My week in pictures

These guys came to welcome me on my Monday.

I love diaper only babies! Hopefully it will warm up so he can be in diaper only again soon!

Cupcakes I made for Leila's Birthday (oh so yummy! And get this you could eat the butterflies even!)

Decorations for Leila's birthday. I was super happy how this turned out.

A few of the canvases that are staring at me lately.

Pickled radishes I made from our first CSA box of goodies. (I have a feeling many more posts about fresh produce are coming this summer & fall)

Fresh basil, I have a black thumb so send some good juju out there for me that I dont kill this pretty pretty plant (and it smells AMAZING!!!!)

happy birthday baby girl

5 years ago an amazing thing happen. Not only did I become a momma, an amazing little girl was blessed to be mine.

These last five years have flown by and my how you have grown into your own person already. You are full of drama, humor, sassiness, and beauty.

I love that you argue with your dad that dandelions are weeds, that you say I love you every night, that you embrace life but still get shy sometime and just need your mommy. I love listening to you play. You are such a great big sister and such a great helper. You love your brothers but daily have a fight or two with Kenson right now mainly. You have nothing but hugs and kisses for Valen. You crack me up daily and amaze me with how much you already know about life and how you remember random facts that spill out at even more random times *smile*

I cant wait for what the next 5 years hold for you, but if you get a moment, slow down will you?!?!? You are growing up so fast and I am trying my hardest to savor every moment!!!

Happy birthday baby girl, momma loves you so!

Here is one of my new larger pieces. I was lucky enough to get my hands on some incredible dress pattern illustrations a few years ago and was waiting for the perfect project for them. I think this just may be it! (as always you can see my flickr site for more artwork I have been working on)

Weekend Recap

Hey guys! Hope you all made it through the weekend alright! This past weekend we celebrated Leila's 5th birthday with friends and family. It was a great day, the weather didnt cooperate but none the less she had a great time, puddle jumping was done, and delicious cupcakes were eaten. Besides the festivities I got to go on a mini road trip with my amazing friend Staci, who has grown up with me and still loves me for me! We went to Green Bay to visit the new store DIY Studio & Gifts and visit with one of the owners Angie who is now one of the new stores in Wisconsin carry my stuff! (thank you again Angie for your sweet kind words). We had a few set backs with a car that was suppose to come back home with us this past weekend but we wont dwell on that, we were also lucky enough on the way home to miss out on some serious storms that dropped softball and larger size hail.

Thank you again to everyone for taking your Saturday to spend it with Leila and show her how special she is. At five she may not get it just now but as she grows up and looks back she we will be thankful for the amazing extended family she has.

Oh and again dont forget to vote for me! Voting ends at the end of May.

Been nice knowing you!

Have you heard about this? If it is truly the end of the world I want to say thank you to every single one of you that has come by this little spot of my world. I think as a whole people are truly good, so if that is the case everyone get ready it is going to be a long line to get into those pearly gates. Do you think heaven has call ahead reservations *smile*?

dang it!

I woke up this morning thinking today was Friday. I hate it when that happens.

That's all I got folks, I was ready to sit down and write my happy Friday post! I need coffee.....

Vote for Pedro... er Stefanie!

See that girl above? That's me (as many of you already know). That is a picture of me soon after I had Kenson, I was in my grove feeling good, just got a haircut and was ready to take on the world!

Fast forward two years. #3 (Valen) Has made his debut and I am in the trenches of mommahood. I have lost who I was, and like most woman after children look at her body and wonder what the heck happen!?!?!?!

The opportunity recently came up to put my name in the hat to become the model/face of a photography studio called Elegant Xposures for a year. Never in a million years did I think I would make the top 10 finialists but I had to try to calm down the what if monster and also push myself outside of my comfort zone.

