FUN PROJECTS Beautiful Jewelry

Lately I've been working on some fun projects...  for a fellow Etsy shop owner and fellow lover of little birdie graphics!  She requested mailing labels, stickers with her web address, and thank you stickers for packages.  Then we also collaborated together for some more custom needs... earring and dog tag product cards, display signs for her shows, a T-shirt graphic, her Etsy banner, and even a graphic for a custom notepad..fun!  I wanted to show you some of that design work and encourage you to visit her lovely shop. Happy Viewing!! I hope you feel inspired after seeing both of our designs :)

Blessings,

GRAPHIC DESIGN...Birth Announcements

Hello All :)
Thought I'd wish you a wonderful Friday and show you some Birth Announcements I designed awhile ago...

First up is an announcement for a friend, back in November.

The second, is Virgil's announcement... which has not even made it into church mailboxes or the mail!  Oh, well... I have half of them done, at least I've started :) 

 

Blessings,

HOME SWEET HOME Our Bedroom...

Welcome to our Bedroom!!  This is one of my favorite rooms.... I like how its a little bit separated from the rest of the house, down a little hallway.  It's a very calm and soothing room... no toys, no kids, no messes (as much as we can manage)!  Our bedroom used to be red, turquoise, and green (see our old house HERE), but this Christmas I received a gift card to Bed, Bath, and Beyond so I decided it was time for a new look!  I found this bedding on a great sale and just loved it!  I'm really into gray right now, but I couldn't give up the turquoise. So this color combo was perfect and I loved the added yellow.  .... I'd like to add more bursts of yellow to room also; maybe some gray and yellow throw pillows ??   Anyway... hope you enjoyed the tour :)

My Day...so far

Sadie is still quite sick.... the past few nights she's been randomly waking up and screaming bloody murder.  It's fun.  This morning she started in around 5:30... and never went back to sleep.  Grumpy Sadie, grumpy mommy...

I was eating my cereal this morning, while V chilled on the floor.  He started to cry... Elsie said "Mom, Virgil's crying."
    " I know", I replied. 
     "You should do something about it... you're his mommy." 

That about sums it up.   Lots of things I should do something about...because I'm the mommy.  :) 

Blessings,

It's hard not to worry...

Last Saturday, I was kinda blue as I anticipated Jeremy leaving the next day for a little conference in San Diego.  Only four weeks out from having Virgil I wasn't excited about being alone for 3 1/2 days.  BUT... my amazing mom came to my rescue at the last minute.  One moment she and dad were just visiting for a few hours (they live in KS...3 hours away), and the next she was whisking my girls away in the Yukon back to KS so that I could attend the conference with JJ!!!!  ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!  She originally had thought it wouldn't be possible to watch the girls with her work schedule, but after hearing how bummed I was at the thought of staying home, she did it anyway.  All to say... I got to go to San Diego for a few days and hang out with other new pastors and their wives... it was wonderful, refreshing, encouraging... so needed. Little V did amazing on the trip.  He slept on all the flights and through most of the sessions, too.  (He is rather spoiled as a result, though... he thinks he needs to be held ALL the time!) 

The day we were flying home I called my mom to see how things had gone.  Alice had been sick with a fever and a cough... and  now Sadie had a pretty high fever and cough also :(  Oh, boy.... not what I was hoping to come home to.   You see, I have a bad tendency to worry, especially when it comes to sick kids.  Somewhere along the course of parenting, perhaps when we lost Sophie, or as we witnesses good friends lose a child, I have developed what JJ would call a "pessimistic" view of what could happen.  I prefer to call it a "realistic" view :)  As much as I believe and trust that God will see us through anything and everything... and as much as I believe that God in all his power can prevent and protect us from anything... I also know that trials come.   So when my kids get sick, I always fear the worst...   I fear another trial... 

So in this season of parenting, I have a hard time not worrying about Virgil getting sick from the girls and ending up in the hospital.  It's really awful... It's a real weakness of mine.  I get really worked up with all the things that could happen and it consumes me and robs me of my joy.  Not good.  So as we flew home from San Diego, I made a decision.  I prayed, "God, you know my fears.  You know how I struggle with worry.  You know how I want to hold on to things by worrying about them... as if somehow it will help.  Virgil is yours, and I'm laying him at your feet.  You already know whether he will catch this bug or not and it's in your hands.  So... I'm done.  No more worrying."  

All three girls are sick still today, but Sadie's fever is finally gone after 5 days.  It hasn't been easy evading the worry filled thoughts.   Satan is persistent... he slyly keeps trying to convince me that I need to worry.  But praise be the God, who gives us victory over temptation... even the thoughts of our minds.

"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you." Isaiah 26:3

"So we say with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.' " Hebrews 13:6

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Phil. 4:6,7

Blessings,

sneak peek at future stuff

I've always loved those stores/sites that create custom little graphics of kids to looks like your children....  So this past Christmas I gave it a go!  I made note cards and a couple prints for various family members.  Unlike some of the other designs I've seen, I modeled my little children (well, actually little girls, I'll tackle the boys later) after the 1960s paper doll line...Betsy McCall.  I love how they turned out!  My plan is to develop a full customizable line of these children to put in my Etsy shop, over the next several months (or year!)  I mainly envision offering note cards and prints.

So if you don't see them in my store come Fall... holler at me!!  I really want to get this going, but I fear how time can slip away from me on big projects like this.  So keep me accountable!!  Anyway... here are the few that I developed last December.   Enjoy!

 

Blessings,

I can't help it...

I fear I'm running the risk of losing your attention as I continue to post pics of V :) But you know, every new mom does it!  .... That face!  It's the face you've been waiting so long to see... the face of the child you prayed for as it grew inside of you... the face of a little person you're now getting to know... the face that reveals the master artist's touch and his amazing ability to mold a child out of two people...the face of the future, of a man that God will use to accomplish his purposes someday... How can I not be in love with that little face???  ...it represents so much.  So you'll have to forgive me as I repeatedly show you his sweet little face...again and again :)

Blessings,