Sweet Jillianlee- 5 months

One of my best friends let me take some 5 month birthday pictures of her precious daughter Jillian. They have amazing natural light in their house so we just shot for a few minutes in their living room one morning.

Isn't she precious?

This is not light and fluffy

This is not a pretty post. It’s not light and fluffy. It’s a real post. If you only follow this blog for giveaways and etsy tips then that is okay and this post is not for you. If you are not interested in “real” then please feel free to just skip this one and come back later. I will not be offended in the slightest. I told you a few weeks ago that this blog is changing format a little in 2011...that it is becoming more of a sounding board for me and less super focused on crafts. Anyways, this post is real in the sense that it is where my heart is right now. My heart is in a funk. It is an annoying funk too.

Let me start by saying that I am super blessed. I know this. I have an amazing husband, precious children, we all have our health, we are fed and clothed and have more earthly possessions than anyone truly needs. Most of all, I have a heavenly father who loves me for who I am because He created me that way.

I know all this to be true. The problem is that I am in a religious funk. I am in that lull between peaks and valleys. You know what I am talking about? When you are on a high or low, it is easy to seek and pray and sing praises and ask for prayer. But when you are in the boring in-between, it is not as easy. At least it is not for me. In this lull it is easiest for me to go about my day as if I am in charge and not my Savior. I hate this feeling.

You are probably thinking, “Just pull yourself out of it already.” “Have a quiet time and dig deeper.” Well, I have a hard time finding the motivation and drive to do even that. I am sure you are right, spending consistent time in the word and in prayer would probably “fix” things or at least start to. The problem is that my heart is not in it. I am just on auto pilot going about my life filling my days with menial tasks.

I am not saying that I have turned away from my faith or anything because that is certainly not true. I know what Jesus did for me and adore Him for it. I know what God is capable of and I know that He is with me in this lull and desperately wants to see me come out of it. I have not turned my back. I am just in a funk.

Like I said before, I am a very blessed person. I have experienced many, many, many religious high points in my life. Moments that I knew without a shadow of a doubt were God’s blessings and miracles. I can share plenty of those stories. At this point in my life, I have yet to experience a really low point. We have not had anything super tragic happen to our family, most of our relatives are still living, we are employed and healthy. This is what scares me.

I know that God works wonders through tragedy and sorrow. It is not intentional pain that He inflicts, but it is through the circumstances that He brings people closer to Him. I don’t want that to happen to me. Not that tragedy is avoidable, because it is not, but I just don’t want something terrible to be the reason that I get out of this pit. I want to make it out while I am in this in-between stage. I want to be close to Him again. I want to feel His presence daily and have the drive to spend much needed time in prayer. I want to be in a high place before our circumstances change…because they will. It is only a matter of time.

 

Actions Actions read all about them!

Stupid title, I know.

When you edit in photoshop and photoshop elements you typically do things in layers...adjust lighting, color, maybe add texture, etc. "Actions" are pre-determined changes that are grouped together and saved under one "action" so that they can save you time in photo editing. Creating actions is (in my mind) is really tough stuff.

Lots of people charge big bucks for actions but some people give them away for free! In case any of you are photoshop people, I thought I would share my finds.

Here are some of my favorite free photoshop elements actions and where I downloaded them from. (The links to download are listed at the end...)

 

original

Pioneer Woman's Boost

original photo  

  Texas Chicks Drama

 original

 Texas Chicks Color Boost

 original

Coffee Shop's Lomo

 original

 Coffee Shop's Butterscotch Vintage

 original

Pioneer Woman BW

 original

 Isabella LaFrance's Easy123  

 original

Paint the Moon's Vanilla Pop 

 original

Paint the Moon's Sunny Days  

You can download these actions and many more from these sites:

Coffee Shop Blog
Isabella LaFrance Photography
Marisa Hugonnett Photography
Paint the Moon
Texas Chicks
The Pioneer Woman



If you have any other great sites with free actions that you can recommend...please leave the information in the comments for others to share. 

