Skinned Knees

Extended Leave of Absense

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 11:27:00 +0000

Hey guys. I've been on vacation (Alexandria, VA/D.C.) since Thursday and it's been so nice. My Mama has Tyler so it's just been me and Paul. I haven't thought about Skinned Knees since Wednesday. And honestly it's felt great. Since being here I've realized that I don't need to blog to feel productive anymore. In fact it might be quite the opposite now. Living away from the internet the past few days has been refreshing and I've really enjoyed it.

I'm taking an extended leave of absence from Skinned Knees. If/when I come back to blogging I'm sure I'll be charged and have lots to talk about, but it will probably be a while. I just need to invest everything I have into my family and my Savior and as much as I have denied it in the past, blogging takes away from that, (for me, not for everyone.) Some people are better time-prioritizers!

I've really loved what Skinned Knees has been for me over the years and the friendships I've made through it. I hope to continue those friendships because you all are so wonderful.

As for my sponsors, I'm going to leave you up indefinitely and I do still plan to write my sponsor post when I get home. Feel free to take me down if we did an ad swap. I hope this doesn't disappoint too many people. I just feel like it's something I need to take away from my life for a time. I just don't know how long that time will be.

I love you ALL!

Winner of the Scripture Art Print by Willow of Wonder

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 19:22:00 +0000

Hey guys! The Willow of Wonder giveaway ended two days and but I'm just now getting around to posting the winner. Sorry about that. I'm happy for our winner!

Katy, I'm emailing you right now so you have 48 hours to reply before we'll have to choose another winner! Congrats on winning girlie!

Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway and also to Willow of Wonder for sponsoring the review/giveaway!

Still the One: Week 3 Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 13:28:00 +0000

Welcome to week 3 of the challenge! How did last week go? I hope writing a note to your hubby helped you both in some way. We'd love to hear about it!

This week we're going to concentrate on prayer. I have to admit that there are days that I don't pray for Paul. Not even a "bless him, Lord." I sometimes find it difficult to pray for my husband if I'm upset with him for any reason. This is a big reason it's so important for me to forgive quickly, so that I can pray for him continuously. I need to get to a place where I can pray for him even while I am upset with him. I'll get there!

Week 3: Pray for him at least twice a day this week.

This week's challenge will be fun, but it might take some stepping out and some being brave! There are 2 parts to this week's challenge: 1. Ask him to tell you at least one way you can be praying for your marriage on a daily basis. Try to get him to tell you areas in your marriage that he thinks could use some help, but don't get upset when he mentions these to you. 2. Commit to praying for him and the things he mentioned every morning and every evening. If it crosses your mind during the day, pray then too! If you can commit to doing this for the next 7 days, I know you'll see God working in the areas you're praying about. God wants to bless our marriages, let's ask Him too!

Prayers for our husbands this week:

Day 15
Pray that your husband will choose his friends wisely. Pray that God will bring him men who will encourage his accountability before God, and will not lead him into sin. (Prov. 13:20; Prov. 27:17)

Day 16
Pray that your husband will choose healthy, God-honoring activities. Pray that he will not live in bondage to any questionable habits or hobbies, but that he will experience freedom in holiness as he yields to the Spirit’s control. (1 Cor. 6:12, 10:31; 2 Tim. 2:4)

Day 17
Pray that your husband will enjoy his manliness as he patterns his life after Christ and strong men in the faith. Pray for his physical, emotional, mental, social and spiritual strength. (Eph. 3:16; 1 Peter 2:21; 1 Cor. 10:11)

Day 18
Pray that your husband will have an eternal perspective—living in light of eternity. Pray that he will reject materialism and temporal values and put God first in his life. (Matt. 6:33; Deut. 6:5; Eph. 5:16; Ps. 90:12)

Day 19
Pray that your husband will be patient and a man of peace. Pray that he will not give in to anger, but will allow the Holy Spirit to control his responses. (Rom. 14:19; Ps. 34:14)

Day 20
Pray that your husband will yield his mind and thoughts to the Lord. Pray that he will not entertain immoral or impure thoughts, and that he will resist the temptation to indulge in pornography. (Prov. 27:12; 2 Cor. 10:5)

Day 21
Pray that your husband will learn how to relax in the Lord and, in his greatest times of stress, find joy and peace in his relationship with God. Pray that he will submit his schedule to the Lord. (Neh. 8:10; Prov. 17:22; Ps. 16:11)

An Update on Life

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 18:59:00 +0000

Hey friends. It seems I haven't blogged much lately outside of giveaways and the marriage challenge. I'm in kind of a blah mood lately. I keep having the urge to throw everything away (in my house) and start from scratch. Kinda like extreme nesting, but I'm not pregnant, so that's not it. Anyway, it's hard to blog when all I can think about is how cluttered my house is. The bad part is even though I feel like doing it, I don't have the energy to do it. Again, not pregnant, lol. I like the idea of just tossing everything in the trash, but my husband doesn't like that idea because then we'll have to rebuy everything when we need it, totally understandable. But we live in a 1,100 square foot home and our attic is full and so are our closets, so there's not room to put anything anymore. I keep bringing stuff home but I need to stop until I get rid of some things.

Anyway, this feeling of having too much junk is somehow impacting my thoughts. It feels like my brain might need to be pruned as well, ha! Plus I have so much going on outside of the house. I've booked up so many photo sessions for the next 2 weeks. God is providing, I'm not complaining about that. It's just another reason I'm not here as much right now. I had to sit down and make myself write this right now because if not it could have been a few more days before I got to it.

Tyler is doing great. He did get into trouble at preschool last week but that seems to have improved already. Paul is wrapping up another semester (thank God!) I will be so happy when he graduates.

Paul and I leave Thanksgiving evening for Washington, D.C. and will be back home Sunday night. We'll be there celebrating 6 years of marriage! It's flown by. A teenage girl at my church called me Mrs. Peffly and I about died when I heard about it. I am by no means Mrs. Peffly just yet sweetie. I'm still Christy. Or if you must, Mrs. Christy. But not Mrs. Peffly. Good for her Mama for raising her with manners, but dang. That stings. I am all for turning 30, but there is something about being called Mrs. Peffly by a 17 year old girl that makes me feel like I'm 60. I'm going to hunt her down on her 29th birthday and call her by her last name. But I'm sure the effect won't be the same coming from a 41 year old.

Anyway, I should run. I need to throw away a couple of things before Paul or Tyler can find out about it, hehe.

Winner of the Nikolette Lucy Clutch!

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:11:00 +0000

8am seemed to come slowly this morning! I was so excited to find out who the winner of the Lucy Clutch (by Nikolette Bags) is!

One of you has won her own Lucy in your choice of color and strap (over $109 in value!)

Thank you to everyone that entered, it was a great turnout. I know Courtney values your thoughts on what your favorite bags are.

Drum roll please....

Erika's Blog

I'm shooting you an email now Erika! You have 48 hours to respond or we'll have to pick another winner. I know you'll love your new Lucy as much as I love mine!

Nerves, Nerves, That's Gettin' On My Nerves!

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 19:03:00 +0000

From time to time I have to share with you all some of the things that are really getting on my nerves. It's like virtual venting, I guess. So if you have a few minutes, read on, and then be sure to let me know if any of these things bug the crap out of you too!

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When you're at a green light but you're stopped because you need to turn left and you're waiting for someone in the oncoming traffic who also needs to turn left so you can work as a team to turn left together avoiding a collision. BUT there's always the bozo behind you who intends to go straight, and he gets tired of waiting on you so he goes around you on your right and into the intersection almost causing a 3 care pile up. Dude! You do not have the right of way!

The sick side of the waiting room at the pediatrician's office. I get it, I really do. You want all the sick children over there to keep the children there for just a check up from getting their sickness. But man, what about me? I really, really, really don't want to go sit over there with 7 sick kids, even if one of them is mine ;) And if I send Tyler over there to play with his fellow sickies while I hang out on the well side, I'll get mean looks. I'm sure of it. I don't think you should change what you're doing, but it still gets on my nerves.

Parents who don't give a flip about their children. Last week I went to check my mail and there were about 8 children playing in the middle of the road, walking up and down the streets. Two of them were under 2 and the oldest was probably only 7 or 8. No parents in sight. One of the babies only had a diaper on! It wasn't cold really, but still! Dress your child, then supervise them! I waited around outside until they eventually all went back inside of 2 different homes. I would have a coniption fit if Tyler, even at almost 4 years old, were outside in the road without me. I sorta want to meet their parents just to get an idea of what kinda people do this, lol.

Okay, enough about people who get on my nerves. Let's talk about things that get on them.

How about those times when the toilet seat gets left up and you go to pee and fall into the potty. This happens a lot at my house. The worst part about it isn't the cold water but the fact that by instinct you grab the toilet bowl to keep from going all the way in and this tends to happen to me when it's been a few days (or weeks) since the toilet has been cleaned! Ekk. (This could easily have been placed up there with the 'people that get on my nerves list' under 'Husbands and Sons that don't put the lid back down' but I wanted to give them a break, ha.)

When I'm daydreaming and then snap back into real life only to realize I've just gnawed off all of my nails after going 2 weeks growing them out. Happens on a regular basis.

How sometimes I have to wash the same load of clothes 7 times before I'm finally around when it's time to put them in the dryer. (Similarly, how I fluff the clothes in the dryer 7 times before I finally feel like folding them.)

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How every single bobby pin I've ever owned in my entire life (estimated at around 5,343,867,002) have grown legs, opened the front door, and walked away into the sunset, never to return again. I'm assuming they are headed to wherever the "other socks" are. Just one of life's great mysteries.

These are just a few of the things lately that have made me stop and go, "REALLY!?"

What about you?

Would You Like to Advertise with Skinned Knees?

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 12:48:00 +0000

Hey friends! I wanted to officially announce that I'm now accepting sponsors! I'd love to share your shop (or blog) with my readers. I'm doing ad swaps for the remainder of the month, and I'm preparing for December so please contact me if you're interested.

Details:

more info here

Here is my button!

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Still the One: Week 2 Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 18:43:00 +0000

So, how did last week go? I'd love to hear about how your first week of the challenge went. If you blog about last week (or this week,) link up below so we can all read about it!

Last week was nice for us. I went out of my way to do nice things for Paul and he noticed. I do have to admit the last few days have been so busy that doing nice things for him (out of the ordinary, anyway) has been on the back burner :( And I'm sure he's taking notice. I will try to do better this week!

Now for our 2nd Week's Challenge!

Week 2: Remind Him That You Love Him

Paul knows I love him, but would it really hurt to intentionally remind him of it from time to time? Maybe daily? How do you remind your man that you love him?

This weeks challenge is short and sweet: Write him a letter (card, or email) letting him know just how much you love him. I know of at least one person taking this challenge whose marriage is on shaky ground right now. This might seem awkward in that case. Do it anyways. Tell him in your letter that you're still in love with him and maybe some reasons why. Men love respect and this is a great way to let him know he is respected.

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If you think it will be strange to do this, write it and leave it in a place where you won't be around when he does read it. Who knows, maybe you'll find a letter with your name on it soon ;)

I think sometimes in the busyness of every day life, we forget how important it is to remind our hubbies how much we love them. I mean, after all, they do know it already. But I have to admit that sometimes the 3 words I love you tend to be repeated so often that they can start to lose meaning. Define I love you for your husband this week.

Remember, after you blog about last week and this week, link up below!

Praying for your husbands this week:

Day 8
Pray that your husband will work hard to provide for your family, to the best of his ability. Pray that the character qualities necessary for a successful career and ministry will be a growing part of his character—persistence, decisiveness, strength, an analytical mind, organizational skills, positive relationships with people, determination, etc. (Rom. 12:11; 1 Cor. 15:58)

Day 9
Pray that your husband handle finances wisely, will have discernment concerning budgeting and investments, and will be a good steward of his money in regard to giving to the Lord’s work. Pray that money will not become a source of discord in your family. (Prov. 23:4-5; Rom. 12:13; Heb. 13:5)

Day 10
Pray that your husband will cultivate strong integrity, and not compromise his convictions. Pray that his testimony will be genuine, that he will be honest in his business dealings, and will never do anything that he needs to hide from others. (Prov. 20:7; 1 Tim. 1:5, 3:7; Eph. 6:10-12)

Day 11
Pray that your husband will have a humble, teachable spirit and a servant’s heart before the Lord. Pray that he will listen to God and desire to do His will. (Prov. 15:33; Eph. 6:6)

Day 12
Pray that your husband will yield his sexual drive to the Lord and practice self control. Pray that your sexual intimacy together will be fresh, positive, and a reflection of selfless love. (Prov. 5:15, 18; 1 Cor. 7:3; Song of Solomon 7:10)

Day 13
Pray that your husband use practical skills to build your family and make wise decisions for your welfare. Pray that he will serve unselfishly. (Gal. 5:13; Phil. 2:3-4)

Day 14
Pray that your husband will speak words that build you and your family, and reflect a heart of love. Pray that he will not use filthy language. (Prov. 18:21; Eph. 4:29)

Can't Get Enough of Him

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 19:38:00 +0000

Tyler is 3.5 years old now. Last night he spent the night with his cousin down the road. I woke up several times in the middle of the night wishing he were home so I could sneak into his room and snuggle him up.

The days get so busy sometimes. There is always something that "has to be done." Laundry, dishes, meal planning, grocery shopping, errands, always something. It's always when Tyler is either napping or not at home that the quietness starts getting to me and I wish he were there and awake. Why is it mostly during those times when I can't play with him, that I want to the most?

One day, hopefully in the distant future, he won't want to come sit on my lap and hold my ear. He won't want to go ride bikes. He won't want me to sit down and color with him. And I'll look back on these times that I tell him "maybe later" and wish I could go back in time and just be with that little boy that needed his mommy. Fifteen years. That's basically how long I have until he'll leave for college. That seems like a long time now, but from what I hear it flies by.

Lord, please help me prioritize better. Help me remember that I only have a few years as Tyler's number one girl. Help me to say no to the dishes until we're done riding bikes. Help me to say no to the laundry until we're done with our crayons and scribbling. When he leaves us in 15 years, I pray he'll look back and remember a fun, loving, available Mommy, not a boring, busy Mommy.

What I'm Loving

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 12:20:00 +0000

Hey Friends! I hope your weekend is off to a great start. My little boy spent the night with his cousin last night, which meant I was able to sleep in a little and then enjoy my coffee, biscotti, and bible time in complete silence: amazing. I do miss him though.

This morning I'm sharing a few things with you from around the web that I thought were pretty neat.

I really love this DIY Paint Swatch Chandelier. So very pretty.

I will be making my own DIY Tissue Covered Luminary before the holidays are over!

Another neat idea comes from Little Miss Momma. Her Reclaimed Wood Inspired Frames are adorable and easy to modify to add your own touch. Love them!

Ashley of On The Front Porch Looking In shared this visual aid on how soft drinks impact your health. I've always known sodas weren't good for me, but to see it laid out like this, wow. This will be helpful when I give up sodas for the new year ;)

I think I may have shared the recipe for Heavenly Cheesecake before, but it's worth sharing again! If you haven't tried it, what are you waiting for? DO IT NOW before the new year comes and you do something crazy like limit your carbs.

That's all I have for you this morning. Don't forget to read the 2 reviews (and enter the giveaways) for both the Lucy Clutch by Nikolette Bags, and the Scripture Art Print by Willow of Wonder!

Willow of Wonder: Scripture Art Review & Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 14:43:00 +0000

Hey friends. A few weeks ago I received some beautiful scripture art from Willow of Wonder and this week Jackie (Willow of Wonder owner) is giving away a scripture art print to one of you!

This was the one she sent me:


Dolphin Girl - That My Heart May Sing - $20

Jackie's shop is full of other beautiful prints too:

Girl Scripture Art

You can also find stationary/greeting cards in her shop.

I love mine so much that I plan to purchase a few more as Christmas gifts for my nieces and nephew. I love the heavy weight paper they are printed on, and Jackie wraps them in a protective sleeve on top of cardboard to make sure they arrive in mint condition. And of course they come wrapped up beautifully as well! Right now Jackie is having a sale on all prints: 2 for $35 or 4 for $65, right in time for Christmas! 10% of all sales go to www.zoechildren.org to help stop human trafficking. What a great cause!

You can find Willow of Wonder on her Etsy, Blog, and Facebook.

The Giveaway

One of you will win your choice of Scripture Art Print OR a set of Scripture Cards.

To maximize your chances of winning, please be sure to leave a comment for each entry!

Mandatory - Follow Skinned Knees on GFC (right sidebar) or if that silly thing isn't working, subscribe via RSS which you can find under "Connect With SK On" in the left sidebar. (1 entry)

Mandatory - Visit Willow of Wonder and leave a comment here telling us your favorite print. (1 entry) Then follow Willow of Wonder's Blog. (BOTH must be done.)

Optional - Tweet or Facebook the giveaway, making sure to mention @christypeffly or tag Skinned Knees in your tweet/status. (1 entry - can be done daily.)

1 winner will be drawn by random.org on Friday, Nov. 18 at 8am eastern.

Winner will receive 1 scripture art print of choice OR a set of scripture cards.

Winner will be notified by email and have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is chosen.

Still the One: Week 1 Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 12:00:00 +0000

First of all, thank you for joining us for Still the One! If you've committed to taking this challenge then that shows that even if you're marriage isn't on the top of its game, you're ready to try to get it there.

Remember that this is a challenge for YOU. We are not going to try to change our husbands this month. Instead of trying to change them, why not spend extra time in prayer FOR them. Ask God to change their hearts if there is something that is bothering you. Each week during the challenge I will share a list of ways to pray for your husband (taken from Nancy Leigh DeMoss) for the week. Jot these down and remember to pray for him. Trust me, he'll see a difference in your attitude/behavior, and in turn it will change him!

Welcome to Week One! This weeks challenge runs from Tuesday, November 2 through Tuesday, November 8. That doesn't mean that you should stop doing what you're doing on November 8, it just means we'll move on at that point. Try to keep it going!

Week 1: Being KIND and FORGIVING.

Key Scripture: Ephesians 4:31-32

"Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you."

Additional Scripture: Colossians 3:13

"bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you."

In the past week, how many times has your husband done or said something that required you to forgive him? Were you able to forgive him? If so, did you make it known to the world that you are the forgiving saint and he is the weasel that always needs your forgiveness?

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(This poor fella must have screwed up big time! She is seriously considering impaling him with a vegetable!)

I'm so guilty of this. My Mama is one of my best friends. If (when) Paul upsets me and I forgive him (whether he's asked for forgiveness or not) I usually end up talking about it with my Mama. That's a whole other story, but have I really forgiven him if I continue to bring it up to him? Or worse, to my Mama!? I believe to truly forgive someone, you have to forget it. The forgiveness we have from God is like that. He will never throw it in our face later if we come to Him and truly repent of it.

Let's be kind to our husbands. One of the greatest (and sometimes toughest) ways to show kindness to our sweet guys is to fully forgive them for something they've done or said.

A personal example: A month after my husband and I got married, I found out he went somewhere (place not mentioned to protect the "innocence" of said husband) that he should not have gone a week after we got married. (We got married in Texas and I flew back to NC a few days later because he was still in tech school with the Air Force.) I will never forget the feelings I had after finding out. It was bad. I called Mama, of course, in tears telling her I was thinking about divorcing him over this! I was so hurt. Paul and I talked about it, well, he talked, I mostly yelled. I had the right to be upset but the way I handled it wasn't very pretty. So here we are, almost 6 years later, and I still have to wonder if I've truly forgiven him for that. I want to say that I have but just writing about it now makes me a little unnerved. Sometimes during an argument I throw this back in his face, so it sounds like I have not really forgiven him for it. Do you have unforgiveness towards your hubby that's holding you back from loving him even more?

This Week's Challenge

This is a 2 part challenge. This week we're going to be extra kind to our husbands, and we're going to spend time in prayer if there is something we haven't forgiven him for, asking God to give us strength to forgive and forget. (Assuming it's not physical/mental abuse. It's good to forgive that, but not to forget that, for your own good.)

Suggestions for showing kindness:

Make his favorite meal sometime this week.
Do one of his chores. (Me? Cut the grass? To be sure?!)
Look for signs of him being stressed, then give him a shoulder rub!
Ask him if you can do anything for him that would make his life easier.
Tell him how handsome he looks before he leaves for work/school.
Tell him how wonderful he is. Or list all the reasons you love him!

Suggestions for forgiving:

PRAY! Honestly for me, it always takes prayer. I'm stubborn and without the help of Jesus, I could never forgive some things. Please spend some time praying for that strength this week. God will soften your heart towards your hubby and that situation. Believe me, I'll be doing this too after realizing I haven't completely forgiven Paul for the thing at the thing!

Go be kind and forgive! Let's do our part to prevent news stories that read, "Mrs. White kills Mr. White with a carrot stick in the conservatory!"


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And don't forget to grab a button!

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How to pray for your husband this week:

Day 1

Pray that your husband will grow spiritually and consider his accountability before the Lord. Pray that he will guard his heart by developing spiritual disciplines—Bible reading and study, prayer, meditation, scripture memorization, etc. (2 Peter 3:18; Prov. 4:23)

Day 2

Pray that your husband’s relationship with God and His Word will bear fruit in his life. Pray that he will be a man of wisdom and understanding, fearing the Lord. (Prov. 3:7, 9:10; Ps. 112:1)

Day 3

Pray that your husband will be humble and quick to agree with God about his sin. Pray that his heart will be tender toward the voice of the Lord. (Ps. 51:2-4; Micah 6:8)

Day 4

Pray that your husband will grow in leadership skills in your relationship—protecting and providing for you. Pray that he will lead you wisely and love you sacrificially, so that God will be glorified in your marriage. (Eph. 5:25-29; Col. 3:19)

Day 5

Pray that your husband will be faithful to his wedding vows. Pray that he will have a desire to cultivate your relationship as a sign of his loyalty and commitment to you, and as a picture of Christ’s love for the Church. (Prov. 20:6; Gen. 2:24)

Day 6

Pray that your husband will love righteousness and hate wickedness, especially the evils of the culture. Pray that he will recognize and avoid wickedness in his own life, and if necessary, take a clear, strong stand against evil. (Prov. 27:12; John 17:15; 1 Cor. 10:12-13)

Day 7

Pray that your husband will safeguard his heart against inappropriate relationships with the opposite sex. Pray that his heart will be pure and undivided in his commitment to you. (Prov. 6:23-24, 26; Rom. 13:14)

It's Just a Pen

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 20:19:00 +0000

Okay guys, I'm sharing my first vlog with you all, as much as it makes me want to throw up just thinking about it!

