Paper Heart Press

Rainbows and Unicorns

2011-05-27T23:59:00.072-05:00

Of course, the inspiration behind my "Rainbows & Unicorns" design came from none other than my 4 year old daughter. Although her 4th birthday was last November, 2010, I thought her party decor would be a fun post for me to discuss while making an attempt to restart my very neglected blog.

From creating a homemade Happy Birthday banner and rainbow cake to multi-colored party poms and recycled crayons. I think I just about tried to incorporate everything I came across. Preparing for her party kept me busy and provided lots of fun activities for the birthday girl and I leading up to her special day. The personalized coloring sheets kept not only our little guests occupied, but also some of our bigger guests. Most were autographed and left behind as a keepsake for the birthday girl.

I knew it would be risky when I decided to make the Whisk Kid's Super Epic Rainbow Cake, but I went for it. It didn't turn out as pretty as the recipe photo, but it was exciting none-the-less. Not pictured and unfortunately forgotten about the day of the party was a pan of rainbow jello. It was so very pretty!

Each favor bucket included a rainbow pin, unicorn stickers, a few sweet treats and a package of recycled crayons. The star shaped crayons were made from a huge tub of old crayons that a girlfriend of mine handed down to my kids. For some added rainbow effect I decorated the main doorways with rainbow striped streamers. The rainbow streamers and party poms are now hung in the play area of our basement.

The theme for her 5th birthday has already been decided, long ago, by my daughter of course. I thought of holding off a bit just in case she changed her mind. It's been months though and she is still sure. The planning stages have already begun.

Celebrating Twins

2010-06-08T10:23:00.004-05:00

My Lil Monster and Candy Wonderland Twin designs were "Buzzworthy" features on Invitation Buzz yesterday. It's great to see stationery options available for twins and multiples. Thanks so much for including me.

One of my very best customers is a mother of twins, Edie and Ella. It's been an honor to create their birthday invites for the past two years. This years theme was ladybugs and lollipops!

Open for business

2010-01-08T23:35:00.004-06:00

I reopened the shop this week after taking almost 5 months off. It feels really good to be working again and I realize now how much I truly love what I do. Unfortunately, I won't be taking on any new design requests for a bit. I thought it would be best to transition back slowly since I now have two little monkeys to occupy. Our newest addition, Chase, is already 4 months old and growing ever so quickly. Although he was born weighing 4 lbs. 14 oz. he has already reached 14 lbs. Its so incredible to think he has gained almost 11 lbs. in just four months. He's a great little eater and has a double chin to prove it. He only wakes me to nurse 1-2 times per night now so I'm feeling much more rested and ready to get back to work.

Puppet Playhouse Invite

I listed two new designs in the shop today. The first was for a puppet playhouse birthday party in honor of my daughters third birthday. After searching the world wide web for hand puppets, I have come to realize that there is a definite need for more unique inexpensive hand puppets. If I would have had more time or could live without sleep, I would have designed and made my own. I finally settled on some inexpensive animal hand puppets to hand out as party favors.

My incredibly talented brother-in-law, Mike, built and hand painted a theater for the party. A more budget friendly approach would be to allow the kids to make hand puppets out of brown lunch bags, googly eyes and other fun embellishments.

The second new design now available in the shop is the Superhero themed invite. My three year old nephew couldn't possibly be anymore into superheros. His life at the moment is all about three things... Superheros, Buzz Lightyear and coyotes.

Superhero Birthday Invite

My plan was to design an invitation of a little superhero boy and his superhero dog with a comic book feel. For party favors my sister gave each little superhero a mask and a good bag to fill up with all of the treats from the pinata. The kids had so much fun.

[source]

We considered making capes as the party favor since there were only half a dozen kids, however with the birthday party just days after Christmas we weren't able to fit it in. If we had more time, we would have followed Puking Pastilles very cool superhero cape tutorial.

I have a few more new designs to photograph and upload yet. Hope to make them available in the next week or so.

