Belinda's Great Ideas

Best Day Ever

2013-04-02T10:30:00.001-07:00

The other day I read a Facebook post by a friend who was having a difficult day dealing with her children. One of her other friends commented with such a great quote by Lorenzo Snow. I knew that I needed a daily reminder that the best days are the ones we spend becoming better people. I made this print to hang on my bulletin board. You're welcome to download it from my Flickr page.

They Are Speaking to Us

2013-03-27T13:17:00.000-07:00

I'm convinced that our ward has the best Primary president. Then again, aren't all Primary presidents just wonderful?

In a Primary presidency meeting, we talked about giving the children some sort of activity book or game to help keep them occupied during General Conference. Our wonderful president was concerned that General Conference had become a time to "just keep the children quiet." She wanted them to listen with the Spirit and pray for answers to their questions. She asked me to come up with a card that the children could fill out with questions they had and a place to write the answers they received.

I found a lovely quote from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland who said, "If we teach by the Spirit and you listen by the Spirit, some one of us will touch on your circumstance, sending a personal prophetic epistle just to you."

I wanted to offer a PDF of the front and back of this card as a free download. I'd also love to know if any of you have a special experience using this with your children.

Happy Conference!

Valentine's Day Bookmark

2013-02-05T14:16:00.003-08:00

Every year I give my three boys books for Valentine's Day. To me, books are love. This year my Valentine's Day cards are bookmarks. I found the cute silhouette of the squirrel and pixie on The Graphics Fairy website. The back has space to write a personal message. I'm so excite to hand them out!

Child of God

2012-12-29T07:54:00.001-08:00

I'm wrapping up preparations for Primary next week. Above is the logo I used for our teachers' binder covers. You are welcome to use it as well. Happy New Year and remember that you are a Child of God!

Coming Soon - Primary Papers

2012-12-06T09:30:00.000-08:00

2012 is coming to a close and I'm feeling a need for change. I'm thinking the blog needs a new 'do,' so I'll be working on that for the next few weeks.

The other BIG change coming up is my new Primary Papers line of invitations, stationery and prints. Primary Papers will print LDS invitations and announcements. Thanks to those of you who've emailed me for invitations over the last year and a half, I know there is a hefty demand for new and fun LDS event stationery. I demand quality and I want to do this right, so I'm bursting with excitement over the new designs!

And the paper?

Fabulous.

If I could, I would work on this night and day (I'm dying to show you all), but I have children to feed. I'm on schedule to open my shop in January 2013 with some giveaways and fantastic discounts for my first customers.

Keep watching for our big launch.

My Winter Survival Guide

2012-12-05T08:48:00.000-08:00

It's not even technically winter and it's already been a long and dreary one. We've only had one snow storm. Just day after day of cool, cloudy, rainy weather, so it doesn't even really feel like Christmas. I have to be prepared for four more months of this. That's what Mormon's do best; prepare for the worst.

I can't exactly say I have a year's supply of these things -- Mormons are urged to keep a three month to one year storage of food and water in case of emergencies. You can read more about that here. No, my emergency supply of these items would probably run out run out in a week, or in the case of the chocolate, an hour. Some lip balm and lotion (the best ever), entertainment and warmth, will keep me cozy this winter. Here is a list of what I need to keep it together through the coming months.

1. Smith's Minted Rose Lip Balm | 2. Lindt Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt | 3. Caldrea Scented Candle in Water Lily | 4. Stash of British period dramas: North and South, Lost in Austen, The 39 Steps | 5. Moleskine Kraft Notebooks | 6. Barnes and Noble's Leatherbound Classics: Anna Karenina | 7. Merona Pashmina Scarf | 8. Shikai Dry Skin Therapy Hand Cream | 9. Altoids Smalls Wintergreen | 10. SoftHeat Heating Pad

Primary Teachers Need Love Too!

2012-11-29T08:32:00.000-08:00

Let's be honest. Primary can be brutal. After almost fourteen years of various Primary callings, I have to admit that some Sundays can be just plain rough sometimes. Even though the children are so cute and funny and honest (sometimes with disastrous results) and I can't help love being there, there are trying times.

Teachers and other primary workers could use a little recognition. I made these cards for Teacher Appreciation Day at my son's school last year, but also ended up using them for primary teacher handouts.
A small package of Extra Gum can be attached to the card.

