a model baby

We’ve been a bit busy since the year began.  (Actually…VERY busy.)  Our fourth baby was born in January, a sweet little boy who has stolen all of our hearts.  The timing was great to be able to have our friend, Lisa, photograph our newborn at only 8 days old in our own home.  What a treasure!

She has been a professional photographer for years and recently started doing newborn photography too.  Her daughter came along to assist and they were a great team.

I enjoyed watching her gentle technique with my sometimes uncooperative baby boy.  She stayed for 3 hours and patiently waited for me as I nursed him, calmed him and tried to get him to sleep.  He sometimes cried, spit up on her, peed on her, but mostly slept, which is what we wanted.

To create a womb-like atmosphere that would keep him sleeping the house had to be warmed up to 85°.  Lisa brought heartbeat sounds and her own heater that blew on him the whole time.  She also had various thick cozy blankets to put him on.  

I especially liked the cute hats she brought as props – one was an upcycled bunny hat she handmade from an old sweater.  She had such cute ideas!!  The one below is a little "love puppy".  The experience will be a sweet memory for years to come.  For more information about Lisa Joy Photography, visit her website at lisajoyphotography.com.

And here is my little Levi at 3 weeks modeling a new baby shirt design.  Maybe someday this design will end up on my Etsy shop.  For now, our family has been taking time to enjoy our new baby brother.

A Merry Thankful Christmas to you

Thanksgiving has passed and Christmas is here!! It’s easy to get caught up in the flurry of activities these fun holidays bring. As a busy (and pregnant) Mom, I’m trying to keep things simple, which is challenging! While running between school and church events, I’m trying to focus on the true meaning of the season – that Jesus Christ came to dwell among us in absolute humility because He loves us so much.

This Fall I went through the Beth Moore Bible study, “A Woman’s Heart, God’s Dwelling Place”. The message was clear – since the beginning of man’s sinful choices that banned us from the Garden of Eden, God has desired to dwell among us, to be close to us. In the Old Testament, it was through the Jewish tabernacle. In the New Testament, Jesus is the “tent”, the fleshly tabernacle, His way of dwelling among us. And now, because of Christ’s sacrifice, he can dwell in our hearts until we see Him face to face in heaven. What a precious gift! This makes me want to shout:

This was the Christmas card I designed in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop for our family this year. It was a fun typography project, using the font family Champignon. It has lots of fun swashes and curly cues. It’s available for free here.

This year we made some angel lollipop holders for Christmas, in the same vein as our Valentine butterflies. The angel was designed in Adobe Illustrator and cut with my awesome Silhouette SD. It was a nice handout for my kids’ classmates.

I also used my Silhouette SD to cut out some fun gift card “purses”. The shape is available on the Silhouette online store.

And I made this gift card holder at my last MOPs meeting. I don’t know who originally designed it, but it’s super cute! The best part is the handy 2-pocket “file” inside. We used an A-2 envelope with the sides cut off, sealed it, folded it in half and glued it to the middle of the folded card. One pocket can be for a note, one pocket can be for the gift card. Or put dinner and movie gift cards inside for a “date night” package. Such a great idea!

Back to the real reason for celebrating Christmas - can you imagine putting your vulnerable newborn baby in the hands of sinful humanity? Never! And yet, that is what God did. And He does that every time a new baby is born to an imperfect human being, of which I am about to experience again. Our fourth baby is due in January. It’s a boy! For this blessing, we are truly…

My silly daughter wore this to celebrate Thanksgiving this year. They were available on my Etsy shop for a short while too. A custom order for “Thankful” is always available, just contact me through my Etsy shop.

I don’t know how I’m going to juggle four kids and design work, but I know God is bigger than all my shortcomings. I trust that He will surely guide me! As Colossians 3:15 says,

“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.”

what's in a name?

Or rather, what’s a name ON?  The beauty of making your own heat transfer designs is the ability to create personalized gifts.  I was inspired to make my first adult size shirt for my Dad, who is very proud of his heritage.  For the design, I used his last name in the font “Bickley Script” with some swirly capitals in the background.  Unfortunately, I didn’t photograph it.  But I do have photos of “his and her” shirts with the same design, just a different last name.  These were gifts for my brother-in-law and his new wife, who I’m sure is proud to be a Takahashi.  “Who wouldn’t be?” my husband would say.

