Wife. Mom. Designer.

Crockpot Chicken Enchiladas

2011-07-01T12:40:00.000-07:00

I've never posted a recipe of my own here before. Let's be honest, I've never created a recipe of my own.

At least not one I liked.

I've been cooking and baking a lot lately and I've really grown to love it. The crockpot is the best invention ever and I love mexican food...hence this recipe! I hope you enjoy it!

Crockpot Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:

3-4 chicken breasts

1 jar of salsa

package of tortillas (10)

1 can of black beans

1 can of enchilada sauce

3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tomato diced

shredded lettuce

Pour a little salsa in the bottom of your crockpot, then place the chicken breast on top. Pour the remaining jar of salsa on top of the chicken. Cook on low for 4-5 hours. After chicken is complete, shred chicken (I usually just use two forks to pull it all apart).

Wrap your tortillas in papertowels and microwave for 45 seconds to get them nice and soft.

Pour a little enchilada sauce in the bottom of your 9x13 pan to coat the pan. Then take a tortilla, fill with shredded salsa chicken, black beans and a little shredded cheese. This is the part that can really be fit to taste - add jalapenos, peppers...whatever sounds good!

Tuck in the sides of the tortilla and roll into an enchilada, place in pan seam side down. Repeat until you've used all your tortillas.

Pour remaining enchilada sauce on top of your enchiladas. I usually don't use the whole can because I don't like them too soupy. Put a spoonful of sour cream on top of each enchilada, then cover with remaining shredded cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Serve with diced tomato and shredded lettuce. Yummy!

Ok, so it's been a while. And here's why.

2011-03-22T17:32:00.000-07:00

Life is full of responsibilities, commitments and...well, laundry. I'm a multi-tasker and I'm a people pleaser. This is a very bad combination. I've been trying to be great at a lot of different things...at the same time.

So, it's time for me to slow down. As my blog clearly states, I was trying to be a wife, mom and designer. The designer category was a taking a bigger percentage than it should have been. After months of thinking about it, conversations with friends and frankly, God giving me every clue he could...it became very clear that I was trying to do too much. Something had to give. So beginning last month, Lucky Star Press stopped shipping orders. I've loved building my stationery business and I hope I can start it up again someday, but for now, it's not what's best for me or my family.

My kids are young, but they're not getting any younger. It's going by entirely too fast and I want to enjoy it. I've chosen to focus only on freelance projects and my part-time position at Crossroads Church as their designer/communications person. I love my job there and I know it's exactly what I'm supposed to be doing with time right now.

I hope the same for all of you, that you're doing exactly what makes you happy and what's best for you and those around you. There are only so many hours in the day, use them wisely.

top ten things i feel guilty about...and shouldn't

2010-10-05T19:06:00.000-07:00

This is one of those blog posts that I hope is therapeutic. Lately, I've been feeling guilty about a lot of things and wondering if I shouldn't be.

1. Working too much.

2. Not working enough.

3. Working on the wrong projects.

4. Going on a vacation with my husband and leaving my kids at home.

5. Not cleaning my house enough.

6. Watching too much TV. While I work.

6. Not updating my blog enough.

7. Guilty that my son's scrapbook covers the first month of his life. He turns 18 months on Friday.

8. Not taking enough pictures.

9. Guilty about changes I'm making, even though in my head, I know they're the right ones.

10. Not spending enough time being a mom, friend, daughter, sister in law, niece or granddaughter.

I was right.

That was therapeutic.

top 10 [new] favorite recipes

2010-08-17T12:41:00.000-07:00

My husband describes it as some sort of mid-life crisis. I say my new found love for cooking/baking is because after a year and a half, my husband is home seven nights a week rather than three. I actually have someone to cook for!

I've been making new recipes almost every night, so I thought I'd share a few of my favorites, in no particular order:

(sorry for the photo quality, some are mobile photos)

1. Chili Lime Chicken Tostadas

2. Best Basic Brownie

(just a tip on these, don't put M&Ms in them if you want them to look pretty. trust me.)

3. Grilled Chicken with Lemon Basil Pasta

4. Pasta with Tomato-Bleu Cheese Sauce

hey, I never said these were healthy recipes

5. Granny's Chocolate Cobbler

6. Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

7. Crockpot Lasagna

8. The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie

9. Zesty Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken

And for #10...

With all this recipe searching I knew it was a perfect excuse to find a spiffy new method for organizing them. My little box just wasn't cutting it. My new Cath Kidston Recipe Organizer arrived in the mail today! Here are a few peeks at the inside...

i'm in a book!

2010-08-02T09:39:00.000-07:00

I was delighted when Charlotte Rivers from Roto Vision in the UK asked me to be included in the book, Reinventing Letterpress. It's a book that features numerous letterpress companies as well as general information about the letterpress printing process.

You can purchase the UK version here. Or, you can pre-order the US version, to be released by Chronicle books under the name Little Book of Letterpress. Here are a few pictures of the book:

birthday party planning

2010-07-19T18:06:00.000-07:00

Hailey's 4th birthday is next week and we're having a mermaid party this Saturday to celebrate. I LOVE planning parties for the kids. I'll take plenty of photos to show you next week, but thought I'd show you a little bit of my inspiration so far...

Rainbow Cake: This cake has been on a ton of blogs, but after I saw it on Martha Stewart I knew Hailey would love it. I've been telling her for a few months that I'm making her a special surprise cake...so let's hope it turns out like the picture!

Lanterns and Streamers: we'll see how this turns out, I have streamers and a friend is making some poms rather than lanterns. (if this is your photo, please let me know, I couldn't find it again to source it!)

Aqua and Hot Pink: I'm wishing I found this photo a few weeks ago, these are the colors I'm going for and am using this banner as inspiration.

Sprinkler, water balloons and fishing over the curtain game: activities for the party, if it doesn't rain (fingers crossed)

Fish bowl centerpiece: these are cute...just not sure the kids will leave them alone :)

top ten tuesday: 10 things I want to accomplish by the end of summer

2010-07-12T17:38:00.001-07:00

The Fourth of July has come and gone, school is almost visible on the calendar and Target is stocking their shelves with backpacks...summer is dwindling by the day! I had big plans for myself at the beginning of June and I gotta say, I'm not doing so hot. So, I decided to participate in Top Ten Tuesday to get myself together, let's get to it:

10 Things to Accomplish by the End of Summer:

1. Finish the Couch 2 5K program. I'm on Week 1 and if I stick to the plan, I'll be finished by mid-September.

2. In combination with #1: Convince someone to run/travel to the Wine & Dine 5K weekend in Disney World. I find it only fitting that my first 5K should be somewhere magical, don't you?

3. Finish cleaning out and organizing our basement. We started off strong with a garage sale in May, now time to organize the things we actually want to keep.

4. Plan my daughters 4th birthday party at the end of July. Invitations have been sent, now its time for the fun part!

5. Print Pictures! I have thousands that need to be sorted, printed and put into albums.

6. Paint my son's room (don't tell my husband). He did a lovely job painting the nursery orange..but that was before we knew he was a boy, and now, I really want a new color.

7. Cook! I've been on a roll this summer with learning to cook new dishes. I've been obsessed with the Pioneer Woman's recipes and have enjoyed trying them out on the fam.

8. Spend more time goofing off with the kids. I've limited my work load this summer so that I can spend more time with the kids...its going well so far, but I need to be more strict with my schedule.

9. Figure out what to do with my daughter's preschool art projects...they're everywhere and I have no clue what to do with them!

10. Finish the bathroom! It's painted and the shower curtain is set, I have a couple accessories, but need a few more to complete the look.

Just making that list has made me want to print recipes and plan birthday details!

What do you want to accomplish this summer?

Grab a funnel cake and get comfy!

2010-06-28T17:06:00.000-07:00

As a designer of stationery I often have leftover envelopes, paper and other supplies from projects. Lucky Star Press has joined up with other stationery designers for a Paper Carnival! We've cleaned our surplus of supplies and stocked our Etsy Supply Shops with paper goodies!

You can follow the carnival from location (blog/facebook) to location, every day for the next couple weeks. Watch for the hashtag #papercarnival on twitter to keep up to date and find out where the carnival is headed next! You can also follow the carnival on Facebook.

The Lucky Star Press Supply Shop is a great place for DIY invitations...we're stocked full of pretty little envelopes in a variety of colors. We also have these great Kraft boxes that hold 20 or so sets of A2 cards and envelopes. Great for gift giving or packing up orders.

After you visit our shop, make sure to follow the carnival to it's next pit stop, Parts and Parcels Supply Shop from the amazingly talented Carey at Lasso'd Moon Designs.

Aren't these the perfect format for a wedding program or menu? The ribbon isn't included, so you could customize to match your event.

Follow the carnial tomorrow on Carey's blog, Under the Moon. Happy shopping!

work trumps blog

2010-06-14T06:23:00.000-07:00

One of the people I follow on twitter posted this morning, "work trumps blog again." I'm sure this is no surprise here, that is often the case with my blog as well. Although my posts may be few and far between...I do like keeping it up when the time presents itself. Right now for instance.

It's been a long few days with a sick little boy. My daughter and I almost never get fevers...so really, that's what I'm used to. Shouldn't everyone be like us? My little man was topping out at 104.2 this weekend. That's a little high for my taste. He's finally feeling better this morning and I am finally feeling like I can get back to normal. You know, sleeping past 4am, doing things around the house without a one year old attached to my hip...you know, things like that.

Summer has been underway for a couple weeks now. I was planning to take some Mom time during the week, and work a little less. So far, summer has been crazy, so hopefully we'll get into a new routine soon. Here's Hailey and I at her Lunch for Moms at the end of preschool.

Hailey had a great week last week at Dance Camp. She has been asking to "do dance" for a while. We decided to try out a week-long summer camp, with her friend Josie, to see if she liked it, before investing in all the shoes, leotards and froofy outfits. Here are a few photos from her end of the week performance, it was adorable! (side note: both Hailey and Josie are wearing their mother's ballet shoes)

In other news, Hailey finally got a bike! She has been riding a tiny tricycle for a while. We were going to get it for her birthday, but decided the end of summer would be kind of silly. Its going to take a bit of practice, but she's getting the hang of it.

Happy Monday all!

its that time again...

2010-06-01T17:14:00.001-07:00

My baby girl turns 4 next month so it's time to start thinking about her party...her little mermaid party that is. Per her request she wants a Little Mermaid Party...which I am translating to a non-cheesy Mermaid Party. I just can't bring myself to plaster the Disney image everywhere. Don't get me wrong, I love Disney...but I think Hailey deserves to be her own mermaid, don't you?

Here's what I've found so far...

For my kid's parties I feel pressured to create fabulous invites. But I found these adorable invites that can be customized to look like your child...they might be too cute to pass up.

photos by olligraphic on etsy

And because we're still in the fantasy stage of the party planning...wouldn't these personalized plates be fabulous party favors? (over my husband's dead body)

little cupcakes company

And mermaid tails for the guests...these are a must...

Living Locruto's beautiful Mermaid Party!

unused designs

2010-05-04T12:09:00.000-07:00

In addition to designing stationery, I also work as a designer for our church. I love the work and it allows me to be creative and design in different formats than stationery does. I'm working on a graphic for our next message series called "vs.". Often the art for a series has to explain a lot about what the pastor is teaching on Sundays...so I don't always get the final say. So, I thought I'd share one of the versions that didn't make the cut. I'll share the final next week.

sickness + injury month

2010-05-03T06:35:00.000-07:00

It seems that every so often we get a month of sicknesses and injuries. They come in groups striking every member of the family at the same time and they cripple us from our normal life. Colds, broken toes (more of a pain than you'd think), stomach bugs (requiring more laundry than I ever care to do again), and the list goes on...

Our weekends have been packed full of birthday parties (Andrew turning 1, me turning 30), holidays (when did Easter get so big?), Broadway shows (Mary Poppins=fantastic!), trips to visit family and of course, hours under the covers trying to recover. So what's the up side? I have a ton of photos to show you!

Andrew had a great birthday. We celebrated here in Lexington with cake and friends and then headed to Cincinnati to have dinner with family. I'm feeling a little bit of mommy guilt because Hailey's first birthday included inflatables, every tinkerbell party item every made, a homemade cake at a big party. Andrew's on the other hand was at a pizza place...with a cake I purchased and we gave him clothes as gifts. Hopefully he won't hold it against me.

first was Easter...once Andrew found one egg, he was happy, that left about 50 for Hailey

first haircut....

and the birthday party...

I did get these adorable cookies made to hand out as favors...

I will hopefully be back sooner than later. The bathroom is FINALLY finished, photos soon!

andrew turns one

2010-04-08T06:45:00.000-07:00

My baby boy turns 1 today. Happy 1st Birthday, Andrew!

too many windows open

2010-04-04T20:29:00.000-07:00

I just saw Chris Brogan, a social media advisor and author, say on twitter that he has too many things to do and has too many windows open. It was one of those moments where someone else describes exactly how you feel and somehow clarifies it for you. I think I've said it before, I have trouble saying no. I have trouble saying it to myself and to other people.

I started my stationery business about five years ago while I was working at a design firm full-time. I worked on it in the evenings until I quit the firm four years ago to do the stationery, while keeping some of my clients from the firm for freelance work. In the past four years that I've been doing freelance work I've never had to look for work. Through word of mouth, I'm consistently getting new projects and clients. (And I can't say no, remember?) So, I take them all on. I tell myself I can stay up until 2am rather than the normal 12am. I don't want to let people down and normally, they're fun projects.

But to be honest. I'm exhausted. So, as I think through this as I type...I think it's time to make some choices. A person can only go so long with little sleep and working all the time...or so I imagine, I'd rather not find out. I decided to post this in hopes of being held accountable. I've got more thinking to do...but if you don't see a post with some changes in the near future, yell at me, ok?

sneak peek

2010-03-16T20:30:00.000-07:00

which do you like?

2010-03-12T13:34:00.000-08:00

mom-cation

2010-03-08T21:49:00.000-08:00

I had a wonderful mommy break this past weekend. I went to visit one of my favorite people, my college friend Megan who lives in the DC area. The weekend was filled with great food, pedicures, shopping, monument gawking, a movie and of course good company! One of the highlights was making s'mores...with nutella. It was soooo good! I was having such a great time, I didn't take too many photos. So, just picture a mom enjoying a weekend without a schedule and eating great food that didn't involve cutting bananas into tiny little pieces. It was wonderful, but back to reality.

store spotlight: anjénu / chicago, il

2010-03-02T19:13:00.000-08:00

I'm happy to post our very first store feature! The lovely Kristie of Anjénu in Chicago, Illinois has been carrying Lucky Star Press cards in her store since 2008. She graciously agreed to answer a few questions about her store and the products she carries.

1. Tell me a little bit about your store and what types of products you sell.
Anjénu is Wicker Park, Illinois' exclusive paper boutique, with bamboo-green walls and a charming personality. We offer handmade greetings, stationery, vibrant papers, and specialize in custom and couture wedding invitations.

2. What types of products do you sell the most of at your store?
Our number one seller is the Birthday Card along with Anniversary and Baby Cards. Boxed notes and fun little goodies never fall short!

3. What are some of your favorite products?
Usually the "new card"! :) When I get a new designer in or a new card from one of my favorite designers... I end up giving it to everyone I know. I get hooked easy! :)

4. Do you have window displays? If so, what inspires your displays? Yes... we change our window about once a month. Sometimes the weather or a new product or a color is the inspiration. Right now we're working on a wedding display with so many engagements happening out there!

5. Is there a product you carry that just doesn't get the love it deserves?
Yes. I am in love with blind letterpress and textured cotton papers. Maybe it is the packaging or perhaps others just aren't in love with it like me.

6. What is your best selling Lucky Star Press greeting card?
The Birthday Card, both the simple green candle and the pink cupcake. I also sell a ton of the Wedding Ring during peak wedding time!

7. How do you like to order and view products from your wholesalers?
I like to work directly with the artist, either through email or printed catalogs.

8. Anything else you'd like to share about running a retail location?
It's fun! It is definitely more than full time job... but so worth it! Meeting new designers and speaking to customers everyday is my dream job! :)

Thanks so much Kristie for being our first store spotlight!

there is no place like disney world...

2010-02-28T10:21:00.000-08:00

It's no secret that Walt Disney World is one of my favorite places to be. I have so many great memories from my trips there as a kid. But, I have to say, sharing the experience with my kids is simply the best. My schedule has been so chaotic lately. With my husband traveling four days a week for work, me working full-time and being a mom...I was really looking forward to 100% family time. No other responsibilities, just playtime with the kids...that's what Disney is all about, right?

We stayed at the new Contemporary Resort Bay Lake Tower. It's fairly new and the modern decor of the hotel was amazing. It's hard thinking about staying anywhere else. The location, accommodations, design and food/shopping are hard to beat.

Totally random tip, but the bathroom in the second bedroom had it's own sliding door and was big enough to fit the pack 'n play for the Andrew. Yes, he slept in the bathroom, but it was perfect for him to have his own quiet space to sleep!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hz536n/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

http://www.flickr.com/photos/themeparkmom/3689417068/sizes/m/

The view at night was fab! We could watch Wishes (fireworks at Magic Kingdom) every night from our room.

The little man was a champ. Disney truly is a great vacation at any age. He loved Pooh's Playful Spot at Magic Kingdom. We hung out there a few times to let him get down and crawl around. Although the water bottle seemed to be a big hit for him on this trip.

A family tradition, you have to purchase your first pair of "ears" on your first trip. Andrew wasn't a big fan of keeping them on, but we got a few cute shots. These days, it's rare that I just sit and watch him sleep, but it was so nice to have the time to just stare at him. (Can you tell I'm having some wow-they-grow-up-fast kind of moments?!)

We of course saw tons of characters. Goofy even helped out by feeding Andrew his yogurt at Chef Mickey's! Hailey was determined to find EVERY princess, Little Mermaid being her favorite. We found them all except Jasmine and Tiana. Our last day at Magic Kingdom got rained on a bit, so we distracted her with a Dole Whip (pineapple soft serve...delicious!). Andrew enjoyed it as well.

Now I've saved the best for last. My sweet baby, sniff, took his first steps while we were there! Taking the first steps seems like the last baby moment, so it made me a little sad, but could I have asked for a better backdrop?!

I was so sad to leave, we were in sunny Florida one minute and just a few hours later back in the cold snow. It was a great trip and time with my family was...magical. (just had to throw that in there) I always say the best solution to the home-from-vacation-blues is to plan your next trip...

I've returned...unfortunately

2010-02-26T13:40:00.000-08:00

The first day back after vacation is always a doozie. But, coming from sunny Florida to snow is exceptionally depressing. We had a wonderful trip, I only wish it were longer. My only concerns this week were making sure I had a ice cream at least once a day and finding each and every princess. It was a nice change in priorities. Check back next week for my Disney recap and our first retailer spotlight!

happiest place on earth

2010-02-20T11:54:00.000-08:00

I'm headed to Disney World this week. Its one of my favorite places to be. I'll have a full recap when I return, but until then. Enjoy art from the Disney Legend, Mary Blair. Here work can be found through Walt Disney World, but one of my favorites, It's a Small World.

it's coming along...

2010-02-16T18:48:00.001-08:00

I'm sure you're wondering about the guest bathroom. It's probably keeping you up at night....ok, maybe not. But, here's a quick update. The gray is so on. I'm loving the gray, just have to cut in...my least favorite part.

will you be my valentine?

2010-02-12T06:28:00.000-08:00

Valentines from friends at school are so cute. The sweet things they write, the cute signature that is hardly legible, it's a sweet holiday for preschool-aged kids. Here are the handmade valentines we made for Hailey's class. It was a nice change from the boxed character cards...and tasty too!

formspring.me

2010-02-11T11:28:00.001-08:00

If you were to wish upon your lucky star right now - what would you wish for?

You're so cute Fiona! When I really stop and think, I'm a lucky girl already. That's a cop out answer though, so I would have to say time. I would love for the world to stop, no emails, no calls, no responsibilities, just time where I wasn't allowed to work or do chores around the house. There just aren't enough moments of guilt-free time with the kids and family. My laptop-free vacation next week should help!

Ask me anything

ten months

2010-02-08T19:38:00.000-08:00

formspring.me

2010-02-07T10:20:00.001-08:00

Ask me anything http://formspring.me/luckystarpress

always room for improvement

2010-02-05T11:14:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned a few posts ago, the lovely Tara Gentile from Scoutie Girl Blog was offering free blog advice on her personal blog. That was a lot of the word "blog" for one sentence, but anyway, it's high time I took her suggestions and made some improvements around here! You can see her "like its" and "things to improve" here in the full post.

A few of her tips were to:

1. Rearrange my sidebar based on the average length of my post, make sure the most important stuff is contained in that range. Check.

2. Make it easy to find me through facebook, twitter, email, carrier pigeon, well...everywhere basically. To be honest, I use facebook for people i know in real life, just to catch up on what they're doing, but the rest have been added. Check.

3. Show me the work! She raised the question based on how many of my posts were work related. I definitely spend a lot of time working, but a lot of the work is freelance, so I'm working on coming up with a way to get more of my posts about me actually designing. Needs Improvement.

4. Post about the retails stores that carry my wholesale products was her last tip. I thought this was a wonderful suggestion! I have a store working on an interview this week, so watch for that. Coming soon.

Thanks again Tara for the blog help.

i [heart] s'mores

2010-02-02T18:17:00.001-08:00

S'mores have a special place in my heart. When I was pregnant with my first child, I craved s'mores like crazy! The three vital ingredients were staples in my house for nine months. I made them in the microwave, but finally perfected them in the broiler. Delicious.

So, when I saw this delicious recipe for s'mores cupcakes from the fabulous Bakerella, I had to try them. Mine didn't turn out as pretty, and I'll admit it, it took two batches to get them right. I filled the cups too full the first time, but they tasted fabulous.

first batch disaster...

second batch...

the marshmallow in the middle was ooey-gooey deliciousness...

i almost skipped the ganache on top, so glad I didn't...

absent

2010-02-01T19:10:00.000-08:00

In addition to running a stationery company, I'm also a freelance graphic designer. Its the best job in the world, but its also unpredictable. I freelance regularly for our church and a healthcare media company. Based on their schedules and events my schedule can get a little crazy. So, I apologize for the lack of posts, hopefully I can come up for air later this week. Until then, enjoy one of my favorite valentine cards.

i love a good critique, makes me miss design school

2010-01-27T19:29:00.001-08:00

Last night, I saw a tweet from Tara at Scoutie Girl that she was offering free blog advice on her personal blog. I immediately volunteered my blog to be critiqued. I needed a second opinion and I'm thankful for the suggestions and praise!

So, Tara, you'll be happy to know I already added an about me section. Why didn't I think of that?

top ten tuesday: top ten daydreams...

2010-01-26T17:38:00.000-08:00

Amanda over at ohamanda.com does a fun little feature on Tuesdays called "top ten tuesday". It can be list of any ten things. I love this for two reasons. One, I love lists. And two, Tuesdays will be a no-brainer when it comes to writing a new post.

So, here goes. Top Ten Things I've been daydreaming about...

1. First and foremost, our trip to Walt Disney World next month. I can't wait for the warm weather and non-stop time with the fam...and of course all of this will be taking place at the happiest place on earth.

2. New projects! I've got some new products in the works for Lucky Star Press that I am SO excited about!

3. Spring. Nuf said.

4. Decorating my basement. I've been researching and watching design shows to get ideas for a fab new basement to be used as office, entertainment and play area.

5. New clothes!

6. Wishing someone would give my dogs a bath. I dread it and they really stink.

7. A design retreat. It would be so nice to get away for a few days and just spend time with my sketchbook.

8. Date night with my husband. We're trying to go on a date at least once a month.

9. A slimmer waist line. I'm attempting the Couch to 5K although I hate to run. But, I love having a goal and think it would be a great accomplishment for me.

10. Time to paint the bathroom. We've had hectic schedules the past few weekends, but I can't wait to see how my new bathroom looks in a lovely shade of gray.

priorities

2010-01-25T20:01:00.001-08:00

At the end of last week I think I started to lose it. The to-do list seemed never-ending, kids seemed never- satisfied and, well, my babysitter was out of town. It was the perfect storm. I took Friday morning off to regroup and remember what my priorities are. My daughter was in preschool and I spent 3 straight hours playing with my 9 month, almost 10 month old little boy. It was the best morning I've had in a while. I was reminded that although I have lofty goals as a mother, wife and designer, I can't achieve them all at once. So, for today's post, here's a photo of my two cutest priorities.

put your money to good use

2010-01-22T12:33:00.001-08:00

There are a ton of ways to support Haiti right now and it's amazing to see how much money has been given already. If you're still looking for a way to do your part there are a bunch of sellers over at Etsy that are donating part of their profits to Haiti relief. Here are just a few....

1. Help Haiti screen-printed onesie, 100% go to American Red Cross or Save the Children
2. Knit Flower Headband, 100% to Haiti relief
3. Hand-Knit Cup Cozy, 10% to Doctors Without Borders
4. Set of 3 Leaf Magnets, proceeds benefit Doctors Without Borders
5. 2010 Desktop Calendar, 100% donated to Yele Haiti
6. Fancy-shmancy earrings, 30% of proceeds donated to UNICEF

some days, cupcakes are just required

2010-01-19T17:25:00.000-08:00

I'm not a huge sweets person. But when I get a craving for chocolate, well, I have to find chocolate. I was running errands (buying paint for the new bathroom!), I passed a new cupcake shop called Gigi's Cupcakes. So, of course we have to support local businesses...right?! They are actually a franchise, so you can check out their site to see if there is one near you.

So, back to the chocolate craving...I decided on a White Midnight Magic Chocolate Chip and my husband loves red velvet, so I of course had to get Scarlett's Velvet as well.

and yes, it was just as good as it sounds...now, to look up that Couch to 5K info.

worst case scenerio

2010-01-18T11:29:00.001-08:00

As a mom and as a person that likes to plan for everything, I'm often thinking of things that could go wrong and how I would react. I figure thinking about how I would react just in case would keep me from panicking. I don't really worry about things happening, I just realize that they might. Today was one of the first times I was glad I was mentally prepared to react.

Thinking back on it, it's not that big of a deal, but in the moment, I freaked out! My son is 9 months and he started eating table food in the past couple weeks. He started to choke at lunch today and immediately I remembered to hook my finger in his throat and pull it out. For all those times I told myself I was crazy for thinking of how I would react in bad situations...well, I'm glad I did.

and the winner is...

2010-01-15T12:42:00.000-08:00

I've chosen the gray/green combo for the bathroom! I went to Target yesterday and liked it even more in person. I'm hoping to get the paint this weekend, so hopefully my first 2010 Project will be complete next week! I've been more motivated this week to get it done quickly, my daughter thought it would be fun to put wet hand prints all over the wall. Now the search is one for some accessories!

just me and my press

2010-01-13T17:31:00.000-08:00

I was lucky enough to spend the day in the press room printing Mother's Day cards. Often the thought of all the printing I have to do is overwhelming. I devoted most of my day to it today and it was a nice change of pace.

show your space

2010-01-11T19:53:00.000-08:00

As a lover of stationery, I also love the places that people use stationery...their desks! Do you have an interesting studio, office or workspace? I'd love to see it. Post a comment below if you're interested in sharing your space!

1. view from above, 2. work in progress, 3. white studio, 4. old school, 5. clean and green 6. cute yet functional

not so sure

2010-01-10T19:53:00.000-08:00

I thought I had a fairly decent idea of what I wanted in my head for the kid's bathroom. All that went out the window when I didn't find exactly what I was imagining. So now I'm stuck on a few options. None of them really scream "kids bathroom", but it does double as our main guest bathroom. I found all of the shower curtains at Target. My goal for all of these improvement projects is to spend little while still keeping it unique.

Yellow was originally in my head. I love yellow and gray. But, I'm really loving the second option with the large blue and yellow print. The third is my least favorite, but I'm a sucker for green. I'm not sure the gray would be bright enough for the small room. What do you think?

kid's bathroom makeover

2010-01-08T06:05:00.000-08:00

I mentioned earlier in the week that I was working on some plans to make my life more like I think of it in my head. One of those places is my home. I work from home and spend so much time here, one of my goals for the new year is to get my house more organized and pleasant to look at. We've lived in our house for almost four years and there are probably only two rooms in the house that I can say are complete. Both of my kids rooms were planned, painted, decorated and finished.

So, for my first project...the kid's bathroom. Yes, I'm very aware that all of the kid's spaces are the first to receive my attention, but they're so fun to do! Nothing has been done with the bathroom, it looks almost exactly as it did four years ago when we moved in. There is a tanish-chocolate-milkshake-like color on the walls. The bathroom functions as a bathroom for both kids (boy and girl) as well as a guest bathroom. My goal is for it to be kid-friendly, but also nice for guests. Check back Monday to see my plan for the room.

