Twiggie Makes by Candace Grahl

So last week was a doozie. And I mean…yeah. All attempts at blogging were dashed any second I tried to muster up a post. I would enjoy - no, LOVE - to talk about it but it seems like it’s so much, so detailed & so incredibly personal that I don’t know if this is the correct platform in which to air it. Bottom line is I have been suffering from depression (again) for the last six months (and those of you who know me in real life or who followed me from Laughing Daisies know this is something I have struggled with for over ten years), until this week when the Lord clearly & very painfully, I might add, set me straight that it was not a depression but instead an intense time of spiritual maturity.

See? Heavy stuff.

While I stand today completely wide-eyed at all that the Lord has showed me in just a weeks time, I don’t want to scare anyone off or jump head-first into a big theological post. I feel like these building blocks in our faith are given not just for us but for others to bear witness to, but I also want to respect the process & share it in it’s time & as the Lord ordains it. So the jury is still out on that one but please delight with me as the Lord has put a new song in my heart to bring Him praise. He is so good!

On that note, here are two other posts I’ll link you to for todays reading. One I wrote for my sweet, bloggy friend Amanda over at Impress Your Kids, a great blog designed to impress your kids with the knowledge of God, as commanded in Deuteronomy 6:4-9. I recently read a book on how to give the Biblical blessing & it has changed the way I am speaking to & blessing my children, my husband, & those around me. A definite must-read as a parent, in my opinion.

The other post is by another dear friend who took my headshots for me for my biznass (to be unveiled in the near future, hopefully, as I get the guts to do so) & their recap of it. Super fun, SUPER TALENTED, super great team at Kellan Studios, can’t say enough good things about their work or their friendship.

I really want to come up with a Top 10 for tomorrow but am drawing a complete blank as to what to do. Any ideas? Suggestions? I’m thinking of turning the tables on you to have you answer ten questions for me since I know some but not all of you & I wanna shake things up a bit. Consider this your warning.

A few weeks ago one of my dear friends Amy asked me if I would make a cake for her, & not just any cake but a surprise-gender cake for her, her husband & their family. They are having their first baby & were headed for the big ultrasound. They wanted the u/s tech to keep the gender a secret, they would then bring me the information & I would put either a pink or blue layer of icing in the center of the cake to indicate what they were having. Then the family would gather together that evening so they could all find out together. A pretty cute idea right? & I’d be lying if I didn’t feel a little drunk with power as they handed over the results & I watched her husband squirm at the thought that someone other than the doctor knew what they were having (sorry Jared!).

I had made the cake the night before (using Bakerella’s scratch yellow cake recipe - wonderful & relatively easy I might add) & once I had the ultrasound results in-hand I assembled the cake.

I have to say that I’ve iced cakes before but never trying to do a smoothed buttercream finish. I was quite nerve-wracked about it but it wasn’t that difficult. The best part about doing a buttercream finish is that if you mess up, you can smooth over the smudges pretty easily. I still need to perfect the overall “smoothness” but for my first go with it, ever, I wasn’t hating the results. I had to add the dots because I love polka dots & after Conner’s birthday party I was itching to use my icing tips some more.

Over all it was one of the funnest projects I’ve done in awhile - I got try something new & for something so fun as letting mom & dad know what they were having. I should add that I had to make four - yes, FOUR - batches of buttercream frosting. There was about three layers around the cake with two thick layers of icing on the inside & the thing weighed eight pounds (I got out the wii fit balance board & weighed it) - it is serious. I kept telling mom to prepare herself for the diabetic coma that would inevitably follow. I love having these types of projects to do - new, fun & a gift of sorts.

Oh, & they’re having a baby girl. Congratulations Amy & Jared!

So my baby boy turned four last week. FOUR! How does that even happen? One minute he is this red-faced screechy little baby & the next he is my fun, smart, articulate, hilarious little man. For a few months before his birthday he kept telling me over & over that he wanted a pirate party. Just for jokes I would ask him randomly, “So Conner, you want a clown party?” or “You’ve been asking for an animal party, right?” and each time he takes a deep breath & says, “No, mom, a piiiirrrrraaaattttte party. Pirate.” Isn’t he adorable? I found a stamp set I wanted to use, gathered some paper & started planning. I definitely got into it - I mean, in the invitation I really used the term “come have a swash-buckling good time!” *insert eye roll* but it was a lot of fun, especially the cake!!

