Sunshine

Today was the first day since well, I honestly don't remember that we saw sun. It was gorgeous outside. Bright blue sky, white whispy clouds and sun glorious sun!!!

We played baseball last night. Not going to lie, I'm ready for a baseball game that doesn't require me wearing gloves. I HATE taking pictures with gloves on, but I'm pretty sure I would have lost a finger last night had I not had my gloves on.

I got a banner done today and am in the process of finishing 80 cards. Yes, 80 cards. They will be for all the volunteers at Dart and Audrey's school. The 9th is our Volunteer Reception and I was asked to make cards for all those that will be invited to the reception. I even put Dart and Audrey to work tonight. Audrey was coloring flowers and Dart was cutting paper for me.

A peek at the banner that will be going in the mail tomorrow. I will show you the finished product tomorrow.

I may just be crazy enough to be up to watch the Royal Wedding. Yes, I am one of those. However, having worked for a wedding planner at one time, how can I pass up watching the wedding. Besides, have you seen Prince William...hello Hotness.

Rain Rain Rain

I wouldn't mind the rain so much if say I were in London for the Royal Wedding. I think my invite must have been lost in the mail! Haha! We have had rain for I don't know how many days now. I'm sick of it, the kids are sick of it, and I'm pretty sure the ground is sick of it as well. Although I am extremely thankful we were not hit with the tornadoes other parts of Missouri, especially the St. Louis area were hit with. Seeing the pictures of the MO-X van dangling over the edge of the garage was a bit scary. Thankfully all the MO-X Supermodels were safe in Columbia. For those who are not Como natives, MO-X is a business here in Columbia that offers rides to St. Louis and Kansas City for the airports. In the commercials they feature Doc and Norm and the MO-X Supermodels!!! Very cheesy but fun commercials.

I spent the weekend at home working on a few projects. I have a huge card order to fill and a banner order. Also worked on my brothers Senior Pictures and baseball pictures. We have had 2 canceled games in the last week so hopefully I can get caught up on them soon.

My baby brother, all growed up and graduating. I'm so not ready for this at all. I can't believe it's time for him to graduate. Such a handsome and good kid.

Mother's Day ideas

For most mom's a handmade card from her child(ren) would be the perfect gift, but we usually want to do more for them than that. There are the usual ideas of a massage, a mani/pedi, breakfast in bed, gift card to their favorite restaurant. If you are looking for something different and would love to as well help out a small handmade shop, Etsy is the best place to look in my opinion. I found a few things that I think most mom's out there would love.

This Chai Spice Kit would be awesome for the tea drinking momma!

For the wine lover in your life one of the simplest gifts could be wine charms from this shop, including custom made ones.

Jewelry is always a good option too, especially when it is a custom made item. Etsy has some very expensive items of course, but there are also lots of reasonably priced items that are amazing!

This charm that would work on a key fob, pendant or alone as a charm would be perfect for the new mom. It takes a copy of the child's foot or hand print and is made into the item.

These next 2 items can be customized with names and/or birthstone colors.

The first would be great for even the grandma's in your life. It is a washer stamped with mom, grandma, or whatever you choose. It includes up to 6 charms in birthstone colors.

The last is a great gift for a mom or grandma that has one 1 or 2 little ones. It is a gorgeous heart that is hand stamped with the name(s) of your choice.

There are so many other amazing items on Etsy. Everything from handmade card sets, to spices, to bath salts and scrubs, and so much more. There really is something for every mom, grandma, aunt, sister, etc in your life.

I would love to hear from you if you get something from your mom, grandma, etc from Etsy or any other handmade place for Mother's Day! I love finding new places to get handmade items!

Banners, Branding and Books

Working on lots of ideas for some different banners. Here is the latest one that I'm excited about. I think this would be so much fun if you want more than 1 flower girl. Instead of dropping flowers that someone then has to go clean up, how about a banner that says "Here comes the Bride". This banner can be made reversible so that when the flower girls walk back down after the ceremony it says "Mr. & Mrs. LastNameHere". Of course you could also have it as a 2nd banner that someone at the front could give the flower girls before they walk back down the aisle. The great thing about this banner is you could then use the personalized side at the reception on the head table and also it could then hang in the newlyweds home. Of course this could be made to match wedding colors.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about branding for Pink Owl. I want it fairly clean and simple, since that's me. I had an aha moment today while driving home from taking the kids to school so hopefully now it will all start to come together. Of course this would happen when I have lots of other new ideas rolling around in my head and a BUSY evening.

Does anyone know of a good place to get custom digital books made? I'd love to design my own photo book for baseball this year and know others who are interested in it, but I need a good place to get them printed. I know Shutterfly and all those places offer photo books, but I want to design all the pages and stuff myself. I'd also love to offer this as an item/service.

I am...

...looking forward to baseball tonight. Hope the bad weather holds off.

...enjoying the smell of fresh cut grass.

...thankful for the makers of allergy drugs so I can enjoy fresh cut grass.

...feeling very inspired and excited about some ideas.

...crossing things off my to do list. This always makes me happy.

...working on a new blog header. Something a little more "me".

...searching for places to get prints made and custom designed digital photo books printed.

...working on baseball pictures and loving every second of it.

...excited about the items that will be going up in the etsy shop this week.

Graduation Cap Cards that went in the Etsy shop today.

7 on Sunday

Lots of randomness today:

1. Doing very good on my using things up this month. Cleaning out the cabinets is nice and using things makes me happy.

2. Did some major cleaning up of my bookmarks this weekend and am loving that so much of it I was able to just pin on my Pinterest boards instead of keeping in my bookmarks. I love this because then no matter where I am I can still access the stuff. Also I have by far less stuff bookmarked.

3. Worked on Graduation cards, a very fun wedding banner and a few other things this weekend, which means lots of stuff to go in the Etsy shop this week.

4. Still working on baseball pictures from last weekend and from this past week. Started the regular season 2-0! I love editing pictures so it's okay that I have a ton to do.

5. My brother had his Senior pictures taken this week so now I get to play with those as well. Also will be working on some digital cards with them.

6. Hoping this week will be much better than last week was. I am proud of myself for just taking Friday to be sad and not stress over getting my to-do list done. I needed the day that way and it was fine that I took it.

7. Look for some good Mother's Day gift ideas this week. I can't wait to share some ideas of good handmade gifts for Mom!

Hoping I haven't already shared this set. A very simple birthday card set.

25 Years

25 years ago today my daddy passed away. I was 9 at the time. I remember waking up and my Aunt Dawn being there and her telling me that Grandma Duffy and Granny and Pope were on their way to Texas because my daddy was in bad shape. I went to school, came home and rode my bike. Then my mom came home with my grandparents. She took me in the house and sat on the couch with me in her lap and our dog sitting next to us. She said "Guys, daddy's gone to heaven to be with Grandpa Duffy." I don't remember crying then. I don't remember crying at all. I wonder if I did? I remember going to the funeral home and seeing him. I remember putting things like a Texaco sticker, a picture and a baseball pennant in his coffin. I remember him being in his "I-70 World Series" shirt. I remember going to school the next day because I was determined to get perfect attendance that year and we were going to Carver Culture Center. I remember everyone being very sad for me. I remember the funeral and all the adults crying. I remember we went to a Midland Angels game that night. I remember my aunt crying during "Take Me Out To The Ballgame"(it was played at the end of my dad's funeral). I remember people being around for a long time.

I miss my daddy. For whatever reason this week has been very hard on me. All week I have just felt down and off. I knew it was coming, but I didn't expect it to be hard all week. Usually it's just the day, not the entire week. Today has been especially hard. I would give anything for just a few hours with him again. I hate that as the years go on, I feel like I remember less and less. I wish more than anything he could have met Dart and Audrey. Oh how he and Dart would have spent hours and hours talking baseball. They would have drove us all crazy. Dart is so him when it comes to baseball and not just enjoying the game for the game, but being absorbed in the stats as well. And then Miss Audrey. She would have had him wrapped around her little finger. He would have loved her crazy antics, he would have loved her stories and her determination. He would have decorated his office in her drawings and paintings.

He was so strong and determined to live life as much as he could. I think he knew his time would be short and so he lived life. He didn't let his diabetes get in the way of his life. Towards the end he was on dialysis, but never was down about it. He had worked for an incredible company that did so much for him and our family. He was an accountant at Texaco(yes there is irony in him passing away on April 15th) and the people he worked for could not have been better. He is my angel and when everyone tells me how strong I am, it's only because he is carrying me. I wish more people could have met my dad. I know he wasn't perfect, but in the eyes of a 9 year old daddy's girl he was. I don't remember his flaws and would rather pretend he didn't have any.

Daddy, I hope Dart grows up to be half the man you were. If he does I will be successful as a parent. I hope Audrey grows up to marry a man like you. If she does she will be loved like no one else. I hope you know how much I love you and miss you. I know you are watching over us, and while that is comforting, it doesn't make the pain any less.

I have no freaking clue what I was doing!

At the Grand Canyon.

7 on Sunday Weekend Recap

This is going to be a busy week, with hopefully lots of blogging.

For now here is my 7 on Sunday Weekend Recap.

1.) A very sun burnt mom!

2.) 505 pictures taken

3.) A very dirty little girl(well not anymore, she has had a bath) who was VERY GOOD all weekend at a tournament.

4.) 1 team who looked and played so good together in their first tournament.

5.) 1 Very proud and worn out 9 year old who spent the weekend doing what he loves more than anything, playing baseball. He spent most of the tournament at 1st base and had an amazing catch to get a kid out who all last week at school kept telling him he was going to hit a homerun every time he was up to bat.

6.) 5 baseball games played in roughly 30 hours time. Thus the sun burnt mom, 505 pictures and a little girl who was beyond good. 10 hours alone were spent at the ball fields on Sunday. She started to complain the last 10 minutes we were there.

7.) A 2nd place finish!!!!!!! I am so proud of our boys who finished 2nd in this tournament. The improvements from last year, even from just the fall season are AMAZING!!! They looked like they really knew what they were doing. After we won the game to move onto the championship game all the moms were in tears. The team we beat to get to the championship game was the team we played in the first game of the tournament and lost too, who had the cocky kid that has been telling a lot of the boys all week how his team was going to win the tournament. That was the most nerve wracking, stomach turning 90 minutes of my life. I know at one point when we were struggling I seriously thought I was going to get sick to my stomach. A friend of ours who has been at this for 10+ years with her 2 boys and her husband as a coach said it doesn't ever get any easier. UGH! I was hoping it did.

My baby boy receiving his trophy for 2nd place.

Grandparents Day

80 dozen cookies consumed, 500 kids with grandparents visiting, some from 1,000+ miles away, songs sung, work shared, MEMORIES MADE!! Grandparents Day 2011 is in the books.

After school we headed to Baskin Robbins for ice cream and there were friends there as well. Including one of Audrey's "boy"friends. I thought my step dad was going to have a fit. There was lots of hugging and talking. Oh to be in Kindergarten again. My mom got pictures of it, but since they were dealing with massive storms she hasn't emailed them to me yet.

After ice cream the kids and I headed to the park for a bit. It was PERFECT outside. Kids had a blast. After that we ran a few errands including getting new baseball cleats for Dart. He is a size away from Men's shoes. God help me! Make him slow down. He is so ready for tomorrow. I honestly think he is more excited to play baseball than he ever has been for Christmas. It makes me so happy to see him this excited.

After being gone almost 11 hours today I was ready for bed as soon as I got home. Instead I finished editing baseball pictures and got them uploaded to our team website. Now to prepare for the onslaught of pictures I will take this weekend as we play in our first tourney!

Pictures of Grandparents Day and baseball to come this weekend.

Have a wonderful weekend!!

And so it begins...

the craziness is upon us. Tomorrow is Grandparent's Day at school. My mom and step dad and my grandma and grandpa are coming from Kansas City and then Mark's mom and dad and hopefully his grandma will all be there for it. The kids love it, the grandparents love it, the staff loves it(when it's over). Really everyone does love the day. With a student body of over 500 in a building meant for 300 it can be a bit crazy, but we make it work. We welcome grandparents from all over the WORLD, yes I said world. Last year we had some from Africa. That just blows my mind. They plan their vacation around grandparents day so they can be here for it each year. This year PTA decided to make posters to let the grandparents know what all has been done for their darlings. Worked on those for over 2 hours today. They look awesome though. Will have to get pics tomorrow with my good camera.

Also this weekend is our first baseball tournament. YAY!!! I love me some baseball and can't wait to see the boys play. Although I hope and pray they look better than they did at last nights practice. It was like "The Bad News Bears." We also did team pictures last night so that may have played a role in their craziness.

They all look so much older in their new uniforms. Last year it was just whatever pants and t-shirts for the jerseys. This year we have "real" jersey's, matching pants, and really cool fitted hats. The boys are so excited to actually play a game.

This little guy is the brother of one of our players. He and another little boy are our "mascots". Chase is not a fan of having his picture taken so when I was downloading my pics last night and came across this I knew his mom was going to be excited. This is totally Chase. Ornery grin, not looking directly at the camera. Today was his mom's 30th birthday and she was dreading the day, but I know when she opened her email this morning and saw this picture all was right in her world. I so enjoy taking these kinds of pictures over the posed ones. I'm more relaxed when my subjects are relaxed. Not to say I don't pose them some, but the fact that they aren't in some unnatural pose makes all the difference in the world.

Looking Back

I took yesterday off from blogging. Was feeling a bit grumpy all day yesterday and didn't want it to come across in a blog post. Don't know why I was feeling grumpy, just that I was. Although I am going to sing my own praises for a minute. It use to be when I was feeling grumpy I would head straight for Cherry Coke or Dr. Pepper and as much chocolate as I could find. Yesterday instead I drank mostly water, I did have a Sunkist Cherry Limeade with dinner(they are amazing). Instead of chocolate all day(including a box of cadbury eggs in my drawer) I went for mostly fruit as a snack. I did treat myself to a small rice krispy square, but for me that is huge. I would have normally gone through that box of cadbury eggs with no problem.

For the last couple of weeks I've been really wishing in college I would have majored in graphic design. It was something back then I knew very little about, so it wasn't even something I had considered. Of course things have drastically changed in the last 16 years in the graphic arts field, but I would have grown with it. I am trying to teach myself as much as I can and while I'm loving that, it's very frustrating that it's not going as quickly as I'd like it to.

Yesterday the fire was fueled even more as I sat in(I guess you'd call it that) on a webinar put on by Wacom. I only have the Bamboo pen and touch and so most of what they talked about I am unable to do with my tablet. However I did figure out some things I could do with mine and it also gave me ideas for other things. I love using my tablet for editing pictures and also doing other things. Lately I've really been having fun with digital card designs. I am working on lots of designs for graduation announcements and thank you cards. With my brother graduating this year as well, it's kind of bittersweet to be creating these. I'm so excited for him, but at the same time I can't believe my little brother is graduating.

I am hoping that my wishing I could have done something different isn't what's been causing my mood to be grumpy. Although at least if it is I can do something more about it, knowing that might be the cause.

This is a sneak peek at a birthday card set that just went up in my etsy shop.

Make it Monday...

Lots made this weekend so I'm hoping I can stay on that track. I already made one card set today and have the stuff for another on my desk. These are fairly simple sets, which I think is my thing. I love creating something simple and stepping it up with things like glitter, paint, coloring, etc. I'm going to sound like a Kindergartener here, but I LOVE COLORING. I'm hoping I can find some more in depth coloring books at the library. More on shadowing, etc.