Cool Cookbooks

2010-01-07T12:12:00.000-08:00

Have you heard of TasteBook? They are cookbooks you can create with your recipes, personal photos or recipes that you can search for on their site. It's also expandable so you can add to it. They have some great covers to choose from and the books are designed quite well. This would make such a great gift for kids and grandparent's alike. Passing down recipes is like passing down a piece of family history. I better start now to get one done for next Christmas!

disney dreaming

2010-01-05T14:24:00.000-08:00

With the snow and the twelve degree temperatures, I've found myself daydreaming about our trip to Disney World in February (only 53 days left, but who's counting?) I've been in love with Walt Disney World since I was a little girl. My first trip was in the womb and I've gone at least once every year since. It's a magical world where work and chores disappear and you get to see life through the eyes of your kids. I'm uber excited to be staying at a new resort, Disney's Bay Lake Tower at the Contemporary.

Speaking of Disney, I think they have done something brilliant. Well, they do a lot of brilliant things, but this one is at the top of the list. Give A Day Get a Disney Day started at the beginning of the new year. Basically, you volunteer for a day and you receive a free park ticket. Just in my area alone there are opportunities to make blankets for kids, build houses, create digital books for libraries or clean up a park. I think this will be a great activity for our family to do and teach the kids about giving back. Making blankets for kids sounds like a good one, don't you think?

new cards

2010-01-05T08:09:00.000-08:00

When I was in college I used to spend weeks and weeks designing a project. We had critiques to go over every detail. I miss those days of sketching for hours. Luckily, over the holidays I found a lot of time to work on new card designs. There are lot of aspects of running a business. From accounting, marketing, shipping and packaging, designing becomes just a piece of the big stationery business pie. But, it's the best part and really reminds you why you're doing it in the first place.

My friend, Lori of Marzipan, Inc. writes a great blog, paisley wallpaper, and she often shares her new designs fresh from the sketchbook. I LOVE when designers share what they're working on and you get to see the process before they ever hit the shelves. So, I thought I'd share a couple new designs that will be printed here in the studio over the next couple weeks.

all photos property of Lucky Star Press, please do not use without permission, thank you

Wish List: Sublime Stitching

2010-01-04T13:28:00.000-08:00

While shopping at a bookstore in Cincinnati this past weekend, I came across Sublime Stitching, a company that sells do-it-yourself embroidery products. They are adorable! I love the stitchable stationery and baby bib embroidery kit. They have some wonderful books as well. I flipped through Embroidered Effects and the cover was beautifully textured with stitching. It has a ton of great patterns and project ideas.

all photos property of Sublime Stitching

home sweet home

2010-01-03T11:40:00.000-08:00

After what feels like weeks of traveling, we are finally home. For good. Well, at least until February I am determined not to travel. Packing the entire family is exhausting. Besides, I don't know if it's the new year or the lack of appointments on my usually cluttered calendar, but I'm motivated. The list in my head of things I want to do around the house, with the kids, with my business...it's growing by the second! More on that later this week.

First a little Christmas recap. We traveled to Iowa for Christmas to visit family. We enjoyed decorating cookies, sledding in all their wonderful snow and of course Andrew's favorite part...the wrapping paper.

We had planned to watch old family movies from when my dad was a kid. Unfortunately, we couldn't get the projector to work. We settled for old photo albums instead.

The weather on the way home was horrible, adding three hours to our trip. We're so glad to be home after another trip to Ohio this past weekend for a New Year's Eve wedding and more Christmas gatherings. Now, I must get that long list in my head down on paper!

new year, new blog

2009-12-30T11:52:00.001-08:00

You know that feeling when you realize that you're not who you thought you were?

I'm realizing that some of the things I thought were true about myself...aren't anymore. For example, I'm not as organized as I used to be. Office supply stores have been my favorite place to shop since I was little. I love my label maker and filing papers in a filing cabinet brings me great joy.

Exhibit A. This is one of my desks right now. It's a mess and it's not me.

That's the basis behind this new beginning and this new blog. As the title states, I'm a wife, mom and designer. I married my high school sweetheart, I have two adorable kids and I'm a freelance graphic designer and a stationery designer.

So the journey begins to become the person I already thought I was.