I suggest printing them with Overnight Prints. Their print quality is nice and extremely inexpensive. If you print with them you do need to know that you need to plan ahead. Not a week. A month. You will be well rewarded. If you can spent a ton on printer ink, I suppose you could also print them at home. I just like the feel of the press printed cards. Our Primary teachers deserve it, don't they?

This was not a sponsored post. I just really like Overnight Prints.

She Can Do Anything

2012-11-17T10:52:00.000-08:00

Some kind words I heard once from someone I admire. I say it to myself when I need a pep talk.

Trick My Treat 2012 Candy Flag Downloads - At Last!

2012-10-24T09:32:00.002-07:00

I've had questions about when I would make my candy flags available for download. Today is the day!

I have two available to download. One in black and white. One with a bit of orange. Both are very different, but I only have photos of the black and white! I'm so sorry. I'll try to get photos of the others soon. They're being printed as I type.

I buy my candy sticks at a shop in Alpine, Utah. The Peppermint Place.

All you need is a paper cutter, a glue stick and scissors and you're in business. Trim top and bottom edges and cut in to 1 1/2 inch strips. Glue the whole length of the strip and wrap around the candy stick. When they're dry, notch the ends.

Black and White Flags
Color Flags

You'll need some Halloween tunes to get you in the spirit while you assemble your flags. Here is my Halloween playlist. All different levels of spooky and fun.

1. Carnival of the Animals - Aquarium & Danse Macabre
2. The Sorcerer's Apprentice
3. The Planets, Op. 32: VII. Neptune
4. Vertigo Prelude/Nightmare
5. This is Halloween
6. Ragtime Nightingale
7. The Devil's Gallop
8. Witches' Ride
9. The Attack of the Winged Monkeys
10. Grim, Grinning Ghosts
11. The Haunted Organ - The Ghost and Mr. Chicken
12. The Ghost and Mrs. Muir

Enjoy your Halloween!

Celebrating an Adoption Miracle

2012-10-21T23:50:00.000-07:00

For five years, my cousin Cyndi, has been waiting for a perfect, special baby. She had almost given up. The crib was disassembled, the last of the old baby clothes had been given away (my youngest son was the lucky recipient of the cutest hand-me-downs) and the nursery turned into a play room for her other two children. Her hopes were dashed over and over, until August, when she had the surprise of the phone call she had been waiting for.

With nothing but a car seat and a pair of newborn pajamas, she flew with her husband to Texas to claim the ultimate prize. A tiny baby boy who they named Winston.

We don't normally need much of a reason to throw a party, but this called for something uncommonly special. Her sister, Melina and I planned a baby shower to celebrate sweet Winston's arrival.

Our dear friend and fabulous fairy godmother, Loralee Lewis sent a package of party supplies and the sweetest invitations you'll ever see.

We're not professional party planners and between work, children, Halloween preparations and one looming church talk, our time was stretched thin, so Loralee's package was a heaven-send.

Loralee's clients include A-list celebrities, authors, and even the President of the United States. I don't care if you are a Republican; that's impressive. The quality of her products are beyond compare and we loved the carefully written instructions for assembling everything.

I was in a mad rush finishing up last minute tasks, so my photos are lacking, but we had an amazing time and Winston did not want for attention and love. I don't think he ever will.

Trick My Treat 2012 - Donut Pops

2012-10-02T20:12:00.000-07:00

I have a riddle for you.

What's black and white and orange glitter all over?

Halloween!

It's time for Trick My Treat 2012! I'm so excited because this year I have a bunch of fun projects up my sleeve and they're so easy and inexpensive. I'll be posting them over the next couple of weeks with downloads as well.

For Trick My Treat 2012 I've come up with some simple treats that look adorable as well. I decided to put special emphasis on simple because our family has made a huge change and moved to a different city. We love our new home, but I can't find anything yet in the stacks of boxes in the garage. I'm hoping that a month will be long enough for me to dig out my Halloween decorations.

Today is the easiest treat of all. Mini 'Donut' + lollipop stick + flag = Yum!

The link to download the mini flags is at the bottom of the post.

