the little things

nature themed birthday party.. the details

Well, my little Laine turned nine (NINE?) on Wednesday and then had seven (SEVEN!?) girls over for a sleepover this past Saturday.  I think I needed a few days to recover from that one myself.. maybe that is why it has taken me so long to post these pics! hee!

I think my love for nature inspired 'stuff' has worn off on Laine.. so, when she came up with the idea to use 'nature' as her theme.. I was sooooooo on board!  A reason to go buy pretty butterflies and cute forest figurines!  Of course!!!! 

Here is the cake (inspired by this cake from a Martha Stewart Weddings magazine)..

She chose an angel food cake.. easy peasy!  I iced it with whipped icing (from Michael's.. comes in a box, it is theeeeeee best.. yum), and finished it off with some simple pretty butterflies (which of course we can re use as decor around the house! hee!).. 

I think I could take pictures of cakes and food all day (if only I cooked and baked more ha ha)..

The banner was super easy to make as well.. I printed the letters in super light grey on the back side of the paper (cut down to 5x7 and fed into the printer).. printed in reverse of course, so when the letters where cut out, the right side was showing.  Then, I just stapled the letters to white ribbon.

I also could have used the silhouette machine I am sure.. but I haven't used it in ages (bad bad bad) and I wasn't up for figuring something new out that late at night! ha  Of course it was like midnight when I was making it.  It had to be up for her when she woke up on her birthday after all! ;)

The forest friends..

They are still on the dining room table by the way.. I grew kind of fond of them.  So have the kids.. they get up there and play with them.  Bought these at Michael's.. as well as the trees, Christmas stuff is out.. perfect timing!! ..and there sits the birthday party budget. ha ha ha!  Worth it though right? ;)  ..of course I had to get the pine cones too. heee!

Mr. Moose is my favourite. :)

We came up with the idea to decorate flower pots and plant mini plants in them as a craft/activity.. then the girls took them home in brown paper lunch bags as party favours.

They had so much fun with this!  Faux fur.. feathers, pom poms and sequins.. oh, and glitter glue!  The pots turned out adorable (missed getting a shot of them all lined up).. but my gosh.. it looked like a few furry/feathery critters exploded all over the table by the time they were finished! ha!  It was quite a sight!  Here is Laine's..

I found the cuuuutest little yellow rose plants for them.. saved over $40 on them too, they were priced to sell (I actually jumped up and down a little when I found them).. wish I had more pictures of these!

We also spent a few hours searching for woodland type colouring pictures on the internet last week.. printed off a bunch for the girls...

THE perfect activity to allow for some quiet time!! hee!  I think I may have enjoyed this one more than the girls.  Ahhhhh quiet.. bliss! 

There it is!  All my other pics have Laine's friends in them.. so, not going there. It was a fun day, I just hope the parents aren't too mad at me.. the girls may or may not have stayed up until 2am (rumour has it a few woke up to play barbies at 3am.. ooooooops!).. ahh well, that is what slumber parties are for right!?  

Yay for fun nature themed and forest themed birthday parties!  Inspiration from here.. finally found the link for the table I posted last week. :)  How long do you think the critters will stay lined up on the table!? ;)

my craft space

Hello friends!  I took some pictures of my craft space this morning.. I had kind of mentioned it before, but I spent a bit of time purging my space.. big time!  I also moved my desks around a bit, and added a few things.  

It seems so so so much more cozy to me, like an actual room of the house now.  If that makes sense.  So yeah, I took a bunch of pics.. but I am running so short on time today, that I only have time to quickly share one...

Here it is!  Mostly the same, but here is a quick break down of what I changed.  I simplified my supplies (got rid of a lot).. re-organized how I stored them (more on that later)..

The biggest change is the desks.  They used to be separate.. one was in the middle of the room (so I scrapped and crafted facing out), and the computer one was under the window (so I faced the wall).  Well, I decided to put the two together and make one massive work station in the middle of the room.  So, for the most part.. whatever I am doing allows me to face out of the room.. unless I need to switch sides to do some quick sewing on a layout.. or just need more room to spread out.  

