Posts by Lindsay

Have You Met {Oh} Brooke?

Posted by Lindsay on Nov 19, 2009 in Baby Stuff, Blogging, Featured Articles, Giveaways | 2 comments

I just had to share this (and get an extra entry into her fabulous Fabulous Necklace Giveaway by doing so! Muah ah ah ah!). {ohbrooke} is a regular read of mine, and you should check it out as well!  Especially if you’re interested in graphic design, interior decor, blog tips, sewing tips and more! She has a special place in my Bookmarks Toolbar…reserved for a select few blogs.    And I just realized that 1/2 of the links up there are preggo girls’ blogs…including Brooke – she’s expecting a little baby boy!  There must be something going around…I better be careful so that Harper doesn’t become a big sister any time soon!!

Anyway…back to Brooke.  Click over here to enter to win a fabulous necklace from Lisa Leonard Designs.

This one is my favorite (the Oval Monogram Necklace) – many are available for customization.

Can someone please tell my husband that THIS is what I want for Christmas??  I hinted around for something like this as an anniversary gift…and nada.  But I guess if I win I won’t have to ::try:: to hint any more.    Wish me luck!!

And if you’re curious about who else is sperminated like Brooke…visit Sherry here…and Katie here.  Congrats, ladies!! 

xo, L.

Happy Holidays!

Posted by Lindsay on Nov 19, 2009 in Featured Articles, flickr, Holidays, Me | 0 comments

Miss me yesterday?  I try to post once per day, Monday through Friday…but Harper needed a couple immunizations yesterday so I was out and about and didn’t have a chance to write.

If you’re my Facebook friend, you’ve probably already seen this photo, but I just can’t help myself sometimes!  My webcam caught this photo of my silly family using Photobooth, but the more I look at it, the more I love it. So I decided to use Picnik to make a Christmas photo (it’s made using the “Collage” function…there are some adorable and easy-to-create holiday templates!).

This is what happens when you put off getting that professional family photo…I’ve been sulking because I missed my chance with the gorgeous fall leaves. But this one is almost as cute.

Happy Holidays from the Christensen Family.
xo, L.

Tiny Hot Cocoa Packets

Posted by Lindsay on Nov 17, 2009 in Crafts, DIY, Featured Articles, handmade, Holidays | 1 comment

I’m probably going to be regurgitating a lot of crafty finds that I come across online for you all over the next few days and/or weeks…I’m very busy with a couple of new clients (woo hoo!) and with getting ready for the Christmas fairs around here, so I’m looking for inspiration like crazy!  Plus with “the economy how it is” (aren’t you sick of that saying??) I’m sure people are looking for ways to save pennies and a good way to do that is to hand make your gifts!  So my newest crafty find that I’m loving are these adorable ‘Tiny Hot Cocoa Packets’ by LollyChops, that I found through a link from the fabulous Kim of The TomKat Studio on her Facebook page!  Thanks, Kim!

Aren’t they adorable?  The crafty mind behind LollyChops gives you step-by-step instructions for making the mix, how to add it to and make little baggies to put it in, and how to package it up nice and pretty!  And lucky for us, the PDF template is available to download so you can make your own teeny tiny packaging!  And they really are teeny tiny: about 2″ wide x 4″ tall and the baggie holds 10 tablespoons of mix, which is enough for about 3 mugs of cocoa.  I made one this morning from the PDF.  So cute!  Click –> here <– to download the file.  I’ll post the link again at the end if you want to read the rest of the post first.

Here are the directions on how to make the actual cocoa mix.  Yum.  And nice and simple.  And chocolatey.

It takes some nonfat dry milk powder, sugar, unsweetened cocoa, mini chocolate chips (or you can substitute crushed candy cane, mini marshmallows or dark chocolate flakes), powdered nondairy creamer and a little salt, all in one big bag or container.  You put a little bit of it into a baggie, and then put the baggie into the teeny tiny template that you print out, cut, fold and tie with a ribbon.  Easy peasy.  This is what page 2 of the PDF looks like and the photo above is what you get with page 1.  Handy, right?

She also gives you some instructions on making a little sandwich baggie to fill with cocoa mix that will fit inside of the packaging.  I attempted a baggie and it will work, I just don’t have all of the ingredients to make the cocoa mix!  Yet…

First you cut the top off of a sandwich baggie.

