Vintage Sunshine: August 2012

Thursday, August 30, 2012

What a week!

are you all as happy as i am that today is friday? yeah? good! we have had such a low-key week, but i'm pretty sure that it's just what we all needed after the hustle & bustle of last week, prepping for camping & then being gone all weekend. we are surely looking forward to a 4 day weekend!

the important things first though.. if you haven't signed up for the Love Club yet, you NEED to.

i'm telling you, it's awesome. and, for only $12 you get a sweet little boxed shipped to you each month filled with handmade goodies and discounts.

last thursday i decided to make some cookies. inspired by my friend elizabeth. sadly, mine didn't look much like hers and really they didn't taste all that great. no idea what i did wrong though!

my new stamp! this should give you a good hint of what the new Vintage Sunshine blog will look like.

hand carved and absolutely adorable. plus, super fast shipping and a GREAT price. i will definitely be going back to creatiate on etsy for more stamps! if you order something from me in the future.. look for this stamp on it.

you know we celebrated brookelyn's birthday last weekend with a fun camping party in the mountains.. but did you see the amazing & beautiful cake and the fun favors? (there's that stamp!)

my kids were fighting so much the other day.. and then suddenly, i look over and they're snuggling and telling each other how much they love one another. i hope they always remember these sweet moments.

this girl can read. i'll tell ya.. we have to MAKE her put the books down and i am SO proud of that.

hopefully she'll always have a strong love for reading. btw..where did she get those legs for miles?

yikes. i've been so busy stitching up orders & packaging them since my hoops finally arrived that my work table was beginning to look like isaac had made a stop here in CA. i'm happy to say that the mess is no more. it only lasted a couple of hours. i can't handle that much mess for any longer!

one of my newest hoops! i'm in love. really, who doesn't love a kitchenaid mixer?

today i did one in blue for a customer & it turned out gorgeous!

have you seen the sale on instagram? BOGO free, 4" hoops! $12 shipped.

this thursday was spent stitching. almost all day (after cleaning & laundry of course). i loved the hoops i got to work on today. custom orders can be so much fun.

today, this came in the mail. this book makes us very happy and makes the fact that we're only in CA for at most, 5.5 more month very VERY real.

how was your week? did you see my post yesterday about things i'm thankful for and trying to focus on the good & positive? i'd love to hear what you're thankful for right now.

and, i hope that you all have a great holiday weekend with your families.

linking up here.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Thank you, Thursday.

you guys, i'm not even going to lie. the past couple of weeks have been a little bit rough.
sure, there's been plenty of good in our lives and we're thankful for that.

there has been plenty of stress & frustration surrounding the whole "searching for a job & trying to move to wisconsin" situation. there have been negative comments from friends & family about the decision we made to move the kids & i in february, even if matt hasn't found a job by then. there have been fall-outs with friends, awkward situations and annoying phone calls to deal with. i've had more migraines than normal, which has been beyond frustrating because they ruin our days.. and then the kids & i are stuck at home. my anxiety has been at an all time high, which can be a real bear when trying to sleep at night and just when dealing with things during the day!

but.. there has also been SO much good in our lives right now.
- we realized that he wouldn't have been making as much as we'd like at that new job.

- we don't have to rush to pack & move, just as the kids are going back to school.

- we were able to spend the weekend enjoying our time w/friends & family during brookelyn's camping party.

- the kids get that much more time to spend with grandmas & grandpas.

and so much more.

in the past couple of days i've also thought a lot about the things in my life that i have to be thankful for. i even downloaded the "gratitude journal" app on my phone and have been trying to be sure to use it every day. it's so important to remember that there are so many positives in our lives, despite the other stuff going on.. the negatives, the bad, the frustrating.

this has quickly become a favorite app of mine. if you don't have it already, you should consider downloading it. such a sweet way to remind yourself daily of the good in our lives.

i've still got a few september ad spots left here on the blog and i want to offer you, my awesome readers & friends a 15% off discount, with the code 15off. just go here. how have you been? are you happy that summer is coming to a close & the kids are going back to school? or, are you bummed that you're loosing precious time with your kiddos?
happy thursday!