Also loving that this set up allows me to go back and forth between computer and creating. I am hoping that I will use more digi elements this way, and experiment with hybrid more and more.  Wishful thinking maybe.. but so far the work flow is so so so much better, no more switching desks every 10 minutes! 

I also moved the blue pom poms to the center of the room.. they span the entire area of the two desks.. so bright and cheery, love them.  Also added a few white eyelet lanterns from Martha Stewart (can't see them in this pic, I accidentally cut them off).. notice the fur love? lol  Yes, a bit of an obsession there (this brings the total of little fur rugs around the house to a whopping SEVEN ack!) ..the two brown ones serve a triple purpose though!  They are nice and cozy to look at, and add that rustic modern look I am going for around the house (another new obsession.. whole other post! hee), they also hide the computer wires that have to run outward to the walls and printer/silhouette machine.. and they provide a nice soft spot for both the pups to curl up on.  When they aren't laying on my feet that is.

I still have more pics to share, but I have to run out and finish getting party supplies for Miss Laine's sleepover tomorrow night.  Washing all our extra blankets.. cake is cooling, lists are being made.. it is one of those go go go days... finish it off with some skating tonight and hopefully a get together with friends.. eeeeeeek!  Get off of the computer, right!?  

Anyhoo.. just wanted to share.  Little changes, but such a huge difference for me.  The whole process ..purging, organizing, making pretty (of course) was so very therapeutic (lame sounding but true) and rewarding.  OK ok ok.. gotta run, later friends!! :)

and just like that..

She is nine years old.  She could not wait for yesterday to come.. and I could have held on to eight for much much much longer. 

Taken as she was heading out the door to meet the bus yesterday morning.. every birthday girl needs to be followed around with the camera, right?  

Must must must savour every second.. before I know it, she will be ten... and that is double digits.. and that is scary.

Nine things this precious nine year old is loving..

1. Reading.. anything we put in front of her.  She loves these Warriors books.  
2. Skating, can't get enough.. and she is such a joy to watch.  She loves it when she gets to help out with the pre school group.. and she does so well!
3. Crafting.. will make anything out of paper and tape.  Her latest.. Littlest Pet Shop furniture.  Construction paper and tape make her one happy girl.. she could create for hours.
4. Talking.. she will talk and talk and talk... and giggle.  She is at the age where she says 'like' a lot.
5. Taylor Swift.  
6. Littlest Pet Shops.. the addition of the mini Blythe dolls sparked that back up again. So, this is her current toy of choice.  
7. Fashion.  Drawing it.. cutting out paper clothes, shopping.. you name it, she loves it.  Going clothes shopping with her can be a lot of fun.. or interesting (depending on my mood) hee heee!
8. School.  
9. The Sims.  She love loves loves making houses and decorating them.. she is so totally my daughter. hee heee! 

She is smart, strong willed, has a sense of humour like no other.. is beautiful inside and out... and I just can not image what life would be like had she not have entered our lives nine years ago.

Happy Birthday my sweet Laine.. I love love love you! xoxo

today..

I scrapbooked!  In my nice and clean, freshly purged ..furniture moved around ..nice and bright (new light bulbs.. wow do they make a difference!) craft room!  I am so happy to be wanting to spend time in here again.  So.. yay me! ha ha

BUT..

I also ate a Halloween candy, which I told myself just this morning that I was all finished with.. absolutely no more.  Oh yes, I have killer will power.  Anyone with me?  So.. booo me. ha

Oh.. and I also ran out of my usual fat free hazelnut coffee creamer, which forced me to open the regular version that I keep for guests.. and wowee what a difference.  I am not sure I will be able to go back.  It is that much better.  

I am bracing myself for this crazy week ahead.. so many projects due (thank goodness I am getting over the plague like attitude ha!) ..plus, it is my girl's 9th birthday on Wednesday!  Which means family special day that day.. and then... crazy nine year old sleepover on Saturday.  Help me.  Please.  

