Need Motivation?

Everyone's seen those really cheesy motivational posters with pictures of mountain climbers or landscapes, and if you haven't then just watch The Office tomorrow night - Michael has a few in his office I believe.

Anyway, I think these are way better and hilarious.

I think these are two of my favorites:

There's tons more here, enjoy!

Stationery Obsession Part 2

After a few requests to personalize and purchase the stationery cards I've been working on, I'm excited to announce the arrival of the Tiny Bird Etsy store!




All of my designs will be posted there so anyone can personalize them to order! If you have any questions, comments, or ideas I'd love to hear them. Click here to browse and order.


*I'm also doing personalized graphic design for companies/photographers/etc. with everything from business cards and letterhead to blog headers and postcards - so contact me if you are interested!

My new best friend

I'm always on the lookout for little things that make life easier like pssst, the isabelt, and my trusty tide pen. (all of which I use at least once a week) Well, I have another addition to the list and it's in the running for my favorite-invention-ever award: Hollywood Fashion Tape.






I've read in lots of magazines about people using "double stick tape" to keep their dresses in place and what not, but double stick tape seems kinda flimsy to me so I never tried it out. Then the other day I was at Joann's fabric and ran across this little box and figured I'd give it a try.

I'm always having problems with wandering necklines and it makes me all paranoid, not anymore though! These come in precut strips (don't fall for the "red carpet assortment", they all work the same and the regular ones are cheaper) and really stay put. For about $6 you can get a box of 36 strips which lasts a really long time.

I'm totally hooked.

Hi Bird

About two weeks ago Jared noticed a scraggly little collection of twigs on top of our patio fence post and said it could be a bird's nest, and he was right!

Two doves were hanging around for a while so we thought it might be theirs. Then a couple days later there we two eggs in the nest! Ever since then she's been sitting on them non-stop! I got a little worried that she wasn't eating anything but then I read on the internet that they actually take shifts sitting on the eggs, so now I can not worry so much.

I caught them both!

(but didn't have time to focus or turn on my flash!)

We named her Bird, and since we can't really tell which one is which they are both Bird. Just a few days more and there should be little Birds!!

***UPDATE*** Today, Sunday April 20, the little eggs hatched so now there are two baby Birds in the little nest! Pictures coming soon, and we're open to name suggestions...

Oh the dread...

Everyone has that chore that they dread like the plague and try and put off as long as sanitarily possible, don't deny it. Mine? Laundry. I HATE doing laundry! I should be more specific - I hate putting laundry away. Nevermind the sorting, washing, drying/line drying - I don't dread that as much as staring at the folded pile (who am I kidding, crumpled pile) of clothes and wishing those mice from Cinderella would come put it in drawers and on hangers for me while I dance around.


So I usually just have piles that migrate from the laundry room downstairs to our bed upstairs and then to the floor next to the bed. Then I realize that I might as well wash them again cause they're so wrinkled after sitting there for a week. At least this pile from the weekend got folded, but is it put away neatly in drawers and closets or half crumpled in a laundry basket near the closet? I'll let you guess.

Stationery obsession

Over the past few months I've been trying to learn Photoshop CS3 and I've made some progress, but it's a little more slow going than I would like. There's just so much that it can do, I'm constantly amazed. While I originally bought it for photo editing and what not, I've lately discovered the graphic design elements (a few anyway) and can't get enough!

On Saturday afternoon I sat in front of the computer for a good 4 hours making invitations, stationery and note cards (and went through a whole black ink cartridge in the process) . Here are the double-sided flat note cards I made as hostess gifts for my sister's bridal shower.

Her colors are pink and yellow blush tones so I did her other bridal shower invitations and thank you cards in the pink.

But my favorite so far is this flat note card I did for my mom and a few friends.

Beautiful people

Last weekend I got to take engagement pictures for my sister Kellye and it was so much fun. The weather was perfect and the azaleas were blooming so we didn't even have to go anywhere, we just walked out in the yard! Now I have to say that anyone can put a camera in front of these two and get an amazing picture so my job wasn't that hard.

My friend Megan (photographer to the stars) and I were looking at them and drooling over Kellye's skin. How can it be so perfect!? Honestly, not one touch up was made. Kinda makes you sick, huh?

They are a beautiful couple but what I love is how natural and relaxed they are with each other. No forced poses, no awkward kisses, you can always tell when it's true love!

To see the rest click here.

Bless his heart

I thought as Chauncey got older and grew out of kitten stage he would be a little more friendly, but instead he's just getting a little more "special" I guess you could say. He is the most emotional, needy, bipolar cat that I've ever seen. He follows us around wherever we go but doesn't come close enough to let you pet him, heaven forbid. He gets into EVERYTHING (my sewing trim this time), he always thinks he's on the brink of starvation, and he meows whenever you say his name.

Do I want another cat that would be a little more prone to cuddling than Chauncey is? Yes. But do I ever even think about life without him? No way!

Hello Spring

We were in Tyler this past weekend at my parents' house and the weather was so amazing - perfect actually. And it just so happens that Friday they put up a new hammock (after the old one snapped with Kellye and Sean on it!) so I had to try it out.

Evertyhing looked so green and fresh, I could have laid out there for hours. There's just something about looking up at these big oak trees that I really love.

I have to say, there are only a few things in the world that are better than a good hammock on a nice day.

Is there anything he can't do?

When Jared and I got married I knew he had a lot of really awesome talents - he's a good athlete, he can clean out and reorganize any garage or closet in under 3 hours, he can build things and refinish furniture like a pro, and the list goes on. This was great because I didn't have any of these talents and I needed them! And I had talents that he didn't have (like sleeping in, budgeting, fun things like that) so it was fun to help each other and each be good at something.

Then on our one year anniversary he dropped a huge talent bomb on me that I didn't see coming. I guess I've always considered myself to be the more artistic of the two of us ... until the day when he gave me this.

It's a watercolor painting he did of one of my bridal pictures. I didn't even know he could paint! It blew me away, it is so awesome. Then I realized that all that time I spent thinking I was the creative one he was probably laughing inside thinking "sure, of course you are honey!" He's incredibly humble about it and still claims to not be very good, but he's just wrong about that. He's pretty amazing.

So when my little 8 yr old cousin, Ashton, wanted a room covered in dinosaur murals they knew just who to call. And I have to say that after seeing all the murals Jared came up with it made me want a dinosaur room too, and I don't even like dinosaurs. These are pictures while he was painting them at our house. (some friends of ours thought we were redecorationg our kitchen!)

All I have to say is I can't wait to see what kind of rooms our kids have because there really isn't much he can't do!