A little Late, but Here!

It's been a pretty busy week and I'm a little late starting, but I wanted to join the bloggy giveaway carnival !

I am again giving away one of my hand-stamped name plaques! These are great gift ideas for any occassion. This name plaque will be made in the silver frame (example below).

How to win:

1. You much live in the US (sorry for those that don't)
2. You must go over to my Perfectly Named site and look around, come back here and tell me
which background color you would like and the name(s) (either a last or a first and middle)
you would like on it and where you would put it. If you type something like "What a great
giveaway I would like to win" you will be disqualified
3. The contest will end August 1st. I will then draw a number. I will contact you and get more
information from you. If you do not respond within 48 hours I will draw another number.

For more chances to win other cool prizes go check out Bloggy Giveaways.

Photography

Another favorite hobby of mine is taking photos (a fairly new hobby). Sometimes I wish a had a better "subject" as mine doesn't sit still long enough. However the other day I was able to get outside and have a "mini" photoshoot with A. I am please with how many of the shots turned out and even more pleased with what they looked like after I had a chance to edit them.

Here are a few shots that I have gotten from her. I plan to have these printed in 8x10 and hang them in her room when we move her to a big girl bed.

Do you like photography? What are some tips you can give to a newbie?? Feel free to leave any tips and suggestions!!

Thanks~

Zag Bag Designs

A bit ago I wrote a product review for Zag Bag. I got my bag right before I left on vacation. I have been meaning to write up more about my bag, but have not had the time (my month is finally starting to slow down). :) Well here is my write up. I LOVE this bag. I do not carry purses but this bag makes a PERFECT diaper bag. It's stylish (remember you choose the fabrics with each bag). For this particular bag I got to choose the bottom fabric, the top fabric, the inner fabric and the handles. I am very happy with how my bag turned out. One reason it makes a great diaper bag is that it is big. I can fit 5 disposable diapers and 3 cloth diapers (w/ covers), a cup, Desitin, a baggy of treats, my wallet, baby tylenol and much more. It has many pockets and I can stay organized (not that I actually do...but I do try). Here are a few pictures. You'll have to go over and check out their site when you have a chance!

The Outside:
Check out all those pockets!

Hair Clips

Now that A's hair is getting thicker I am able to put alligator clip hair clips in it instead of just clip barrettes. I purchased some alligator clips online from ebay ($5.99 for 50 of them). I used the ribbon I have for scrap booking and card making and made hair clips to match most of her outfits. I have also taking things (i.e. flowers) off of clothes that I don't like where they are positioned and turned them into hair clips. Here are a few that I have made thus far.

15 Minute Smock

Today I said to myself:

"Self, I have not sewn anything in a while and I really have a want to sew."

I found my way to this website: http: //www.themayfly.com/weblog/

At the bottom of the page is a tutorial for a "Smocket" I then followed the link and came to some really easy instructions. This ou

Here is my finished project, this smock only took me about 15 minutes to sew and I like the fact that their is no need for button wholes (since my sewing machine doesn't do button wholes very well).

Here is a close up of the fabric that I used. I found this fabric at a garage sale for a $1 for both. I still have enough to make another one since this one may look like it won't fit A. But I'll have to try it on her later since we have 4 boys that I am watching and she doesn't want to stop playing.

VBS Week

Well, I mentioned earlier that we had our Vacation Bible School this week. The theme was DINO DETECTIVE: DIGGING FOR GOD'S TRUTH. Our VBS is quite unique as we run an All Family VBS. There is an opening with everyone together, then when the kids split up for their classes (by school grade) the adults stay in with our senior pastor, and then everyone meets again for the closing (David does a magic trick and shares the Gospel) and sing some silly songs, adds up the points and then we all go and eat cookies and everyone leaves when they want. It has been a tremendous outreach for our church as we have seen many families come to know the Lord (last year a husband was saved and throughout the year his son also. David was able to baptize the couple this past spring. What a blessing that was)!

I just thought I'd share some of it with you. I know this doesn't really fall into the same category of crafts that I share on here, but here is a slide show of some of the decorations that I painted (along with the teen girls) and the decoration we borrowed from people in the church. The set-up took me 6 hours on the Saturday before VBS started and all the painting and outlining took me about 4-5 hours with the teen girls and another 10 hours on the Friday before VBS.



All in all it was a GREAT week. Our highest total of kids was 67 on Tuesday Evening. We were able to raise over $1,560 for our missionaries (this was done with pennies). We have what is called a penny offering. Kids bring in their dollar bills and they can exchange them for penny rolls then they have a race to see who can collect the offering the fastest (girls against boys) we use 5 gal buckets for this since the buckets can weigh up to 100-120 lbs each (not a joke)!

We are both exhausted but it was a good week! I wish I had the chance to take a few more pictures, but I just didn't have the time.

I also have to say what a blessing it is to go to a church that the people are sooo willing and able to help with things. We can't thank many of the people in our church enough for the help that they gave us this week for VBS.

*note: I apologize for any gramatical and spelling errors as it is 11:40 at night and my brain is fried from the VBS carnival and everything we had to do to get it ready for tonight.*

Perfectly Named

My daughter's name is Annika (I refer to her on here as "A") with a name like hers I have trouble finding personalized name items (i.e. cups, toothbrushes, magnets, the little license plates for your bikes) you know all those little trinkets that your kids love because their names are on them. Well Annika is not a common name so no small trinkets for us. That is one reason why I started my personalized name plaque business. Someone made me one of these for my daughter when she was born and I fell in love with it and have since opened my own home-bases business called Perfectly Named.

Here is just one example of a plaque that I have made:

(more examples can be seen at the upper right hand of this blog)

You choose from 4 frame option, 13 background color options and the name you would like on it (either a last name or a first and middle name). Each plaque is hand-stamped and cost only $29.99 (that includes shipping and handling). If you would like to combine shipping for two or more plaques you can contact me through my website at Perfectly Named.

The plaques are perfect for baby showers, weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays. These make great gifts to commemorate someone special in your life.

Feel free to browse my website at:

www.perfectlynamed.blogspot.com

Sorry for the slacking!

I just want to apologize to all my faithful readers (all 8 of you). :) I am sorry the last couple of weeks have not been good blogging weeks. We got back from vacation then we had to get ready for Vacation Bible School at our church. I being the assistant pastor's wife, he who is in charge of VBS also get to help ALOT. I was in charge of the decorations. We had our first two evenings and everything is going great! I still have a busy 3 days ahead of me and then we will be back to somewhat normalcy around here.

But be on alert...I am making A a dress for my sisters wedding and be sure that I will post my progress!

Here's the darling girl that will be wearing the dress!























Did I say "darling"?!?!























Oh...much better!!! :)

Product Review-Bibsters

"Pampers Bibsters are disposable, absorbent bibs that you simply toss after mealtime, so your messy eater can drip and spill all she wants! And leakproof liner keeps her clothes clean and dry."

I have to say these are some of the greatest things invented! I am not a person that will go out and spend a lot of money on disposable things for babies. Especially things things such as bibs when all you have to do is wash them off or throw them in the wash machine. But these things are great when you are traveling! We used these for our 2 week vacation to Washington. When A was finished with one we just tossed it. It was nice, convenient, and easy.
I give this product ***** (5 stars)

I'm Back

Hello all!

I will have to say I've been back for about a week now, but life has been crazy and busy! I will start posting again next week! Pictures from our vacation can be seen here and here. Enjoy the pictures there are more than just this few so if you want you can check out our whole blog (you may have to do some searching as I have posted some new posts this week).

Have a happy 4th of July!