Welcome Home Baby Boy

2009-09-23T14:43:00.002-05:00

Chase Adam Carter arrived Wednesday, September 2nd, 11:30pm

4 lbs 14 oz & 17.5 inches long

Although my due date was not until October 15th, our little guy entered the world on September 2nd. The first few days were the toughest. Due to Premature Lung Disease it was necessary for him to be intubated and placed on a ventilator. A tube to his lungs allowed surfactant to be placed directly into his lungs. Our precious little guy also had an IV for fluids and medicines, CPAP, a feeding tube, catheter in his belly button used to draw blood among the many wires monitoring his heart rate, respiratory, body temperature and oxygen levels. It was so tough to watch as he laid there unable to even cry and bruised from the delivery.

After spending 11 days in the Special Care Nursery our baby boy was finally freed of all tubes, wires and machines. It was such a happy day when we were finally able to bring him home. We couldn't be happier to all be together now.

Hiatus.

2009-09-01T18:11:00.006-05:00

I figured it was time for an update since it has only been nine or so months since my last post. A few of the many reasons for the hiatus include a welcomed increase in my workload, while spending time with my beautiful daughter and caring for my ever expanding belly.

After the holidays last year I was excited to have received a constant flow of orders and design work. I am really pleased with the amount of orders I received and filled this year. I had all intentions of blogging about my new designs, however between work, household chores and spending time with my daughter there is very little time left in a day. I have come to realize that running a business from home and being a stay-at-home Mom is almost next to impossible. I have been determined to figure it out and welcome any suggestions tips and advice out there.

In just over two months my little girl will turn three. I look at her daily and just can't believe how quickly she has grown. She is just incredible and continues to amaze me on a daily basis. She's excited to be a big sister soon, although that was not the case early on. It has taken some time to warm her up to the idea of another baby moving in, which is expected. She now claims to be excited to help Mommy with the baby and practices with her baby dolls. We also spend time reading her newest books, "I'm Going to be a Big Sister" and "Babies Don't Eat Pizza." Both of which have been incredibly helpful in explaining so many of the changes in which take place when Mommy has a baby in her belly and once the baby arrives. I can't help but feel guilty bringing another baby to love into our lives when I still feel that my daughter Tatum is my heart. I'm guessing it is one of those moments in life that you can't possibly understand, like becoming a parent for the first time, until you actually do so.

Since Tatum arrived to us earlier than expected (my water broke), my current pregnancy has been considered high-risk. In an attempt to prevent another preterm delivery I have been receiving weekly progesterone injections, 17-Hydroxyprogesterone (aka P17), since my 18th week. Weekly progesterone injections have proven to relax the uterus preventing preterm birth. In addition, cervical length measurements have been performed every two weeks since my 24th week to monitor any changes, thus predicting the possibility of another preterm birth. We were stunned the first time it was discovered that a change was found. Two weeks later we were stunned yet again to find that I had effaced even more, just about half way. At 28 weeks the doctors decided it was time to begin monitoring the baby twice weekly. The first session hooked up to the machine they discovered I was having contractions, which I was unaware of. These contractions were not exactly labor worthy, however they could actually put me into labor if they continued. Unlike Braxton Hicks they were very consistent and sometimes as close as 2 minutes apart. Given my history, they sent me to the hospital to have them stopped. Since that time I have been on bed rest and have been sent to the hospital almost weekly after at least one of my two office visits to have them stopped. I am what the nurses call a frequent flyer. After my last trip to the hospital I was given a prescription of oral Terbutaline to stop the contractions from the comfort of my own couch. I have had to use them twice since last week. In fear of unwanted side affects to the baby, I am not one to medicate while pregnant, however on this one I agree with what the docs always say... "if the benefits out way the risks..." and avoiding delivering another preemie has been our goal.