Enjoy!

Don't forget to go visit Michelle at The Momma Bird, like I mentioned because she's just awesome!

Nikolette Bags Review and Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 11:26:00 +0000

I'm thrilled to finally be able to share my review of Nikolette Bags' Lucy Clutch with you! Three weeks ago, I received my Lucy Clutch from Courtney of Nikolette Bags and haven't swapped bags since! Let me introduce you to Courtney and her wonderful shop and then I'll share about my Lucy and how you can win one!

$109

Nikolette Bags was born in 2007 and named after Courtney's girl cat, Niko Jeanette Polka-Dot, who is 11 now and is 100% toothless. She started making Nikolette bags while working as an interior designer at a furniture store in New Orleans, LA. Courtney says she inherited many garbage bags full of upholstery swatches and bags were the best thing she could think of to make! Courtney was selling mostly at fairs and on Etsy until 2011 when Nikolette uprooted and moved to Portland, OR. Nikolette is now a company of two - Courtney as bag maker and designer and most recently bag model. Dan handles most photography, marketing and does all the tech work with the website. He shoots with a Pentax DSLR and both Courtney and Dan are both beginner photographers. Nikolette is now on nikolettebags.com, Etsy and hopes to add some Portland area consignment to that list. Courtney and Dan live in a house in North Portland (NoPo) with their two cats (Niko & Bananas), their dog (Margot Mango) and their turtle (Pete).

You can find Nikolette Bags in these places: Blog | Website | Etsy | Twitter | Facebook
*Courtney guarantees delivery by Christmas for any bags ordered by 12/1/11.*

The Kimball

Yes, I am reviewing the Lucy Clutch but I feel the need to show you ALL Courtney's unique bags! Here's a little peak into Nikolette Bags' Etsy shop:

Hey you! Wipe that drool off your chin! It's okay, I did it too. Shop here.

The Margot

Now that you know a little more about Nikolette Bags (and it's awesome owner Courtney,) let's talk about my lovely Lucy Clutch, shall we? You'll want to know all about it because at the end of the review, Courtney is giving one away!

First, the basics: (taken from the Etsy shop)

"The Lucy is a little bag that does big work. Made of waxed canvas and water tight Cordura, Lucy is water resistant inside and out, just wipe clean! Removable wrist strap included. A shoulder strap (for shoulder or cross body) can be added as well."

Size:
11" across the top
7.5" from top to bottom
2.5" deep at base

Features:
-Waxed cotton exterior/Water tight Cordura interior
-Zipper and Flap closure with heavy duty trigger clasp
-Exterior has rear zipper pocket and two 4” slip pockets under flap
-Interior has two 4” slip pockets and one open pocket
-Every seam is double or triple stitched
-Two recessed D rings at zipper for strap attachment
-Satin nickel hardware and hand hammered rivets

Price:
$109

Christy's Review of Nikolette Bags' Lucy Clutch

Arrival

My Lucy got here quick! Courtney shipped my bag right away and it literally left her hands in Oregon and arrived in my hands in North Carolina in 2 days! (This is great for all you wonderfully impatient people, like me.)
I'm super bummed because I know I snapped a picture of it all wrapped up pretty before tearing that pretty packaging apart ;) But I cannot find that picture anywhere. Trust me, it was nice! I love getting something nice, wrapped in something nice. Just adds that extra special touch and shows Courtney wants her customers to have the full experience, like Christmas morning ;)

The Look and Feel

Indigo Blue, one of my favorite colors! Just by looking at this bag, I could tell it was great quality. This bag is an eye-catcher. It's so unique. I love bag shopping and I have never seen one like this, especially at a department store. Courtney has a great eye for design.
The exterior (waxed cotton) feels great! Courtney let me know that waxed cotton ages like leather, becoming softer over time. This is good to know because I know I'll have this bag forever!
The interior is something called Cordura. Mine is a burgundy color, beautiful! I can't really explain the texture but I know the day will come when my lip gloss will melt in here and it will be an easy clean up!
Pockets are placed conveniently inside, also made of Cordura.
The back pocket is amazing! It's a bright bold teal and waterproof material that I love! I find myself opening it just to stick my hand in there and feel it. I'm weird, I know this.
The zippers are both white, which contrast great with the rest of the bag.

Functionality

The inside of the Lucy is the perfect size for a day out. I keep my sunglasses in one interior pocket, my wallet in another, and my lip gloss and other small items in the last one.
It's also very roomy. I've found myself loading it up with Redbox movies, cell phone, checkbook (yes I still write checks,) some of Tyler's car toys, and lots of other things I tend to need every time I go out. It's a very practical size.
There are 2 small pockets on the outside front of the Lucy. My cell fits perfectly into one and I toss receipts into the other.
I love that I can latch my Lucy shut, even after it's zipped. Double the protection and it keeps my cell in place.
The zipper on the back pocket is genius! It's where my keys go and I can't be losing those! But like I said, the interior to that pocket is so pretty, I unzip it alot just to look ;) You'll know what I mean if you're our winner!
I was sent both the wrist strap and the shoulder strap for review purposes and while I prefer the wrist strap, they are both very handy! Easy to adjust and quick to remove!

Price

$109 is a lot of money, but this is a lot of clutch! Not so much in size, but in quality. A great bag like this, made with such awesome materials and quality handiwork, will last a lifetime. I would say this is a great deal!

Overall

I love my Lucy Clutch! I've been using it for 3 weeks without swapping it out for another. Eventually I'll swap around again but I know this will be a go-to bag for most occasions. I'm sure all of Courtney's bags are just as wonderful as my Lucy and I highly recommend Nikolette Bags to you!

The Giveaway

Courtney is so generous! She is giving one Lucy Clutch (winner's choice of color and strap) to one of my wonderful readers! This giveaway is a little different than ones in the past so please read carefully!

Please be sure to leave a comment for each entry! This will maximize your chances of winner! Check back on Friday, November 11 to see if you're our winning!

To Enter:

While not madatory (and it won't even get you an entry into the giveaway, lol) we would love for you to subscribe to my blog (under Connect With Skinned Knees - RSS,) Like our Facebook pages (Skinned Knees and Nikolette Bags,) and follow us on Twitter (Skinned Knees and Nikolette Bags.) Thanks friends!

Mandatory - Visit Nikolette Bags and then come back here to let us know your favorite bag. (1 entry)

Optional - Tweet the giveaway: "Skinned Knees and @NikoletteBags are teaming up for a review and giveaway of the Lucy Clutch! Come check it out! @christypeffly (---)" (1 entry - can be done daily.)

Optional - Share the giveaway on Facebook, making sure to tag 'Skinned Knees' in your post so I can verify. (1 entry - can be done daily)

Optional - Blog about the giveaway, linking directly to this post. (one time only - 1 entry)

Remember:

You can find Nikolette Bags in these places: Blog | Website | Etsy | Twitter | Facebook

*Courtney guarantees delivery by Christmas for any bags ordered by 12/1/11.*

One winner will be chosen at random by random.org on Friday, November 11 at 8am eastern time.

Winner will be notified by email and have 48 hours to respond.

Prize: 1 Lucy Clutch by Nikolette Bags in winner's choice of color and strap style.

Winner must be +18.

All entries made dishonestly will be deleted.

Prize is valued at $109 + shipping costs.

If I Could

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 12:29:00 +0000

If I could have one full day to myself, I would:

I would say sleep in, but my internal clock won't let me anymore, even while on vacation, so I'd be up at 8am. (Which really is sleeping in compared to the last 3 years of my life.)

I would make a pot of Dunkin Donuts coffee and sit down in my favorite recliner facing the window in the living room. I would open my bible and spend some time in prayer and try to finish the Psalms (I'm almost finished. They are all so wonderful and interesting.)

After my quiet time I would grab a nice long shower (after removing Spiderman, Iron Man, Optimus Prime, The Evil Emporer Zurg, and Buzz Lightyear - this is MY shower today boys.)

I know this might sound like a crazy thing to do on my 1 full day to myself, but next I would prune our home off all the JUNK laying around! It takes twice as long to clean this place because we have so much stuff. We are by no means hoarders, but we could stand to lose some things. I mean how long should I really keep that lamp that doesn't, (and will never) work? We did this once last year and everything I wanted to toss, Paul said we could sell one day so to this day it sits in bags under the guest bedroom bed. I can't stand it.

After that is finished, I would head out to The Hibachi Grill for a plate of sushi. I'm basically the only one I know that eats it around here so it would be the perfect day for it!

Next I would head to the park with my bible for some nature quiet time, some of the best if you ask me! Really, the best quiet times I've ever had have been outside in God's creation. No chimes to let me know I have an email, no ice dropping from the ice maker scaring me to death, no trash trucks driving by and honking because we've once again forgotten to bring the trash to the curb. Just me and Him and His creation. And sometimes a school bus full of loud kids, but that's okay, He created them too.

By this time it's probably getting to be about dinner time so I'd have to come home for dinner. Eating out twice in one day would end in divorce so I'd better not do that. Of course this is about the time of day when I'd start being annoyed by all the quietness. I'd start missing Paul and Tyler so I'd have to keep busy, probably by blogging or catching up on emails.

I know this sounds like such an exciting day, huh? Truthfully most days I'm the type of person who would rather relax than do something exciting. Because my everyday life is pretty exciting anyway, so I get that all week long :)

What would you do with a full day to yourself?

Praying the Names of Jesus Free Printable

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 16:45:00 +0000

While reading Praying the Names of Jesus by Ann Spangler, I whipped up a chart to help me keep the names organized. Plus I wanted to pray a name each day of the month and her book only had 26 names so I added 5 more of my favorites to make a complete month. Here's a screen shot of the chart, though this is only page 1, there are a total of 3 pages. Feel free to print it out and stick in in your prayer folder like I'm doing!

download here

You Like Randomness? Good, I Have Some For You!

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 13:50:00 +0000

Last night I came to my computer and on the keyboard was a note from Paul and $30 cash. Here's the note:


"Doodle, Here's some money for you to do with what you please. Maybe you and Tyler can go to the fair tomorrow or Saturday. Love You."

This is no small thing for Paul. He works so hard to make sure we have what we need and most of the time that involves saving every penny we have. He's has more money sense than most people I know. To put it in a not so nice way: He's tight. So finding this about brought me to tears. I am so blessed to have this man as my husband!

Today makes 6 years since he proposed to me at Antares in the Reunion Tower (Dallas, TX.) I remember how nervous he was, as if I would actually turn him down, yeah right. I felt like such a hick after yelling, "HECK YES!" then realized we were in Dallas, so it'd be okay.

He's got a busy weekend of studying for tests so I'll be taking Tyler out with this money. Sadly we probably will skip the fair because $30 won't get you too far there, lol. I'm thinking a movie, a happy meal and the kids museum? We'll see!

Here's my date:

so handsome <3

Have a great day friends!

I have nothing to say

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 19:21:00 +0000

I usually make it a general rule not to blog unless I have something to say. Today I'm breaking my rule. I guess I kinda have something to say.

I have zero motivation today. I have 10 things I could be doing, but absolutely no urge to do any of them. I'm sick, so that's probably why. My brain is finally in agreement with my body, apparently.

Some random thoughts:

This friend of mine is about to have her firstborn! Be in prayer for her, if you don't mind. She's a sweetheart.