Monday, August 27, 2012

A Camping Adventure: Birthday Style!

if you don't know already.. i LOVE to plan a party. nothing crazy over the top, but i love little details and making things special for my kids. so, after months of brookelyn & i planning her "rainbow" birthday party, we suddenly had a change of plans.

you see, a few weeks ago we took the kids camping for the first time ever and we all loved it. the kids had a blast.. and that's when brookelyn & i decided it would be really fun to bring a few of her girl friends and come camping.

welcome to brookelyn's camping adventure!

that amazing drawing was done by the awesome David from the Beauty of One and Tico & Tina.

who says you can't have a little pink & lace while camping?

brookelyn & her friends got their own little tent, complete with bunting across the front.

matt, cohen & i slept close by, our friends karen & andy slept in another tent and my mom & step-dad slept in the bed of their truck. our campsite was packed and it was great! all of those people there (and my dad & grandma during the day), to celebrate our sweet girl!

i ordered yet another cake from Kristen and as always, was not disappointed. she's amazing. isn't it gorgeous? brookelyn requested pink ombre on the inside & out and that's exactly what she got!

i made the tent with toothpicks & a small piece of fabric, the sleeping bags are just a thin piced of felt rolled up and tied with twine, the fire is tiny strips of jersey & cardboard for the wood, and the bunting is just washi tape, twine & lollipop sticks.

the bunting from brookelyn's paris party last year was used again this year, just strung from trees rather than in our living room.

the favors were made with supplies from pick your plum, my new chevron stamp from creatiate, and index cards. brookelyn wrote a small note to each girl, thanking them for celebrating her birthday with her. each girl also got 3 cute little hair ties.

we packaged the little goodies up in aqua chevron bags with washi tape.

alyssa, brookelyn & cohen were great helpers when we were setting up camp! these sweet cousins love each other so much.

yeah, this is mostly how cohen helped... by staying out of the way. haha

once the other 2 girls got there i insisted on taking pictures before they went off to explore the forest.

they were all pretty excited to sleep in their own tent!

the kids all took lots of little walks, climbed along the big log that was next to our campsite, sat around the fire and even enjoyed some down time coloring & writing in the tent.

everyone had such a great time & they've already asked to go back and do it all over again! we're so thankful that our friends and family could join us for a bit too.

we'll be celebrating our little love again on Sunday when she actually turns 9.

happy Tuesday!

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Happy Saturday!

hello to the weekend! i hope you have fun plans or at least relaxing ones. we're away camping, but i wanted to leave you with a couple of reminders!

september is only a week away! how is that even right? time flies, man.
with a new month.. come new sponsors & friends to the blog. ALL of my large, medium and small sponsor spots will be available as of the 1st of september and i'd LOVE to have you!

there are some exciting new things coming to the blog next month, especially with the holidays coming up. there might be a fun crafty swap & a super exciting handmade holiday link up as well.. just sayin'...
will you consider putting your pretty little button over there --> on my sidebar?
go here for all the details!

a couple of my medium ad sponsors are giving away some fabulous prizes over here!
good luck!

last but not least.. there's a 25% discount code for my readers, from Silly Happy Sweet over here. hurry & take advantage! carolyn makes some pretty accessories. *the code expires on Sunday!

Friday, August 24, 2012

Party Weekend!

this is sure to be a fun weekend for us! saturday night we're going camping with friends for brookelyn's (early) birthday! we're all pretty excited.

yesterday we got the news that Matt was not hired for the job in Wisconsin. we were pretty much devastated & it was a really rough night. but, we both got sad, mad, and angry really quickly.. and then talked about the positives just as fast as the negatives had come up. so, we're in good spirits and ready to move on.

this past week.....

what better to do on a saturday afternoon than watch The Hunger Games, of course.

hello, beautiful evening at the fair with the family.

that guy there, in the captain america shirt (that his son totally loves), he's MY superhero.

really, he's pretty awesome and i love him a whole lot.

it's that time again! HOW is it already September?! i'm so happy for fall though.

want to sponsor this month? i'd be so happy to have you!

photobooth fun at little brody's 4th birthday on sunday! love spending time with our friends.

iron man there is awesome at cleaning up his room lately. i came in to see this the other day and was beyond happy. so proud that he listened and even set up ALL of his little guy dolls. and yes, he sleeps with ALL of them.

i bought this fabulous stamp this week! i can't wait to decorate my packaging with it.

go here and snag one. she's got some GREAT stamps & they're hand made!

the other night when brookelyn & cohen were setting the table, she added this "family sign". every night now she moves it to so that it's in front of someones plate. love her heart.

this custom order might end up being my favorite! i can NOT wait to get it shipped out this weekend to it's new owner.

thank you #klout for yet another awesome perk! every girl loves a little nail polish, especially when it's Essie. and, gold?! yes please! i already painted my toes with this pretty.

my mom had to kids for the night on tuesday. i walked in their rooms before going to bed, as i usually do.. only to be reminded that they weren't there. notice half of the dolls are gone from cohen's bed? ;)

tried my very best to start today off on a positive note after hearing that Matt didn't get the job. it worked. i had a really great, really productive day. and, had fun my sweet babes.

i am so happy you're here today and so thankful to all of the sweet comments, tweets, texts, voxer messages, emails and more that were sent to us. your friendship, love & encouragement means the wold. he might not have been hired for this job, but we're confident that he'll find something bigger & better!

what are your weekend plans? hope you have a wonderful couple of days!