Elves Among Us

...and I've got one living right here in my house!! These were a few pictures from our photo session at home, trying to get some cute shots for our family Christmas card. Today was the last day of work until after the holidays...lots of Christmas preparations to still get done. I'm just so happy we'll be home for the next two weeks with our little boy! What fun this holiday will be! Holly jolly fun!!

Unlock Your Story

Being a new mom with little to no time, the online class thing is THE way to go these days!! I am so happy for the internet and the worldwide community of creative people out there...you're never alone!! I'm participating in a class offered by Elizabeth Kartchner (aka Dear Lizzy) entitled "Unlock Your Story". Just love her blog...always a great pocket of color and sunshine! It's really important to me to get all of those little, yet important, moments down on paper as Liam grows because I hear from lots of moms that the images you think will always be seared in your head slowly fade. Hence, my signing up for this class! They are lesson 7 right now, and I'm only on the cover but I will catch up sooner or later! I did not purchase the class kit since it utilized colors that were more inclined towards the girly side, so I used papers from the My Mind's Eye collection called "Lost and Found". Here is my cover...

My husband said there was a little too much glitter on the cover for a boy but I said: (1) the glitter was already on the paper so it was out of my control...always good to blame things on someone else...hee hee and (2) too much glitter??!!! Could there ever be TOO much glitter?!! Seriously....where has he been all this time!!!!!

Liam the Lion

Hear me ROAR!! Well..not exactly...this is a gentle lion that giggles alot!!

On another note...I finally finished up my next mini album of Liam spanning months 4 and 5. I always get these great mini books from Eve Johnson at Evalicious...she puts together the cutest stuff! I also got a new baby one from her this past spring which I used to document our first month with Liam. She puts together albums using eclectic little pages of this and that...then all you need to do is add the pictures, embellishments, and your journaling..super easy for a new mom with very little time! Here is the cover:

Daddy reading a book to Liam...

Liam's first football game of the season! Eating chicken wings and rooting for the Philadelphia Eagles...
(Sorry these pictures are not the best...I have limited time for photo ops and even less time to write a post!)

I hope everyone in southern California is finally enjoying the cool crisp fall weather!!! Loved the extra hour today!! Have a great week ahead!!!

Happy Halloween!!!

Hope you are having a wickedly fun Halloween!!! Liam turned six months old this week...can't believe how big he's getting!! He has his first two teeth now and is almost sitting up on his own! We dressed him up as a lion, but he pooped out before the first trick or treaters even showed up at the door! After I dress him in it again tomorrow for some pictures, I will post them later in the week...if I remember!!! LOL!! Have a wonderful first week of November!!!

Peace, Love, and Happiness

Sorry that I have not been a great blogger these last few weeks. I finally returned to work on Monday and had to leave my little baby behind. However, dad's been holding down the fort and keeping little Liam all smiles! Thought I'd share a couple pictures of him now that he's five and a half months old. Finally sleeping through the night consistently..YEAH! Sleep never felt so good!! Learning to eat some new foods like avocado and sweet potatoes. Most of all, just a ball of happiness and smiles! How very lucky we are!!

Just broke out the jog stroller this week now that Liam's old enough and big enough for it. Step aside everyone...momma's rollin' by! He just LOVES this now that he can face forward and see the world from a whole new perspective....

Happy weekend to all!!!

{be} Inspired

I am so excited to announce that I will be teaching a class at Paper Tales!! This has been a hope of mine for a while now, and I am so thankful that they will have me! :-)

The class is scheduled for Sunday, October 3rd, from 12:30-2:30. My goal for the class is for people to be inspired, have fun, and enjoy a creative afternoon surrounded by all the inspiration that Paper Tales has to offer! This art block is a medley of color with quotes on each side and some vintage spools on the top. It is a low stress class, and you'll be sure to have a finished product by the time you leave! I hope to see you there!!!

Rainbow of Color

You know how you buy something with this wonderful vision of what will be done with the item only to have the potential project sit on your desk or in a closet for the next 6 months? Well...that's pretty much how this project went down! However, I am happy to report that last night, in the single hour I had to myself before bedtime, I was able to whip this together and voila! here it is.....

This is actually contained within a white wooden shadowbox that I picked up at Aaron Brothers. It has a nice linen backing to it which made it ready to fill with colorful goodness. I bought this lot of pretty pastel vintage spools from an etsy seller called ArtfulVintage. I had ordered a group of these spools earlier in the summer for an upcoming class I'll be teaching, but I was lucky enough to snag another group of them that she had for sale..but for myself this time! The fabric swatches are from the Heather Bailey line and it's the same fabric that I used to cover a canvas that hangs above the dresser in my bedroom. Since this shadowbox is going on top of that dresser, I thought it would be good to tie in the two pieces with the same fabric.

A few old buttons strategically scattered near the bottom of the box for some finishing touches. I just love the rainbow of colors...don't you? They make me so happy! :-)