Isn’t it awesome? Beth at Taste Selects, a local bakery took my design & ran with it. Love how it turned out! I did the red cuppies to accompany it & our good friend Ryan Portnoy came to snap the pics.

cupcakes…..yummmmmmmm

This is the pennant I made, which was super easy - cut out triangles, hole punched the edges, slide cotton yarn through, hang, voila - pennant. Conner loved this thing. When hubby & I were hanging it his eyes lit up & he kept asking, “Is that for me? Is that for my party?” The concept of alllllllll of this being for him was blowing his mind.

I am such a fan of cookie favors. I highly highly recommend doing them for your next party. No annoying toys that fall out of that awkwardly small little bag, no more leaked thing of bubbles all over your car, no. Instead, you spend a fraction of the cost (even if you buy already made sugar cookies & let your kid decorate them) & your guaranteed that everyone will love & use your favors.

These are the thank you’s that I did & while they were time-consuming they were still fun. Any excuse to nerd out with paper crafts & I am there! Piecing the squares together took the most time, but after that they came together easily.

Overall the party was a blast. I got to see my little guy set loose with eleven of his most-loved peers & while it parted my hair quite a few times, they all had a great time.

Happy 4th birthday my sweet Conner!!!

WAIT! Nobody move just yet! I make no promises a post shall follow up this one in the next 30 days (or 6 months) but dang it I’m gonna try! Blogging is one of those things I wish I had more time for. And it’s not that I have no time, it’s just what free time I have I just can’t make myself do it. But I am giving into the siren’s call yet again so y’all pray for me cuz I really want it to work this time. Sometime I feel like this blog is just a bad boyfriend, yanno?

First, did I blow debris into anyone’s face as I dusted off this thing? Yeah? Sorry about that. I feel like we need an icebreaker game or something, get reacquainted again. Many of you are following me on twitter so you know what I’ve been up to. I thought about posting one of Amanda’s fun Top Ten Tuesday list of all the things I’ve been up to since we last spoke but man alive, I blacked out thinking about that. You would’ve been bored to tears. So instead I’m just gonna hit the ground running with what’s been on my mind-grapes. Oh, & for those of you who don’t know, I am slightly obsessed with the show 30Rock. Love it. LOVE. IT. I think my goal for last year was to work as many quotes from the show into every day conversation as I could & hubby can attest to that as I tried. He said, & I quote, “Please stop, you’re killing the magic”. So be ready to catch ‘em (Heather, so far you’re the only person who’s risen to the challenge of identifying them but I challenge others. Maybe I’ll start doing a contest or something).

Okay so this was a little painful! Easing back into blogging is definitely intimidating. I know I’ll get the feel for it again & don’t want to be scared away but geeeez I feel rusty! Okay wait someone wants to say hello:

Hey Conner, what’s up? You wanna tell them what? ‘kay, go ahead sweetie

Aww that’s so sweet, well…what…oh, sorry…

K, are you done? I don’t want to be rude…

….how ’bout now?

G’nite to you too.

Back in January I went through an organizing overhaul and no closet, drawer or cabinet was safe. I can say I cleaned out and organized everything in this house. It was wonnnnnnnnnderful. Keeping it organized has been fairly easy (thanks in part to my understanding husband who complies with almost all the crazy rules I implemented
post-organization) yet my studio gets the raw end of the deal almost every time.

Since it is the first room you see when you enter our home, keeping it messy isn’t an option for me - drives. me. bananas. So when I’m done with a craft, I just stuff supplies back into drawers, cabinets, behind the island where it can fit that will not be seen. This type of unorganization makes things most difficult when I want to work on something fast and can’t find a darn thing.

I’ve really been into paper crafting lately so I decided to move out old craft supplies that I have temporarily lost interest in and were continuing to collect dust and organize the supplies that I was using now and those I will need for the upcoming holiday season. And like any good organizing project, it must get worse before it gets better, right? And what was assumed to be a small one-day project has turned into almost a week and I’m being so meticulous even my OCD is rolling it’s eyes at all the labeling and cross-referencing.