We are finally reaching 34 weeks tomorrow. At this point they are no longer going to aggressively stop the contractions. The docs are comfortable with delivering the baby after 34 weeks. So it will be interesting to see how long it takes before the labor worthy contractions kick in or my water breaks. To complicate things a bit more, our little guy is comfortably breech. So this Thursday I need to make a decision as to whether or not I want to try an external version, a method in which they try to turn the baby into a vertex (head-down) position. I haven't yet decided if I am going to attempt this procedure. From what I have learned the past week it seems to be a painful procedure with a low success rate. I would like to do what is best for our little guy and have a couple of more questions for the doctor before deciding.

I wanted nothing more this time around to have a somewhat normal pregnancy... one in which I could hold him or at least see him before being whisked away from me like my first one. I have not yet experienced a more horrible moment than coming home without my new baby. My heart has never felt so painfully broken as the night they discharged me from the hospital and we had to leave Tatum behind. Looking back I know now how truly fortunate we were and are. We are just praying for a healthy little boy to bring home and know that all of our current worries and fears will be left behind us in no time. It's a lot to take in and I just look forward to being able to hold him in my arms, look into his little eyes and welcome him no matter how he is delivered to us.

I also wanted to thank my very talented Mother-in-law for creating our little guys very first stocking cap. I am so excited to see how he looks in it.

In my upcoming posts I plan to update our baby progress, share my new invitation designs and other design projects that I worked on this year and post other fun finds that I may come across while waiting for our little guy to arrive.

I don't know how I would survive bed rest without being able to surf the internet.

Merry Christmas...

2008-12-25T11:34:00.003-06:00

...from our home to yours.

Ready for Christmas

2008-12-20T22:14:00.003-06:00

The past month has been a whirlwind of holiday prep... decorating, shopping, wrapping, cookie baking and a lot of talk about Santa coming to town.

Each morning Tatum likes to check for snow before breakfast. We look out of our upstairs picture window to see what happened while we were sleeping. As long as the ground is still covered in snow, she says "it's snowing" even if there are no flakes falling from the sky. It's the excitement in the way she says it that makes me laugh each time.

This year is going to be such a great Christmas with our little snow angel.

Right back at you

2008-11-26T23:58:00.005-06:00

A few days ago my Etsy shop received several hearts in one day. I later discovered that my Fall Theme Flat Notes were featured on a treasury that made the front page of Etsy (above: second row, center). The treasury was created by the Ophelia Miller Boutique. Congrats to the Ophelia Miller Boutique for making the front page and a big thank you for including me.

I would also like to mention one other fellow Etsian, Pinksugarninja, who recently purchased my Candy land invites for her daughters 10th birthday. She kindly mentioned my shop here on her blog today and I wanted to return the favor. Her beautifully framed 'Keep Calm and Carry On' print is a must see. If only I could choose a color.

Still here...

2008-11-25T13:22:00.008-06:00

I haven't found much time in the past few weeks to update the blog. So bare with me as this post is going to cover some happenings starting as far back as Halloween.

This year, my little trick or treater was Abby Cadabby, from Sesame Street. Not only was she capable of walking door to door on her own this year, but she also learned how to ask for the holiday goods... candy and chocolate, or as she pronounces them... "canny and chockit." We did our 2nd Annual Halloween Tour, visiting family members living in our area. For the most part she was content until the midway point where she no longer wanted to wear the extremely large wig that I made. I have to admit that it barely fit between the headrest in her car seat. This wasn't something that I took into consideration when I started the wig. It was the first wig I ever made from the help of this tutorial. Unfortunately, it turned out to be quite heavy for her little head.

Tatum enjoyed each visit, however, she didn't enjoy the commute between each stop. By the time we made it to our last stop, our little magic fairy was sound to sleep. It was definitely much needed, so Grandma and Grandpa Carter agreed to visit the following day to enjoy Tatum as she opened her Halloween treats.One week after Halloween and four days following our countries historical decision for change, we were celebrating Tatum's 2nd Birthday. This year we celebrated Tatum's 2nd year of life in our home with our family. Unfortunately, the birthday girl not only skipped her nap that day, but was also overcoming an allergic reaction to her MMR vaccination. After a couple of days with a 102º fever and being covered from head to toe in a rash, our baby girl was not much of a party-goer. We did the best we could to accommodate her, but she was only interested in being snuggled in Mommy's arms. After a night of rest she was completely recovered and was able to enjoy all of her wonderful presents.

