I would pop in really quick and let you know of my latest Moda Bake Shop Project!
Go check out my Princess Pea Blanket tutorial using April Cornell's Spring Magic collection for Moda. I was inspired by my daughter and her love of Princesses. I have personally always liked the Princess and the Pea story and thought the honey bun strips would be a perfect fit for the mattresses.

Princess Birthday Outfit

Every little girl has to have a new outfit for her big day. So I decided to make her an outfit, well... shirt that is, for her to wear for her birthday party. We are having a Castle jump house for the entertainment so I had to go with something appropriate for jumping. I bought a white shirt and pink shorts from... you guessed it... Target.

Embellished it a bit...

I sketched out the letters (couldn't find a font that I liked to print) and cut them out of the Spring Magic collection by April Cornell for Moda.

Mettler Cordonnet Thread is perfect for this type of job...

and she now has a jumping, birthday appropriate outfit to wear for her big day!

Princess Birthday Party Favors

No party is complete without the Party Favors to give out to all the kiddos once the party is over. Since Paige's birthday party has both boys and girls coming to it, I decided to have two separate favors... one for the girls and one for the boys.

Girls and princess parties... that was easy to decide what to give all the little girls. You can find all kinds of pretty princess items just about anywhere you go. I found these adorable little bracelets, necklaces, and earings at Hobby Lobby. And what little girl can't go without a Ring Pop.

Yes... another wonderful shopping place besides Target :) If there is anything I am looking for that has to do with home decor, crafts, and everything in between, I always check Hobby Lobby first. They are inexpensive and they have EVERYTHING... well, just about.

I simply printed out a simple message on some card stock paper using Microsoft Word...

I then used a 2 5/16" paper punch by the Paper Studio to cut them out with a pretty scalloped edge...

Folded the bag over and then punched two holes in the top of the bag...

Tied some tulle and the tag and DONE!

For the boys... this one was a bit more challenging. Not all boys like pretty princess jewelry, so I went on a hunt for some SWORDS! Never realized these would be so hard to find... well, cheap ones that is. I was looking around Wally World {aka Wal-mart} about a month or two ago and found Bubble Wands... PERFECT! AND they were only a dollar each... SCORE! SO, I grabbed as many as I thought would cover the birthday party and a few extras just for fun.

Add a bit of green curling ribbon and the tag...

You now have yourself a Knights Sword.

Princess Birthday Invitations

This weekend we are finally celebrating Paige's 4th Birthday Party PRINCESS STYLE! We had postponed her party from the orginal date due to several reasons. Here are some very cute ready made, except for the printing of the details, Princess invitations that I purchased from Target. Very cute and easy to assemble. LOVE these kind of invites... especially when I just don't have the time to do it all myself.

The invitations are by Carlton Cards and it comes packaged with a paper surround that are pre punched so once you are done printing your info for the party, just punch out the invite and thread the provided ribbon to the hat in the pre-punched hole. Address your envelopes and WHALA... Done! Easy... Peasy!!!

Knock, knock... who's there?

Yes, it's me! I know, pretty lame knock knock joke, but hey... what do you do? Anyway... I finally decided to come up for air and post something. A Lot has been going on around here, Quilt Market, Moda Bake Shop projects, my Day Job, birthday party planning, wedding trip, let's just stick with A LOT!
Quilt Market was awesome! Lots of new ideas, fabrics, parties, people... FUN! I, again was promoting and teaching our customers about our websites and how they can utilize them in their stores and on their websites. Met some great people and got to hang out with some awesome designers! Camille, Bonnie, Joanna, Lissa, Sheri, Jillian and Brad, Sarah, Cara, Mary Beth, Jessica, Shasta, Lola and crew, Heather and Joel, Jona, Jen, and so many more... I just can't name them all.
If you are wondering, who's feet these are... Camille is on the left and I am on the right (red toes) :-P

I am also working on another Moda Bake Shop project that I hope to post in the next week or so. But, for now... check out my latest project for a quick and tasty dessert to hold you over.

Tonight, Paige and I are traveling to Nebraska for my cousins wedding.

Paige and my niece are flower girls in the wedding and she is so excited to be doing something with flowers.... she doesn't really care what, as long as flowers are involved. She loves flowers.... they are just so "yu-tiful"! Richie is going to take Matthew to Arkansas to see his Grandmother as they are having a birthday party for her. So much going on, this was the only way we could get it to work out to be at both. :) I am looking forward to spending some mother/daughter time with Paige. We are going to have to make sure we do some girly things, like do our nails, hair, and get all gussied up!

Next week, look for some Princess Party ideas! We post-poned Paige's 4th birthday party to the end of May so I would not go insane... LOL! No seriously... there has just been one thing after another, as V says it best... the laundry has puked all over the house, but it didn't stop with the laundry. The kids toys seemed to have caught the flu too as they have also puked all over the house. :-P Thanks V ... you made my day knowing that I am not the only one that has that problem lately. :)

OH... and check this out... I never thought being a web developer would get my name in an ad... WOOOTT! I love it!!! Well, I guess it wasn't actually the web developer job that got my name in an ad, but the designs and projects I have posted on the Moda Bake Shop! I will take it no matter how it gets there! YEAH! My little inch or two of fame is the fluer-de-lis on the top row.

Then she turned FOUR...

Miss Emelie Paige is getting so big...

Today she turns FOUR! I cannot believe that she is growing so quickly.

Everyone always says... it will go by faster than you think.

BOY, are they right. Sometimes almost too fast!

Happy Birthday, my sweet little Princess!

You can do anything you ever dreamed of... plus more!

Better late than never....

Things have been a bit busy around the household and also with Moda as we are all preparing for Quilt Market in Pittsburgh next week. I honestly cannot wait! It is very exciting to see everyone and be able to help our customers learn more about the benefits we have to offer on our various websites. This market Lissa and I are teaching a class and I am so pumped, nervous, excited, thrilled and MORE! Can't wait!!!

Okay... now for what you really came here for ;)...

The WINNER for my Giveaway is Lucky number 5!

Congratulations, MamasHood!
She said... Recently introduced to all things Moda and LOVE it all!

Miss Mama Hood... Please email me with you contact info so I can send you your package!

I also want to give a HUGE THANK YOU to all of you that left such sweet comments on my post. You are all wonderful and I feel very blessed to be associated with such a great company!