crafty endeavors

finally got two kids busy/quiet at the same time long enough to do something fun.
hurrah for freezer paper stencils. now i just need to come up with a design for lucy.

model child (har har)

you can get a pdf of the stencil here.

happy valentine's day!

what are you doing to celebrate this lovey-dovey day? one of the things on my schedule was to bake up a batch of the traditional "to my valentine oatmeal cookies" today. my taste tester said they came out quite well. in fact, i think he would've "tasted" at least half a dozen if i'd given him the opportunity.

i've posted the recipe for this wonderful treat here, but i also updated the recipe card with a more appropriate photo (not stars!)—you can find it here.

making—bookplates

i originally had all kinds of good intentions to get these bookplates printed up and get one into the book we got for alice for her birthday, but i didn't manage to get them done in time. i did, however, design them. so as soon as i can locate my sticker paper, i'll print some up and send them down. i'm sure alice's mom can apply as necessary.

if you're interested in making a few of your own using this design, you can get the download here.

staycation postcards - free download!

i've been wanting to do a few projects like this for a while, sort of a giveaway without all the mucking about with comments and winners. so...this is my first (what i would consider) really good free download—the staycation postcards. i thought this might be good for anyone who isn't going anywhere in particular this summer, but would like to send a nice note to family about what they HAVE been up to (just because you're not going to some fabulous destination doesn't mean you haven't done wonderful, fun things afterall).

so all you have to do to win (ha!), is download the pdf here, print it out (i recommend printing on cardstock)...

then score...

fold...

cut...

and glue together. voila!

two notes: my printer has water soluble ink, so if the postcards get wet, they'll run. if you're really concerned, you can always use them with envelopes. AND i designed these to be a bit oversize (5" x 7"), so they're going to require a little extra postage. you can always scale them down when you print to get them within the USPS regulations for standard postcard rates, but that's up to you.