Happy Birthday to my baby!

It's hard to believe that my last baby is now 7 years old. I still see her as my little tiny girl. I don't know if in my eyes she will be a big girl. She was so excited about her birthday party this year. She's only been planning for over a year now - actually before her last birthday she started planning. It was to be a Bunny Birthday Party. I let her do everything. She gave me the names of her friends to invite, she told me what she wanted to do and we searched the internet together for some ideas...she even decorated the cupcakes - well, with the help of her older sisters.

Here's the sweet little birthday girl. She was thrilled to see her classmates and soccer friends...it's been a long summer without them!

The first craft she had planned was a sock bunny. She is proudly holding her bunny. They were cute. The girls loved it!

Ahh, the pinata...she would not rest until we had the pinata. Since there wasn't a bunny pinata to be found, she settled for a butterfly.

And finally, time for the yummy bunny cupcakes! She and her sisters decorated these. I have to say, they did a fabulous job! I always get so stressed trying to do everything for these parties. The perfectionist in me has never been able to just relax and let whatever happens, happen. This year, Jordyn and Kasey took the ball and ran with it. They did the decorating. They did the cupcakes. They help each of the girls with the crafts. It was so wonderful. I think this was my first stress-free (is there such a thing???) party! Thanks Jordyn and Kasey for being such great big sisters!!

This is Mikaela's special bunny cupcake. She wanted to make sure her cupcake was just perfect.

Here is one of the other cupcakes. Some were made with coconut and others without. I prefer the coconut for both taste and looks, but not everyone does. I think they were the cutest! We used the fizzle Skittles to do the eyes and nose. Marshmallows for the ears and little bunny cheeks. Overall, they were very, very easy to do. If you want to see more stuff like this, go to Family Fun Magazine and do a search. That is where we found all of this!

Enjoy!!

{Friday Photo Bliss}

Wow! It's Friday already! Time is flying by. I missed last Friday's posting, but told myself I wouldn't miss this week! Summer is almost over and we have just a little over a week before the kids are back in school. And, what a crazy week this will be...finishing back to school shopping, working, open houses, and the list goes on...I'll need a vacation from all of this hustle and bustle.

After spending much time looking through my photos from the last week, I finally found one that I just loved. Not that I didn't like them all, but this one is just sweet.

We had been out boating our last day at the lake and she was worn out. The rocking of the boat just knocks her out. Even though she isn't a baby anymore (she'll be 7 on Sunday!), I still love watching her sleep.

So, do you have a {Friday Photo Bliss} photo to share??

I have to admit, I'm an "Action" junkie...if there's a photoshop action out there, I've found it and used it. I used an action on this photo, Faded DayDreams from CoffeeShop. I thought it was somewhat appropriate, right?

Since getting back Monday, I've been non-stop trying to get back into the swing of things. I have almost finished putting the final touches on my classes over at My Creative Classroom. It's been slow and Jing hasn't been the most cooperative! I have my usual classes lined up for this fall: Using Photoshop 101, Using Photoshop 102 and Photo Editing. I've also added a Using Photoshop 103 to my list! That one is still in the works and will be open for enrollment soon.

Hope you all have a great weekend!!

{Friday Photo Bliss}

So I subscribe to a blog - CoffeeTeaPhotography - I love what Rita has to offer over there. One thing she does that has inspired me is her {Friday Photo Bliss}. She takes a photo from her week that makes her happy and posts it. She encourages her followers to do the same on their blogs. So...my {Friday Photo Bliss} Photo is one of my girls...well two of my girls anyway.

We bought this pull behind tube for the kids (and adults!) to play on when we are here at the lake. This was their first go on the tube. I could hear them screaming and howling with laughter as they rode through the waves. They hung on for dear life as hubby tried to make them fall off. Do they look like they are having fun or what!? I wonder how much water they caught in their mouths...they never shut them while they were on the water!!

My long-time BFF from high school came down and brought her kids to spend a few days with us. We hung out on the back of the boat and laughed at all of the kids as they took turns on the tube. It has been ages since I laughed that hard. Each time I look at any of the photos from those days, I just giggle to myself. What a great time we all had! It truly made my week. So, this is my happy photo (well, there were many) for the week.

How about you? Do you have a happy photo that you would like to share?? Just add your link in my comments section!

Embellishments!!

Wow - can you believe I've posted twice in a week?? I'm happy to say, I finished some embellishments for my Fall kit - the first digital kit I've designed! I'm slowly putting it all together. There's so many little details I'm afraid I'll forget. I may have to find some guinea pigs to help me make sure it's all good before I totally release it. I haven't tried to upload it to 4Shared yet and I need to test that too...so many things to do. I'm very nervous about the whole thing, but I keep telling myself that I have to start somewhere...right? Ok, so here's a sneak peek at the embellishments that go with the papers I showed you last week:

There are a few tweaks that I need to make on these and I think I might add more to it, but this is the beginning of the embellishments. The ribbons are hard to see, but there are some organdy mixed in there. Let me know what you think!! I welcome all comments...but be gentle...it's my first creation. ;o)

It's funny as I'm creating these, I call my girls over to show off my work. Well, my 11 year old wanted to learn to do papers...so here is what she created before I kicked her off my computer!! I think I have created a monster...LOL!!



Can you tell she's into the bright neon colors?? I'm surprised it wasn't all purple - she's a purple freak. I can't wait to see what she does next.

Enjoy your week and stay tuned for more to come!!