My boy has many faces, and I love them all! These pictures are worth a thousand words...his face just says it all. All three years worth! Happy Birthday Bug...You are my laughter, my joy, my love and my boy! Here's to being THREE!
Inspired.
Shinzi Katoh is making me happy this morning. Is it possible to be in love with paper?
The chef party.
Once upon a time, in a far away land, there lived a brother and sister who loved to eat sweets and loved to cook and make things together. So they decided to have the perfect sweet-eating, food-cooking, craft making birthday party.
It started out with mother making a table filled with sweets and good things to eat. But since she learned long ago the beauty of delegation, she miraculously found the best sweet-making queen in the land to make the cupcakes for the party. Queen Dusti at Tres Sucre went above and beyond with her strawberry frosting, white chocolate dipped, sprinkled covered marshmellow cupcakes. The most divine in all the land!!! (Seriously folks....we're talking break every new years resolution good! She caters...call her up and get some!)
Next the children each got their own apron to wear and take home for the party which were lovingly (and a little too quickly) made by Mother and Sister.
But every chef needs a chef hat, so we started the day with making paper hats. You know...it makes the food taste better when you where them!
Each child made their own personal pizzas, with pre-made dough provided by Father, the royal chef of the land. There was plenty of cheese for all!
After the pizza making extravaganza, the children had an in door picnic eating their hand-made pizza's. But they were also sitting a little too close to the sweets table, and soon claimed to be full enough so we could move on to the cupcake eating!
Wishes were made and candles were blown (spit on rather...thus the INDIVIDUAL cupcakes rather than a large CAKE until children are AT LEAST 6) and tummies were happy.
Presents were opened.
Presents were then worn
And played with
And then it was pinata time...with even more sweets for the already full children!
Hug and laughs and happy chefs left with happy tummies and happy treats. But of course, we couldn't be finished with the party until a proper balloon release.
And after all was said and done, the brother and sister said good-bye and thank you, closed the door and snuggled a happy mother and father, who knowing they had to clean up the mess from 10 creative chefs, snuggled knowing they had two very special children who were going to live another year of happily ever after.
The end.
Happy Site Friday: Arthur's circus
When I need inspiration, I have a few places I like to hang out. Arthur's Circus is one of them. If Ian had his own room, this is what it would look like.
Closer than friends.
Click here to watch 2 minutes of happy.
Today an ETSY friend sent me the link above and said it made her think of my Wellesley and Winslow images (my elephant and bunny...which I must be honest are my favorite images and I have big plans for the two of them). I saw this video and totally ended up in tears...good tears...this is a happy, INCREDIBLE 2 minute clip. Amazing. Infact, I think I need to start working on Wellesly and Winslow a bit more before bed tonight.
Sugar and spice.
Thrilled to be drawing again. Here is what I came up with for Addie and Ian's party invites. They are 12 months apart and a few days, and so this year we are sporting a combined party complete with lollipops and sweets of all kinds. I can't wait to see what we come up with...a Hansel and Gretel theme is coming to mind! Now to start the baking...
The real stuff.
For Christmas my mother-in-law sent me a few thrifted book finds, which I LOVE! Vintage children's books are an obsession of mine. Everything...the text, the printed images, with the children's figures being my favorite. Every once in a while you can still find some with great color. Here is one she sent me from 1929. So sweet, and precious to have something so loved for so long. 
It is one thing to see these images online (my favorite pass-time on the computer when I have time to waste is find more vintage children's illustrations!) but seeing them on paper is totally inspiring.
Posting these up makes me want to dig into my vintage children's book collection with my sketch book and a cup of warm raspberry tea. (I will have to post more of my favorites sometime!) What a lovely way to spend the afternoon! I am needing some inspiration for Addie and Ian's birthday invitations. Signing off to get lost in literature!
Romance, Romance.
The month of the romantics is coming soon, and I guess the most romantic issue of Romantic Homes couldn't wait...since the February issue is already out on the shelves. I was THRILLED to see that they included my "This Much" card as a valentine favorite! I have been so excited to wrap up these cards and send them to new places and to new customers. No worries though...I have plenty! This is the first time any of my products have been featured in a magazine, and I couldn't be more tickled! As much as I handle and see my work everyday, there is something about seeing it in a magazine that makes me tilt my head to the side and say, "Did I create that?" It is something like a double-take or deja-vous. Kinda surreal.
But thank you Romantic Homes for your generous feature! February is coming fast, and Valentine's Day is just around the corner. I have grand intentions of getting some more sweet valentines into the shop...let's hope this week fares better than last (our house has been quite the sick house!!). My hand is itching with new ideas....
Cheers!