Here's what you'll need:

1 - Paper cutter
2 - Lollipop sticks. I like the long ones because they're easier to hold and just prettier.
3 - Scissors. They don't have to be haircutting scissors that you found in a box in your garage and have the name of an previous neighbor taped to them. Regular scissors will be fine. This time.
4 - Permanent glue stick
5 - Printed donut flags

One last thing.

Doughnuts. Or 'donuts' as they're referred to on the packaging. I used Little Debbie chocolate mini donuts, but any variety would be delicious.

Trim the top and bottom edges of the flag document at the crop marks and then cut into 3/4 inch strips. Glue the back of each strip all the way across and fold over your lollipop stick about an inch from the top.

Notch the ends with your (or you neighbor's) scissors.

All that's left to do is to pop the donut on top. If it seems like it's loose, you can cement it by dipping the end of the lollipop stick in some melted chocolate and then back into the donut. You don't want to be a source of Halloween anguish when donuts are falling on the sidewalk.

Voila!

Delicious donut pops for Halloween night.

Overturned berry baskets do in a pinch to hold a couple of pops, but I suggest buying a broad, flat piece of floral foam and covering it with black wrapping paper. You can put out a dozen or more, that way.

Happy Halloween!

Download your Donut Pop flags HERE.

I'm Famous...in Australia

2012-07-11T10:36:00.002-07:00

Not famous, I guess. Earlier this year I was able to work with event designer and stationer Loralee Lewis photographing a party for a popular Australian digital magazine, My Little Jedi.

The issue was just released last week and it's gorgeous. You'll have to look at all the back issues too, because there are so many darling party ideas.

Loralee's party was a double wedding shower with a vintage bicycle theme. She thought of everything. Every tiny detail was personalized and cute as could be. I can't think of anyone more talented.

I wanted to share a few of my favorite photos with you.

Loralee still takes custom printing orders by email until her new website is finished. The quality is amazing her work is so pretty. Check out her blog to see more of her parties.

25 Children's Books that You Might Have Forgotten

2012-03-26T16:10:00.001-07:00

Or haven't heard of at all...

I grew up in a house full of books. Now that I'm the mom, we have a house full of books too. My dad is a writer and a librarian, so I was taught to never buy a paperback book (unless that's all that was printed), keep the dust jackets pristine (still working on that one), and to treat books with the utmost care and respect.

I try NEVER to buy a paperback. If the bookstore or Amazon doesn't have a hard cover book in stock, I check Abe Books or Alibris for used copies in good condition. I feel like hard cover books exude more of a permanence in our home; whereas a flimsy paperback, soon and easily becomes dogeared and needs to be thrown out. I wasn't taught that books are disposable and I don't want my children to think that, either.

My dad is big on preserving dust jackets. This isn't so easy with small children. At first I would remove them when I bought a new book and lay them flat at the top of my son's closet. I still have a few, but over time, they were pulled down by little climbers, or torn mysteriously. My dad covers all his dust jackets with clear Mylar covers just like at the library. They're practically indestructible and stay on pretty well. I buy my Mylar covers from Benchmark Books in Salt Lake City. There are a few different sizes, so before you go, you may want to measure the height of the books you want to cover.

I'm also a bit uppity about the types of books we buy. We do NOT buy books about any TV cartoon character. Exception one is The Monster at the End of this Book. Who doesn't love that?

Read on for exception two.

We read aloud a lot at our house. I'm not a huge fan of picture books. We have some. A few really good ones, but I'm a huge believer that even little kids can appreciate a good chapter book. I think that so many people think that if a child can't read a book by himself, that he wouldn't be able to understand a larger book. NOT SO. Most children are able to understand what they experience every day. If the only books they read are Go Diego Go simple readers or Dr. Seuss (love him, but still...), then, of course, they'll be confused by more complicated stories.

When my oldest son was two years old we bought this book at Media Play:

Let me just clarify that this book was written long before the TV shows and movies and is not in the least similar to those junky Thomas paperbacks at Walmart. Sean was a huge Thomas fan from the time he could walk, so when I saw this book and how sweetly it was written, I had to have it. I couldn't post a picture of our book because it has been so well loved that it doesn't even have a cover anymore. He would lay the book on the floor and lean on it to look at the pictures and recite the stories to himself. This might make my list 26 books, but I have to recommend it.