I’ve also been making these personalized canvas bags for my wee little family and friends.  They add a nice touch to a birthday gift tucked inside.  The inspiration first came when my friend’s daughter was turning 2.  She’s a book-lover, so I thought a book bag (filled with books, of course) would be a nice gift.  It was also the first time I used silver heat transfer, which I LOVE on dark colors.

Since then, I’ve developed three name designs using Adobe Illustrator (my favorite program EVER).  Some work better for short names and some work well for longer names. Experimenting with color combinations has been the most fun.  I complete each one with a colorful ribbon attached with hot glue or FabriTac.  They are now available on my Etsy shop if you would like to order one.  To receive 10% off for visiting my blog, please use the coupon code “THANKYOU10”.

rhinestones to the rescue

It’s been a while since updating this blog (again).  We’ve been enjoying the summer with swim lessons, VBS, play dates and lazy days.  I’ve been using the time to nurture my kids’ relationships with each other.  It’s such a blessing when God gives us siblings – built-in friends for life.  I will be sad to see my oldest going back to school for the full day now that she is in first grade.  Time goes too fast. *sigh*

My Etsy shop is now up and running too.  It’s been an interesting learning adventure.  Mostly I’ve learned that I don’t have a whole lot of time to run an Etsy shop with 3 little kids at home all summer.  (What was I thinking?)  But I’m glad I plunged in and started it.  I like that I can go at my own pace, so for now I’ve been lying low and not relisting my items as much as I should.  When school starts and life settles down a little I can spend more time on it.  In the meantime, I’m still perfecting the art of making shirts with heat transfer designs.

A good friend of mine asked me to make her daughter a shirt for her 1^st birthday.  And, being the super stylish diva that she is, she wanted some bling on the shirt too.  Here’s what I came up with and a couple of rhinestone placement options:

She chose the bottom one. Her little one looked so cute at her birthday party.  I was so glad she “inspired” me to try it.  Originally I used FabriTac for the rhinestones after researching online what would be best. Unfortunately they came unglued in the wash.  I think the rhinestones were too small. In the end, regular super glue worked best.  Unless I can find a cost-effective way for these little rascals to stay on permanently, I won’t be offering rhinestone studded shirts on Etsy.

Remember the "LOVE" shirt I made for my daughter for Valentine’sDay? Well, the first time she wore it she got some marker on it that wouldn’t wash out – oops!  It’s a good thing I got good photos of it before that happened.  Since I had all the supplies for the rhinestones, I decided to use some to cover up the little mishap.  I had to come up with a pattern to make it look intentional and this is the new and improved shirt:

For a last little bit of fun, I discovered a simple way to add bling to paper projects.

This quickly made birthday card was pre-printed with a pattern. I added a solid strip and used my Silhouette to cut out the “Celebrate” shape (bought from their online library). I cut little pieces of adhesive foam tape to make it pop it out. For some bling on the flowers, I used little adhesive foam dots to attach sequins.

And that’s it! Simple, quick, and cheap – my kind of craft these days.

seeing stripes (and solids)

I've decided to really, finally (hopefully soon) open an Etsy shop. I've been making these little shirts as gifts for my friends' kids for about a year and now I've got a library of designs I can use. My husband thinks I should do it too, so here we go. First I have to build up an inventory, then photograph, figure out my prices, shop policies and all that good stuff. So it will still take some time. At least I'm committed to actually doing it, which means I've been buying supplies for new shirts. It's hard to find time to work with my 3 precious princesses, since I'm their only "lady-in-waiting". But a slow start is still a start.

Pictured below are some of the gifts I've made recently. I design these in Adobe Illustrator, cut them out of heat transfer paper using my Silhouette machine, and then iron them on t-shirts. So far, they hold up after washing several times. The design challenge is creating 1-color designs that have enough line weight for cutting. Adding a scripture reference, if applicable, is very important to me too. The little scripture type can be tricky to cut and peel off of the backing paper, but it's worth it.

I also designed a little tag with washing instructions on the back. Presentation can really make or break a product! I'm grateful that my years of working as a product designer helped me figure out some of this stuff already. Most importantly, I really want my Etsy store to glorify God and shine as a light for Him. To God be all glory!

sewing fun

What does it mean when I've been invited to a birthday party and a baby shower (besides a full calendar)? Another opportunity to make some fun gifts for my sweet friends - yay!

