Saturday Sneak

Hello again!  Hope you're having a great Saturday.

We were dealing with tornado warnings here in Georgia last night.  It was a very long night. ;)

Never been more thankful to have a basement, and of course that all is safe and sound.

Really happy that the sun has been out today.

My next peak is ready for you to view....hope you like it!

And....there you go. :)
You can pre-order you kit today!
Call The Little Blue House at 817-431-7930
or even better...go to the LBH and order in person.
The website is almost ready to go... www.thelittlebluehouseonline.com

I'll leave you with this quote from my very favorite movie of all time:

Kathleen:"I love daisies..." Joe:"You told me..." 

Kathleen:"They're so friendly. Don't you think that daisies are the friendliest flowers?" 

Joe:"I do."

I agree too. ;)

Can any of you name this movie?

See you tomorrow!!

Sneaky Peek Friday!!

I'm so excited about this month's kit!!!
It felt really good to be crafting with the Little Blue House again.
I can't tell you enough how gorgeous this kit is...the colors are perfect for bringing in Spring, and there are so many fun things inside that I promise you....the possibilities are endless.


This month's kit is called

and trust me...it's a very fitting name. :)

Here are my sneaks...

Another sneak will come tomorrow, and....the

full reveal on MONDAY!!!!

Be sure to check out the Little Blue House website,
home of the Front Porch Kits at
www.thelittlebluehouseonline.com
and the blog at
www.thelittlebluehouseblog.blogspot.com

It's BACK!!

This week  the latest Front Porch Kit arrived on my front porch. :)

I've missed those these past few months....how fun to drive home and find that wonderful brown 12x12 box waiting for me on Wednesday!

SO ready and excited to get going with this one...it's a BEAUTIFUL kit.

I had no trouble coming up with projects to do...in fact, I might have to scale back a little. ;)

  We left-brained, crafty-types sometimes set unrealistic expectations, don't we? However, this time I'm hoping that my old organized, right-brained self will shine through this time, at least in the staying-on-task department.  Otherwise she needs to leave me alone. ;)

A couple weeks ago I had the fun job of making Fancy Nancy party invitations for one of my very favorite little girls. Miss Mia-Kate is 6 now...her mama and I have been friends since middle school, and I seriously love those girls (MK has 2 sisters) like they're mine. :) Determined that at least one of them will end up falling in love with and marrying a Hatcher boy.  *sigh* 

Her mama and I would make the most fun moms-in-law and grandma pair EVER.

But, I'm getting off task.  Shocking. ;)

New Front Porch Kit sneaks coming this weekend.

Check back soon!

Parties and Painting

January is a busy month for our family, with 3 birthdays and an anniversary to celebrate, all within an 11 day period.  So you can imagine my relief when February gets here. ;)  Don't get me wrong~ I love celebrating and planning parties.  Birthdays are fun, and I love to make a really big deal out of them.

But when it's all over I'm equally as excited to not have another party to plan until June. ;)

Still can't believe this guy is FIVE.

And because FIVE is such a big birthday, we partied BIG.

Here's a recap:

Hunter wanted a Lego Star Wars party at home, so we celebrated with pool noodle Light Saber fights in the family room (whoa), a Lego ship building contest, cupcakes, cake, and Yoda Soda. ;)

It was fun! Special thanks to my incredibly talented friend Amanda for making the cupcake toppers, and the Star Wars cookies...they were a huge hit!!

 Last week I was determined to relax the Monday after the party was over.

That lasted about 2 hours. ;) Sometimes I wish I was better at relaxing, but maybe it's good that I'm not. 

I had been thinking about painting a wall in our house, but I needed some time to work up the courage.

Thankfully we had plenty of paint leftover from when this hallway was painted, and I used Mod Podge to adhere the leaves to the wall, so if it was a disaster at least it wouldn't be a permanent one. ;)

 I was wanting to paint something that was whimsical and kid-friendly, but also something that would grow with the boys.  I love trees, and wanted to incorporate some of the colors I use throughout our home.  The Bible verse is from Jeremiah 33:3....one of my favorites, and one that I'm wanting the boys to grow up knowing as well.

 I had so much fun with this project!  I really love to paint, and it was so fun having a giant canvas to work with.  Thankful for a patient husband who doesn't panic when I mention painting a mural on a wall (or he hides it really well). ;)

A 5th Birthday Party, Star Wars Style

This guy is a bit Star Wars-obsessed.