So why would a woman who just openly admitted she has lost her self, and has packed on the baby weight want to be a model? Here is why: I am not alone. So many momma's out there love being a momma but dont love themselves anymore. So many woman base their self worth on numbers on a scale. While I am not at that point I dont feel pretty anymore, I stress about getting new clothes and hate seeing that the number is in the high double digits. At the same time I know that I will never be a size 2, heck I dont know if I will ever be a size 8 but I do want to feel comfortable in my skin no matter what the label on my clothes size or a number says on a scale. So I stood up and said, hey universe I think I can be an inspiration to others, to show them that you are beautiful every minute of everyday just as you are.

So my friends I am asking for your vote go to this link:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150179596176744.307223.119811556743

Like Elegant Xposures and Like my photo (its the same one as posted above). voting ends May 31st and I promise to bug you all a few more times about it and then that's it. I would love too if you would spread the word around it would mean the world to me and I hope by something as small as me stepping out there and saying I think I am beautiful just as I am will help other woman heal and feel better about themselves!

There are times as we are going down a path to the destination of our own journey that we experience road blocks and what feels like impassable conditions. When these occur we have the choice to wallow or to keep trudging on. While I like any other person will wallow, I have been blessed with a support system that will only let me wallow for a small amount of time and then makes me snap out of it and keep on keeping on *smile*

I am thankful to have the strength to keep growing in grace and know that it is a choice to be made.

Have a great Monday friends, I hope you too get to grow in grace!

Not all was lost

So with the week and a half of caring for Kenson not a lot was done artwork wise. However I am a multi-tasker and have learned the art of "factory style set-up" what is that you ask? Well that is my way of saying I break everything down into single steps and just do a crap ton at that step. IE Background first, detail second, third cut out a massive amounts of heads and bodies, you get the idea. So spread out over time I was able to sit down for 15 minutes here in there during naps and such to get a handful of these done. They will be originals but I am also going to use the artwork to make into cards.

Now if I can just get my scanner to work! (argh!)

While it isnt the ideal situation, it worked for that time and I was thankful to ease some of the stress I was having emotionally I could just create for whatever time I was allowed.

Fall and get back up

Wow long time no update. So here is the recap:

Kenson was sick for over a week and a half. It was hell and pretty emotionally draining. Today was the first time that for most of the day he was back to his happy go lucky self. He is still having his ucky moments but they are less prominent and he is smiles and giggles a lot more. He also is starting to pay attention to his brother again. While he was sick mommy was about the only person he wanted. That is until Grandma came *smile*

My MIL came in on a last minute trip and stayed with us for an extended weekend. We had our moments as we dont always see eye to eye but overall one of the better times we have gotten to spend with her. So I am beyond thankful for that.

With her trip ending and me getting back to work we are back in the grove so to speak. At least for now. There is a lot brewing right now and a lot of uncertainty in different aspects of our lives right now but I am just rolling with it and seeing where it takes me. Enjoy the ride right?

Lots to update on art (not much was made as it is easier to hold an infant in a sling than a 2 year old in your arms and paint) some exciting possibilities. There is also some brewing of my own mixed media store (!!!) but that is still in planning stages we may be working on that for a long time but none the less I will share all as I always do with you.

So I hope you didnt miss me too much (doubtful, but a girl needs an ego boost every once and awhile) and we will be back to "regular scheduled programing"

Be Nice

As promised my first video about how I make quick layered backgrounds. Be kind, I am no movie editor and have NO clue what I am doing. But hey I gave it a shot. Had some fun (look for the flying paint bottle right around the middle of the video, compliments of Leila) and I am excited for new videos in the future!

Cough Medicine and art dont mix

Glad the weekend is over! Have a house full of sick kiddos is not fun, on top of it I am getting what they have and let me tell you it has not been your average cold. We have a full fever/cough/achy flu that lasts for minimum of 3 days it looks like. EEK!

So in a moment of complete sleep depreivation I wanted 5 minutes to myself. Pulled out my gelatos and got to work. oh man, not a good idea!!! I should have just went to bed *smile* Oh well live and learn, being doped up on cold medicing yields some crazy ass stuff!