Since I love planning themed parties, I decided this years theme would be candy land. Rather than party favors for the little ones, we set up a candy buffet, complete with toothbrushes and toothpaste. I ordered most of the candy on-line from Blair Candy Company and couldn't believe how quickly it was delivered. I placed all of the candy in different style glass jars with goodie bags ready for the guests to fill. After years of being very anti-princess and anti-pink, the birth of my daughter has changed my entire outlook on the fancy and frilly. The invitation was inspired by my sweet little baby doll and is available in the shop should you decided to celebrate your sweet heart in the same way. Coordinating thank you cards and favor tags are also available and will be uploaded in the near future.

I also want to mention the fantastic job that our local bakery did creating a candy inspired cake for the birthday girl. I was so happy with their work on the outside, not to mention the sugary goodness on the inside.

I would also like to introduce the newest member of our family, Dorothy. Ever since Tatum realized that Elmo has a pet fish by the name of Dorothy, she has been asking for one every time she sees a goldfish on tv. We were concerned with the life expectancy of a goldfish and decided to buy a Betta instead. It took Tatum a few days for her to realize that the blue, not gold, fish could be her Dorothy. Not to mention that Dorothy is actually a male, and we refer to him as a her. Daddy and I agreed that there is nothing wrong with having a transgender fish. All that matters is that Tatum is happy with her new pet.

Today is the first time we are going to clean the fish tank. Should be interesting!

Little Pumpkin

2008-10-25T23:43:00.009-05:00

I created these pumpkin themed invites back in August for a first birthday in the month of October. I was thrilled to receive pictures to see how the inspiration of the invite followed through to the party. Even the cake was based on the little baby in the pumpkin and is absolutely amazing. Whats even more impressive is to find out that the cake was not from a bakery, yet made by one of the Grandmother's of the birthday boy. So adorable.
Hope you're having a great weekend!

"Back to you"

2008-10-22T23:00:00.006-05:00

So I decided today would be a two-poster. I felt this project deserved its own spotlight and wanted to give it the attention it deserves.

I recently worked on project for a local Mom, Natalie Dombrowski, who just published her first book titled, "Back to you," a journal written to her baby reflecting on her feelings and experiences while dealing with postpartum depression.

I have designed and produced many catalogs in my career as a designer, but never an actual book, so this was new territory for me. We worked closely on the concepts for the cover design as well as the inside body of the book. It was a great project and all went smoothly. I not only designed the the book from cover to cover, but I also personally photographed the hands on the cover which are the actual hands of Natalie and her baby.

During our work together, Natalie told me that her goal was to provide a book that might help another new mom who is suffering and not sure where to turn. Her book is in an effort to bring awareness to postpartum depression by sharing her experience. "Back to you" is now available on Amazon. I would like to congratulate Natalie for being brave enough to share such a sensitive time in her life with the world.

The month of October is National Depression Awareness Month. So if you know someone who is suffering from depression be sure to pass it on.

Shop Update & Amazing Mompreneurs

2008-10-22T15:55:00.006-05:00

Me and my little beauty are finally on our way to healthier days. After a week of eating soup and almost no sleep for me and little for her, we finally had a night of rest. I'm looking forward to getting back to my norm and feel I am almost 100%.

So there are a few new items in the shop...

I was given the opportunity to create two new birthday invitation designs. I have to say that my job as a stationery designer is so fulfilling considering that within the same week I was hired to create one very girly princess design and one not so girly, yet classically fun and energetic design.
The sock monkey design was a request of an extremely comedic mom from New Jersey. A mom whose sense of humor came across in every email she wrote always leaving me with a good laugh. She was great to work with and I feel so fortunate that there are creative people out their that entrust me to bring their vision to life. The shop has been updated with the sock monkey invitations and favor tags, I plan on having the thank you cards and birthday card uploaded in the next few days as well.

