Harper Lily...My 1st Newborn Shoot

You may remember a few months back when I did a shoot for the Jost Family. The shoot included pictures of their sweet little boy, Dawson, some family shots, & some maternity shots of Amanda, the mommy.

Well, their new little bundle of joy has arrived & I had the opportunity to take pictures of her yesterday! This was my first newborn shoot and it was so much fun!! I had done some research online about taking pictures of newborns, but I didn't totally know what I was doing...we just kind of made it up as we went along!

Despite all of that, I think we still managed to get some good shots!

What do you think?!

I mean, isn't she the cutest...

I think she's pretty sweet!!

I just felt horrible because I would get her all comfy & posed the way I wanted her, I would take a few shots, and then I would have to bother her to put her into a new pose!

Amanda said she slept really good after I left...I think I must have worn her out!! 

Poor baby!!

Linking up here...

Birth Announcement Typography Art...

So, turns out my obsession with sign making continues....

I've become BFF's with my cricut machine....FOR REAL!

Give me some cardstock, some mod podge, & a piece of wood and I am a happy camper!!

For those of you who are getting tired of these sign tutorials...forgive me!

Eventually, I will move onto something else! I'm sure its just a phase! :)

Last week, I showed you the sign that I made for my friend Mandy & her son's nursery. If you missed it, you can click here. Then a few days later, my other friend Amanda had her baby...a sweet little girl!

So, you know that means, right?!

Yep, I had to make another sign!! 

But this time in PINK!

So I primed & painted the board....

And then distressed it with some sandpaper on the edges & top surface cuz that's what I like to do!

And as much as I loved the saying I did on the other sign for Mandy's nursery, I wanted to try something different this time around! So I thought I would to display all of her birth announcement details...

So I cut all the letters out using my cricut machine. Again, using the George & Basic Shapes cartridge. The size & configuration of the letters/numbers is all just a trial & error thing. I just keep messing with it until I get it the way I like it! And when you scroll down a little further, you will see that I even changed it one more time after this picture was taken...

So the letters/number are just sitting loosely on the board before I mod podge them down...

After the mod podge, it looks like this...

You can see that I ended up abbreviating ounces & changed the size of my numbers. I felt like the 7 ounces & 21 inches were running into each other & wanted to make them more defined, so making these changes I was able to do that!

I love the personalized touch of this sign & how all of the details of her birth are captured on it...

I hope Amanda likes it & I hope it goes as well in Harper's nursery as I think its going to!

Just a few more pics from a few more angles cuz you can never have enough pictures you know! :)

I hope you like this project/tutorial & I hope I've inspired some of you to try one of your own!!

Such a fun & personalized gift to give to a friend!

Linking up here....

20 Below Thursdays at Christina's Adventures
Delightfully Inspiring Thursday at Delightful Order

Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

Weekend Wrap-Up Party at Tatertots & Jello

Sunday Showcase Party at Under The Table & Dreaming

Me...On Television?! (Part 2)

So after being selected as "Blog of The Week" by our local news station & having my site featured on the morning news last Tuesday, I received an email days later, asking if I would like to come on the show to discuss my blog a little further in detail & share one of my projects!

Since I've never been interviewed before and because I've never been on television before, I immediately was kinda freaked out over the whole idea! I knew that it was a great opportunity for our blog and knew that I shouldn't pass it up, but REALLY?! Me....on television?!

So, I spent some time pondering the idea & then responded to the email AGREEING to come on the show!

Kevin (one of the news anchors) assured me that  it would be EASY! He said that they would just be asking me a few questions about why I started blogging & that we would then move on to discussing one of my projects. He said that the interview would only be 3 minutes & that I would be FINE!! Oh yeah, and that it would be LIVE!

What?! Aaaaah!!

Cue Anxiety ATTACK!!!

What did I get myself into?!

So.....yesterday morning, I said a couple of prayers, put my big girl pants on, & did the interview!

Much to my surprise, it was pretty easy! The news anchors were super nice & made me feel at ease!

And because they are so awesome, again they emailed me the clip to share with all of my readers!!

There, now you all know what I sound like in real life!!

 Funny how you don't realize what you sound like until you see yourself on TV!

Guess now I know what I sound like too!! :)

Thanks Again News Channel 3 for such an GREAT opportunity, for TAKING THE TIME out to spotlight this blog, & for making it such a FUN & EASY experience!!!

Griffin.....1st Birthday Party Inspiration

Griffin's 1st birthday is just around the corner, so as you can imagine my brain is in full party mode right now. I have been looking for a cute theme for his party & stumbled across this adorable Sock Monkey Birthday Party on pinterest....I'm LOVING it!!

