Here Goes....

Yesterday was the start of my launch party and I was thrilled to see quite a few ladies participating!  I have incredibly high hopes with my Jamberry business.  Not only do I love the product and love showing it off and telling others about it, I love the idea that I can make a career out of it.  What better way to make money as a stay at home mom, than to have a business that's all about something you absolutely love!  I can't wait to see how far this launch will go!  Here are pictures of my newest "jamicure" and Lauryn's, using the Jamberry Junior Wraps she got as a stocking stuffer.  Check it out at:  carielle.jamberrynails.net/shop

[caption id="attachment_5187" align="aligncenter" width="219"] Bubble Buddies[/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_5186" align="aligncenter" width="220"] Orchid Bouquet with Boysenberry Accents[/caption]

 

A Little Bit More

I've done a few more paintings.  I'm really enjoying myself and still can't believe I'm even capable of doing this!  Who knew?  :)

[caption id="attachment_5054" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Flutterby Butterfly[/caption]



[caption id="attachment_5056" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Mermaid deep in the ocean[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5057" align="aligncenter" width="224"] A cross my cousin asked me to do.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5058" align="aligncenter" width="224"] A peacock feather for my aunts peacock themed office.[/caption]

Having Fun With It

I'm still very much into painting and I'm having such a good time with it.  It's becoming a nightly wind-down ritual for me.  It's so relaxing to do and I love the feeling I get when I stand back and look at the finished project.  Here are the latest paintings I've done:

[caption id="attachment_5042" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Dandelions[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5043" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Little girl on a tree swing[/caption]

I've even traded on of my paintings for a family photo session!  I've been wanting to get one done, as we've never had professional photos taken as a family.  My friend, Jodi, who did an amazing job with Lucas's pictures, offered a trade for one of my paintings.  Such a great deal!  I've recently received emails about north Carolina photographers, and I'm sure they're great, but why far away when you've got friends so close to home with amazing photography skills?  We're going to wait until the fall to get them done and I'm so excited!

 

 

 

A New Interest

Since going to those Wine & Canvas classes, I've had an urge to paint more.  I found it to be so relaxing and I love to mix colors together to make different shades of the original color.  Below are the pictures I've done.

These three are a lot of fun to do!  After making the first one (greens), my friend Jodi asked me to do a purple one for her.  I loved how that turned out.  I went on to do the blue one and still might make more with different colors.  It's fun to see how different each one turns out.

I was curious to see if I could repeat the Wine & Canvas painting, without an instructor to show me step-by-step.  The flowers still have a bit of purple but I made them a little darker this time around.  This is an 8x10 version of the original one I did.

 



 

I saw a tutorial a few days ago on how to do dandelions.  I decided to give it a try and this was the outcome.  I'm not completely happy with it, but I did learn about using different colors to show where the light is coming from, and I'm planning on trying it again one of these days.

The birds on a branch is one of my favorites.  I love playing around with different shades of colors and this was a great picture for that.

 



I've been busy finding different paintings to try and I picked up a couple of books from the library to help me learn new techniques.  I would love to be able to really go at this on my own.  I feel like, even though I am doing these my way and changing colors, they aren't my own.  I have a lot to learn with all of this and I hope to paint picture that are completely, 100% original someday.  I'm having fun trying things out until I get there, though.  :)

Sunday Stealing

Welcome back to Sunday Stealing which originated on WTIT: The Blog authored by Bud Weiser. Here we will steal all types of memes from every corner of the  blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the  most interesting and intelligent memes. You may have heard of the  expression, “honor amongst thieves”. In that age-old tradition, we also  have our rules. First, we always credit the blog that we stole it from  and we will “fess up” to the blog owner where we stole the meme. We also provide a link to the victim's post. (It's our way of saying "Thanks!") We do sometimes edit the original meme, usually to make it more  relevant to our global players, to challenge our players, sometimes to  select that meme's best questions, or simply to make it less repetitive  from either this new meme or recently asked questions from a prior  featured meme.
Let's go!!!

Today we ripped off as a blogger named Danielle,  from her blog Sometimes Sweet.  She doesn't say where she got it--but it was probably stolen from somewhere cool.  Tracing back the thefts of those that we steal from could take a while. So, of course, that will be as far as we go. Link back to us at Sunday Stealing!   

Thinking about:  What to make for dinner.

Feeling:  A little tired.

Reading:  One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

Listening to:  P!nk   

Wondering:  Why my dog eats walls.  

Looking forward to:  Seeing how our shirts turned out :)   

Missing:  My niece and nephew, terribly :( 

Watching:  Full House   

Eating:  Nothing at the moment.