Here is my list of oft neglected children's books. I grouped them by age/grade. I hope you discover a new favorite.

1. Cowboy Bunnies by Christine Loomis is so sweet. It's sadly out of print, but if you're able to find it you won't be disappointed. The poetry is darling and I love how the cowboy bunnies end their day.

2. I am a Bunny by Richard Scarry. I guess I have a thing for bunnies. His name is Nicholas and he lives in a hollow tree. Completely adorable.

I also recommend Lois Lenski's Mr. and Mrs. Noah and Babies by Gyo Fujikawa.

3. Chicken Soup with Rice by Maurice Sendak. This tiny book came in a set with three others. My children love the diminutive size. A really tiny book.

4. Little Fur Family by Margaret Wise Brown. My favorite Amazon review calls it "a psychedelic freakout of a kids book." Don't let that scare you. It's too cute for words.

5. The Story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit by Beatrix Potter. A cautionary tale for the very young. He gets what's coming to him. More bunnies.

6. Papa Small by Lois Lenski. Nuclear family. Gender specific roles. I like it. You may not and that's okay.

7. Mister Dog by Margaret Wise Brown. Margaret Wise Brown and Garth Williams were the "Dynamic Duo" of the children's book universe. Nonsense and fun. I think we're on our third copy of this book.

8. Pelle's New Suit by Elsa Beskow. All about a boy who works for what he wants.

My picture is horrible. Sorry you can't see those titles.

9. Not a Box by Antoinette Portis. Very few words in this story, but it's fun and imaginative.

10. The Wonderful House by Margaret Wise Brown. More quirky stuff. Who lives in the house? A dog biscuit? NO.

11. Oh What a Busy Day by Gyo Fujikawa. I still have my own copy of this book from 1982. It's worn to shreds so I'm SO happy that they've reissued it. Poetry, simple rhymes and stories.

12. Children Make Terrible Pets by Peter Brown. Little bear girl in tutu adopts human boy. Hilarity ensues.

13. "B" is for Betsy by Carolyn Haywood. All Carolyn Haywood's books are fabulous introductions to chapter reading. Simpler stories. Short chapters. They deal with such "heavy issues" as starting school for the fist time, making friends, and acceptance, with Dick and Jane wholesomeness.

14. Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald. Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle has amazing cures for selfishness (our favorite), laziness, back-talk and such. I wish she lived near me.

15. Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovlace. A series heartily recommended by Kathleen Kelly in "You've Got Mail." They're completely charming. All of them.

16. The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner. A Classic right down to the silhouette illustrations. They live in a boxcar and fish for treasures at the dump. Dreamy.

17. Lisa and Lottie by Erich Kastner. You probably have already heard this story and don't know it. Twins separated at birth try to rekindle the romance between their divorced parents... The precursor to The Parent Trap. I bought this at a used bookstore for $3. It's not currently in print.

18. Heidi by Johanna Spyri. Heidi is an orphan sent to live with her grisly grandfather. All my boys loved this book. It's worth it to hold out until you find an unabridged version. Ditto on the simplified children's classics books (I hate those with a passion) they offer the facts, but suck all the joy out of the story. You can get the REAL DEAL for free on iBooks or Amazon Kindle.

19. Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne. Don't assume your grade school age child is too old for Winnie the Pooh. The stories are hilarious. I've been known to skip over the parts that are speaking to Christopher Robin to get to the meat of the story.

20. Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren. I'm partial to the edition illustrated by Lauren Child (Charlie and Lola). My boys laughed themselves silly over this book.

21. Iggy Peck, Architect by Andrea Beatty. I have a child with just such an artistic temperament. He identifies with this book. Iggy Peck saves the day!

22. Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher. I guess, in addition to my love for bunny books, I have a thing for books with a heroine named Betsy. A babied city girl is sent to live with her extended family in the country where she has to learn to toughen up a little bit.

23. Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I have to admit that I completely skipped this book when I read the Little House books growing up. What girl wants to read a book about a boy? I was so wrong. A simpler time. I like the part where they make taffy and feed it to the pig.

24. The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit. This is one of my ALL TIME favorite books. Not just kids books. Four children and their mother have to pretend at being poor for a while, while their father is mysteriously absent. I cried at the end. Also free on iBooks and Kindle. It's a STEAL if you ask me.

