Sprinkles , originally uploaded by byjen . Growing up, I always had a dog. I am very much a dog person. So when I left home to go away to college many years ago, I knew that I would want a dog of my own someday. And here it is ??? years later and I am just now getting a dog. It just seems like we were always waiting for the right time. I'm not positive that this is truly the right time, but it seems that the "right" dog may have just found us. A few weeks ago we were looking at dogs on the Petfinder app on my iPhone (I just love my iPhone) because Rebecca has been asking more and more about getting a dog. We found a little puppy named Cameo that caught Daniel's eye. Now Daniel was not raised with dogs, so I was excited to see a dog that peaked his interest. So I ran with it. We called and emailed about the pup. We learned that Cameo was in the process of being adopted, but she did have three sisters, Chakra , Cocoa , and CurlySue , needing a home. It's crazy ...

My mom just visited for a couple days and we got some serious organizing done in her short visit (it's amazing what can be accomplished when she's here). One of the projects I'm most excited about is that we cleaned and organized the work space I have in the corner of my bedroom. I am a collector and it's crazy all the "stuff" that accumulates. My plan is to start organizing photos on my computer and scanning the girls' artwork. I also having boxes of "stuff" to go through but hopefully now that I have the space I can work on it a little at a time. I can't tell you how happy I was to come home from work today and see this nice, neat space--My very own little organizing headquarters.

Home Sweet Home , originally uploaded by byjen . Today I was blessed to be able to spend the day with my mom and my girls. Normally this would have been a work day for me, but I actually managed to get an extra day off and all I can say is Hooray!!! We didn't do anything major with it. We just spent the day doing everyday stuff together! But it was perfect nonetheless!

Football , originally uploaded by byjen . Can you believe it is almost football season? Last night was the first pre-season game (the Hall of Fame Game between the Cowboys and Bengals) and it felt so nice to have it on. Sometimes I forget how much I love football. I haven't always watched football. In fact, I went to many high school football games as a band nerd, yet only stopped to watch one game. But later in college, I had a football-loving boyfriend so I gave it another try. I chose the SF Niners to root for which seemed like a good match, they were close by and they wore my favorite color. But the boyfriend was a Cowboys fan (a huge Niners rival). Well the boyfriend didn't work out, but football did! Then my football-loving husband swooped in and continued to cultivate my love for the game. I learned about the rules and the players and even played on a few fantasy leagues. So watching the game last night reminded me of all of this. It made me want to brush up on my f...

Our "Juicy Houses" Workshop , originally uploaded by byjen . Yesterday I had the pleasure of visiting A Work of Heart for an art workshop with friends. I "enjoyed" a long drive to and from with my current artsy partner in crime, Paula, (the drive was too long) and we met Sylvia (aka Baxter's Mom whom I met through Kelly Rae's class and lunch just last week) and her sister, as well as Rebecca (whom I met through our blogs by way of the Artistic Mother group as well as Kelly Rae's class). It was my first time to a Work of Heart and it was really great. So much inspiration whether it was the fun materials and supplies, or all the amazing projects . Andrea , A Work of Heart's creator, owner, and our workshop instructor, has a made a wonderful place to create. I just wish I lived closer. Well anyways, we created these charming collaged houses using painted papers, scrapbook papers, paints, and oil pastels. We had the choice of 4 cute little 4...

I am such a sucker for craft magazines, especially Christmas issues. So yesterday I was thrilled to stumble upon BHG's Holiday Crafts issue in Target. Without any hesitation I snatched it up and have been thumbing through it ever since. I like this year's issue because with each creation we learn a little bit about the designer that created it, including blogs, websites, and etsy shops. Like I needed more creative sites to explore. Well here's to the growing excitement for the upcoming holiday season.

So here it is, August 1st. Wow! Where did July go? And the summer? School starts in just 2-1/2 weeks. At the beginning of July I had these grand plans for celebrating Christmas in July and I even hinted at in several blog posts, but then July disappeared. I have to admit I am constantly coming up with "grand plans" but then have difficulty following through. I'm starting to feel like a creative individual trapped inside my head. Just this past week I had some time to create and I didn't know what to do. I froze. Now whenever I am away from my craft room I cannot quiet down all the ideas in my head. And when I'm good I write them down in numerous notebooks or even in my iPhone. So the ideas are there for me to use, but I froze. It's still a challenge for me to find time to create between work and the girls and household chores and trying to get healthy (another blog post all by itself), so when I have that precious creative time there is just too much pressu...

Magic wands , originally uploaded by byjen . So life's been crazy here but really that's no different than usual. I'd like to say things should be settling down, but I'm realizing that's not really true. We are just a few short weeks from the start of the school year. And then before you know it, it will be fall. I can't tell you how excited I am about the fall. I love the crisp, cool Sunday afternoons with football on in the background. Or baking with apples and pears. I love the smells of nutmeg and cinnamon. Or decorating for Halloween and planning Rebecca's birthday parties (she's a Halloween baby). And then Thanksgiving... And then CHRISTMAS!! I absolutely adore Christmas time. I know I'm getting ahead of myself, but it's hard not to when you set foot in stores like JoAnn's with their fall decorations or Wal-mart with it's school supplies. But even with all the excitement ahead, I wouldn't mind a little bit of simple first. So I...

Birth Day , originally uploaded by byjen . My baby girl is 3 years old today (yes, her birthday party was early)! I can't believe how fast time flies.

Dream Big , originally uploaded by byjen . "All your dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them." ~Walt Disney Have a great weekend everyone. Next week I hope to share just a bit more princess from Kat's party. And I'm thinking some Christmas in July would be fun, so make sure to visit me here and on Etsy for the holiday fun.

Dress Cookies , originally uploaded by byjen . One of the many princess things we made for Katherine's party was dress cookies. We had cupcakes, but Rebecca really wanted to make these, too. We used a dress cookie cutter from an American Girl dessert book that she found and fell in love with months ago. She loves girly dresses and she loves desserts, so it's the perfect combination. We decorated our dresses using royal icing squeezed from Wilton squeeze bottles . I can't tell you what a great find these bottles were. Bags and even other squeeze bottles have been hard for the girls to manage (especially Katherine), but with the Wilton bottles both girls can easily decorate the cookies. Christmas cookies should be fun.

Katherine's 3rd Bday Party , originally uploaded by byjen . We had Katherine's 3rd birthday party this past Sunday and it was a great success! I hope to share more, but I am pooped. Poor Katherine ended her big party day with a fever, that just now went away this morning. So we need some extra sleep at our house, but unfortunately today's a work day. Soon we'll get some sleep....I hope.

L ast night I got a little bit burnt out on princess party prep (yesterday was house cleaning stage, not my favorite), so I decided to take the night off and watch a little bit of TV after the girls went to bed. Earlier in the week I had already managed to watch my usual summer stuff, the Next Food Network Star and HGTV Design Star , so I had to hunt for something to watch. Well I ended up watching the first half of the Hannah Montana Movie . Now I am not a Miley Cyrus fan or a Hannah Montana fan. I mean have never watched an episode of Hannah Montana. But I seem to be a sucker for tween/teen movies. I love the Princess Diaries (especially the second one) and I even enjoy the High School Musicals , but normally I would never admit this. I think I'm drawn to the innocence of these movies. And the music. I do love musicals. I guess these movies are the closest we get to musicals nowadays, other than Moulin Rouge  (which I loved as well). Nonetheless, I would classify these movies a...

If you asked me, I would have to say I am not that good with words. Spoken. Written. Doesn't matter. It is surprising to me at times since I'm a rather sensitive and emotional person. I would think I should be able to express myself through words better. But I don't. In fact sometimes it's downright uncomfortable for me to find the right words. If I take a look at my family though it makes sense. I believe I've said this here before, but we're more of an express-ourselves-through-action kind of family. So it's interesting to me, as I make art, that words almost always find their way into my pieces, whether it be the simplicity of a word in my Word Art or a quote with an image . I do love inspirational words and quotes. Both are simple ways for me to express what I am feeling. Blogging has also been a great exercise for me, too. Having just completed Kelly Rae Robert's Flying Lessons , I've been inspired by many fellow flyers and their blogs. Th...

