Ireland Bound

Not me, but this little guy is on his way to Ireland:

My mom made a large custom order through my Etsy Shop for various family in Ireland (thanks mom!). She asked what I had for little boys, and the answer was nothing. So I made this little guy as a bonus to her order.

This is the pattern I used. It is a free pattern and is not to be used for commercial purposes (I.e. I won't be making them for the shop). But he is a cute little fellow.

A Business Card in a Hurry

Creating a business card for myself has been on my list of things to do for a while. It just got bumped to the front of the queue with some of the orders in the shop.

I didn't want to delay the orders while waiting for professionally made business cards to arrive so I made this quick one in Photoshop Elements.

I've been drooling over different cards on sites like Moo and Minted but I think this one will do just fine until I can put more time into the design.

I used the header from my Etsy shop as a starting point (which is also the header for my blog with different pictures - branding!). Then, using the same font combination, I jotted down all of the pertinent contact details. I added my main product lines to the bottom of the card to balance it out as voila, business cards printed out on nice card stock.

Where do you get your business cards printed?

Over Here

Over here I am breathing a contented sigh of relief that the parties are done and everyone is satisfied and feeling appropriately loved on their special days.

Over here I have taken 3 days off to just "be".

Over here I am so grateful for everyone who has visited my new shop and have left me encouraging comments.

Over here I have committed to focus on my health.

Over here I feel loved.

Sunday Links No. 19 - A String Bowl, Red Cabbage Smoothie & Soft Pretzels

I am gearing up to 3 more days off. Lots of creating and getting ready for a garage sale is on my agenda. I plan on throwing in some gardening and lots of relaxing too.

Here are my Sunday Links:

This string bowl is so pretty.

Let's agree to have more adventures.

I can't remember the last time I had a soft pretzel. This recipe looks like a good candidate to introduce my boys to this yumminess.

A craft for boys. Mine are stoked to make their own.

A craft for me. I am stoked to make this fabric!

Red cabbage smoothie. The author raves about it, I am going to give it a go.

Enjoy your week!

PS Here are more Sunday Links if you want to keep browsing.

He Turns 8

My last birthday boy of this year, and his exuberance for his presents and cake was a great way to end the celebrations in our house. (Mine is still to come but we will be on vacation and I will be planning none of the festivities!).

At 8 Darien:

• Still loves to snuggle. He loves to come into our bed just as I'm waking up for the day to sneak in extra cuddles and sleep beside his dad.
•  Is so adventurous and independent. These are great attributes, they just make me nervous as he is also very focused on doing what he wants to do.
• Has a famous line when he is caught doing something he shouldn't and it is "I forgot". 
• Is so very thoughtful. He loves to make things for others and surprise them with his creations or good deeds.
• Is creative and has a keen sense for figuring things out. Like when he went to the salmon hatchery and put 2 and 2 together about the mechanics on how human babies are made. There is a logical trail he followed and I'm not sure all 8 year olds would have connected the dots the way he did. Ahem.

Happy Birthday Darien Bear!

alone

When I want to be alone I seem to be surrounded by boys and when I don't want to be alone is when I am. I am learning to appreciate the moments I have and those I share them with instead of wishing for something else.

This is my response to the prompt "alone" over on the Focus on Everyday blog. Please click here to see Gabi's response.

A Make-Over for my Clock

This clock is another item in my house that is functional but I was really getting tired of looking at it. I am not sure if it was ever my style, I think it was a gift. Instead of doing away with it and spending money on a new one I decided to give this guy a make-over.

Here is what I did:

1. I took pictures with my iPhone through the entire dismantling process, I wanted to make sure I was going to be able to put it back together properly!
2. Sanded the wooden part of the clock to prep it for painting. I originally was painting the outside yellow and then with a mishap with the clock that involved the wet paint portion to land face-down on my lawn, I decided I wanted it white anyway.
3. Using scrapbook paper, I traced the old clock face and cut out my new background.
4. In Photoshop Elements, I picked a font I liked and then printed out the numbers after flipping them horizontally. I wanted the numbers to be white and it was easiest to print the numbers in black and then cut them out. By flipping them your numbers won't be backwards
5. After the paint  and glue (from the numbers) was dry, I reassembled.