Feeling A Little Crafty

It's been a while since I've felt like making anything but over the weekend I decided to make Lucas a stocking cap.  I haven't used my looms in quite a while and they're so easy to use so I decided to use one to make his hat.  Since it's been a while, I had to look up some directions to refresh my memory on how to use it.  Once I did the first row though, it all came back.  I finished the hat early this morning but found it was a tad too small for Lucas so now Lauryn's baby doll has a new hat and I've already started another on for my little guy.  I'll post pictures of him wearing it when it's done.  :)

Crafts

I'm finally getting in the mood to do some crafting!  I sometimes go through lulls where I don't have the desire to make much of anything and then it hits me and I want to make all kinds of things.  Right now I'm working on a baby blanket, I want to make more kitchen scrubbies, I have some signs for Lauryn's room that I plan on spray painting pretty colors and there are a few Pinterest ideas that I want to do with her.  The signs are the "Live, Laugh, Love" ones that I had bought from a friend a planned on putting in my kitchen.  They are a little smaller than I thought and won't fit the hooks that are already on the wall.  I decided to paint them pink and green and put them on the bookcase/headboard of her bed.  My timing is a little goofy for all of these things though.  While I was still pregnant, I had no desire to make anything and now that Lucas is here, I have all kinds of things I want to do and have to wait until he's sleeping to be able to do them!  It feels good to want to get back into it though. :)

Motivation

I really need to find my crafting motivation.  I recently crocheted a couple of baby wash cloths but other than that, I haven't made anything in quite some time.  There's a whole room in the basement just filled with supplies, I just need to get back into it all.  While out shopping the other day, I noticed some really cute nursing uniforms and my first thought was that they would make some adorable decorative pillows for Lauryn's room.  Only two problems with that though.  One, I still don't really know how to use my sewing machine and two, I have no desire to sew them by hand.  I've gone through lulls before but it's been a while since I've had any desire to make anything and it's getting to be a bummer.  I need to find a project I can get excited about!

Crafting

I have been feeling very crafty lately but my hands get very sore, very quickly when I start crocheting so I think I need to start doing some other things.  I've talked, quite a bit, about selling my crafts but never get a lot of inventory to actually get it going.  A friend of mine was talking about starting a Facebook page for Personal Creations and I think that's a great idea.  I have a shop on Etsy but I haven't put anything on it and her idea to start a page on facebook is great because that way you can see if your items will sell before you decide to open a shop and pay the fees.  Lloyd and I are still working on the coat racks we want to put in and I found a great idea for coasters on Pinterest that I want to try.  I still have tons of beads from when I was making jewelry and I think it's time to get that back out.

Gettin' Crafty

I have been feeling very crafty lately.  It happens from time to time and right now, I'm taking advantage of it!  I finished my bag dispenser a couple of nights ago, yesterday I made a fall wreath and a dry erase board and today I'm working on a project to decorate a wall in our bedroom and melting down Lauryn's broken crayons to make new, daisy shaped, multi-color crayons.  I blame Pinterest for this.  I have been getting tons of great, inexpensive craft ideas there....and I LOVE IT!!!

Bag Dispenser:


Fall Wreath:

Pillows

When I was cleaning out my closet the other day, I came across a nurses uniform that was never worn but had a cute teddy bear pattern on it so I'd saved it.  I think when I'm taking breaks from working on the Christmas tree skirt, I'm going to use the uniform to make some pillows for Lauryn.  I've made pillows before but I've always sewn them by hand.  I think this will be a good, simple project for me to try to figure out my sewing machine on.  I know Lauryn will love the pillows with that cute pattern :)

I Don't Want To Clean!

I had another long night last night and I have zero energy today.  I have a lot of things I have to get done around this house and I have no motivation to do any of it!  Tomorrow is garbage day so that means I have to clean out the fridge, wash the leftover dishes, gather up all the trash, sweep, vacuum and empty the canister and change the litter.  It's already 3 pm and I haven't done a single one of those things yet!

I finally sent out my Pay It Forward gifts.  I really hope everyone likes them!  I delivered one personally yesterday, to Kathy, and she seemed to like her gifts very much :)  I can't wait until everyone has theirs so I can finally talk about what each thing is and show pictures.  Since they were all things I hadn't made before, I'm excited to show them off! :)

Gonna Be A Long Day!

I woke up at 4:30 this morning because Lauryn was in her room crying.  I went in to see what was wrong and to calm her down and she asked me for some water.  I went and got her a little cup and two seconds after I handed it to her, she dropped it on her bed.  She got really upset about and I kept telling her it was okay and that I could change her bedding but I think since she was still sleepy, there was no consoling her.  After finally getting her back to bed, I went to lay back down and could not fall asleep :(  I had to get up at 6 am but I just wanted a little more sleep!  No such luck.  I got up, showered and got dressed and waited for Willow to come.  Lauryn woke up about 20 minutes after Willow got here and they've been running around, laughing, screeching and playing ever since.  I made two mini loaves of banana bread, did my hair and make-up and as I was walking over one of the baby gates, my slipper caught and I went flying.  I ended up slamming my wrists on the doorway to keep from falling down and now their a little scraped and turning colors.  To top it all off, I have a dentist appointment at 3 pm.  I am ready for the day to be over already! :)  Thankfully, Willow's mom is going to get out of work early and come sit here with the girls.  She's a lifesaver!  I can't imagine how difficult it would be to try to keep Lauryn occupied while I'm lying on my back getting my teeth cleaned!  Hopefully the evening will be be stress free and I'll be able to go to bed early!