25. Hitty, Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field. Another one of my favorites. A hand carved wooden doll and the adventures she has. Reproduction Hitty dolls sell for hundreds of dollars.

I'm curious to know. What would you add to the list?

Arise and Shine Forth

2012-03-19T09:53:00.002-07:00

I've been asked to do more church related projects than other things, lately. Our stake Young Women's Presidency asked me to make a logo, invitations and programs for the Stake Medallion Dinner, last month.
This is what I started with:

It turned out that they wanted something with more of a formal, simple, platinum look. Here is what they ended up deciding on:

They mentioned that they would be having a Stake Youth Talent Night and would just use this same logo for that, as well. I said that it was just too girly and I made this for the Stake youth to use throughout the year. In black and white:

And in color:

Another project I worked on was for a ward Relief Society Dinner with a Johnny Lingo theme. I'll stop for a moment while you roll your eyes. I did, for sure.

Done?

For those of you who aren't Mormons or are and just weren't privileged enough to see the movie Johnny Lingo click here for a TRIP.

The theme was "Eight Cow Women." Okay, roll your eyes again. The woman I worked with sent me this link to another party with the same theme.

NOOOOOOOOOO!

Then, after I stopped screaming, I figured I could "class it up." Kind of...

The movie is goofy to the max, so I couldn't completely break free of the cheese. I thought it turned out funny and cute, though.

New and Improved (I Hope)

2012-03-12T12:59:00.000-07:00

I was updating my blog last week and I noticed that I was getting a lot of traffic from Pinterest for a download for LDS Apostle flash cards. These were made almost two years ago and are not cute, but I have them in my church bag and we use them often. Bare-bones, basic, informational. Just not very fun.

I was a little surprised that people were still interested since they aren't that great to look at. I was sure somebody had come up with something better since then. Evidently not, since a internet search yielded photos of cards much worse than my old ones.

I can do better. Let me show you.

Ta Da!

Here's another

I have two downloads available for you, depending on your choice of printing. If you just want to print them at Kinkos (I know that's not their name anymore, but that's what I call them) or at home, You can download pages and cut the cards out. I suggest you laminate them, if you choose this option.

However...

Since there's time, and since I love MOO Printing, I have a file of individual cards in moo's business card size. These will not fit standard American sized business cards. I just wanted to let you know that before you were disappointed when your cards came back from your printer and they looked all wrong. It could happen. If, by chance you have a local printer that will make European size (84mm x 55mm) business cards for you, then you can do that too. I still recommend MOO. Their paper is amazing and the print quality fabulous. Since MOO cards are double sided, there is also a separate image for the backs of your cards.

I hope you love my flash cards! I love them more than the last ones, but that's not difficult.

Here are the download links:

LDS Apostles Flash Cards - Page

LDS Apostles FLash Cards -Individual

I received my cards in the mail today and they turned out so great.

The paper is nice and thick and I'm thrilled! Because you get a box of fifty cards, I ordered two sets of the flash cards (they could be a match game, I guess) and then made some ancestor flash cards to fill the rest of the order. They're cute too. See?

Did you print your cards at home or use MOO? Did they turn out?

Oven Roasted Fairy Cabbages

2012-03-10T19:26:00.003-08:00

Anything to get the boys to eat them. A neighbor came over today to chat and we ended up talking about what we were going to fix for dinner (I know, how exciting can it get?). I told her that I had an overwhelming craving for Brussels Sprouts and she said she was fixing those tonight, too. She added that she preferred to call them "fairy cabbages." I might have screamed with delight when she said it. It's probably the cutest thing I've ever heard. Forever more they will be Fairy Cabbages at our house.

My boys had never had them before so I figured that if "a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down," then a half a cup of brown sugar would help the Brussels Sprouts go down. They were amazingly good. Like vegetable candy. Two of my sons said they were disgusting, but still ate a few and one child ate a whole plateful. Mary Poppins is so wise.

Oven Roasted Brown Sugar Fairy Cabbages (Brussels Sprouts)
1 pound Brussels Sprouts - trimmed and halved
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
ground pepper

Preheat oven to 375°. In a medium mixing bowl combine, butter sugar and salt. Add sprouts and toss to combine. Spread evenly on a parchment lined baking sheet. Top with freshly ground pepper. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until just starting to brown.