Origami Gift Bag- A guest tutorial from Ragadoodle

Paula from Ragadoodle came up with this precious origami inspired gift bag tutorial to share with us. This bag would be perfect to fill with Valentine's day treats for your family and friends.

Origami Gift Bag

Materials needed:
2 fat quarters
1 yard ribbon or cording

Assembly:
1. Cut fat quarters to 18-inch squares (making the square larger or smaller will change the size of the bag).

2. Placing right sides together, sew around the edge leaving a 3-4” opening for turning. Trim corners.

3. Turn right side out and press.

4. Top stitch close to the edge on all sides, making a nice finished edge and enclosing the opening.

5. Lie Square in a diamond shape on the table. Fold the top corner down; Fold the bottom corner up, over lapping the the top corner you just folded down. You will have folded your square into thirds as illustrated in the Left Diagram.

6. Find the center and mark a line one inch on either side. Stitch on the marked lines. (If you adjusted the size of your bag-beginning square size-adjust these stitching lines accordingly).

7. Fold piece in half with the folded sides toward the inside. Sew up the sides to close the edge as illustrated in the Right Diagram.

8. To make the bag bottom, bring one side seam to the bottom and pin. This will make your corner come to a point. Mark a horizontal line about 1”- 1 ½” from the point. Stitch on this line. Repeat on the other side to create the box bottom of the bag.

9. Turn bag right side out.

10. Fold the triangular flap down so that you can still see a little of the fabric peeking through from underneath. Sew ½ – ¾” from the folded edge all around the top of the bag to form a casing.

11. Thread ribbon or cording through the casing. You can leave the ribbon in one piece and tie the bag on one side, or you can cut the ribbon in half and thread one piece thru one side, and the other piece thru the other side. Knot ends on both sides.

12. Fill bag with gift! :)

Cute, huh?

Want to know something really exciting? Paula and her husband have started the process to adopt a baby! All the proceeds from her etsy shop are going to their adoption fund. So, go check out her shop and pick out something precious and feel a little extra pride knowing that your purchase is helping her family grow.

Paula also wants to share a coupon code with Noodles & Milk readers...use "GOTMILK10" for 10% off all orders placed by January 31st. Happy Shopping!

You can follow Ragadoodle on Facebook here.

Tips for Etsy Success: Relisting and Renewing

I thought that I was done writing the etsy success series but I had a reader ask as great question, so I will do my best to answer it. Ashley, from Monkey Style Boutique, asked me for some advice on renewing items- mainly when the best time to do it is.

This is a great question. Etsy shop owners know that renewing and relisting is what keeps your items at the top of the search listings. Keeping your items at the top of the search results is one of the things that betters your odds of making a sale. Basically, renewing and relisting is super important.

For starters there is a difference between relisting and renewing. Relisting is taking an item that has sold and re-listing it into your shop. In my experience it is best to re-list an item as quickly as possible after it sells, if not immediately. If there is one person online shopping for your products at that moment in time it is likely that there are others looking for the same items at the same moment. There have been many times that I have sold an item and re-listed it within seconds of it selling only to sell the same item again instantly.

Renewing is basically refreshing an item listed in your shop that has not sold. Renewing is what this article will focus on. The simple answer to how often an item should be renewed to bring sales is that it really varies based on your product type.

I can speak for boutique childrens and baby items. When I was selling custom gifts I found that if I renewed 2-3 different items every morning (first thing- between 7am and 9am) and then again at 1pm-ish in addition to re-listing all day as items sold then I would do pretty good. I did this Monday through Friday and on Saturdays. I skipped Sundays because sales were always slow on Sunday no matter what I tried. This being said, once you start this routine you should notice a trend in what time of day most of your sales are. For example, if you notice that between 3pm and 5pm you get the most sales then focus more on renewing at that time in the future.

THE most important thing to remember when using the renewing technique is not to renew your entire shop each time. This is a waste of money and it is super annoying to other etsy sellers. You don't want to anger the etsy community. That would be like biting the hand that is feeding you; not a good idea. Instead of renewing your entire shop, just pick a couple of different items at a time.
 