For my daughter's 3-year old friend, I designed a shirt using heat transfer with my Silhouette and a matching skirt. For the scripture reference on the shirt I used Matthew 19:14, which says, Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Children are truly precious in His sight! As always, I had great fun picking out the fabric too. I love looking at various color and pattern combinations. Luckily, I was able to find just the right combination using fabric and trim that I already had.

For my dear friend's new baby, I made another tag blanket. Since the gender was a surprise, the challenge was to make it neutral yet exciting (while using fabric and ribbon I already had). The colors I chose were a bit unconventional, but babies like to focus on things with high contrast. This time I made it a bit smaller than my first one, hoping that it can double as a "lovey" in a stroller or crib if the baby so chooses.

I had lots of fun trying to photograph these in an interesting, eye-catching way. I'm practicing in case I can actually find a way to open up my "Little Design Angel" Etsy store someday. Right now it seems impossible with my needy (yet precious) 5, 3, and 1 year olds. But I trust that God will provide the resources necessary for a little business if and when He wills it. For now, I'm focusing on being a Mommy to the little ones God so graciously gave me.

royal shirt designs

Wow! I had such a busy summer (and now Fall). When I started this blog, I had high hopes of updating it weekly, then I went down to monthly, now it seems to be only seasonally. With 3 little kids and a strong conviction to be intentional in discipling them, I’m constantly having to re-check my priorities to make sure I’m spending enough time with them. For now, that means less time on my computer, more quality time with my kids. These early foundational years are short and I don’t want to have regrets in how I spent my time.

Of course, this doesn’t mean I can’t do ANYTHING fun for myself. At times a good creative break is just what I need to be a better mommy. In addition to spending time with my Lord, it’s a great way to re-energize myself. With that said, I’ve been having so much fun with the heat transfer material for my Silhouette. I used the $50 prize I received earlier this year to buy a roll, along with some other items. Below are the first t-shirts I designed for the heat transfer.

These were made for some of my friends’ precious little kids and one for my own daughter. I was concerned about how the shirts would hold up in the washer/dryer and now I can officially say that they have been product-tested for 4 months. My 1-year old daughter has made all kinds of messes on her shirt. I’ve probably washed and dried it 20 times now and the heat transfer is still intact with no peeling or bubbles - even the tiny scripture reference on it. Kudos to the Silhouette people at QuicKutz! I have more t-shirt/heat transfer designs, which I will post a little later (hopefully before Christmas ??). You can also see some apron designs here.

For the "Little Princess" and "Little Prince" designs, I used 2 Corinthians 6:18 which says, "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord."  The context in 2 Corinthians is about being unequally yoked with unbelievers. So, this promise is for those who are believers in Jesus Christ, His deity and His atoning work on the cross.  It's a reminder that because God is our Father and He is a King, we have a royal inheritance.  With such an inheritance, let's not live as beggars! We have been given EVERY spiritual blessing under heaven (Ephesians 1:3).  Let's take these blessings and use them for God's glory in our lives. :)

teacher gifts

My daughter graduated from preschool this month. *tear* She had wonderful teachers who helped her immensely, especially in her struggle with Selective Mutism. She was able to make some friends and even (finally) speak to her peers this year. With all her newfound bravery, her teacher “predicted” that she will become a motivational speaker someday. She tells me she wants to be a mom when she grows up and being a motivational speaker is a certainly a big part of mothering. ;) She’s already practicing on her little sister. We are so proud of her and so grateful that God placed her in just the right class with just the right teachers. I made them some aprons as thank you gifts…

Naturally, I was short on time so I purchased blank canvas aprons at Walmart, designed heat transfers with their names, ironed them on and sewed “puffy” pockets on them. I’m still learning a lot about my Silhouette machine and its products. This time I learned that it requires a lot of time to iron the heat transfer material on canvas so it really sticks. For each apron I had to iron for 60 seconds at a time, 4 times. Hopefully the aprons will stand the test of time. *fingers crossed* The filigree art was from my "Dover 922 Decorative Vector Ornaments" clip art book. I LOVE this book. It's been such a time saver and has beautiful and classy designs.