Shhhh (Katherine's birthday present) , originally uploaded by byjen . After the girls went to bed last night I started on a tutu for Katherine's birthday. I hadn't really planned on making her a tutu (although I've always toyed with the idea of making a tutu). But what brought this cute little tutu to be was a chance encounter at JoAnn's the other day. I had the girls with me and we were looking for tulle to use as decoration for our upcoming princess party. And there in the tulle section was a woman filling her basket with all kinds of pink tulle. We started talking and she was making a tutu for herself (she's a in a princess bicycling club). She thought my girls would like the project so she discretely showed me the pattern she was working from (the girls didn't even notice since they were happily playing together). It seemed really doable. So I did a search when I got home and found the exact tutorial here  (and I love the blog discovery, Tea Rose , that...

Tom & Abby's Wedding Gift , originally uploaded by byjen . One of my newest creations has safely reached it's new home, so I wanted to share it here. I've owed this to my sister-in-law, Abby, for over a year now, and finally creative inspiration struck and I finished it. I haven't had the chance to talk with Abby, but I've heard she loves it. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, too. I had to rearrange the letters and their names a couple times, but with some input from my daughter Rebecca and my hubby Daniel we got it figured out. I'm glad you like it Abby & Tom =) I'm also excited right now because my younger daughter, Katherine, is turning three later this month so birthday party prep has begun. I'm actually a little surprised to say she's requested a princess party. I've always thought of her as my little Diego, sharks, and dragons fan, but lately a little more girl has been coming out. So prep has begun for a fun princess ...

July 4th Parade , originally uploaded by byjen .

Dreaming , originally uploaded by byjen . Here we are. July 1st. Can you believe it, another year is halfway through? So am I where I want to be? Yes and no. I suppose that will always be true. But with it being the beginning of the month I think maybe I need to set some goals for the month. As I try to form a list in my head, I realize that a lot of my goals are still the same because I am having difficulty making them happen. Well it's time to " believe " I can make the change necessary to achieve my goals. So what do I wish to achieve this month? 1. Finish reading through all the amazing course material for Flying Lessons , especially the part on time management. Because wouldn't you know it, I am 3 weeks behind. It's so hard not to get distracted by all the lovely websites/blogs and art and books, etc.. 2. Start making a daily list of goals and working on them first before allowing myself to get off task. 3. Start weekly meal planning so that my family a...

Turquoise Favorites , originally uploaded by byjen . Red has been my favorite color for years, but lately I have been gravitating towards turquoise. It's such a vibrant color. It just makes me happy. So I was inspired to collect a little bit of happy on flickr with this mosaic. It was a lot of fun to find all these photos. The center photo is one from my friend Kenna . And the adorable camper is from a t-shirt made by Peculiar Momma whom I met through Flying Lessons . And of course there's a little Kelly Rae Roberts . I would have added Donna Downey if she was on flickr, too. She uses a lot of turquoise in her work. I found a lot of fun pictures. Like the converse and the glasses--both are very "me." What color is inspiring you lately?

I have been wanting to make a "Taking Flight" piece for quite a long time now. And here it is! I just love how it turned out. I haven't decided its fate though. "Taking Flight" is of course inspired by Kelly Rae Roberts , her book , and now her e-course . I was first introduced to Kelly Rae Roberts by way of the first Word Art I sold on E tsy in March last year. When I saw her art, it was love at first sight. And when I saw she had written a book, I rushed out to get it and I adored that, too. So I wanted to make a piece that I could somehow share with Kelly Rae Roberts to thank her for her inspiration. I did get sidetracked, but now with the e-course the need to make it reemerged. Last year I started making these words for friends and family. The first few were reminders of our word for the year (inspired by Ali Edwards ). Then a few baby gifts, then a few to sell and so on. I made them using craft supplies I had piling up, since I seemed to like to coll...