And then there is this friend who is just plain awesome and blogged about Mommy regrets today. If you get to know her you'll learn that she's an awesome Mommy!

This friend has created a giveaways link up so make sure you check that out! I'll be doing that later tonight after Optimus Tyler goes to bed.

Let's see . . .

Yesterday I picked up the new Casting Crowns album "Come to the Well" and haven't stopped listening to it since. I especially love City on the Hill and Jesus, Friend of Sinners.

The past couple of days I've felt like the Lord is trying to tell me something, but what it is goes against everything I've always thought a Christian should think. So now I'm left to wonder is it really Him telling me this or something else. Time (and prayer and time spent in the Word) will tell.

Turns out I did have something to talk about ;)

Have a great day friends.

Sharing What I Love From the Web This Week

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 21:59:00 +0000

I just wanted to pop in and share some of my favorites from the web this week with you. I hope you enjoy these posts as much as I did!

CRAFTS

How to make a Tulle Wreath: Halloween edition - such a cute and simple idea! I want to make mine black and purple and nix the birds!
DIY Tissue Covered Luminaries - BEAUTIFUL! I can't wait to host a bridal shower, because this will be the first thing I work on!

RECIPES

Heavenly Cheesecake - Ok when they say 'heavenly,' they are NOT joking! My sister-in-law made this for months before I decided to be brave and try, and it's so simple and SO delicious!

PHOTOGRAPHY RESOURCES

Maternity Posing Guide - Great read for anyone interested in learning more about photographing expecting women! I read this because I thought I'd be doing my sister-in-law's maternity shots but it doesn't look like that's going to happen after all :( Still a great read!
Sunrise / Sunset Calendars - This is so neat! I love shooting in 'the golden hours' and this neat site will help you find those hours! Just put in your location and the month and it will create a calendar for you to print out with sunrise and sunset times for each day of that month! Makes scheduling sessions for the golden hours easy!

FAMILY

Old Fashioned Marriage - A great article on staying married and how important it is!

How I Teach

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 18:47:00 +0000

Tyler goes to a half-day (3 hour) preschool Monday through Friday. He started at the beginning of last month and is learning so much and his social skills are improving really well. I knew when we put him in preschool that I still wanted to teach him at home in a structured way like we'd been doing before. He used to wake up from nap and the first thing he'd say is, "Is it time for preschool?" (We called it that even though it was at home, he never knew the difference until now!)

I pick him up at 11:50 each afternoon and we come home, have snack and he takes about an hour long nap. After he wakes up, we get started:

The first thing he does is practice his letters. His teacher sends home a newsletter each month so I always know what letter(s) he is on for that week. Here's a shot of his pratice A page. He doesn't much care for the lines ;)

Next he practices writing out A-Z (or however far he gets before he starts getting frustrated) in this binder I put together for him. I got this workbook at Lifeway. I love it because J is for Jesus instead of Jack in the Box and K is for King instead of kite. They are all like that, pretty neat. And each letter contains scripture that relates to the picture. I took the binder to Office Max and for just over $1, they took the binding off so I could put the pages in clear sleeves for reusing. (Thanks for the idea Michelle!)

Next we go over his sight words. I've gotten a lot of flack over this. Lots of family/friends tell me he's just too young to be reading. Umm. Ok. I get it. But what's wrong with him learning? These are sight words anyway. Supposedly they don't follow normal rules of phonics. Anyway, he knows over 20 of them now and he can pick them out of books so don't tell me he's too young.

This is one of the books we read together. He likes bugs so when I saw this book I thought it would be perfect for him. It just talks about how he likes all kinds of bugs: short ones, fat ones, big ones, little ones, ones that crawl, ones that fly, ones that creep, etc.

Target has a whole section of these for real cheap.

I guess this is the same concept as sight words. Eventually he'll probably memorize this book and while I don't think that's really reading, it's being in a book, and that's always good.

We have another set of books we like to read that are short (which work well with his 3 year old attention span ;)

This set came with 25 books:

There is a book for each season and all these different things that relate to Tyler's everyday life. Love them.

Another book we use for the letter recognition. We love Hooked on Phonics.

The devotions we use come from this book. Silly little pictures, short and sweet! The last thing we do is a craft, which usually involves scissors since Tyler is a huge fan of them ;) All together our routine takes about 25 minutes. We're blessed because Tyler's preschool teacher is amazing! She knows him from our home church. She's such a sweet person and she loves him so much, and he loves her too. One thing that we struggled with when it was just me teaching him, is letter recombination. He can learn a new sight word in a day, but letters were tough for him. Mrs. Carol has a trick or something, because he knows so much more about that now that she is teaching him ;)

Do you have a home preschool routine? Tell me about it!

Still the One: A Marriage Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 11:41:00 +0000

I'm so excited to tell you all about this challenge! On November 23 of this year, Paul and I will celebrate 6 years of marriage! In honor of that milestone, I'm hosting Still the One: A Marriage Challenge.

Each Wednesday during the month of November, five in all, I will post a challenge for that week. The challenge will encourage you to love on your man and find ways to make him feel special. I'll be participating right there with you and I know our marriages will be blessed by this. The Tuesday night prior to each week's new challenge, I will blog about the previous week and how it went, and hope you will as well and link up on Skinned Knees. Then during the first week in December, I'd love to interview all the participants (that are willing) and write an article all about it later that week.

If you are interested in joining the Still the One challenge, let me know! I'll be putting together a Participants Page soon and would love to include you on it! When you email me, include your name, blog and where we can find you on the web if you'd like. Be in prayer about the challenge and ask God to bless our marriages through it.

Grab a button!

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Meet the Plumpkins

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 11:17:00 +0000

A few weeks ago Mary Plumpkin emailed me to schedule a family session. The last time I photographed the Plumpkins they were the proud parents of 2 sweet children. Mary told me they've had a baby boy since then so I was so excited for their session.

