Shutterfly! For, well...shutterflies!

'Tis the season to start thinking about which Christmas cards you'll choose to both delight your family and beat them to the punch--After December 1st??? PLEASE!  I plan on having mine stamped, addressed, and in good ol' snail mail by November 30th! (Disclaimer:  This statement does not constitute a binding contract, so you should therefore be neither surprised nor chagrined should your card come late, or not at all!)

All kidding aside, I'm here for the first time in months to share my love of Shutterfly.  I've used other Christmas card sites in the past, and have even tried my hand at making my own cards, but I keep coming back to their amazing designs. 

Here are a couple of my favorite Christmas designs:

(Tousle-haired blonde boys are optional--I'm sure you'd much rather include your own family.)

If you're in the Happy Holidays camp, fret not!  There are cards just for you!

 C'mon!!  Adorbs.

For those of you saying to yourselves, "Sure Sal.  YOU can do this, but I don't know what I'm doing!"  Shutterfly has a very EASY photo uploader and even easier interface for creating your projects.

Here's our card from a couple of years back. I loved the simplicity of the design, but it was very hard to choose.  (Side note:  my hair isn't quite that poofy now)

We also made a Year in Review book for the grandmas.  My favorite gift idea, and I plan on making more!



Cards aren't the only thing you can create on Shutterfly.  You can also create wonderful books (my favorite), stationery, calendars, and many more gifts!  It's one-stop shopping.  I can tell you, from experience, that the shipping is fast and the quality can't be beat.  Head on over to Shutterfly and see what you can cook up!

Here's what I've got cooking: 

Goings On...

Many new and wonderful things abound for the Rawlings family.

The first day of Kindergarten:

Dad resuming karate class:

(photo courtesy of dMg Photo)

Getting together with new friends:

And through it all....

We remain fabulous!

Camping with The Butlers

Happy Fourth!

I would henceforth like to be known as moderately crafty.

So I've been bitten by the craft bug...sort of.  My blog reader has become clogged with several very crafty sites, ranging from home decor to sewing for the littles.  For someone like me who's a tad ADD to begin with, this might mean that I'll become moderately good at a lot of things vs. very good at a couple of things.  You know what?  I'm okay with that.  This is fun!

Crafty Attempt #1, with special guest star: my husband.



I had to put Jeffrey in the photo.  He's an important member of the family.



  I found the plans for this Pottery Barn-style daybed on a VERY cool site--Knock-Off Wood.  I really wanted a "couch" of sorts for our playroom, as well as some additional storage, and this fit the bill perfectly.  What would have cost roughly $800 from PB cost us about $150 and some sweat equity.  It isn't as perfectly finished as store-bought, mainly because I was the finisher, but it's awfully cute and very, very sturdy.  Adrian did all of the carpentry with some lumber from Lowe's and the tools he had on hand (which did not include a table saw--poor guy), and he did an AMAZING job.  I did the sanding, wood filler, priming, painting and finishing.  I'm also putting our new sewing machine to good use...I sewed three of the pillowcases that you see here, with the help of this fantastic book I got from Jen.  It's such a handy resource and has some fantastic patterns!

Crafty Attempt #2:  Fourth of July ruffle tanks. Special guest star: Sabrina.



Yes, that's my foot....and?????

 I saw this tutorial and really wanted to make these tops to go with the cute skirts I got at Kohl's.  I managed to make the ruffles, but got a little confused as to how to stitch them to the shirts. I'm telling you--this is me attempting to activate a dormant part of my brain.  I am mentally WIPED after sewing, but also a little "high." :)  Sabrina gave me some great advice, and we figured it out.  Sure, one of the side ruffles is a bit longer than the other, but I did it..and that's what makes me happy! 


Speaking of extremely crafty folk, Jen is having a fantastic giveaway on her blog.  You have a chance to win one of her dreamy word art pieces!  Go forth and win!

Gamers

Face paint...compliments of Grammy