Do you have any other etsy questions? Do you have a new or struggling shop that you would like help getting off the ground? If so, let me know and I would be happy to try and give you my best advice.

PS: Don't forget to check out the other articles in the business success series.

2011 Resolutions

Want to know what my 2011 resolutions are? Come on, I am sure you are dying to know. Okay, it is not that I think any of you particularly care about my goals for this year, I just think that I might hold myself a little more accountable if I know people are watching me. So, without further ado, I give you my resolutions for this year:

 

1. Lose 25 pounds. Yes, weight loss is my number one goal. I am not trying to be cliche here just trying to lose weight that I have left over from these two. I am hoping that the first 5-10lbs will come off pretty quickly seeing as I have been eating whatever I wanted since the baby was born. I figure that by making some sort of conscious effort watching what I eat I should get a jump start. Right?

 

 

2. Save money. My husband and I used to have a pretty substantial savings account. Then we had a child, I quit my job to stay home, we had another child and life happened. That savings account is no more. We want to move into a better neighborhood with better schools in the next few years so we need to get saving again.

 

3. Pay off debt. We have student loan debt, car debt and a little credit card debt. Debt is no fun. We want it gone.

 

4. Practice photography more. I LOVE taking pictures. I have had my DSLR for a year now and am just now getting comfortable shooting with it in manual mode. I am still learning about it and playing with the three lenses that I have. I want to vow to practice more and more and see where it takes me.

 

5. Write (at least) one new pattern for the shop every quarter. This sounds like a super simple task except that I am in a funk with sewing. I have great ideas and I want them to just happen with a snap. Too bad it doesn't really work that way. Writing patterns takes a LOT of time that at this very moment I would rather spend with my kids, sleeping or playing with my camera.

 

6. Try one new recipe a month. This also sounds super simple but to a cooking-challenged person like myself it is not. If you have any great and easy recipes, please share!

There you have them. My goals for 2011. I know they are not exciting or even that inspiring, but they are my goals and I hope that by putting out there for the world to see I am able to hold myself accountable.

What are your resolutions this year?

 

Fun, Food and Friends

My husband and I made the very hard, but wise decision not to follow our TCU Horned Frogs to the Rose Bowl this year. We really wanted to but it was just not in the cards. Instead we stayed home and threw a watching party for the handful of friends that did not go to Pasadena for the game.

my daughter being a goof

one of the food tables

(I apologize for the poor lighting in these pics)

While I did get teary eyed several times watching the game (the fly over, national anthem and of course the victory confetti at the end), we had a wonderful time spending New Year’s Day with good friends and food. The kids skipped naps and ran around like crazy cheering T-C-U. Everyone ate way too much food and may or may not have had too much to drink. When the game was over, both of our phones started blowing up with texts from friends at the game. It was a good day.

loading up the plates

yummy pulled pork

My husband cooked the show stopping pork for our pulled pork sandwiches. Ya’ll he started cooking it in the smoker 7 hours before the game. It was super yummy! One of my other personal favorite things from the party was the cheesy bean dip. It is so easy and a crowd pleaser. I got the recipe from a friend (thanks Jen) and thought I would share it for those of you who might be having a playoff or super bowl party soon. Do me a favor though, eat this dip with Fritos. It just isn’t the same with anything else:)

okay, so I forgot to take a picture of just this dip. It is the white casserole dish in the upper middle part of this picture. (Above the mini cupcakes and cookie plate)

Cheesy Bean Dip

1 large can refried beans
8oz cream cheese
16oz sour cream
½ packet taco seasoning
Small jar of picante regular
2 cup bag of shredded cheddar cheese
2 cup bag of shredded monterrey jack cheese
(or sub a 4cup bag of the mixed shredded for the above 2)

Mix the first 3 ingredients with a hand mixer until smooth. Add the taco seasoning, picante and all but ¼ cup of the cheese to this mixture. Mix thoroughly. Pour into 9x13 baking dish. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Remove foil and sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Bake until cheese is melted (appx 10-15 more minutes). Serve hot or cold. (is great left over too!).

Congratulations to the TCU Horned Frogs, Rose Bowl Champions!