Enjoy your Fairy Cabbages!

The Big Quilt Project

2012-03-09T15:00:00.001-08:00

I am the room mom in my son's first grade class. Earlier this year, one of his classmates lost her mother and we wanted to do something for her. His teacher, Mrs. Hollingshead, suggested that maybe we could make her a little blanket.

People shouldn't say things like that to me because my perfectionism always takes over and little projects become huge month-long endeavors requiring hours of work and lots of money.

One blanket turned into three since we couldn't leave out her brother and sister at a time like this. My little project became an enormous one and pretty overwhelming.

Of course, I had help. Plenty of it. We had an unbelievable number of fabric donations; money too. A certain mom even took her two-year-old twins to Joann (in my eyes, the ultimate sacrifice) to buy batting and the perfect fabrics.

One problem...

I had never made a quilt before in my life. I can barely sew a straight line.

I am so blessed to have wonderful, talented relatives, who can come to my rescue at times like these. My cousin, Johnny, an expert quilter, came up with such fun designs, each one different. He taught me how to sew a straight seam and put the pieces together. We made all three quilt tops in one day. Amazing, right?

Next, came the question of how to put them together. Some ladies suggested tying them. That just doesn't meet my standards, so I made a few phone calls and found the generous Denise Hone, who sweetly machine quilted all three for an amazing price.

Today I delivered them to their teachers so they could give them to the children. It felt good to actually finish something. It felt even better to help someone out.

Downton Withdrawls

2012-02-25T11:33:00.000-08:00

Downton Abbey aired it's season finale last week and I have to go another year without a new episode. I've done it once and it wasn't easy then. And now with Mr. Bates in jail it's going to be tortuous to wait to find out what happens. Downton = crack.

I'm rooting for Bates! I made this. I don't know what I should do with it besides go all Banksy and spray paint it on telephone poles and freeway overpasses. Suggestions?

PLEASE do NOT spray paint it on telephone poles and freeway overpasses. I won't either.

My First EVER Resolution

2012-01-27T10:50:00.000-08:00

I guess I'm coming a little late to the New Year's resolution party. Every blogger in the universe posted these 26 days ago. I like to do things at my own pace and I don't think I've made an actual New Year's resolution in my life, so this is MAJOR.

Why NOW?

Last night I had a dream that an opportunity I've waited almost half my life for, was finally mine.

But ...

...lets make that a BIG BUT...

I wasn't ready. I felt too inadequate and I wasn't prepared to accept it. My emotions were a swirling mass of joy, embarrassment, and repulsion. I just wanted it to go away. Then I wanted it back. Decision making isn't my strong point. This is why I still have white curtains. A Pinterest board full of window treatments and I can't decide on just one style for the living room.

So, about that dream -

After spending nearly fifteen years wishing for this to happen and never really preparing myself for it, I woke up to the reality that I do want that opportunity. While it's possible that it will still never happen, I still want to be ready.

I will attempt to post a new resolution every month. By the end of the year I'll have a spotless house, an organized desk, a well kept blog, a fit body and a glowing spirit.

(you can't see me laughing)

I am going to try, though. No Yoda quotes, please.

My first resolution doesn't have much to do with my dream, but I'd like to tackle it first since it might take longer than others. They say it takes 21 days to start a new habit. What about to break a bad habit? I don't think there's a patch for this one. This could take me quite a while.

Let start by cleaning my mouth out.

I wouldn't say I have a REALLY dirty mouth. There are some things I just won't say, but I do deal out some biblical terminology that could be eliminated. And a couple of other things that aren't really swearing, but that I could go without saying, just the same. This has little to do with making all my wildest dreams come true, but since we're on the subject of resolutions, I might as well get this one over with. Who's with me?

McKay Hatch, who's adorable as he can be, is a fourteen-year-old in California who started a worldwide online No Cussing Club. How great is that?

Not everyone thought it was great since he even had death threats against him and his family. I can't think of why people had a huge problem with what he was doing.

via

You can join his club if you need a certificate as a reminder to keep it clean. I am a member, McKay, and I love what you're doing!

Can I keep it clean?

We shall see.

I'm Working, So That's Good, Right?

