Long Time. . . No Post

Hey strangers.  My poor blog has been so neglected lately and sooo many things have happened.  I'll give you a short summary (at least as short as I can make it - hehe).

* My kids both joined Upward Basketball and are doing great at it. 

* My Grandma Huff was in a car accident and broke her feet, collarbone, arm, hand, and suffered a brain injury with a big cut on her head.  She's been in a skilled nursing center and is now home with my Uncle staying with her.  I will be going next week to help her and visit with her.  She is having vision problems from her brain injury. 

* My Grandpa McDonald fell twice and got a large cut on his arm that require stitches.  Then fell on the ice and broke is foot/ankle.  He also recently has been diagnosed with Alzheimers and is struggling to deal with loosing his memories.  It's so sad for everyone and especially my Grandma Mc.

* Zach got strep, then got over it.

* Kaylee got strep, and we thought she got over it, but 8 days later she broke out with these horrible red dots all over her body.  The Urgent Care clinic thought she had scarlet fever.  We took her to see another doctor on Monday and never really found out what was wrong with her.  We know it wasn't mono - so the best guess is that she had scarlet fever or a very bad reaction to the first antibiotic that was penecillan. 

* I have been struggling with many sinus infections/bronchitis.  I went to an ENT dr and found out that I have a deviated septum as well as some other sinus problems.  We are trying some nose sprays to see if they will help so that I can avoid sinus surgery.

* I've started working out with a personal trainer, Meagan.  She is one of Kaylee's Upward Basketball coaches and she is a fabulous trainer.  I'm really hoping to loose some weight and get healthier.  If anyone is looking for a trainer in the Fort Worth area, send me an e-mail and I'll get you her info.  She really is awesome! 

* I'm almost finished with a new digital scrapbooking kit that will be available soon on Memory Mixer and Daisy Trail.  It is called "Love In The Air" and here is a sneak peek at the preview:

* I've also been playing with mixed media art and drawing animated people.  I'm having a blast at it.  Here is a pic of the canvas that I did for Zachary's Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Payblas.  I tried to incorporate as many of her interests and favorite things as I could.

*  Along the lines of Mixed Media - I've signed up for what I think will be a fabulous e-workshop called the "She Art Workshop" by Christy Tomlinson.  I'll be posting my progress from the class as we go along.  I'm super excited about it and here's the link if any of you are interested in looking into it. 

She Art Workshop

*  I've been working on orders for Cutiepies & Critters and am working to fill my last order that I have for now  (so turn around time is great right now - hint hint - tee hee hee).  I'm hoping to post some new items in the shop soon.  If you follow Cutiepies & Critters on facebook - you've prolly already seen most of the newer hats and cocoons, but they will be available in the shop soon. 

Well - so much for short and sweet - but that gets you pretty much caught up on what's been going on with me lately.  As you can see - my family can still use prayers for my Grandparents.  I'm so glad that they are healing, but here is so much healing that still needs to happen.  Thanks to everyone who has been praying and sending well wishes.  Each one is very much appreciated!  Have a wonderful rest of the week and hopefully I can get back to posting more regularly.

~til next time,
Paula 

My super kids and More new hats!!

Happy Tuesday to all!!

I first want to tell you how excited I am about the craft fair that will be going on at my son's school on November 6th.  I am in charge of it and so far we have some great vendors.  We still have room for more vendors, so if you are interested, please contact me for more info.  If you want to come shop - it will be a great time to get some of the holiday gifts taken care of.  The fair is from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM on that Saturday.  Hope to see you there.

I also have to brag on my kiddos.  Zachary is going very well in school and is in the Kindergarten play, Goldilocks and the 3 Bears.  He is playing the door - hehe.  He is so excited and is so cute singing the songs and doing the dances.  I know the play will be soo cute!  Kaylee had her first chair test in band for her French Horn - and . . . . she got 1st chair!!!  I was soooo proud of her.  You should also see the things she has been drawing - it is amazing!  She has been taking art lessons from Mrs. Jackson at the school and is blowing my mind with what she can draw.  She has been doing a lot of writing as well in her writing class.  I really love what this teacher has them doing.  One of the stories she brought home last night was just incredible.  I am just so proud of my kids.  :)

I am looking very forward to a much needed retreat this weekend at the Hen House.  I just can't wait and am hoping to get closer to being caught up on my Cutiepies & Critters orders.  I am so happy to be busy, but am trying very hard to keep the turn around time to less than 2 weeks.  Right now I have 20 items on order that I need to get done, so I'm a little over the 2 week turn around time, but hopefully after this weekend, that will change.  Whoo hoo!! 

