My Creative Life

My baby doll turns TWO!

Baby Sophie (now little girl Sophie) turned TWO on Saturday! I am still in a bit of shock about how quickly the time has passed. I have worked hard to savour and enjoy every precious moment, but I have to admit, so much of my pregnancy and her first year is a blur due to personal hardships I faced.  She is a true gift from God himself. He handed her down to my arms to show me that he understands and that he does make things right. God answers prayers. This I know for sure. Sometimes they don't happen on a timeline that we can understand, but the most important lesson I have learned is too have faith in His timing. I am grateful beyond measure.

Now...to the birthday bash we go.

Welcome to Sophie's Sweet Shoppe!

I love to create garlands for birthday parties and I had taken so many photos from Sophie's birthday invite shoot, that I decided to create photo garlands with the shots.  My plan was to string them around my entire deck (because hello, I have about 250 photos of her!) but I just ran out of time.
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I have enough candy left over to last a year...maybe more.  Hit me up if your sweet tooth needs a fill!
 

My friend Michelle designed this beautiful cake for Sophie. Isn't is awesome? She is very creative and does a fantastic job! If you are local...hit her up if you need a showstopping cake for your next shindig!

(just ignore the fact that the tulle on the table fell down a bit...haha, I'm trying to and it's tough!)

Many of the pictures I have of Sophie are of her drinking all sorts of sweet drinks.  She must have had 5 or 6 soda bottles hanging around the party and was always thirsty!

I just loved how her birthday outfit turned out.  I bought the fabric and patterns from My Girlfriends Quilt Shoppe in Logan.  My friends Kim and Kris own it and it is FABULOUS. Kim and Kris are very talented ladies who also run several web sites including The DIY Dish and You can make this.  You must check it out the shoppe if you are in Cache Valley and of course, their web sites are amazing.  The crown pattern is from The Quilted Fish.  Darling isn't it?  So fun to make.  The skirt pattern is called The Nie Nie skirt from Pink Fig Designs.  It took some time to make...but well worth it.  Sophie looked adorable in it!

Happy Birthday Princess Sophie.  I hope your day was fun and although you probably won't remember it, I hope you will carry the feeling it gave you and know how much you are loved by your family and friends.  Life just wouldn't be the same without you in it!  Love you baby girl.

 

Up-cycled Easter Dress

Now that I FINALLY have my little girl...I have a great desire to make her lots of pretty clothes...especially for special occasions...but my busy life and lack of time don't seem to let me realize that need very often!  I had totally planned to make Sophie's Easter Dress this year...but time slipped away.  Since I am trying to budget my money better...I didn't have much of anything to spend on the kind of dress I wanted for her.  I decided to get creative and work with a pretty little basic dress that I found at the Deseret Industries (thrift store similar to the salvation army). This is what I started with...minus the layer of tulle AND it had a horrible dirty yellow silk flower right in the middle that I removed. ( I didn't think to take pictures until I was into the process).

I bought it for just 3.00....it was gently used and had a really great structure. So I decided to head to my lovely stash (a rather large stash) of trims and see what I could make of it.  Now this was Saturday afternoon about 3:30...so I still didn't have a lot of time to do exactly what I wanted...but I was still pretty happy with how it turned out. I ADORE my little Sophie!  Isn't she a sweetheart? 

I bought the hat at T.J Maxx for another 3.00 and added trims to it as well.

Now let's not forget my HANDSOME boys!

Here is Brayden, 15

And Ethan, 6 

The loves of my life all together :)

I hope you all had a blessed Easter.

Handmade Valentines

Just wanted to share the Valentines I made for my children this year.  They were so fun to create...especially because I really love how our MM Je t'Adore collection turned out! It's so much fun to craft with and totally my style with the French theme, cabbage roses and the romantic, soft feel.  

Once the kids are done eating all of there valentine goodies...I am going to put the heart pouches in their scrapbooks (each one is a 12x12 heart) with a letter inside telling each of them just how much I love them and what things are special to me about them right now at this point in their lives.  

Valentine for little Sophie

Valentine for Ethan

Valentine for Brayden

Hope you all had a lovely Valentines Day! 

Valentine Garland featuring....my lovely children :)

I have been so busy working on new products for MM lately that I haven't had a chance to do much of anything for myself or my kids.  But I really wanted to create at least one valentine project before the 14th and I pretty much love how it turned out.  And...it was easy :)  I used our Je 'tadore Chandelier Kit which you can find here.  Since I am loving garlands and banners these days, instead of creating the chandy, I created this garland which adorns my fireplace.

Like I said...very easy.  All the pieces were already cut and ready to go.  I just had to sew together the 3 shapes using back to back hearts of doves.  That way...when they are all connected together you can fold them out to give them some dimension. 

The kit comes with four picture hearts...well I have just three children so I decided to use one of them twice and I figured that since Vday is really a "girl's" holiday that little Sophie would get the honor.  Well...Ethan (pictured above) was not too happy about that and told me emphatically that it was not fair. He is insisting that I change out one of Sophie's pictures and put one of myself or his Dad...or even better..the both of us. Since his dad and I are not together, I don't think that is going to happen :).  So I'm just hoping that he is going to forget about it!

Cute kids right!!! I think so :) I am going to create some cute Valentines for my kids this year...so hopefully I will be back soon with more blogging and craft fun. I'm also working on creating a new look for my blog....so stay tuned. Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

 

Day 9 - little pink cowboy boots

Yes. I am grateful for these sassy pink cowboy boots in size 4 that fit my spunky liitle Sophie oh so perfectly.