In case you were wondering, yes, I did have a sock monkey super model pose for me during the concept and sketch phase.

I was also honored to have been hired to create a fairy princess themed invitation for the daughter of my awesome Stroller Strides instructor. She happens to be a big supporter of mom owned businesses and gave me the opportunity to create the party invites for her little princess who is turning one this month. This design is also now available in the shop and can be customized for a fairy princess of any age.

If you're not familiar with Stroller Strides, it's a fitness program created for Mom's and their baby(ies). I wasn't sure what to expect from my first class, but a friend told me she had taken the class and it was a great workout. Wow, was she right. It's a mix of high cardio, running, resistance, weights and overall circuit training all while entertaining your baby by making funny faces, catching flying sippy cups, socializing with other Moms and singing nursery rhymes. It's more fun than I imagined and the hour goes by so quickly. The group is led by "mompreneur," Laura Zukosky, who happens to be a certified personal trainer as well. Definitely something I would highly recommend to any mom looking to get back into shape. If you live in the Tinley Park area and would like to join the group, you can contact Laura for more information.

I would also like to mention another mom-owned-business, Josie Sears Photography. I met Josie in my Stroller Strides group and found out that she is a very talented location photographer. Her work is unique in the sense that she captures the more natural moments of your little one outside of the typical backdrop studio portraits. She is also available for weddings and is very reasonably priced. You can contact Josie through her website to schedule your session.

Thanks for visiting!
Kim

I want "A Cozy Autumn"

2008-10-09T01:18:00.006-05:00

Among several others, I was contacted a couple of weeks ago by fellow Etsian, Jessica Jane, in regards to donating a piece of stationery for her Autumn Giveaway. Since I absolutely admire her work, I happily agreed to donate one of my Squirrel fill-in-the-blank cards.

Jessica received so many cool items that she divvied up the goods into 6 separate packages and will draw 6 names Friday at midnight to determine the lucky winners. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on her blog with your favorite autumn memory or recipe.

So hurry over there before it's too late and leave your comment.
Best of luck to you!

Laugh of the day...

2008-10-07T23:43:00.005-05:00

Although my daughter, Tatum, has entered the so-called "terrible two's," she has also developed into this mature little person by imitating my behaviors which can be quite funny. It usually takes me a second or two to figure out what she is trying to do, but when I do, it usually leaves me laughing rather hard.

In an attempt to keep Tatum occupied while getting ready this morning, I asked her to help me pick out a pair of flats to wear. I sat down on the stool in my closet and asked Tatum if I should wear the gray pair or red pair. As I slipped on the red pair, she knelt down in front of me, pushed on the toe of my shoe with her tiny fingers and said, "good."

We have been shopping for new shoes for her recently and never realized that such a simple little measure could provide me with so much entertainment, not to mention how proud of her I was at that moment.

My Morning Sunshine

2008-09-19T14:19:00.003-05:00

I feel like the luckiest person in the world when my morning begins with a smile on this face. It was a coincidence that her piggy tails happen to match the character on her pajamas. When I was making her breakfast I happened to notice this and immediately went for the camera.

It's moments like these that remind you how good your life is.

I love fall... and juicy steaks

2008-09-09T16:50:00.008-05:00

Autumn is my favorite of the four seasons. My skin tone and the fact that I burn and blister if in the sun too long does not make a good mix for summer fun. I usually prefer the indoors during the those hot summer days. But my time of year is finally here! Cooler weather and fall clothes for Tatum and myself are my absolute favorite. We went shopping over the weekend and picked up some great fall toddler outfits from Old Navy. I saw these boots and had to have them... at 40% off it would have been silly to not buy them. Some of my family members refer to Tatum as my human doll. She is so much more fun to dress than myself, I never thought that would be possible. I look forward to shopping for her winter wardrobe.

Chef Paul's Steak & Chophouse is a family owned steakhouse located in Mokena, Illinois. Since I happen to be related to that family they wouldn't think of hiring anyone else but me to do their design work, of course I had to threaten them. They recently had me design this ad featuring their September Specials. The ad is running in the September issue of the ClipperMagazine (Will/Cook Co. Edition). My Uncle Paul is such a happy chef and proved to be a perfect model when I photographed him with one of his prime ribs. Doesn't a big juicy steak sound good right about now? If you are in the area be sure to check them out.

Work and Play

2008-09-01T09:35:00.008-05:00

We held our first long awaited guitar hero challenge last night. It was just four of us, which was better for me since I have not spent much time practicing (I have only played one other time). I of course placed 4th, but I 'm proud of the progress I made in just one night. My husband, Keith, finished in first place and blew us all away. Keith bought these fun little guitars (or "a-tar's" as the kids call them) to occupy the the little rockers. Tatum was rocker ready in her Mosh Baby Tee (from Uncle Mike's last tattoo convention), black stretchy pants and two belts slung around her waste. These kids are just too cute!

Here are some new pumpkin themed invitations I designed for the month of October. I found it somewhat challenging to create a Halloween themed invite for a first birthday that wasn't too goth or spooky while maintaining the Halloween feel. These are now available in my shop for customization.

Hope you are having a great weekend!

First Etsy Sale

2008-08-13T22:47:00.006-05:00

I'm excited to share that I made my first Etsy sale last week. A couple of very creative girls starting up an Etsy shop of their own, Gauche Alchemy, hired me to create their logo, avatar, Etsy banner and blog banner. It was a really cool project, not only because their company name is so unique but also due to the clear direction they provided. They specialize in crafting/scrapbooking kits with a twist and I'm looking forward to seeing their products. I enjoyed working with them and wish them the best of luck.

Lions and tigers and bears! Oh My!

2008-07-18T09:21:00.008-05:00

I recently finished a couple of custom designs. The first, for my nephew Brody's First Birthday. Arrangements have been made to celebrate his first year at the zoo.

I originally planned to gocco print this multicolor design and did, however, I was not satisfied with the end result and ran them on the laser printer instead. I encountered some slight registration issues and also discovered that an area of the artwork didn't burn into the screen. I'm researching why this happened and hope I will be able to gocco print this design in the future for others, especially since the colors on the gocco'd version are so vibrant. I was left feeling a little bummed since I specifically designed this one to be gocco printed. Although this was a six color job I carefully designed it so that it would only require two screens. If only the border along the top imaged completely I would have been proud of another gocco printed piece.

I also finished an order for 50 custom map/direction cards last night. I was provided the existing anniversary invitation to design from. Since the existing piece was simply printed, brown ink on white, I decided on a clean and simple design. It was quite a bit of information to layout in a 4.25" x 5.5" area, but that is the fun part of being a designer. I was able to condense the directions and include a detailed inset of the event location.

Both of these custom pieces will be available in the shop later today.
Have a great weekend.

Claire is here

2008-07-16T13:36:00.003-05:00

I received a phone call early this morning from an extremely proud Grandmother, Claire Ann, the newest addition to the family had arrived. She was born weighing 7lbs and is just beautiful. Mom, Dad and baby are all doing well. We are looking forward to meeting her in person.

Congratulations to my sister-in-law Sara, her husband Scott and the Grandparents.

A good day

2008-07-09T01:12:00.007-05:00

I just finished packaging up an order for custom baby shower invites I received at the Farmers Market. I also began sketching some first birthday designs for a V.I.B. (Very Important Baby) and hope to have a final design later this week. I'm happily back in the swing of things after an extremely busy and fun filled fourth.

I feel I have a lot to be grateful for today... I was given a clean bill of health at my doctors office and can rest easier tonight knowing that I do not have breast cancer. After recently discovering a lump, I of course assumed the worst. My heart goes out to all those women who have been in that situation and received not so good news. It's definitely a scary situation to be in and I'm surprised at how many women I know have been through a similar situation.