Crocheted Netbook Case

I finally finished my netbook case!  I'm really happy with it :)  I love creating stuff on my own, not using someone else's pattern.  I never remember to write the patterns down but if I ever make another one, it should be pretty easy to do.  I lined it with felt so nothing can poke through and I've decided to add a pocket on the back.  Here it is:

I love the ladybug buttons :)

TV

I am so addicted to "reality" tv shows.  Everything from America's Next Top Model to Pawn Stars.  Actually, I don't know if Pawn Stars is considered a reality show but either way, I love it!  I love seeing someone bring in at item like military coins or a Picasso and find it it's either worth much more than they expected or much less.  Such drama!  Lloyd says it rots my brain but I just can't help it.  I don't watch most of the shows that are out there but there are quite a few of them I just can't miss! :)

Disappointed

I had a much over due hair appointment tonight and I was really excited about it.  I wanted to get my hair dyed and cut.  The color turned out a little darker than I had anticipated but I really like it.  The layers in the front, that I had asked for, are really cute and I'm happy with how that part looks.  What I'm disappointed about is that the back of my hair looks choppy and uneven.  The stylist asked me if I wanted layers in the back and I told her that I didn't.  I'm not sure if she didn't hear me or what but even if she was trying to put layers in it, they don't look good.  They were closing when I left otherwise I would have went back as soon as I noticed it.  I'm going to call them in the morning and I'm hoping they will make it right.

Tomorrow, Lauryn and I are going to go to Grand Rapids for a little bit to do some shopping at Michael's.  I have a project I can't finish until I get more yarn and some felt.  I'm making a case for my netbook and I really want to get it done so Ican see if the finished project is what I had in mind! :)  When I do get it done, I'll post pictures of it.  I think it's going to be cute!

600 Posts!

I just noticed that my last post, was my 600th!  Woo-hoo! :)

I am so glad to see the sun shining!  We don't have any big plans for the day but I think we're going to have to get out and soak up some of the sun....even if it is still chilly :)

I felt like such a terrible mama last night.  I was trimming Cloz'r's nails, something I've done many times, and I managed to cut one too short.  I cut the quick :(  She didn't yelp but she jumped up and gave me the saddest look.  She let me finish and then I tried using flour to stop the bleeding.  Of course I gave her treats and lots of love afterwards and she seemed to forgive me but my stomach felt awful. 

We got those dishes sold!!  After talking to a few people about them, my hopes were pretty low on getting anything decent for them.  There were quite a few that had chips or cracks.  There were so many of them though that there would have still been a full set that was in great shape.  We put a listing on craigslist and it only took three days for someone to contact us.  The came to look at the dishes on Sunday and Lloyd negotiated the deal.  We ended up getting more that we thought we would :)  They packed up the dishes and got them out of here.  I'm getting my bareMinerals make-up and getting my hair done this week.  I'm not sure what else I'll do with the money yet.  Maybe get some more craft materials.

Christmas Cards

I know it's a little early yet but I've been thinking about having our Christmas cards done professionally this year.  Last year, I just had regular cards with a picture of Lauryn in them but I think I'd like to make them a little nicer this year.  What got me thinking about this was the other day, I received sample cards from Pear Tree Greetings and I really like they way they look. I know I always like getting pictures from family and friends during the holidays so I thought it would be nice to do one of our own this year. Not to mention it would be good since we haven't had a real family portrait done and that would be a great reason to do it!  Here are two of the cards I'm deciding on:



Either of them would be really cute! I want to look a little more at the their site and see what other options they've got. I've already checked the site for pricing and it seems that they are pretty inexpensive too! And you can't go wrong with saving here and there during the holidays! *Forgive the size of the picture - I had a problem re-sizing it*

It's Been Forever!

Geesh!  It feels like it's been forever since I've been able to get on and update this blog!  First, we were all sick and then I just got busy!  I'm surprised that I actually have a couple of moments to myself right now!

Starting Monday, I'll be watching another little girl, Willow.  She's about 3 weeks younger than Lauryn and she's my bff's sister's daughter.  She came over for a couple of hours today and she and Lauryn had the best time!







I think it's going to be fun for both of them and it's a way for me to make a little money :)

Weekend In Review

You can find this wonderful meme at:

Friday ~ A little light cleaning during the day and then Lloyd's parents and brother came over for a visit and for dinner.  I made homemade meatballs, linguine oil and garlic, ciabatta bread and corn for dinner.  Everything was very yummy.  There was a caramel apple cake for dessert but everyone was too full so I sent them home with some.  After dinner, Lloyd, his dad and his brother went outside and his mom and I cleaned up.  It was a really nice evening.

Saturday ~ We had planned on going to Klackle's orchard to pick some apples but with the weather being cold and rainy, we decided against it.  We hung out at home and didn't do a whole lot.

Sunday ~ The day I've been waiting for!  My sister-in-laws shower!!!  I had been looking forward to it for the longest time.  Mom came here first and since the shower was being held just around the corner from my house, we walked over.  I got to see some of my favorite people, eat some yummy food and share in a special day!  I can also finally post pictures of the blanket, diaper cake and hat and booties I made since they're no longer secret :)

The blanket:


The diaper cake:


The hat and booties: