Cupcakes, anyone?

Is Trinity not the cutest child you have ever seen? My friend invited her over today and here she is proudly walking up the path to show me the cupcakes they made. Lorine is following with a box of dolls and clothes that Trinity is borrowing. Tomorrow we are headed out to Purcellville to check out a new fabric store. The fun continues :-)

I am working away- this has turned out to be one of my busiest months ever! Today I mailed out an emergency gift order to my friend Charlene at Ft. Bragg, the last batch of wedding invitations have been finished, did three sets of graduation announcements, and am more than halfway done with an order for 600 magnets. Tonight I am finishing up some single orders. I am framing our NY house neighbors' 50th wedding invitation as a surprise. As we were driving up to check on our rental property in upstate NY last weekend, we stopped at 11:30 PM for gas. Much to our dismay, the RV would not start. So we spent the night in front of the gas pumps listening to announcements telling us to turn off our vehicles while pumping gas, while we slept in our bed! We rented a car to get the rest of the way and our neighbors welcomed us into their home, since we had no RV to sleep in the next night. I also found some beautiful faux lemons in the thrift store- that's Toni's latest favorite thing to collect and think she will love them.

So life is good.

Handmade wedding invitations

I'm baaack! My granddaughter Trinity and I have been adjusting to each other's sleep schedules and a balance has been (mostly) achieved. After she goes to bed, I run downstairs and attempt to get caught up on work, allowing me 6 hours of sleep till she is telling me, "Wake up Mimi! It's morning out!"

Tonight I am working on 70 custom wedding invitations which are due this weekend. The bride really liked a design that involved a pocket envelope so I am cutting them all myself since they are not a standard size. All I can say is, thank goodness for my Logan mat cutter! I set the paper up in a assembly line process to cut, score and fold them all into envelopes and they are coming out perfectly square! Now I have to figure out a way to punch a circle in one corner consistently so an initial logo may be seen from the inside. Matching up everything has proved quite tricky but I am persevering...

I would ask all of you to keep our military serving overseas (especially my son Chris, Trinity's dad) in your thoughts and prayers this Memorial Day weekend. The sacrifices they and their families endure for our freedom is truly above and beyond.

Special congrats to my friend who became a grandmother a few days ago! Love you Kimmie :-)

Have a safe and relaxing long weekend!

I am a Guest Blogger!

I'm home! Traveling with a 2 year old is an exhausting business for someone who is not used to it... But we all survived :-)

Juse a quick note tonight to say that while I was gone I had an email from my friend Kathy Peterson, telling me that my post was up on the new Craft For Health website. Check it out!

Speaking of health, I need sleep- the day will start early and I need all of my faculties! More later...

First Communion gift

It's that time of year for big events- First Communion, Confirmation, baby showers, weddings and graduations. I will be featuring some of my original designs here throughout the next month that are available for personalization. The first design is a simple but classic First Communion memento, available for $25. Includes a whitewashed frame and comes in pink or light blue. Let me know if you are in need of one!

Happy Mother's Day to all of you! I'll be with a daughter, daughter-in-law and granddaughter on this day. What more could I want?

Mea culpa

Are you on the edge of your seat wondering what I am doing in reparation for the biting fiasco? (see previous post) I am sending this magnet in with my daughter who has a cleaning in the AM. Get it- chewing? :-) Well, he'll get a laugh anyway. That and some delicious oatmeal butterscotch cookies. If there are any left.

Today was rainy again but I had a lot to do getting ready for my trip. Finished two projects and instructions for a new magazine I'm in, have one project left to finish and can send a book proposal in that I have been working on for quite a while, AND had a great phone conversation with my peeps about new product! What a day...

Will try to post while I am gone but things might get busy. Hopefully. Enjoy your weekends, everyone!

Today I bit my dentist...

I didn't mean to... it was early, I hadn't had breakfast and he stuck a gloppy impression thingy in my mouth and said something. I chomped down obediently. And then he yelled. I don't think he said, "Bite", when I think back. He did say some other things though. Under his breath. Oops.

By the end of the appointment 2 1/2 hours later, we parted friends. He still had his finger. I had my tooth.

Now I am thinking of what kind of peace offering I can bring him.... tune in tomorrow to see what I make him!

Quick and easy jewelry rack

Today I just fiddled around working on some Illustrator stuff although there are a million other things I should be doing. Think I will tidy up down here tonight to further lengthen my procrastination tendencies.

I wanted to share a great way to store a lot of jewelry. I have been collecting shutters for quite a while now because they intrigue me and always can be found at the curb. Until recently, they've been patiently hanging out in a corner of the garage waiting for inspiration to strike.

It struck about a month ago when I dumped a whole tray of jewelry all down the side of my dresser. I have tried several methods of storing earrings but none ever really worked well. Till now...

It's such a simple idea. All I had to do was clean them. The painting on it is kind of shabby chic (messy) but it works fine for me. I just took all of my dangle earrings and looped them in pairs over each louver! I store mine in color order because it looks pretty. They are easy to get on or off. These shutters also have hinges on the side and theoretically you could screw this into the wall and fold it closed when you were done. But right now I use the hinges to hang my necklaces and bracelets.

Hope you find good use for the treasures that come your way!