Cutting Up

I love a good play on words for a title. Some people probably don't share my enthusiasm about it, so I hope it's not too corny.

I always wanted to be a writer, you know. I have "books" that I made dating back to age 3 and 4. Before I could even spell and read, I drew picture books and stapled them together. The first one with words is called, "The Secret Leter" (Supposed to be Letter, obviously, but I was not quite 6 when I wrote it) It's about 2 girls finding a letter and trying to figure out where it came from. I know you didn't see that coming! Ha! Anyway, I have a rubbermaid box full of them and it really cracks me up to go through it. I still write stories and ONE DAY I would love to publish a children's book. Alrighty... that's another topic for another day.

I am in LUUUUHHHHVE with my Cricut. No... not cricket! My Cricut Expressions machine that I got for Christmas. Just pretend this isn't the middle of my dining room table that it is on with the huge craft mess around it. We have OFFICIALLY outgrown our house!



It has been serving as an extra shelf in the guest bedroom closet because I haven't had time to play with it until now. I thought it was going to be really complicated because the instruction book was pretty explicit. I looked through it after Christmas and that's why I have been reluctant to get it back out. However, I managed to figure out how to use it in about 5 minutes without looking in the manual. I have absolutely gone crazy with it. It is SO fast and SO easy. This week, I have put vinyl monograms and polka dots on 3 tupperware pitchers and 4 tumblers for a birthday gift and two secretary's day gifts. I made a really cute travel cup with blue background and brown monogram and polka dots for a friend at work. I made cards and cut out letters for an awesome ribbon wreath I made for a baby gift. Of course, I didn't get pictures of any of that. I was looking for stuff around the house to put things on yesterday. I found Annistyn's snack containers and went to work. I put A's and dots on all of them and I made these matching ones for Blakely...




I think it is awesome to be able to make plain cheap stuff look fabulous and personalized! The weekend projects include wall art, picture frame lettering, Finley's area, and probably the toilet seat lid in Annistyn's bathroom. I re-did her bathroom for her going-to-bed-by-herself "prize" and I'll post all the pictures later. Here's the mermaid that I painted for it last night...



It doesn't look splotchy like the picture shows it. The camera flash just highlights the brushstrokes that you can't see in plain lighting. I'm too lazy to edit it out tonight. Sorry.

I have just been feeling crafty this week. I re-did our blog layout, updated my website- www.shaepage.com and finished the senior portrait images I did the week before spring break and made a portfolio of proofs for her. There are several on my website if you want to see them. I thought they turned out good!

Here are a few of Miss Annistyn.

I wanted to show you the outfit she wore last July that STILL FITS this year. I told her to smile for a picture and she did this...



And this...



She was being really "proper" with her posing. Then I told her to say cheese and she did this...



I laughed it off, but tonight I was chasing her around (literally) to take her pictures in her cute Potato Saks dress and I told her to say cheese and she did the same thing!




She sticks her fanny up in the air and bends over! Where this came from.... I don't know! She knows what "cheese" is because she calls it by name when we eat it- pizza, cheese sticks, grilled cheese... it's all "cheese" to her.

I don't know what she thinks she is doing, but it is really funny.
This is the front of the dress, by the way.



She has got one personality like you wouldn't believe unless you were around her. She talks SO much- much more than a 13-month old should talk- she uses partial sentences and asks questions like crazy (even though sometimes I don't completely understand the question). She thinks WAY too complex. She often misses the simple explanations of things because she finds the complicated one. Like the toy where you put the big fruit pieces in the holes and the light up. Well she finds the almost invisible button (because it's that small!) that makes the thing light up when they are put in there and that's how she does the game instead. I didn't even know the buttons were there! Anyway, it may not be something BIG but she will leave her mark on this world in one way or another. She is very very right-brained like me and while I love that wild, free, creative spirit- she is also very strong-willed. Most people get a calm child and a wild child. Usually the calm one is first. If she is our calm child then we don't need any more children! I LOVE her like crazy though and I LOVE watching her personality develop even more each day.

We have something else developing too!
Our zinnias and sunflowers from Tuesday have sprouted!!!




Yay! Soon we'll have a yard full of both of them! Enjoy your weekend!!! :)