You should know a couple of things about the Plumpkins. Mr. Plumpkin (Tom) is a great father. He loves his children so much. He never wanted children when he was younger but he's glad now that God saw fit for him to be a Daddy (most days.) Mary is a SAHM and loves it. Mikey Plumpkin is a bit of a trouble maker, like most big brothers. Jack Plumpkin cries a lot. And from what I hear, little Susie Plumpkin is already into boys.

Honestly, I loved how their photos turned out. There wasn't much cooperation on the kids part, but I think I captured who they truly are, and that's what's important.

Before I show you this years photos, maybe we should take a look back over the years so you can see how far they've come.

Here are the Plumpkins back in 2005. Such sweet newlyweds, aren't they? I could barely tear them apart long enough to get their attention. Love birds.

Here's their first real family photos after becoming parents in 2006. Check out that adoration ;)

Here we are in 2007 shortly after the birth of baby #2. What a happy family! (Except maybe Jack?)

And that brings us to last weeks session. Gorgeous family. The Plumpkins at their best:

Mom and Dad are such good sports! It wasn't until after the shoot that I realized I better wash my backdrop, silly Jack.

I wanted to share a couple of my most favorite from this session too. I think I got their personalities well in this one:

Big brothers can be so cruel, huh? And if you look closely in this next shot, you'll see Susie checking out Tyler. I told her he is off limits until he's 18. I made a joke about turning Tyler's first girlfriend into Plumpkin Pie but it didn't go over too well.

Mr. and Mrs. Plumpkin kinda ruined that last shot but I imagine they needed a break so it's okay.

All in all it was a wonderful shoot. I love families with this much personality. Check back soon for next weeks session with the Spud family.

Before and After: My Cuppy Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 12:31:00 +0000

Tyler and I made some pretty delicious Halloween cupcakes this afternoon. I always feel bad saying, "No, Tyler, you cannot eat the batter. It has raw egg in it and that can give you ecoli. Now stop asking." All the while shoveling spoonfuls of it into my own mouth. One day he will catch on and then the jig is up.

While he finished decorating his cupcakes, I decided to snap a few shots of mine and wanted to share my edit with you all since I'm trying to make that a weekly thing.

Before and After [hover over image for before shot]

I usually do some minor editing in Lightroom but decided to write this tutorial solely for Photoshop. Plus, the less steps the better in my opinion.

The first thing I did (and usually do) in Photoshop was to create a Levels adjustment layer. I love using levels to adjust the shadows and create a sort of haze. Here are the settings I used:

After that simple adjustment, this is what my photo looked like:

See how it brought out the color in the icing and also some of the detail in the wrapper? Look at that cute little bat, I love him. I wanted to up the contrast a bit so my next step was a Curves adjustment layer using these settings:

This curves adjustment left me with this:

At this point I was happy with the lighting and the contrast but I wanted a more vintage feel for my cuppy cake! My favorite adjustment layer is the Solid Color adjustment! I love how it's so easy to create a completely different look with one simple step. I actually did 3 solid color layers here to get just the right look:

Solid Color Adjustment Layer 1: #0018ff set to Exclusion at 8% opacity gave me this:

Solid Color Adjustment Layer 1: #fffbd9 set to Exclusion at 5% opacity gave me this:

And Solid Color Adjustment Layer 1: #cd7d00 set to Exclusion at 10% opacity gave me this:

Perfect as far as color goes. But it needed to lighten up a little ;) So I flattened my image and made a duplicate layer. I set that duplicate layer to Screen at 25% opacity. That gave me this:

Loved this but I still thought it needed something so I added a texture to it at around 43% to get the finished edit, which I love:

What do you think? Do you prefer one of the earlier edits? I didn't know how I felt about the shadow in the upper left corner, but decided it added to the spooky halloween effect of the cupcake ;) All I know is right now, I need a cupcake. Later.

DIY Light Reflector

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 12:22:00 +0000

In a perfect world, every time we press that shutter button we’d have the perfect lighting in all directions, with no harsh shadows or squinty eyes. Unfortunately this isn’t a perfect world! Unless you only shoot in the golden hours you probably have to deal with harsh shadows from time to time.

One way to avoid harsh shadows without using a flash is to utilize the natural light around you with light reflectors. These can get pricey to buy from specialty shops but I’m here to show you how to make one or two of your own for under $12!

To read the rest of the article and learn how to make your reflector, hop over to The Hollie Rogue where I'm guest posting this morning!

The Boy Next Door: Part 2 of Our Love Story

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 17:45:00 +0000

If you missed the first part of our love story, click here and then come back for part two!

I can't really explain why at 17 years old I started having a crush on a 13 year old. It's not like I thought he was sexy or anything. He was just sweet, funny, smart, cute, nice, considerate, polite, sensitive, and attentive. Yes, I'm still talking about a 13 year old. Ever since I've known Paul he's always been more mature than I was/am, even at 13.

Paul right before our relationship came out of the closet :)

He always flirted but finally I started flirting back. This went on for a few years, 3 to be exact. I wouldn't say we were ever really a couple, I even had boyfriends in those 3 years that were my age, but there was always Paul. He was always the boy I could really trust. We'd sneak out at night and do nothing but hold hands and talk. He was more of a best friend that I occasionally kissed. I loved him but the age difference was too big of a deal back then.

The summer that he turned 16 and I turned 20 was different. I'd just gotten out of a serious relationship and like always, I got through it with the help of Paul. He always knew what to say. I dated a string of guys that treated me like crap and it was always Paul who let me cry on his shoulder and never once said, 'I told you so.' He just let me complain about the guy until I was over him. I knew Paul had feelings for me all along but until that year (2004) I wasn't ready for the world to know that I loved him back.

Check back next week for part 3 of our love story <3