I tackled the paper first. I have lots of paper. I love it so much but even I did not realize just how much I had until I pulled it all out and began to separate it.

Some I had forgotten about so I am now super excited about knowing exactly where it will be so I can actually use. Crazy idea, I know.

So anyways, went from this (paper packs, card stock bundles still bound and in the original packaging)

to this

Ahhhhhh. Feels good.

I dissected all the paper packs, pulled them a part, labeled it all and everything.

And even my card stock got organized.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

And the best part is I forgot to make a card for a bridal shower I was going to and had to do it fast and it literally took two minutes to gather the supplies as apposed to the ten minutes it would’ve taken me because I couldn’t find the right shades of paper, inks or stamp set that I needed.

Stay tuned for the exciting sequel to this post: organizing all my stamps. It’s sure to be an award-winner. *snore*

Maybe not yours, but definitely mine! I hosted a baby shower for my dear friend Amanda last weekend, and while having a third child is (socially, unfortunately) not shower-worthy, she is having a baby girl after having two little boys so forget etiquette - throw some pink at the woman!

Pink and white was the theme, and please forgive the photo quality. I had to get photographer-friend-extraordinaire Kelly to show me how to use my external flash again (it had been almost two years since I had last used the thing and had forgotten how to use it *blush*) and then after, well, the difference it makes! But the before pictures were a nightmare to edit and I finally just gave up. You get the general idea, even if the color is a little wonky.

Anyways, cuppies are my favorite thing to do for a party or event. They are playful, adorable and so simple. And Michaels finally carries the larger icing tips now so the icing-to-cuppiecake ratio was split pretty even - just as much sweetness on top as cake on the bottom. Just how I like it!

More cookies from the fabulous Kelli Tripp (who will hopefully have a website soon if her designer would get her blog together. Wait…that’s me…oh right…)

Love Amanda’s excitement over my choice of plates and napkins. This woman is easy to please!

Amanda is a talker. When first meeting her, you never have to worry about awkward pauses with her - she can find any topic of conversation and go with it. This picture makes me laugh so hard because it looks like Amanda is sharing some salacious gossip (which Amanda never does) and her face shows her obvious feelings about it, and Jen is interested yet wary?

This is our good friend Keisha. She found out she was pregnant shortly after I did (with Max) and later found out she was having twin girls. After the initial congratulations and squeals, Tim says, “No fair, they get two!”.

Joy also has two little girls (not twins) who are the most precious, girly-girls you’ll ever meet. Amanda will not be lacking for moms in her life who know how to raise amazing little women.

This is Andrea and Meagan. I can post this picture of Andrea because one, it makes me laugh and two, she doesn’t read my blog and can’t get mad (heehee).

And we had a special guest at the shower - Sharon Obsorne! She heard Amanda was a fan and graciously made an appearance. (This is actually Kelly’s mom, Dawn, who is just as fabulous as Sharon herself).

I never understood all the gushing and babbling that happens at baby showers until I started having children, but to be with your closest girlfriends, celebrating another life that will be introduced into your life and your family’s as well, there’s something so special about it. Even more so when it’s a baby that you know has been hoped and prayed for for so long. Congratulations Amanda - we can’t wait to meet Addison Elizabeth!

So until the good Lord decides to bless our family with a little girl of our very own, I shall live vicariously through my friends who have them. Everyone tells me that in about ten years I’ll have all the little girls I can handle (following the boys with their tongues wagging!) but I’m holding out hope…and crossing fingers, toes, legs and anything else that our next addition will help balance out all the dude-ness in our house.

I hear you guys loud and clear, “no more cast-offs as giveaways!” and message received! To be perfectly honest I am surprised I even got seven commenters, I was thinking it would maybe be one or two. But either way, to the seven of you thank you for your desire for my clothes. And to the rest of you, no harm no foul right? And the winner is my Canadian blogger-friend Heather - congrats Heather! Email me your addy today before 4pm EST and I’ll get your prize in the mail this afternoon, otherwise it may be a few days.

Craftiness has not been abounding too much around here but I am seeing it peek it’s head out to say hello a little more often. Not quite sure what that’s about but I am embracing whatever I can.

