the letter writing project: assignment No. 2

please take a moment to get to know the Soares family.

Gretchen has a son with spina bifida, i encourage you to read Nathaniel's story here. 

or visit her blog at simplysoares.blogspot.com

your writing assignment is to write Gretchen to lift her up and give her support. 

• i know she has daily challenges that complicate life. 
• i know she struggles with time for herself and 
• i know she is a good mother trying to do everything she can for her children. 

your words received through the mail in a letter to her will greatly impact her heart - i know.

unfortunately because of family situations Gretchen would prefer to keep her address private for now.

So please write to:

Gretchen Soares

in care of lollipops

po box 329

morro bay ca 93443

i will be hand delivering your sealed acts of kindness to her as they arrive.

xoxo,

what i love wednesday linky party {No. 8}!!

super sweet loves linked up from last week:


my love this week:

i have been accepted to the queen bee market!!! squeeeeee!

i cannot wait i am so thrilled!!! yay!!!!

the font above is impervious by kevin and amanda

if you are also a QBM vendor, i can't wait to meet you :)

if not, i sure hope you can attend so i can meet you! it's going to be fabulous!!!

feel free to click on and print out this flyer to hand out to everyone you know ;)

so i wanna see what you love today, mmmmkay?!!

xoxo,

krystina

<a href="http://www.lollipopscards.com/search/label/what%20i%20love%20wednesdays" target="_blank"><img alt="lollipops" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ9_XYUUYAXJiCLm3sQ3sWjgxnbKNG_nG4PYhheWlO07gp_NuIk-C6RL0OeY1driw_ZKR-9-LxCXLL2dFs7Acljw0DV_7eYiNAYm7k-98TqEjxh3lLswrOG-f60VLP4omnfP1AEhydyyRs/s150/DSC_0305_2-1.JPG" /><br /> </a>

Tuesday Tutorial {i collect jars...}

i collect glass jars.
from sauce, olives, beans, tapenade, salsa, artichokes on the list goes.

once the food is gone i can't throw them away.
a practically resourceful addiction i guess.
one of my favorites is a tiny little glass jar from Trader Joe's for capers it's sides are an octagon, so pretty.

for a long time these empty jars would sit upon my shelf and once in a while i would put a bouquet of fresh flowers picked from my garden.
and slowly i began to use them more and more for many different things...

shells

punch

crafts, clothes pins, straws

i also have a huge jar in my bathroom filled with pretty bars of soap.

and the surfer guy likes to drink water and iced green tea out of my saved glass jars.

• how to save your glass jar 

eat or use the contents
soak in hot soapy water for a few hours or overnight

peel off the label
scrub the sticky off with steel wool or a steel scrubber like this

these actually start out looking like this...

i guess mine has been around the block a few times :)

and presto you now have an empty glass :)

what will you fill it with?

xoxo,

Hand Me Down {Love}

three sweet hand me downs.


bear given to Mr. Boy by big sis Soleil.
he's not an oldie, but he is a goodie.

for 10 years bear sat on Soleil's shelf with all the other stuffed animals
then along came Mr. Boy.
Mr. Boy hasn't let go of bear, aka BearN von Trapp
for almost 2 whole years now. (see here)
Mr. Boy also cannot sleep without bear.

my mother's apron from when she was a little girl.

she gave it to me when i was little and later i gave it to my girls.
my mother once got in trouble from her mother
for writing her name on it in ink.
this apron has been so loved for 50 years.

the rocking chair.

isn't it adorable?
it was mine when i was a tot.
it used to be dark brown, but Nana painted it white, see....

there's me in my rocking chair. 

i'm probably waiting for brownies or cake or something good from the oven. 

boy i sure miss those footed sleepers and those blonde curls.

do you have hand me downs?

xoxo,

5 leaf clover?

happy friday.

is your computer wearing green? 

pinch it or download this happy green high res 

March rain photo for your desktop ;)

your computer will be relieved you did.

yesterday my little francesca found a FIVE leaf clover in our lawn.

  
the story goes like this...

francesca: mommy, look i was doing a handstand and i found, not a four leaf clover, but a five leaf clover! i have been looking for one for so long, i finally found one! me: let me tell ya kid, i've been looking a lot longer than you, why? because i know they happen to exist, see? (this is better if you imagine my voice as a 1930's wise guy) my mother and her sis found one when they were little and gave it to their old lady -nana. nana still has it, to this day in her purse, laminated and whatnot. and i have never found one, see? francesca: we'll i'm not giving this one to you. *skips away* me: well, say hello to my little friend *whips out nikon D7000 and shoots away*... te-heehee. (that was more 1970's right there)
ok, ok, so anyway, we really truly couldn't believe it!

i wonder if five leaf clovers are luckier than four? or does the fifth leaf cancel everything out?

the letter writing project: assignment No. 1 {have you written?}

pay it forward, give, offer, send love.

whatever you like to call it; here it is:

hello lovelies!

last week i gave you a letter writing assignment...

"if the spirit catches you i would love for you to write

to my friends to encourage them and lift them up.

Traci, Dale, Ian, and Kathy.

a beautiful family, 

Ian has autism... and Traci has lupas 

and it really takes its toll... 

Tracy is a BEAUTIFUL Christian sister!"

if you haven't already done so 

please send your words of encouragement to:

Traci Kimball

1104 La Vida Ln. 

Arroyo Grande, CA 

93420

or send them another!

i have had a loss for words

but i am not giving up.

Tracy your letter is on it's way to you!

i will have more assignments for you in the weeks to come

xoxo,

what i love wednesday linky party {No. 7}!!

some loves from last week:

isn't all of that so fun?!! i *LOVE* it!!

now here's what i seriously love this week...

i can't get enough of this awesome class!
i had fun making my folder.
this weekend i have some fun assignments to complete...
shhhh, don't tell those fabulous, and i mean fabulous, ladies above that
i am slightly behind on my homework.
if you haven't already, sign up here :)
i wish i could tell you all the fun things i am learning -
oh, yea... take the class :)

ok now it's your turn...
what are you loving this wednesday???

xoxo,

<a href="http://www.lollipopscards.com/search/label/what%20i%20love%20wednesdays" target="_blank"><img alt="lollipops" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ9_XYUUYAXJiCLm3sQ3sWjgxnbKNG_nG4PYhheWlO07gp_NuIk-C6RL0OeY1driw_ZKR-9-LxCXLL2dFs7Acljw0DV_7eYiNAYm7k-98TqEjxh3lLswrOG-f60VLP4omnfP1AEhydyyRs/s150/DSC_0305_2-1.JPG" /><br /> </a>

sweet guest post

please stop by the pleated polka dot today and see my "sweet" guest post ;)

Tuesday Tutorial {hello kitty party}

hello kitty. hello pez.

i love you both, and so does my birthday girl.

first we must decorate.

i made those tissue roses like i said i would last week.

if you want to do this i recommend 4 rolls of crepe paper.

i put some mason jars together for serving punch (jar tutorial next week)

i tied baker's twine around the jars with names on pink paper circles for identifying them.

punch: rainbow sherbet and sprite - easy peasy!

i made mini happy birthday paper banner, hung with baker's twine

pink straws, fresh flowers, party favors.

little flags: ribbon attached with photo tape to a skewer! cute huh?

hello kitty wears a bow so we made some too...

wire ribbon tied to a headband, fun!

i think they had a nice time.

another fun thing we did was photobooth.
on your mac download the automator app "photostrip" prepare a background and bright smiling faces and click. be sure to load the printer with photo paper. this app takes 4 shots, and prints them out just like a real photobooth! *LOVE*
then everyone has a fun party souvenir :)

xoxo,

custom orders {my portfolio is growing}

i have been quite busy with orders, 

so busy i haven't been able to add new goodies to my shop! yikes!

so i thought i should show you a few things i've been working on.

sweet Sandy a la Mode asked me to do her stationery.

she helped come up with the design for these beauties...

50 cards with 7 flags each - that's 350 flags i individually hand cut and adhered! 

i had so much fun making this lovely stationery for Sandy.

and melissa over at the pleated polka dot asked me to make her some fun stationery.

she wanted love birds so we came up with these adorable cards...

cute huh?!!

all i can say is i love my job!!

xoxo,