One the list for this week:

• Mother's Day cards, it's a month away!!!! Card sets are a wonderful gift for those moms who have everything. 
• Digital Cards for invites. I have a few started.
• A couple birthday card sets
• A couple general greeting card sets
• Baseball picture designs. I am taking pictures for my son's baseball team this week and I want to try some cool overlay designs and different things on them. I designed one very simple one today that I think the parents will like. 
• I'm also hoping to get some things started for Teacher Appreciation Week for the kids teachers. I decided I'm not doing end of the year things since that and Teacher Appreciation week are fairly close. I'd like to do something small and different everyday for Teacher Appreciation week with a bigger gift on Friday. I'm thinking things like bookmarks, mini books, cards, and ???? any ideas. 

A set of these went in the Etsy shop today! The set includes the card shown, a bunny and a basket! 

 Hope you had a perfect Monday!

Meg

7 on Sunday

1. Decided to start up my shuttercal calendar again. I really hope I can keep up better this time. I tried to do it again in Jan and did okay, but in March I think I took a total of 30 pictures. March was such a hard month for me.

2. The sun is out the temps are in the upper 70's and I'm watching hockey! Not a bad Sunday. PGA Golf Tourney will be on later. The only thing that would make it better is if I got a baseball game. Stinks not having cable or satellite.

3. The last couple of nights I've had the same dream about starting an event planning/decor business. In my dream I have even seen things I've designed for different events. Crazy!

4. Next weekend is Dart's first tournament. Hoping we have nice weather for it. Friday is Grandparent's Day at school and my mom and step-dad and grandma and grandpa will be in town for it. Yea!

5. Watched 127 Hours last night. WOW!! That is intense. It is a good movie, but wow, I wonder if I could do that if put in that position.

6. Last weekend we had snow and this weekend we stand a chance of tornadoes. Gotta love Missouri weather.

7. I'm hoping to get something new in my etsy shop everyday this week. Right now I have 3 things ready to go.

A closer look at the card set I posted yesterday.

Going Ons

Spent yesterday and today doing a little bit of "business" stuff. Not the fun stuff like creating, but the profile updating on Etsy, typing up business plans and business info, cleaning up some stuff in the shop so that it all looks the way I want it to. While I'm glad to have that stuff done, it was nice to get back to creating. I have a few Easter card sets ready to go in the shop and a set of Easter tags. I also have plans for some new business cards. I'm making them myself for now, so I can't wait to try these out!

Hope everyone is having a good Saturday. It was nice and sunny here today and is supposed to be that way tomorrow as well. Off to watch 127 Hours. So far I have cringed a few times.

34 before 35 update

A new month on the calendar...another update on my 34 before 35 list. Here is the original list

4) Have at least 100 sales in my etsy shop-Had 2 sales for 5 items! Have a total of 10 sales so far.

5) Have 75 followers on my blog-Up to 13 according to blogger. Not sure how many read in other ways.

6) Maintain 50 items in etsy shop!-Have 22 in there now and 2 card sets ready to list. 

7) More Sewing-Made a rag quilt this month and have another ready to be sewn.


10) Declutter!!- Lots of stuff to goodwill. I mean a LOT of stuff. Did a purge on scrapbook stuff as well. 

11) Be proud of me!-March was a tough month for whatever reason, but I am proud to say that I ended a volunteer relationship that was not a good one and I am very happy about that.

12) Read more creative/biz books-Started "The Gifts of Imperfection" also did a lot of online reading and podcast listening.

13) Learn to design more in PSE-Created some templates for cards and stuff in PSE. 

14) 3 bottles of water daily-Really Good
 16) 10 custom orders; banners, books, cards, etc-2 banners and a set of cupcake toppers. 7 custom orders so far!!!

23) Clean EHD-Doing really good. Having lots of fun too!!

27) Read at least 1 fun book a month-Listening to Eat Pray Love so I'm counting it as my fun book for last month.

I also decided that because I read something on the internet recently that really helped me understand the whole exposure thing on my camera I am changing number 8 which was read Understanding Exposure to learn a lot more about detail coloring. I know that might sound kind of crazy, but I have seen some amazing coloring with colored pencils and water color pencils that I really want to learn a lot more about it! I LOVE my colored pencils.