His brothers are fans too, but not quite as much as he is.

So when I asked him what kind of party he wanted this year (he's turning 5....that's a BIG one),

he didn't hesitate to tell me he wanted a Lego Star Wars theme. To be honest, I cringed a little bit on the inside (thinking, "How about Toy Story? Or baseball? Or ANYTHING else?";)....I mean, I don't really "get" the Star Wars thing.  I've never really understood it.  But I know there are LOTS of people out there who think it's fantastic, and I've learned the importance of understanding the things that are important to my kiddos~ I really believe that if they'll talk to me about the little things that are important to them now, hopefully they'll talk to me about the big things that are important as they get older. So I'm somewhat of a pro when it comes to Star Wars.  I know that Darth Vader used to be Anakin Skywalker (Hunter's favorite character), and that Yoda uses a green light saber.  I learned today that 

Boba Fet and Jengo Fet are father and son, but I honestly don't remember which one is which. 

I'm doing my best. ;)

So....a Star Wars theme.  A LEGO Star Wars theme.  Way more fun to plan than I ever expected....lots of ideas out there.  I'm up to my eyeballs in Star Wars-related things (thankfully the scrapbook store had a pretty decent selection), and am getting lots of help from my super-talented friend Amanda, who also happens to run a party planning business in OKC. She's making some fantastic Star Wars cookies, and designed some amazing cupcake toppers for me.  

Can't wait to share the pics....soon!

Then the weekend after Hunter's 5th birthday bash we celebrate Harrison's 11th birthday....11.  ELEVEN. Their birthdays are actually a day apart, but we spaced their parties out a week.  Thankfully, Harrison is getting to the age when a big party isn't a big deal.  He wants to have a few friends go to the Airsoft shooting place, then come home for pizza and cake.  

Going with a camo theme (seemed appropriate), and it's going to be great. 

Eleven.  Whoa.

And as if I didn't have enough to do right now ;) Brian and I hit Home Depot and Lowe's on Friday.  Big plans to finish up our bedroom, which include paint with fun names like Pup Tent and Monk's Cloth, an old ladder, a big door,  and some old ceiling tiles, just to name a few. In search of an old chandelier right now.  CANNOT wait to finish it up and show you! Also going to start changing up some other things upstairs....creating a mural for the wall at the top of the stairs, making curtains for Harrison and Hunter's rooms, our room, and then I'm finally going to face my fear (otherwise known as our kitchen cabinets) and start painting....ready to get the kitchen done.  I think there are so many little things I want to finish up that I keep getting overwhelmed and don't do anything. :/ So my new plan for the new year is to tackle one room at a time, a little at a time.  We'll see.  Hopefully all of the fantastic-ness that's in my head will be reality soon.

a new direction

So....a lot has changed in the past two years.
In my former life I lived in Texas with my minister husband, 3 little boys, and a black lab named Addy. Our parents, siblings, and friends all lived within 30 minutes of us. I worked for a delightful company called Create Joy, designing and teaching different home decor and scrapbooking projects. I loved it...life was good. :)

But sometimes God takes us in a different, unexpected direction. Things change. I've changed. Now I live in Georgia with my minister husband, 3 little boys, and a black lab named Addy. Our parents, siblings, and friends now live way farther away than I would ever choose.
And I've had the pleasure of being a full-time stay-at-home mom for two years now.
I've LOVED that part. Being away has taken a lot of getting used to. But God is faithful and has not only made it possible for us to see our family and friends often, but has given us people here who love us too. Definitely blessed.

I've taken a little sabbatical from the crafty world that I love. Not giving it up completely~ I still do some things here and there for my faithful customers, and have made a few things for some church events~ who knew art could double as ministry? ;) It's no longer my job though. Honestly, I had found that I was a little burned out, so a break was good. However, these past few months I've started to see that something is missing.

Turns out that you can take the girl out of the studio, but you can't take the studio out of the girl. ;)

SO....I'm moving things in a little different direction.
I've been asking myself what I am passionate about, what I love to do most, what would be the perfect thing to do and still take care of my family?

You see....I'm a scrapbooker. Have been for most of of my life. I have the sad-looking drill team scrapbook from high school to prove it. ;) There's not much that thrills me more than a scrapbook store. I get lost in the papers, the embellishments, ribbons, chipboard....it's dangerous. ;) But I've been playing in the digital scrapbook world lately, and I've found that I like it too.
It's fast. It's fun, and when it's done well....it's strikingly beautiful.