I found them today at Target and they truly made my whole day! For $14.99, I think they really are something to be grateful for...especially when snug around this little girls sweet feet. :)

Now we need to find some just like them for her mommy.

Oh yes...epic fail on day 8 image. Monday got away from me.

Sophie's First Birthday Party!

 
My baby dolly Sophie is ONE! Her birthday was September 10th, but I have been travelling so much for work that I just have not had time until this past Sunday to get her Parisian-themed birthday party all put together for her! I was feeling so very guilty because I have been working and gone so much...but it turned out to be a wonderful time for everyone.  Sophie really enjoyed all the fuss about her and was so darling opening her gifts. Can I just tell you how incredibly awesome it is to see baby dolls and strollers lying around my house! I have waited so long for Sophie and I am soaking up every minute with this little angel!

 
Don't you think every little girl needs to have a first birthday outfit from Paris? I say Oui! Especially with a name like Sophie....who has a mother that is so blessed to have been able to go to Paris twice now. I adore everything French and Parisian and it seems to make its way into many things I create. I just returned from my last trip to Paris and arrived home the day before her birthday. My main mission while there was to find Sophie's first birthday outfit.  After looking in a few children's boutiques, I came across Catimini and knew this was the place. I pondered several outfits in the store (I wish I could have purchased them all!) and this is the one that felt perfect for her. It had the cutest sweater with gold threading and a beret to match, but I couldn't justify spending so much money on the entire outfit, so I got her just the dress and leggings. I made the headband to go with it and I just love out it turned out!

 

Every little birthday girl also needs a birthday crown in my opinion.  So I also made this adorable ( I must say) crown and I plan to make her a different crown for every birthday! A new tradition!  Ethan was a bit envious...so I promised to make him a "King" crown decorated with super heroes for his next birthday party. :)

 
 

 

We had the sweetest strawberry cupcakes....along with french dip sandwhiches and french fries and salad for dinner!
 
 
 
 

Treat bags filled with jewels and candy for the girls (and the boys...haha).
 

Specialty candies direct from the Galleries De Layfayette in Paris...."Treats by Sophie"
 

....and banners galore....these took quite some time to put together...but they were so worth it.  I used our Making Memories Je 'tadore line (shipping in a few months!) and just simply cut circles with our Slice machine and then sewed them all together with my sewing machine. The Happy Birthday banner I just drew a template for, made rosettes and strung it together with tulle (the cheapest and most awesome stuff in the universe....a girl can never have too much tulle.)  A lot of work...but I had so much fun!
 
 
 

A mini-cake just for Sophie... 
 

Her new stroller....which she just LOVES! However...she doesn't like the babies to sit in it!
 

Happy Happy Birthday to my sweet SOPHIE EMILY.....love you more than words and I am so blessed to be your mother.
 
 
 

 

Sophie Emily - 4 Months old today!

Well here is my little princess Sophie.  Four months old today.  Time passes so quickly and I am trying to cherish every moment I have with her.  Before I know it, she will be 5 and going to Kindergarten like my sweet Ethan.  Sophie has been such a joy and what a blessing to our lives.  Her sweet little spirit fills our home with so much love.  She is growing and changing everyday and I really just can't get enough of her!  Here are some facts about Sophie at four months old:

1. She drools A LOT! She can soak my shoulder in less than a minute.  But so far...no signs of teeth.

2. She likes to talk and makes lots of cooing sounds and other fun noises with her mouth!  She is pretty much always happy, but lets you know when she is distressed!

3. She will roll to one side, but doesn't roll over yet.

4. She tried solid food (rice cereal) a few days ago and didn't like it al all!

5. She drinks only breastmilk, but has an occasionally bit on enfamil if needed.

6. She sleeps with her mommy and is a good sleeper...basically sleeps through the night but fusses a little every 3 or 4 hours, so I feed her while we lay in bed.

7. She is a cat napper!  She rarely sleeps for long stretches at a time during the day, most takes 20 or 30 minute naps here and there.

8. I don't know how much she weighs for sure...her doctors appt. is on Friday, but my guess is 13 lbs.

9. She has a billion outfits and could still use more!  I just love getting her dressed!

10. She is just starting to control her hands a little more.  She will hold on to a toy for just a little bit and is getting more interested in inanimate objects.

11. She goes to Grandma Ximena's 3 days a week while mommy is at work.

12. She has beautiful blue eyes like her mom and her Grandpa Randy.

13. It appears as though she is going to have darkish Auburn hair.  My little firecracker!

14. She still doesn't have as much hair as both Brayden and Ethan had at birth.  No fair.

15. She has the most beautiful dimples and the one on her right side is huge!  So adorable.

16. She is held  A LOT. Just the way we like it.

17. She is very strong and can now sit in her bumbo seat and mommy can pull her up to standing from lying on her back.  When she lies on her back she also tries to sit up on her own by lifting her head as much as she can.

18. Like I said, she basically sleeps through the night.  She usually falls asleep about 10:30 and if we can sleep in, she will sleep till 10! Yay me!

19. She is loving to suck on her fist.

20. She is so loved and adored by all of her family and we are so very lucky to have her!

 

 
  
  

Our Christmas Card Photo

So once again this year....I did not get my christmas cards out to all of my family and friends.  Some got them...but I never got any in the mail.  It's that little thing called time. Well....and energy.  I never have enough of either these days.  We tried to get a photo done of all the grandkids, but between the cold and onery-ness of the 2 year-olds - no dice.  Here is the best shot:

It was very cold out.  The kids really were troopers.  Oh well maybe next year we will have more luck!  More shots for your enjoyment: