Birthdays

It has been such a joy working with this family for the last 11 months.  Friday was my last day.  It is so bittersweet I can't even describe.  In life you get called in different directions.  This job has been absolutely perfect for me, but it is time I am being called into a different direction. Yesterday and today were the little one's birthday parties! Below are the invitations I created for each party. What a blast. I am so thankful they asked me to join them.  

Shout out to my sister for her amazing print! Very fancy. Thanks KARL!

Bug's Invites

LOOK AT THAT HANDSOME FACE!

What a blessing in disguise. They are such amazing kids. I will miss them more than words can say. God has taught me many MANY lessons and they have truly changed my life. I am so excited to be a mother someday!!

I have one more post coming 

soon before the BIG move. 

Apologies for the lag time between.

Happy Halloween!

lauren

New Stuff

Where y'all been? Just kidding. September has slipped right through my hands. I cannot figure out how time has passed so quickly! Like August, September is a busy month for my family and special occasions. Four birthdays and an anniversary. Yes I have cards for them and they received them, I just haven't had and taken the time to photograph and document them.

Onto the new stuff..

My mom, Becky, owns her own embroidery business. She also can make signs with cut vinyl and custom design shirts with thermoflex or fashionfilm.  Similar to my situation with the Chocolate Ball in April, she got last minute notice of a business fair going on at the bank where she holds her business account.  She also learned a new technique about four days ago and decided with my help we could whip up some pretty cute stuff for the upcoming holidays. 

Take this for example.  Normally, you see something like this with rhinestones. Mom and I decided, okay she decided, to use some of her 'poor man rhinestones.' (fasionfilm/thermoflex just material similar to vinyl)  It is then heated and pressed on the garment. WAY easier than rhinestone application process and personally I think cuter. I advised her that this concept would be a huge hit with kids clothes. Who got so excited about tiny kids clothes?  I DID. I DID!!! We have newborn sizes to kids 6/7 and all kinds of colors and styles. I created many different designs on the computer. Good thing I am a fast leaner. If I continue to design on the computer I will be needing glasses and a comfy desk chair.

Here are some of the examples of stuff we made at the wee hours of the morning on Friday. I got to bed around 4:45 a.m. and had to be at work by 8 a.m. CRAZY!

6 month creepers - so small. so adorable!

Long sleeve black tee

Baby Romper - spider on right leg

HAHA! Please tell me you laughed out loud. Yes disgusting. Babies can get away with anything and at three a.m. this was HILARIOUS!!!

HOO WANTS CANDY?

This orange creeper is for my favorite tiny man. If you don't know who I am talking about, check out the Kids page on my blog. He will be SUCH a stud in this.  The little girl will be decked in the long sleeved black tee with Pumpkin Princess. I will try as hard as I can to get a picture of these cuties before I move to Alabama in November. 

Here are some more ideas non kid related but still very awesome. We had limited time so we did not get to do a sample of everything we wanted. You think of it...we can do it!!

I Do Koozie

Quilted cosmetic bag with initial

So let me recap for you. I love kids, kids clothing, and being creative and designing things.  This is perfect because it combines all of those elements.  I am really hoping I can help market these products for my mom.  This could potentially be a job that will provide me with some mobility that I will be needing as I jump on board with my significant other's crazy schedule.  I am planning on moving all my craft stuff with me so I can continue to create...but I know God has a bigger plan for me, possibly in the kids apparel/boutique area. I couldn't be more thankful for the ways that he will decided to reveal(or not reveal) this to me. I gotta keep dreaming big and have faith! 

Hope you enjoyed these and found some comic relief. If you need any gifts you know where to find me. I always welcome suggestions.

God is good!

Lauren

21

Happy Birthday to my favorite little younger brother. Today he turns 21, however, I could have sworn he thought he was of age about five years ago. I have tons of story of the mischief he has gotten himself into and cannot count the number of times I have had to cover for him.  Those are in the past now and I am excited for him to make new, probably just as crazy, memories.  He acquired the taste for beer long ago. This is something I have never done. Ick!  So in honor of one of his favorite hobbies I present his birthday card and cake.

Favorite Pic (above)

 Bud Light bottle cap cake. 

After all this excitement and cake eating we decided to go bowling. So fun. Great family time just the seven us. Sadly I didn't break 100, and took last place of four, but I got in a good practice game before the annual bowl in Alabama that will be coming up soon.

I know he loved his cake and card, but is most excited to be able to purchase his own beverages of choice. Happy Birthday Brother!

Lauren

Oh Baby

Welcome to the world Lillian Grace..

What a beautiful blessing!

Lauren

Better Late Than Never

This was supposed to be an August post but here we are September 4th, sorry! The wedding of my great friend Maddie took place on August 14th in Kansas City. 'She looked gorgeous' is an understatement! I was crying before she even made it down the aisle. She shed a few tears but when she casually whipped out her Kleenex that was securely tucked in her dress we all couldn't help but chuckle. Great wedding! Congrats Maddie and Chris.

Something I like to do for wedding cards it to take the invitation and turn it, or parts of it, into the wedding card. I forgot to take a pic of the invitation before I started so here is an idea of what it looked like after I took the scissors to it.

Here it is post surgery...

Now the fun part of this is, if you look really closely and it the right light, you can see through to the words of the invitation. I thought this was cool, you may think its tacky, not sure...

And of course a pic of the bride and groom!!

...and they will live happily ever after!

Lauren

p.s Happy Birthday Blair!

Paper Mache

I really like to use my creativity to come up with things for me to do with the kids while I am working.  I would she exercise her mind doing something that starting at the t.v. all day.  This is what I came up with.  Paper mache.  It just so happens I thought of this already at their house and couldn't leave to go get supplies.  Talk about using your resources. 

In my mind, I planned this to take almost the whole hour or two that her brother would sleep.  She did not want to get her hands messy and this is the extent to which she painted her can. I thought she would want to paint something...

I on the other hand decided to use this time for my own creativeness to be unleashed.  Having lots of big decisions on my mind this was a good distraction. I know I shouldn't brag, she is 3 yeasr old, but I was pretty impressed with myself. Maybe I should look into painting!

lauren

Cupcakes and Cars

It is always sad when you don't live near great friends. Although it does make the times together that much better. Unfortunately it was only five great minutes.  I got to stop by her house on my way through town, see her new deck, and new paint colors in her house, which look AWESOME, and be on my merry way.  It was great to hand deliever her card and a little goody bag of Turtles and Pretzels.

Name: Stefany Renner
Nic Name: RENNER (used for less confusion below)

Date: August 13,1986

Relation: Ex coworker/Friend/Old Neighbor

Occasion: 24th Birthday

On to the cars...Renner and I have a mutual friend, Stephanie, who we used to work with when I lived in Columbia, MO.  Her and her husband had been trying to have a baby for quite some time.  As we worked with Stephanie, we could see how hard this was on her and how much she wanted a little blessing in her life. 

After many visits to the doctor, she finally thought her baby was on the way. 

I specifically remember working with her that day and how anxious she was waiting for that phone call from the doctor to confirm she was pregnant! When the call finally arrived, I was with her. So exciting. I stayed with her as she called her husband, Aaron, to share the good news. What an unbelievable thing I got to witness. The hapiness in both their voices was indescribable. It was so great watching her go through her pregnancy even though I was out of the country and missed the whole last month.  Renner and I were at the hospital when Gabriel was born and I saw him less than an hour old. This was great for two reasons. I got to spend Renner's birthday with her in the waiting room and little Gabriel was being born!!!

So here we are two years later, and their little angel is 2 years old. I hate that I can't make it to his birthday party. I try to visit as often as I can, which isn't enough.

and just for fun...I  know his momma is proud!

Happy birthday Renner and Gabriel!

Lauren