Good photography is REALLY important, and when my best-friend-who-is-also-our-photographer and I partner up like we did for these projects, well it just makes the process that much more fun.

Our first project was for my sister. She and her husband have been in the process of adopting for awhile now, and needed a book for the birth moms to look through. They asked Tomi to photograph them for the book, and asked me to turn it into a digital album for them.

Here are a few of the pages from their book:

We're pretty sure the book might be magic~ they've already become the parents to two-year-old twins! I shared their story on my family blog here if you'd like to read it.

I had so much fun with Reagan and Jon's book that I decided to make some for us. I have 4 years of family photos that needed to be in books. I've finished two so far. Here are a few from last year's photo shoot:

(not sure why this one is cut off...I have lots to learn about html stuff. :/
I promise it's not cut off in the book.

The way I see it is like this: your family is art. Your family photos? Also art. They don't need a lot of extra stuff to share their story...sometimes some words or a fitting quote is plenty. Some stories need to be told, journaling, one thing I have always stressed as important when it comes to scrapbooking.

These photos are from 2007...my childhood friend Kelly took these for me. She's AMAZINGLY talented...can't believe how much my babies have grown. It was fun going back through these and remembering what they were like back then.

SO....here's the plan:
Your photos in a full color hardcover album, available in 3 sizes (8.5x8.5, 8.5x11, and 12x12), edited, personal touches added, your stories told, and shipped right to your front door. :)

And if that isn't enough? I'm seriously throwing the idea of starting a party planning business. After lots of prompting by family, friends, neighbors, church members, etc.....I'm finally really thinking seriously about it. Lots of details to work out. These digital albums will be part of a package deal, which will also include handmade paper invitations, cake/cupcake toppers, personalized party decorations, balloons....think like this: your party or shower planned from start to set up to finish, with a beautiful digital album so you're sure to never forget it. :)

I'll be launching a new blog at the first of the year with more details, pricing, photo samples, etc.
In the meantime please contact me at jaclynhatcher77@gmail.com with any questions.

And please know....I'm not giving up my love of paper. ;) Let me stress this~ the invitations, banners, cupcake toppers, etc. will all be handmade, with all the paper, ribbon, and embellishments. It wouldn't feel right otherwise. ;)

Fall

Fall is my favorite time of the year. At least until winter comes. And then spring....and summer. I'm not a super decisive girl, and I love all of the seasons for different reasons.
But I get extra excited about fall...the cooler temps have a lot to do with it. And it's so unbelievably gorgeous here with the trees turning all of these amazing shades of red and orange, gold and brown. It's breathtaking.

The official first leaf of fall. Or, the first official leaf that landed on our driveway. Details. ;)

Oddly (or really, not so oddly) enough, this change in weather makes brings out the crafty girl in me even more. I love decorating the house, the porch, and usually start wanting to change things up in the house. I bought a 12x12 canvas last week that was on sale at Hobby Lobby, having no clue what I was going to do with it.

Today I figured something out. I love birds...these make me happy. :)

Last week I had a little surgery. Everything went well, thankfully...I'm starting to get frustrated that I'm not up to my normal routine yet, but I'm getting there. I'm supposed to give it a couple weeks, at least. I'm not a patient patient. Not at all. ;)
A sweet friend brought these flowers to the hospital, other friends have brought gifts, meals, offered to take me out of the house for awhile, my mom and dad sent a Starbucks gift card. And B and the boys? Excellent nurses. I'm feeling blessed....downright spoiled, really.

The day before surgery I had a lot of nervous energy. So I took some leftover fabric and made a curtain for our powder bathroom. On Friday I picked up some fun trim to add to it...hoping to get to that this week.

And I made this pillow too. Was afraid if I didn't do it before it would never happen.

Very simple...burlap tree trunk, leaves made from a package of quilt quarters bought at Hobby Lobby. Using their 40% off coupon to purchase the pillow, this project was done for around $10.
Makes me love it even more. :)

Added some fallish picks to the wreath that normally hangs on the front door already, and it is now fall ready.

Saw the idea for adding a monogram letter to a pumpkin on Pinterest, and I loved it. Simple and fun and different. Planted mums and pansies in the front porch pots, and the porch is now ready.

happy fall!