I made this card for a new friend, Lisa, who is one of the most talented artists I have met in a while and apparently had a blog but doesn’t keep up with it anymore (which is a shame because she should be sharing her gifting with everyone *wink, nudge*). Anyways she hosted a scrapping class, which was AWESOME and I can’t wait to share the finished product when it is completed, and I wanted to send her a thank you for her hard work prepping all the material. I am really digging vintage-inspired paper crafts, especially vintage-parisian. I may have to do this card a few times over since I love love love it!

I also whipped up some thank you cards for Amanda that were part of her baby shower gift (which I will share shower pictures later - so much pink!) and then a few extra for me because I was quite smitten with them.

I mean, birds, red and aqua, hello! LOVE IT!

Speaking of, don’t you love when you’re going about your daily life and you turn around (or look down in my case) to see something that makes your eyes adjust a little more quickly and then it clicks what you’re seeing and a smile begins to spread across your face?

Something about the red strawberries in the teal colander and I found myself staring at it for a few moments, letting the depths and richness of the colors settle into my brain and I had to take a picture. It just makes me so happy! I’m pretty sure I will visit this photograph in the winter when the trees are dull and bare and color is not the only thing in hibernation. It was another moment where I found myself completely in awe over color and what a gift it really is.

Max’s birthday party went off without a hitch. It’s amazing to me that when you decide to not stress about something, and stick to your guns, how much that can change your perspective.

We have a large circle of friends and family. Large. I feel so incredibly blessed to be surrounded by so many people who love me and my children immensely, however planning events can be daunting, especially when over half those on the guest lists are kids who are coming to a swim birthday party and they are calling for a chance of rain and everyone may end up in our small-medium-sized home. Thankfully the rain stayed away and with my mom and mother-in-law to help with last-minute prep, my decision to not stress about his party was rewarded by everyone having a great time, myself included.

This is the banner that I made and will keep and use for their birthdays from now on. I read about a woman who made one for her children when they were babies and puts it up every year for the whole week of their birthday, and the kids gets so excited when they wake up and see the banner, signaling that their birthday week has begun. I found the paper at Michael’s and fell in love with the color pattern, which happened to match the plates and napkins. Again, something I decided not to stress about and it all just fell in place. Then I used my handy-dandy die-cutting machine, added some chipboard letters and voila.

And to everyone who may or may not have broken a tooth on the cuppie sprinkles, my apologies. I was obviously going for aesthetic appeal over comfort and those bad boys were hard. Next time, only the soft ones, pinky swear.

And true to my southern roots, tons and tons of food. Don’t know what I was thinking when I kept thinking over and over, “Will we have enough food?” And the answer is always yes. Take me by the shoulders next time, shake me and say, “yes, woman, YES!” Or bring tupperware so you can take some of it home because we still have spinach-artichoke dip sitting in our fridge.

Those are the cookies that the fabulous Kelli Tripp made, who has just started her own cookie company and as soon as her website is up and running I’ll post it so you guys can order from her. I’m pretty sure she’ll be offering to ship them, which is good for those of you not in the ‘burg. She does her own homemade fondant which is WORLDS better than the store bought. I give this chicka and her product two thumbs up!

Max didn’t quite know what to think of all twenty-something party guests singing at him. I’m actually surprised he didn’t start to cry because he is not a fan of loudness. Just ask his big brother.

And when it really came down to the cuppie, Max was way more intrigued by what it was, than what it tasted like. The icing ended up everywhere, in his hair, his eyelashes and his ears. But hey, it’s his birthday and I had to calm my OCD down by reminding it that these are the few moments in life where wearing your birthday dessert is perfectly acceptable.

All in all it was fun and made me realize that while I am so saddened by Max’s first year of life being over, it’s only going to get better and more fun as he gets older, birthday parties included. If you want to see the whole set of pictures from his party, head on over to my flickr.

Update: Some of you have expressed interest in purchasing a banner. I will custom-make one for you, but will not stock them in my esty shop just yet. So if you’re interested, email me or leave a comment and I’ll get back with you to work out the details.

Okay okay, I know I said I wouldn’t talk about my children on this blog, at least not to the extent that I did on the other one, but today is a special occasion since my baby boy was born one year ago today. *sniff* Those that know me know how much I absolutely adore this little guy. Maybe it’s his infectious personality. Maybe it’s the fact that he will smile and laugh all day and for no other reason that he’s just happy to be with you. Or maybe it’s just I love him so much more than I ever imagined I could love a second child. And while I will contain my super sappy sentiments for his baby book, I have to share a little because…well I just do.