Then you fold the baggie in half (side to side, not bottom to top…), but not quite folded all of the way over…then tape.  See photo:

Now fold the opening down around itself, and scoop the cocoa mix into the opening by the tablespoon.  You’re only putting mix into one side of the bag.  You should be able to fit about 10 tablespoons into the baggie.  The instructions say that each cup of cocoa should take 3-4 tablespoons of mix…which will make 3 mugs of cocoa.  After you scoop your mix in, fold the top of the baggie back over itself to close…or tie with a twist-tie.

Now you can attach the baggie inside of your paper or cardstock packaging that you printed and folded.  Here is my attempt that I tried this morning.  I printed it onto white cardstock.  Sorry for the low-res photo…I took it with my webcam on my computer.    And don’t mind my messy office!

I would just tape the baggie inside of the little cardstock triangle by the top and bottom of the bag (LollyChops recommends taping the baggie mix to the bottom to avoid it sliding around).  Or tie your twist-tie in with the ribbon where you punched a hole in the cardstock.  Any other suggestions?

It’s also perfect size to add a trimmed-down business card to the bottom…except you can’t sell these exact templates (they’re for non-commercial use only), but if you just made your own packaging templates on the computer you could!  The full template size is 2 1/4″ x 10″, and each side of the template is 4″ tall…just add a blank (or add your info.) 2″ x 2″ square in the middle, which is the flat bottom, and add the name of the mix and instructions to either side.  You’ll see what I mean on the template…

Click –> here <– to download the file.

Do you know of any other cute handmade gift ideas floating around out there on the web?  I’d love to know your favorite resources!

I’m off to browse the rest of the LollyChops site…see ya’!

{all images, except my 2 webcam shots, via LollyChops}

Giveaway Winner and New Likely Design Feature!

Posted by Lindsay on Nov 16, 2009 in Creativity, Decorations, Featured Articles, Giveaways | 1 comment

First thing’s first – my Rosebud Card giveaway has ended and using random.org, we have chosen a winner!

The winner is comment #5 – Colleen – congratulations, Colleen!  We’ll be in touch!

I can’t wait to hear how she loves her cards.  Thank you Rosemary at Rosebud Cards for your generosity, I appreciate it and I’m sure that Colleen will as well!

Up next, if you haven’t noticed yet – there is a new little ‘tab’ at the top of the blog, pointing you to the new “Lillie + James” page.  Lillie + James is my new venture in partnership with my sister-in-law, Erin.  We have been crafting and coming up with decorating ideas like crazy, so please contact us if you’re interested in taking advantage of our services!

We had a ball setting up this Christmas table, and photographing it was interesting to say the least…can you say ‘timer?’   Thank goodness Erin’s son came home so he could capture this angled shot for us, ha!

Read more about Lillie + James here.  Happy Monday!  And happy birthday to our other sister (or sister-in-law, in my case), Kayte!

xo,

Lindsay & Erin (aka Lillie + James)

Just a Quick Note…

Posted by Lindsay on Nov 13, 2009 in Blogging, Environmental, Guest Bloggers | 1 comment

Hey everyone!

I am just popping in really fast because I don’t have a chance to write a big post…we are getting an Infrared Energy Audit done on our house today so it’s cutting into my regularly scheduled time to blog – but I’m very excited about it! More on that next week!! Very interesting stuff…

But I have a few links to send you to…first – don’t forget – my Rosebud Cards giveaway is going on through the weekend, so head over there to enter for a chance to win your choice of 3 of their sweet cookie cards!

And secondly, today I have my very first guest post up on another blog! Michelle of When I Grow Up (an amazing life coach) is moving to her newly purchased home (congrats!!) and wanted to keep up on the blog in the process, and she graciously allowed me to tell my practical-to-creative-career path story. Check it out: Black Sheep. I hope you like it, it was quite a process to organize my thoughts and bang it out.

Black Sheep by dreamel.  I love this image that Michelle picked for my post…

Also…I am proud to announce that Glenn started to paint the bedroom (in following my paint plan) and he likes it!!  He really, really likes it!!  And so do I…but I already knew that I would…muah ah ah ah ah!!  More on that next week!

And as usual, have a GREAT weekend!!

xo, L.