A few tips:

1. Make sure you haven't bent the hands, especially the second hand. That little guy is very fragile and if it is bent will either hit the glass or minute hand. Trust me, you don't want to undo your hard work (3-4 times) to get this one right.
2. Make sure that the minute and hour hands line up properly for each hour. This is easy to fix if they don't. Position the number hand exactly on the 12 and while (gently) holding it in place, move the hour hand to the proper position if it were to be exactly 1 o'clock. It would be a good idea to check this with all of your numbers.

Sunday Links No. 18 - Homemade Lightning, Food Art & Garden Signs

I just had a lovely coffee date with Gabi, so am only getting to my Sunday morning links now.

Making lightning sounds like a perfect summer activity for the boys.

I want to make this shirt, but I think I will use a jellyfish silhouette.

Food art, so fun! My favourite is the birds on a line.

This book is extra appealing to me now that my Etsy Shop is open for business.

A DIY family photo collage, another summertime activity me thinks.

Love this sign!

Browse some more Sunday links here.

In the Moment

So many things running through my mind; all things I "should" be doing. But I said no to all of them, shut them down and stayed in the moment. This moment.

This is my response to the prompt "in the moment" over on Focus on Everyday. Click here to see how the other ladies are staying in the moment.

Welcome to My Etsy Shop!

Last week I promised that today would be the day; the day that I open my own Etsy shop. And it is open for my business! I was ahead of scheduled and a wee bit excited, so ended up opening up shop on the weekend. I'm so glad I did, the response has been great and I've already made my first sale.

I plan on adding more items to the shop each week and so hope you will come and visit me.

Creating Harmony is all about items that are handmade with love. Be prepared for a wonderful array of knitting, crocheting, photography and curios.

Aspen Croft

Back in February, I wrote about some Etsy shops you should check out. One of those shops is Aspen Croft Heritage Farm Felt Studio. At the time I was anxiously awaiting a custom pencil case for my markers. It arrived over a month ago but since it was a Mother's Day present I wasn't allowed to open it until Sunday.

It is so sturdy, even more than I was expecting; there are no concerns about it holding up to the amount I am going to be using it. The craftsmanship is superb and it is so special as it was made just for me by a friend from high school.

Julie asked me what colours I wanted and then browsed some of my favourited items on Etsy where she discovered I like dragonfly's (now that's service!). It is perfect, I love that my markers stand-up in the case and I can see them all easily without having to pull every one out to find a specific one.

Thank you Julie!

Please visit her shop to discover more felt wonders.

A New Ironing Board Cover

This little ironing board has been in my house for almost 17 years. I was considering putting the after picture first so I wouldn't scare anyone off, but decided to be brave and show you what happens after 17 years of ironing.

I purchased this flowered fabric at a thrift store for $1.99 and have had it in my stash for 2 years. I love the sunny disposition this fabric has but haven't been inspired to use it for a project, it's a bit too bright for a skirt and doesn't match anything in my house for a cushion. But yesterday I was ironing and voila, a quick and easy project was born.

I ironed the fabric first and then laid it right-side down on the floor.

I cut off the extra fabric (enough left to do another project of some kind) and used a staple gun to pin the fabric to the board. I didn't take off the old fabric or padding.

My hands weren't strong enough to get the staples all the way into the board so I used a small hammer to bang them in all the way.

I made snips in the fabric around the corners and stapled each section individually to keep a smooth, round edge.

This little friend is a new member of the household (part of my Mother's Day/Anniversary present). He fits right in with the new ironing board cover.

Sunday Links No. 17 - Leaf Portraits, Bug Spray & Chalkboards

I lucked out today, in addition to it being a wonderful Mother's Day it is also my 14th wedding anniversary! Talk about being spoiled.

