I’m so happy to have teamed up with Annemarie at Yoyomama to make these Valentine’s Day Printable cards. You can download them for free here!
The last panda.
This is the last panda post, I promise!
Sosi had 1 birthday request, that I make her a panda stuffy. She designed it for me and everything! I made it with bits and pieces I found in my studio and she loves it. Easy and very affordable way to make a little girl’s birthday dreams come true!
Panda Party!
Please don’t think by looking at these pictures that I am a super party organizer. It is quite the opposite. I don’t like kid’s birthday parties, they totally push me out of my comfort zone.The noise, the crazies, the chaos, the pressure! I want so much for all the kids to have fun… and inevitably they never do.
I find the decorating helps to me ease into it all. It’s my way to enjoy it. The week leading up to the party is great. The invites, the balloons… all super fun. Sosi wanted a panda party this year, and a panda party she got!
Somehow an insane amount of kids got invited (my bad). I wish I had gotten a picture of the treat bags… it was a sea of bags, all with hand drawn (by me and Sosi) pandas. The party was a hit. Only a few tears, only a couple of clingy kids… but mostly I think a good time was had by all. It was all worth it to see Sosi so happy, so appreciative, so loved.
Happy birthday sweet girl and thank you for always pushing me to be a better me. I super love you.
Is January over yet?
I’ve had a nice little flurry of custom work this month. It’s always such a treat working on these for people. I feel the timing was perfect as I find January a particularly brutal month. The mixture of flu paranoia and insane freezing cold weather don’t make for super fun times. These were a very happy distraction.
Is January over yet?
turning 8…
Maybe I can somehow keep her tiny if I keep making tiny portraits of her…
I’m just kidding, it does break my heart to see tiny Sosi disappearing, but I couldn’t be more proud of and in love with the girl she is growing into. She wants a “panda party” this year, wish me luck with that!
Painting Sale and other things
To kick off the new year I’ve decided to open an Etsy shop. I’ll be using it to sell my “You are Loved” prints and some paintings I’ve had around my studio. They are priced are priced to sell, so check them out quick!
In somewhat related news… society6 is running another free shipping event. You need to follow this link. If you’ve been thinking about getting something, now’s a good time to pick it up.
Happy New York Day!
A few years back, we had been explaining to Sosi what New Year’s was and how people celebrated it. We told her people liked to have parties and get a little crazy. We showed her videos of fireworks, people in Times Square etc.
Somewhere the wires got crossed. She came running back a few moments later, her hands were flapping, there may have been underwear on her head, maybe a pillow in her shirt… and she screamed “Happy New York Day!!” in a crazy accent. I can’t think about it and not laugh. I don’t know what possessed my normally shy and self conscious little girl to bust out like this, but it was so amazing. We’ve been saying “Happy New York Day!” ever since.
I hope you all had a Happy New York Day. I will be back here regularly soon. We have been taking some much needed time together.
An early Christmas present to myself
Two things have been in the back of mind for a while.
The first was the thought of our awesome (newish) patio chairs spending the winter in the shed, all alone. It seemed wrong, especially since we ‘re in desperate need of chairs for our living room.
The second thing was that my flowers in the snow blanket has been sitting unfinished in my closet forever… so pretty, so not close to ever being done.
In a flash of brillance I decided to make the blanket into pillows. I instantly felt a rush of relief knowing I didn’t have to work on it anymore. And those chairs? We brought them inside, cleaned them off and they look great. I love that feeling of using what you have and not bringing more into your life. Sometimes you just need to move what you already have around a little bit.
They are a perfect combination if you ask me. This pillow is a reminder to be easier on myself, that I’m the boss of my own life. If I want to have patio chairs in my living room there isn’t anyone telling me not to, except myself.
Free shipping on Society6
This is kind of last minute, but I just noticed this free shipping promotion on Society6. It’s only good until December 9th at midnight. If you would like to take advantage here’s the promotional link to my shop. I added some new images too!
ila is 4
Today my little baby turns 4. How does time go by so fast? That saying “the days are long and the years are short” has been going over and over in my mind. I don’t know where these years are going.
Days with this girl are never short. She is silly, shy, crazy, loud and fiercely strong willed. She’s so kind and loving with her sister, that sometimes I feel like my heart might explode.
She also has the most extreme case of mommy-itis* that I’ve ever seen. Since I know how fast these years are flying by, I’m willing to just let it go untreated and soak up as much of her as I possibly can.
The other day she found an old card someone made for us. She told me she thought it said “Mommy and Ila love each other”. Yes Ila, Mommy and Ila love each other.
Happy Birthday sweet girl.
* definition: mommy-itis, a condition where the person wants no one but mommy and will take down anyone who takes mommy’s attention from her.
Soceity6
I learned about Society 6 from my illustrator superstar friend Luc. I decided to give it a try. You just upload your images and they take care of the rest. Easy peasy.
If you are looking for some cute gifts for xmas take a look around my shop. There are pillows, iPhone cases and framed prints for sale.
pretty things, nice friends
Our friends Jenny and Josh made us this amazing light. I kind of can’t believe it…. it’s so beautiful. It’s made from an old laundry machine drum.
We are at a stage in our home where we have lots of things started and not a lot of things done. It’s so nice to have something this beautiful to inspire us to keep going, thank you guys!!
10 years
Happy anniversary to my main squeeze, Paul. Thank you for making everything better. xo
Xmas crafting, part 2
I saw this idea when I was making the Xmas scene decorations (see my last post). It’s a super simple craft, you just need boxwood, a hot glue gun and embroidery hoops. I had tons of hoops lying around so I thought I would give it a try.
These were super easy to make and turned out so pretty and simple. I am going to keep a few, but I’m mostly going to give them as early Xmas presents.
The extra boxwood has found a home inside cookie panda, all my vases disappeared in our move… (he as always) was happy to step in to help.
Happily procrastinating…
After almost 6 months of renovations on an old house you can imagine our Xmas gift budget is pretty tight! This year I ‘m trying to make most of our gifts and the Xmas crafting has already begun.
Sosi and I started these on her last PD day. We ran around town gathering all the pieces and spent the afternoon happily assembling some of the jars. Her 7 year old self got distracted pretty early on and they have stayed in my studio for me to finish. Each day when I go in, I work on one or another. A button here, a bunny here. A very happy procrastination.
I found the idea here, via Loobylu on Pinterest (so much goodness!). You can find me here on Pinterest too. 🙂
…
enjoying: these two monkeys
nursing: this little kitty back to health
wishing: everyday could be like this
thinking: i should make one of these for my own girls
thankful: for good friends and unexpected gifts.
Lori Joy Smith 
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