I love Collaborating

Wow, is it really Friday already? Man, the week has flown by and I did not even see it coming! Lots of fun crafty stuff coming your way over the next few days. :) The first one is in the new issue of VivaLaModa magazine. I absolutely love collaborating on this ultra cool indie magazine. It features all handmade items from around the web and I get to do the kids themed articles, which of course I totally dig! This month I featured items with a Valentine's Day theme. I also included a fun tutorial to make a sweet little owl pencil topper.
You can find the owl tutorial on page 20-21. I also put it in a sweet little PDF that you can download here. Oh and I have even more Valentine's crafty goodness coming your way tomorrow! I love the photo I took of Gia...it was completely on a whim. She actually stepped in front of my camera as I was taking finishing shots of the felt. I love candid shots that you get just at the right time...of course, that only happens once in a blue moon. ;)
This was the second shot of the owl up close.
Hope you enjoy. If you decide to make this little guy, I would love for you to share a pic!

The World of Coke

The Baconator was off on Saturday, which is a rarity with his work, so we wanted to take the kids somewhere. We really wanted to go play at Snow Mountain but they were sold out and it was raining so that was a no go. Since Georgia is the home of Coca Cola, they have a little museum type place in Atlanta called The World of Coke. There is a 4D theater experience thing there and some cool history of type things but the best part is getting to taste 64 different soft drinks from around the world. There are some crazy ones out there (both good and bad). My favorite was Smart (apple flavor) from China. We actually tried to see if we could find it in the US because it was that good. The yuckiest one was Beverly from Italy...I personally didn't try it but I took the look on everyone's faces that there was really no point. ;) Xander had to find some water to wash his down because it was that bad. I love all things Italian but they can keep that one. We left right before dinner and since we were really close to IKEA we couldn't help but to stop and grab some swedish meatballs. If you have never eaten at IKEA, I highly recommend it. I know it  sounds really crazy but they have super cheap food that is really good. We walked it off with a trip to the showroom and I actually managed to get out of there without buying a thing! I have to say it was a great family day. :)

The Week in Review

Wow, this week has flown by! There has been so much going on that I just haven't had a chance to get over here and blog about it all. On Wednesday I went to my first acupuncture session and was surprised at how much it didn't hurt...at one point it was even relaxing and I forgot where I was. ;) My second session was on Friday and I am actually starting to feel better. I stopped taking my stomach medication and I haven't been in pain at all. I have two more sessions scheduled so we will see how it goes. The only downside I see so far is the fact that my hands and wrists look like I have been shooting up something awful because I bruise easily. Oh well, I am willing to deal with that until they get used to it because at this point it looks like the pros clearly outweigh the cons.

I have been working hard on clients projects and have a few of them coming to a close. One of my favorite parts in the design process is seeing everything come together on a live site. I will be sharing a few of those shortly. I also sent out the first Moxie Email. I have been working on it through the week but didn't get a chance to send it out until today. I am super excited about being able to offer this freebie to small businesses. If you haven't signed up, I recommend you do so. Oh and speaking of freebies...I have some cute Valentine's Day crafts coming soon! I am actually getting ready to take photos of the process in just a few so hopefully I will be able to post them on Tuesday so you have plenty of time to craft them up in time for VDay.

With the helpful of my creative assistant (aka Xander) I made my first full stop motion video. I decided that I wanted to document my web design process so this is the first of several movies to come. I love the look of stop motion and I plan on applying this to a lot of future projects. :)

Kid Friendly Wallpaper

This wallpaper is meant to be drawn on, colored in fact. This would be a great wall finishing for a kids room. I am thinking about doing a wall in Gia's room with this. I know she would love it. It's made by nineteenseventythree and you can purchase it at their online shop.

Reflections and Catching Up

Really, how does someone get behind already and it's just the beginning of the year? I have read all these great and optimistic blog posts about resolutions and goals and everyone looking forward to new beginnings. Is anyone still trying to catch up from last year? Am I the only one raising my hand? Ok, that's just sad! ;) Well, I actually do have some great goals (resolutions are meant to be broken in my mind) and focus for 2010...which I will share shortly. I would like to do the traditional thing of reflecting back on the last year for just a minute.

Here are a few highlights...

• started moxie pear and expanded
• met Simon Foust, who is my coding savior and allows me to do what I love...design & create
• celebrated my 5th anniversary with The Baconator in Disney World
• got to visit my BFF in Cleveland with the family
• took time out to spend more time with my kids
• welcomed my newest nephew into the world

And now for 2010...
I definitely believe is setting goals (both personal and professional) but I also like to keep them realistic so I refuse to add any weight loss goals to my list! Let's face it, that's just asking for failure. I also think using a word to describe my attitude for 2010 is going to be helpful. My word for 2010 is BLESSED. No matter what crap is thrown my way or how stressed out I may get, I can always remember that I have been blessed with the most wonderful things. I think we take a lot for granted and don't always realize how much we have in our family, friends and situation. This leads me to my big personal goal for 2010 and that is to volunteer my time to those that don't feel as blessed, especially children that are in circumstances beyond their control. Here are some of my other goals for 2010 (in no particular order).

1. Finish a business project that I had in the works in 2009 (more details on this shortly)
2. Focus my business more toward helping handmade boutique businesses start and grow
3. Market moxie pear with seasonal promotions (working on this now)
4. Participate in my local Mompreneur facebook group
5. Improve and practice my photography skills
6. Design something once a week just because
7. Commit to keeping business hours so I can spend time with the kids
8. Finish decorating our house (we have yet to paint our bedroom or bathroom)
9. Commit to a bi-weekly date night with The Baconator

So there you have it! I would ask what everyone's goals are but I am probably the last one to post theirs. ;)

Busy Busy

This week I am busy, busy, busy catching up with work from the holiday break. The kids went back to school today so it was back to normal with my schedule...I missed my kids but man it was nice to have some total silence in the house to work. I have a few fun things planned and freebies to give away for Valentine's Day so I will let you in on that soon. Off to bed and an early start tomorrow!