So to my son on his first birthday. Max, you are, for a lack of better words, a breath of fresh air. Every day. Every day that it all seems to be too much, you smile at me and it suddenly gets better.

Every day I feel like a wonderful day couldn’t get any better than it is at that moment, you show up and somehow it does gets better. There is not a day that goes by that you do not make me laugh so loud, from my gut, because your humor is my humor and we just get one another.

Your countinence is inviting, your smile so warm and encouraging and your laugh, your contagious and amazing laugh - it stirs up every good emotion in me and there is nothing else like it. Some days I am convinced you are pure sugar, but each day I fall just a little bit more in love with you and wonder if my heart really will burst because of you.

You are amazing and wonderful and truly a gift from God. Your little being was created with such careful consideration and I can’t wait to see all the joy and happiness and goodness that you will bring to this world. Happy Birthday, my precious baby boy. I love you so, so much!

So…I’ve been MIA the last few…err…months. What’s that? You hadn’t noticed? That’s okay, I don’t think I realized either just how long it had been. This blogging thing can get tricky, especially when you decide not blog about the things in your life you want to talk about all the time: your children. They occupy 90% of my awake time and that’s not unreasonable. I just didn’t feel like splitting that time with them for anything else. And then when I would want to blog it just felt empty. And boring. Incredibly boring, actually. But just like every creative individual who has gone before me, when creativity finally strikes you can not stop it and then voila! Something to blog about.

Two weeks ago my hubby gave me the best “because I love you so much” gift by letting me go to the beach by myself for a few days. My parents had rented a house and wanted all of us to come but mothers of small children know vacation is not always a vacation - sometimes it’s just being away from home without the comforts of home. So I declined their offer. But hubby said I needed some time away and since he works for himself, no need to ask a pesky boss for the time off to watch the boys. I was very anxious about leaving them - very. I had not left them for more than a day, and they are not only my job, they are my life. However once I was in the car on my way, listening to *my* choice of music, it didn’t seem so bad. And when I woke up the first morning to sunshine streaming through my window and got to get up not to the sound of a baby that was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, not fix a bottle and not be forced to care for anyone but myself I was incredibly happy to be there.

I went for a run, spent time on the beach in solitude, drove around the island that I had spent so many summers there before, do whatever. I. wanted. It felt amazing! And while the vacation was truly a vacation, the best part is I got to step back from my life and see everything about it in a new perspective. I was able to fall in love with my life again. And not just my life, but where I am in it right now. It’s so hard to not get down about the things I can’t do, places I can’t go, or dreams I can’t chase because I am tethered to my children right now. But being away from them, tasting freedom just enough energized me in every facet of my life and sent me home with a new respect for it and also a new attitude. Those three days alone were the best thing I have done for myself since becoming a mom over three years ago.

So here I am and slowly reacquainting myself with my craft space. I felt I couldn’t just barge in there, rummaging through stuff. I had to proceed slowly…after all she has been severely neglected! And while I love to crochet and have quite a few projects that are started and remain sitting in baskets around the house, my new craft genre du’jour is paper crafting. It’s easy, it’s quick, it makes a huge mess but sometimes that is very satisfying - seeing the sweat of your brow, even if it means tons of little paper scraps are strewn all over your floors.

I’ve had some of my paper for years, always wanting to play with it but never actually giving it too much time. But lately I’ve been inspired by some of my card-making friends and have been dabbling in it more and more and find it’s another great craft that doesn’t require too much time, energy, or money.

Aren’t the colors of these cards so fabulous? They were inspired by one of my favorite bloggers and etsy shop owner, Paper*Cakes. I love the vintage hue’s of the blue and pinks. So gorgeous! These cards are probably my absolute favorite and I will have a hard time parting with them. I thought about selling some of them in my shop so they may make an appearance soon, along with some other cards that get completed. This one is my favorite, hands-down.

I will hopefully be working on a new site design because this one I am no longer feeling. Need something more *me* and not so streamlined. This one seems to lack the fun-factor. No flair. Maybe that will help keep the bloggy-mojo coming.

*Sigh* It feels good to be back.