Seriously, how CUTE is this?!

(Warning....the word "cute" will be used NUMEROUS times in this post!)

Source: pizzazzerie.com via Tonya on Pinterest

SO.STINKIN.CUTE!!!!

I love the color scheme & I love the sock monkeys!

Source: chickabug.com via Tonya on Pinterest

Source: chickabug.com via Tonya on Pinterest

The cupcake wrappers, toppers, & all of the cute labels are courtesy of Chickabug on Etsy.

Source: chickabug.com via Tonya on Pinterest

I love all of the mokey themed treats as well!

I'm thinking we are going to have some banana pudding & maybe even some banana bread!!

Yummy!

Source: chickabug.com via Tonya on Pinterest

Hopefully my go-to lady for cakes can re-create this darling little cake for Griffin to devour!!

Source: karaspartyideas.blogspot.com via Tonya on Pinterest

I don't know that I will go to all the trouble of having a Sock Monkey Puppet Show, but its definitely a cute idea!

Source: chickabug.com via Tonya on Pinterest

This Sock Monkey sock hat is sooo cute, but given the fact that the birthday party is next month & the heat index will more than likely be over 100 degrees....I will probably have to pass on it as well!

Source: karaspartyideas.blogspot.com via Tonya on Pinterest

Source: shutterbugandthesweetlife.blogspot.com via Tonya on Pinterest

Love these cute "Monkey Munchies" party favors!

Adorable!

Source: chickabug.com via Tonya on Pinterest

Water bottle labels, also courtesy of Chickabug.

After finding this cute party theme, I immediately started looking for a coordinating shirt for the birthday boy & found this!

Source: etsy.com via Tonya on Pinterest

Again...isn't it cute?!

And last, but not least, what is a cute birthday party without cute personalized invites?!

Source: etsy.com via Tonya on Pinterest

Yep...I think these will be perfect!!!



Can't wait to get everything ordered & start planning this big event!

It's not everyday your baby boy turns ONE, ya know?!

Hopefully, my version will turn out just as cute as the party in the photos above!!

Stay tuned!!

More Typography Art...Inspired by Red Letter Words

Okay, so I told you I'm kind of obsessed with subway art & typography....

And now that I have realized I can make my own, the ideas just keep coming!!

So I've been loving Red Letter Words for some time now...

 If you've never browsed through their site, you should totally check it out!

They have some really awesome stuff!

I think I have entered every Red Letter Words giveaway in blogland, but evidently luck isn't on my side, because I haven't won any of them! And while I ADORE their stuff....I can't bring myself to spend the money on one of their signs. So, I decided to try to re-create one of their pieces!

This is verse is one of my favorites & also my hubby's favorite as well! I thought it would be perfect in his office, so I started brainstorming....

I followed the steps from my last tutorial to make this sign...

I started with a 4 foot whitewood board that I bought at Lowes for $3.98 & had my dad cut it into 4 pieces. Each piece measured out to be approximately 11.5" x 12"...

Then I primed the board with KILZ primer & gave it two coats of black paint.  I took sandpaper to the edges & the top surface of the board to give it a distressed look...

Then I cut the words out with my cricut machine & spaced them out the way I wanted them & then mod podged them to the board!

This is what I ended up with...

What do you think?

Pretty close to their version, right?!

I'm happy with it & so is my hubby!

Can't wait to see it hanging in his office!! 

It's such a great reminder! 

That no matter what life brings...no matter how hard, no matter how difficult, we CAN get through & we CAN conquer all of the struggles that come our way it we just lean on the STRENGTH of our

Lord Jesus Christ! 

Linking up here...

Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog

Link-Up Party Tuesday at Our House of Joyful Noise
20 Below Thursdays at Christina's Adventures
Delightfully Inspiring Thursday at Delightful Order
I'm Lovin' It at Tidy Mom
Weekend Wrap-Up Party at Tatertots & Jello
Sunday Showcase Party at Under The Table & Dreaming

Sweet Shot Tuesday...

Another month....another photoshoot!

And this one might be my favorite yet!!

( I know I say that everytime)

So my little stinker is 11 months old & will be turning the big ONE in just a month!! I can't believe it!

My oldest spent the day at his Grandma's today, so Griffin & I went out for some pictures before it got too hot out!! We made a few stops around town & then ended our shoot at the park.

Hope you enjoy the photos!!

I don't know which is my favorite...I kinda like them all!!


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