These chalkboards are beautiful to look at and the quotes are inspirational - double-win.

A photo challenge with some extra cool prizes from A Beautiful Mess. Count me in.

Justina's leaf portraits are stunning, especially when she converts them to black and white.

A natural, do-it-yourself bug spray. This is necessary for all of the backyard campfires I have planned for this year.

We do our best to label watch and eat food that has been through minimal processing, but this movie trailer shows how hard it is. 80% of the food in our grocery stores has added sugar.

Looking for more links to visit? Find some here.

I Love Being a Mommy Because of...

I love being a mommy because of:
Kisses & Hugs
Story Time
Nurturing
Adventures
Laughter
Discovering
Learning
Love

Happy Mother's Day this weekend to all you moms out there. 

Pattern

I have wanted to open an Etsy shop for a very long time. The shop is even ready to go, with no items listed...yet.

It has been agonizing for me to find that ONE thing I want to sell. Just a few small weeks ago I came to a realization, I don't have to sell ONE thing. I can sell as many different creations as I can dream up. And so I will.

My other hang-up has been brainstorming ideas that have never, ever been done before. Another thing I have had to let go. I am putting my own unique "Harmony" into my creations and that makes them original in their own right.

I know I am on the right path with one of my products, I have made 7 of them in the past week. I am passionate and on a roll. I dug out my vintage book of crochet stitches and I am using them to make my own patterns. My shop is going to open in 8 days - May 15th. That is scary to write, but now I have to do it because there it is!

The pictures is my response to the prompt pattern over on the Focus on Everyday blog. Click here to see the pictures from the other contributors.

Sunday Links No. 16 - Patchwork Kites, Glorifying Busy & Avocado Salad

It's a super rainy weekend in my neck of the woods. April held up it's end of the bargain and brought on the rain and May has delivered on the flowers, but can I get some sunshine too please?

Here are the links that caught my eye on the internet this week:

Let's go fly a kite! But I refuse to fly another kite unless it is this one.

I love potatoe salads and this recipe resembles my family recipe. I'm all for changing it up and adding in the avocado. But I use dill pickles in my salad and that isn't going to change.

Improve your body image by getting naked!

I am going to stop glorifying BUSY.

Don't be perfect, just be good.

So enamored with my friend Chris' new magazine Adore Chroma (you can get the first issue here). This is his second magazine, his first one is Adore Noire (dedicated to fine art Black & White photography).

Want some more? Keep reading here.

Happy Saturday

A very happy Saturday to everyone!

The birthday celebration was fun; lots of love and laughs.

The hand-painted mugs were a hit. I don't envy his decision on which one to use first this morning! I used this tutorial from A Beautiful Mess. In their comment section there are mixed reactions to the success of this DIY project but I had no problems.

 The requested cake was fruit cocktail upside down cake. I had never made it before (and honestly didn't think I would like it) but it was good. I found my inspiration on Pinterest, there wasn't a lot to choose from but it was enough. It really is no different than pineapple upside down cake - I haven't made that before either. The birthday boy pronounced that it was just as good as mom used to make (yay?).

 Everyone enjoyed the party.

We ended the evening with a family game of basketball.

Make it a great weekend!

Another Happy Birthday!

 It's Jeremy's birthday today. He told us he didn't want a celebration but we are doing it anyway. (And I know he is going to love it). Nothing too elaborate: the boys, me, cake and some handmade presents. I'll share more about those after he opens them.

On his birthday, I want him to know:

• He is the best dad! They boys adore him, look up to him and respect him.
• He keeps us all well fed. He puts time and love into all the dinners he makes for us.
• He makes me laugh every day. Sometimes I don't even know what he is laughing at (and sometimes it is at his own jokes) but his laugh is so infectious I have to giggle too.
• We're a great team. We balance each other out and get the things done that need to be done and still make time to have fun.
• I love him!

Happy Birthday Baby!