This experience has made me reevaluate my health and I definitely plan to make some changes. There are a number of ways in which I can be a healthier role model for my daughter as well. One of the changes on the list will be to get more sleep.

On that note, it's time to say goodnight!

Fun, Food and Friends

2008-07-03T22:20:00.005-05:00

I was thrilled to have received an email from Sweet Figments, that my Dragonfly Journal would be featured on the Sweet Figments Blog. It's exciting to realize that people are starting to see my work. I'm working on uploading the new designs as well as transferring the ideas in my head to paper in the coming weeks.

Yesterday, Tatum and I drove out to Crown Point, Indiana, to visit my girlfriend Kimmy for her Birthday. I thought I would surprise her and her kids with some Pineapple Cupcakes. Of course, we decided as a group to treat ourselves to the cupcakes before having lunch.

We headed to the square to for lunch and some shopping. It really is a cool little town with so much history behind it. It happens to be the location of the John Dillinger, "Great Escape." Kimmy and the kids watched recently as Johnny Depp arrived to film a new movie based on the John Dillinger story, directed by Michael Mann. The atmosphere and architecture is amazing. We plan to do it again real soon.

Happy Birthday Kimmy and thanks again for such a great day!

Bounce House

2008-06-30T16:08:00.005-05:00

On Sunday we were invited to an annual Sunday School Picnic by my dear friend Nicole. There were more inflatable activities there than I have ever seen in one place. Of course my daughter, the little explorer that she is, was curious as to what each of them were. She was quite a bit smaller than the other kids standing in line for the bounce house, so we waited and watched long enough that the nice man running the activity allowed Tatum to have her own private session. Her smiling face expresses the pure enjoyment that she experienced as she put on a show for those watching. I cheered her on as she ran around full of giggles. Refusing to come out when her time was up, we had to send in some help. She found this to be even more fun and continued to bounce around. I waited until she came close to the entrance at which point I reached in and pulled her out. We sipped on a blue snow cone afterwards to cool down (that's why my teeth are stained blue below). There is nothing more pleasurable for me than watching my little girl have so much fun.

Thanks to Nicole for including us in such a great day.

Up and running

2008-06-25T22:48:00.007-05:00

I was lucky enough to squeeze into the Farmer's Market in my city a few weeks ago. I will be participating every Saturday from 7am-12noon for the next 15 weeks. My first Saturday went really well and I look forward to this coming Saturday. The other vendors/crafters were very welcoming and several of them offered to give me a hand while setting up my booth. My brother-in-law Mike was extremely generous to meet me at 6:30am to help me set-up as well. My husband, daughter, Mom, Mother-in-law, Aunt Laurie, sister and nephew all stopped by throughout the morning to visit and even made a couple purchases. I really appreciate them taking the time to show their support.

The official Paper Heart Press website is now uploaded (although not 100% complete) and the on-line shop is also up and running. I have many more items to add to the shop yet.

I'm looking forward to Saturday and I am hoping to have at least one or two new designs with me. I have many new design ideas floating in my head and also have a list of ideas that I have received from friends and family. If only there were more than 24 hours in a day!

Baby Boom

2008-05-30T22:35:00.008-05:00

Yesterday I became an Aunt to my 5th nephew, Deegan. He is so perfect and I was able to hold the little guy on his first day in the big new world. I realized that I have already forgotten how tiny and featherlite a newborn baby is. He was just amazing.

Taking into account that I have two more nieces and/or nephews on the way, I will be an Aunt to 12 by January of 2009.

Congrats to all of the proud parents, parents-to-be and Grandparents.

First Post

2008-05-27T23:59:00.001-05:00

I'm excited to say this officially marks the beginning of a new start for me. I plan to share the details of my creative projects as well as the excitement of my life as a parent.

Please feel free to leave comments. I hope you'll enjoy.

Back to work...