The Joy of Easter

I hope everyone of you had a wonderful easter!

This has been an extra special holiday for us

as we had two adorable kiddos to celebrate with.

We have been foster parents now

for just over a month.

We currently have two adorable little girls living with us.

I won't deny that it hasn't been hard

but overall it's been overwhelmingly fulfilling

and has brought so much joy

and NOISE into our home.

If you know anything about the foster care system

you know that you certainly don't do it for the money!

LOL it doesn't help that we tend to like to spoil "our" kids.

My hubby purchased the girls matching easter dresses

which sadly but not surprisingly have already been ruined!

Does anyone know if Polyester can be dyed?

anywho I purchased these diy paper box kits

from Jinjerup Digital Products

They turned out super cute

and were a lot easier to make than I imagined

LOL but of coarse one has already made its way to the trash.

DANG, are kids hard on things or what?

The girls dyed easter eggs

last weekend

and all week long we all enjoyed yummy gooey

egg sandwiches.

Speaking of eggs

we have 6 little black bird eggs

waiting to hatch in my husbands barbeque.

As you can imagine my husband is not very pleased

and my dogs are quite entertained

at barking at the poor mother bird.

Digi goodies from ME!

One of many new kits I'm working on

and hoping to have available this summer :D

Oh Baby!

I think of myself as a pretty creative soul

but it's always my customers and friends

who inspire me to try new things

Recently I was contacted by Photographer

Bethany of Hissyfits Photography

asking if I could make some headbands for

her adorable baby girl.

I had never really gone down the road of baby gear

simply because I didn't have the most important prop

A BABY GIRL!

Not that I didn't try convincing my little sister

to let me barrow my adorable nephew.

yeah - as you can imagine,

she wasn't too keen on the idea.

So one thing leads to another

as things often do

and Bethany and I worked out a deal -

headbands for photography!

But without a doubt the best thing I got out of this deal

was a brand new friend!

Bethany is amazing

and her enthusiasm for my work

and support in my new life as a foster momma

has been such a blessing.

Thank You Bethany

You are an angel - and uber wonderful to boot!

So if you have a little one of your own

or a baby shower or two coming up real soon

please do take a peak at my newest creations.

Custom orders always welcome!

Digi Giveaway!

A few weeks ago I mentioned how much I am in

LOVE with all things Lemon Tree Studio

well I am very excited to announce

and share with all of you

that Shelly has graciously

offered one of my readers

3 of her whimsical digi kits!

All you have to do is leave a comment

naming your favorite Lemon Tree Studio

Digi Kit and your contact info.

I will pick a Winner Next Monday

4/18/2011

Additional Digi Sources:

Kitschy Digitals

Minitoko

Shop 66

& my personal collection

A special Easter Treat for YOU

I have a special treat for you

I am offering a 15% off coupon

to you - my blog readers!

Just add the code

EASTER11

when checking out

starting today - Monday Night

4/14 - 4/18

*offer applies to pre-made items only.

Start shopping!

It's not to late to get your easter headbands!

Goodnight Moon {diy-tutorial}

It's not very often that I finish a just for me project

but recently I decided I wanted to try making something new

out of something that was otherwise collecting dust in our home

So here we go

let's make a goodnight moon lamp!

The first thing you will need is a globe.

Now don’t be shy,

I’m sure by now you have all converted to Google Maps

and your globe is sitting on the top of a shelf

somewhere collecting dust.

If you don’t have one,

try your local thrift store,

chances are someone else just got addicted

to the Magic of Google.

LOL, no I’m not trying to shamefully

promote Google!

Once you have cleaned the dust off you will want to find

some type of light to illuminate your globe.

I stole mine from one of my Christmas village pieces,

but I’m sure you can find something

at your local hardware store.

With an exacto knife

cut out an opening for your light.

Prime your globe with gesso or basic white paint,

this may take several coats.

Once primed the fun part begins-

the decorating!

Skies the limit - your “moon” can look anyway you want.

I made mine to match my shabby chic bedroom theme

I’ve recently taken a liking too.

I chose to decoupage my globe

with old music sheets,

vintage cards, and sewing patterns

using Mod Podge as my glue.

Elmer's basic white glue will work just fine too

it’s just important at this stage in the project

to use a matt based product.

Once you have the entire surface covered,

you will probably want to subdue or age your piece.

I diluted pink, aqua, pearl, and white

acrylic paint with some water

and worked my way around the globe

painting the entire surface and then rubbing it off.

I ended by sprinkling a bit of glitter

before everything was completely dry.

Once dry seal your work

with a glossy overcoat of Mod Podge.

To create the “craters”

you will need some scrap-booking eyelets.

The ones I chose were 1/8 inch,

however I found they were a bit too small

to really allow very much light to come through

so I would highly suggest you try a larger size.

If you are careful to pick just the right size

of drill bit your eyelets should fit right into the holes

and no glue will be needed to hold them in place.

I’m sorry that I don’t have any images to share

of what the lamp looks like turned on.

This lighting technique is very subtle

and is more for just adding a bit of

“magic” to your room at night.

If you want just skip the lighting portion

of this tutorial all together,

to create interesting three dimensional pieces of art.

You could have a whole collection

in all different sizes.

Believe me,

once through you wont miss

that ol’ globe one bit.

Off to Candyland

Candyland themed birthday parties

seem to be all the rage these days

and why shouldn't they be?

Such a great excuses to indulge

your sweet tooth!

(click on images for sources)