I have a few new items that I have made for orders and have added to the website for sale.  They are great ideas for the holiday season!  Here are some great pics (thanks to Amanda of Mulberry Lane Studio):

That's all I have for now.  Have a wonderful rest of the week and weekend!
~til next time,
Paula

Filling Orders!!!

Hey everyone!

I am hard at work filling my orders for Cutiepies & Critters and I am loving it!  I just wanted to pop in quickly to show you the orders I filled last night and today.  I just love how they turned out!  I have more orders to fill tomorrow and for a few days I will be busy - yay!!

Thanks for looking!
~til next time,
Paula

More new products at Cutiepies & Critters

Happy Monday to everyone!  Today it is finally starting to feel like fall - yippee!!  I did not think it was ever going to cool down.  We even had a nice day yesterday and the kids played outside almost all day.  We had the windows open and I was crocheting while watching the Cowboys win with my dear hubby, Robby.  It was so nice and relaxing and I hope we have many more days like this. 

I finished some new items that I have now put up in my shop at http://www.cutiepiescritters.bigcartel.com/ .  Here are some photos of the new items:

I'm working on some new Christmas and holiday theme items that I hope to have in the shop soon.  :)  Now I'm off to get Kaylee from school to take her to her dentist appointment.  Have a wonderful week!

~til next time,
Paula

New products in the Cutiepies and Critters shop!

Happy Monday everyone!  I have been hard at work filling orders for Cutiepies and Critters and I hope to keep getting orders and staying busy.  :) 

I have the new "Newsie Hat" and "Mini Newsie Hat" in the shop.  They are a version of a slouch type hat with a band and brim.  They are trendy and seem to be very popular.  Here are photos of 3 custom adult ones that I have made and a newborn size mini one. 

Keep checking the shop at http://www.cutiepiescritters.bigcartel.com/ because I have more hats that I will be adding over the next few days.

I am also getting ready for Zachary's big 6th birthday this Thursday.  He is so excited - only 3 more sleeps (that's how he keeps track - hehe).  Then Saturday Kaylee will be going to Honors Choir tryouts. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!
~til next time,
Paula 

Something New

Happy Tuesday to all!  Well, we survived the first week of school and are on to the second week.  The routine is getting a little easier now.  It has been a challenge keeping up with everything the kids have to get/do and all the paperwork - oohhh the paperwork - ugh!  That was a pain, especially for Kaylee.  One day I spent 3 hours - I'm not kidding - 3 hours doing paperwork for Kaylee's school.  I felt like they had sent ME back to school - rofl!

On a totally different note, I wanted to share something new that I found I could do.  My sweet friend and neighbor, Risa, had an old and pretty beat up photograph that meant a lot to someone in her family.  She wanted to see if I could do anything to maybe restore it, even if it was just a little bit.  I got to working on it and all that digital design work paid off in a totally new and unexpected way.  I have to say that I was pretty surprised at what I was able to do with it.  I know it's not perfect, but I would like to show it to you. 

It was a fun challenge, but not something I think I'd want to do everyday - hehe.  Pretty interesting though, at least I thought so.  :)

Well, I'm off to finish crocheting a hat and try to get a jog in (if it's not too hot) before I go pick up the kiddos. 

~til next time,
Paula   

Back to school and 4 new hats added to the Cutiepies and Critters shop

Hello everyone!  It's back to school time and boy is this time of year hectic!  We have already had Kaylee's 6th grade orientation and in a couple of days we will have Zachary's Kindergarten orientation.  Wow, I can't believe I will have both kids in school now.  I've taken on the Staff Appreciation Chairperson position for Zachary's elementary school PTA this year.  I'm really excited.  Thursday is a luncheon for the staff and I am working on a nice surprise for the teachers and other staff members for the first week of school.  Once I have given them out, I'll have to post photos - I just don't want one of them to see it here and ruin the surprise - hehe. 

Another exciting thing - Amanda took some adorable photos with some of the hats I created in the past few days and I have now added 4 new hats to my shop at Cutiepies and Critters.  Here are some photos of the new hats:

"Little Red Monster Hat"

"Happy Hippo Hat"

"Aviator Hat"

"Purple Bumpy Hat"

Special thanks to Mulberry Lane Studios for these great photos!!

If you are interesting in looking more at these or some of my other hats for sale, please go to

http://www.cutiepiescritters.bigcartel.com/

Thanks and let's get these kids off to a great start to their school year!

~til next time,

Paula