2012-01-03T14:47:00.000-08:00

I haven't been a very dedicated blogger so here are a few of my projects from the last couple of months.

Photos for Hot Mama's Jelly

If you haven't tried these jellies, you HAVE to. Hot Mama (I'm not sure if I know her real name) knows her business. A little spicy; a lot of sweet. The Cranberry Habanero is so yummy on a turkey sandwich.

Lacie's Sweets New Logo

Before:

That drop-shadow is killing me. Excuse me while I turn away and gag myself.

After:

Cute, pink, chunky script looks SO candy to me.

I heard that Lacie's Sweets not only "cleaned up" at the St. George and Salt Lake Dicken's Festival, they also won the award for best storefront. I could also go for one of their Lemon Cream Chocolates right now.

Hillary's 18th Birthday Party

Hillary's mom hired me to design a party invitation for her eighteenth birthday. I whipped up some ice cream station signs while I was at it.

Christmas Potraits

I don't do photography as much as I used to, but a few weeks before Christmas I had several parents calling me to get photos of their children. We made a day (or two) of it and took some really cute pictures.

This week I'm working on wedding invitations and having a blast with them. I spent two years as a wedding planner so it's almost more than I can handle to stick to the invites and not take over planning the whole event. But, Callista, if you're reading this, I'm more that willing to do so.

Screw Loose

2011-10-21T21:57:00.000-07:00

It was a childhood game, I thought. Writing the letters of the alphabet on a sheet of my grandpa's letterhead and categorizing them according to gender.

Q?

Boy.

H?

Girl.

It's what most happy and playful children do in their spare time! Right?

It wasn't until I was in my mid twenties that I learned what it REALLY was.

I was in the car with my little ones and listening to NPR. I tuned to the station halfway through a radio program about Synesthesia. It sounds highly contagious, but really, it's hereditary. I wish my grandparents were still around to ask about it.

Synesthesia comes in many forms. Some people see colors when the hear musical notes, perceive that words have taste. I have what is called Ordinal-Lingual Personification. Every letter and number has a gender. There's no use in arguing with me because they are what they are. They have never changed and never will. In the universe of my mind they were born that way. Just a quirk of mine. When I first looked for Synesthesia on the internet several years ago I came across a discussion board where people ACTUALLY argued whether a certain letter was male or female. A bit extreme, don't you think?

Here's how I see the world:

Have you ever heard of Synesthesia? Are you a Synesthete?

Spicy Little Number

2011-09-02T17:49:00.000-07:00

I spent yesterday afternoon photographing (and sampling) the most fabulous pepper jellies. Seriously, I have the most delicious work.

You can buy them at craft fairs and farmers' markets around Utah. http://hotmamasjelly.com/

A visit to the Up House

2011-07-26T22:11:00.000-07:00

Tonight I took my mom and the boys to see the REAL Up House from Disney's Up.

I'm dying to go inside when it opens this weekend in the Salt Lake Parade of Homes, but I know there are going to be MEGA lines to get in. Just like Disneyland, right?

Do you pin?

2011-07-22T16:04:00.000-07:00

I've been on Pinterest for quite a while. Never blogged about it before. I could never live without it again.

Are you still bookmarking a MILLION blogs where you saw something cool ONCE? My bookmark files are huge and I never remembered why I bookmarked the page and never remembered that I even HAD a bookmark and I pretty much think that internet bookmarks are useless.

Enter PINTEREST

The best ideas ever, all in one place. Okay, some people post lame stuff, but you'll find what you're looking for (that is, if it's artsy-fartsy, foodie, DIY-ey, designy, fashiony stuff you're looking for).

You can follow me on Pinterest by clicking the link on the right!

Party Invitations for Briggy

2011-07-20T10:57:00.000-07:00

I am a great procrastinator when it comes to birthday parties. Three days before I'm going insane, running all over town trying to get things ready. This goes for everything except the invitations. Always my favorite part of planning a party. His birthday is still a month away and the invites are done.

I am totally excited and having fun planning activities. I was going to put up our tent for the kids to play in, but last night the crazy wind blew it out of our yard. Since we live in the wilderness, it could be ANYWHERE now. Dangit!

Do you have any camping party ideas? Leave a comment and help this girl out!