Laine chose 'nature party' as a theme.. I tried to get out of the theme thing, she looked at me and said "but mom.. I have always had a theme!" ..good grief, yes she has.  I will never ever be able to have a non theme party for these children ever.  Who am I kidding.. I love doing it, the hardest part is trying not to go overboard!

Here is a little bit of inspiration (not sure of the source.. have had it on my computer forever, but have nooo clue where I originally found it)..

Cute right!?  Have to add some birds/flowers/butterflies to girly it up a bit though!

Looking forward to it a little bit I suppose.  I am thinking I will decorate for her actual birthday and then leave it up until the weekend??  Wow.. that is 2 days away though, that just might not happen! ha ha!

Yikes.

Honestly.. that picture could inspire what I would like my entire house to look like. Bring on the nature!!  Can't wait to share my new craft room.. well, it is mostly the same as before.. just more fun.. feels new to me. ;)

Oh.. and another project to share before I go.  This was for my November blog post on the Hambly blog (oh my gosh, so many good things happening over there!)..

So much misting on this one.. I really really love the new Studio Calico cream mist.. must must must get my hands on the white one too!!

The shaped iridescent glitter by MS is pretty fantastic too.  I will have to come back and add more links to this post.. short on time, have to head out to Harley's skating lessons.. how does the day fly by so fast when you are having fun!?  I could stay in here and scrap for hours!  

Oh well.. maybe I will save it for tonight.  A late night with One Tree Hill (Keri hee heee!) ..I am on to the current season! woohooooo! Yep, that sounds like a plan.  I know I have enough coffee in me already to support this little adventure! hee!

Wow.. that turned into a completely random post.  Ah well.. roll with it right!?  At least I am blogging! 

OK.. later my friends!! :)

my october Hambly layouts..

I know I know.. I am finding that taking such a long break might not have been the best idea. ha  I have a 'few' projects to share, I sure hope you don't mind!  

I did a craft room overhaul this past week (yes it has taken me a week).. and I am finding that as I near finishing, I am feeling the urge to craft and blog and do all those things I love so much (but have been avoiding like the plague for the past few weeks.. or month ha ha ha).. I guess I am/was (??) beginning to feel overwhelmed ..and I went into 'shut down' mode!  A good purge in the craft room and I am already feeling a bit better!  Amazing how that works.

Anyhoo..

This entire layout is based around that yummy Hambly butterfly transparency.. which really has nothing to do with the layout.. but I could probably find a way to work butterflies into any layout.. I love them that much.

I think I need to expand my punch collection a little though.. I do have a bit of a harder time working butterflies and hearts into Harley's layouts! ha ha

Even Mr. Oliver the bunny isn't safe from the hearts..

Oh.. and butterflies too.  Poor Oliver.. hope his manly pride isn't hurt that much. That is such a bad picture of the little guy.. must set up a proper shoot for him one of these days... feeling the urge to share his cuteness here. hee!

Oh oh oh.. and here is a link to October's tutorial that I did for the Hambly blog, again.. butterflies! ha ha  Yep, really need more punches. hee!  If I went shopping for more, I would probably just bring home another variety of the butterfly though. :P

OK.. later friends!  Off to make party invites for Miss Laine's sleepover birthday party next weekend! 

happy halloween?? ! ???

ha ha ha.

Hello hello!  Taking a break from my 'break' to come and share some Halloween pics!  Good grief.  I realized today just how long I have been gone, and it is getting out of hand I say!  Still not feeling the hugest desire to commit to more regular blogging.. but this is a step! hee

Little miss scary witch.. or not, because she doesn't really look all that scary to me. The grin kind of gives her away, don't you think?

Harley.. the scary dinosaur... again, not very scary! hee!  He had fun trying though, roaring as loud as he could while trick or treating.. totally got into the part, I had to get him up off the ground at one point, as he tried to crawl around on all four 'legs' ha ha ha!

I won't go crazy on the photo sharing.. since Halloween was like 2 weeks ago, and I am sure you have all had your fill of Halloween pictures! hee!  I figured I should at least share a few though.. so here they are. :)

Hope everyone is doing well! xoxo