Sarah @ Barefaced Approach asked “What is your favorite thing to do when you get me time??”

It kind of depends. I often go through periods of interest in one hobby, then put it on the shelf for a while and fall back to an old hobby or pick up a new one {yay ADD}. Lately I’ve been reading, writing, and {no lie} cleaning. I don’t know what’s come over me with the whole wanting to clean thing, belated nesting maybe? Not that I’m complaining. Anyway, when Lucy gives me enough time for the set up and clean up I’m looking forward to painting again.

One Cluttered Brain asked:
“Have you ever considered vlogging?”

Ummm…I dunno. I’m not familiar with it. I don’t really know what it would entail. But now I’m intrigued. So yes, I have considered vlogging, just now at least. I guess I never really considered it before because I can’t imagine anyone wanting to watch me.

“How long have you been blogging?”

A really long time…at least, it feels like a really long time. I think I started my first personal blog in 2004. This blog began as a family blog back in April of 2008. I’d say I really started making the transition from family blog to a “blog blog” {whatever that means} last year.

“Why Domestic Dork? And WHO designed your blog header and gal at the top? It is fabulous! Did you pay them to design your blog or do you just know people?”

“Domestic Dork” because I’m a SAHM, but I’m not particularly good at keeping house. I’m very ADD which is just not conducive to order and cleanliness {just ask my mom what my room looked like when I was a kid}. I am a lot better than I used to be. But “dork” also applies to the fact that I’m just a big geeky, dweeb overall. I always have been. I never fit in growing up. But it’s gratifying these days to see that people like me for who I am, weird, geeky quirks included.

As for the design, I did it all. I try to be modest about it, but the truth is I’m really freakin’ proud of myself. I drew the cartoon of me and Lucy on paper first, then turned it into a digital illustration. I used to have a different design, also by me, but I like this one much better.

“I must know. Twitter or Facebook? Which is better?”

Ooooh, that’s a tough one. I think I enjoy Twitter better.  I do like uploading photos to Facebook. But overall, I think I’d have to pick Twitter. People seem more engaged on Twitter. And there are no annoying Farmville or Mafia invites, so that’s a plus.

“And it's random I know, but who WAS your fave Sesame Street character and WHY?”

Wow, it’s been so long since I watched Sesame Street. When I was a kid I think I remember liking Oscar, Big Bird, and Snuffleupagus best {no idea why}. I was more of a fan of the Muppets I suppose. But anything Jim Henson is great. Random fact: I actually used to do puppetry when I was a teen. It was a blast and something I miss doing.

Jessie Kaitlin asked “This is sort of a question about you and Mini-Dork. What sort of activities do you do through the day?”

Really? Not much. I probably spend too much time on the computer {something I’ve been working on changing}. I also like to read. Lucy’s going through a pretty needy stage right now so she doesn’t let me get a lot done. She likes to dance, and explore and whine {lots of that lately}. I do try to read to her daily, but she’s not quite got the attention span needed to listen to a book most days. Adam takes the car for school and work so we spend a lot of time at home, just enjoying each other’s company. But since moving there’s a lot more to do within walking distance {such as the library}. I’m looking forward to warmer weather so we can go more places, like the park.

Casey asked “Why do you consider yourself a ‘dork?’”

Well, I partially addressed this above. But let me put it this way:
Hermione Granger’s nerdiness + Ron Weasley’s laziness & scaredy-cat nature + Hagrid’s housekeeping skills + Neville Longbottom’s social ineptitude + Luna Lovegood’s quirks = ME.

“What has been your best parenting decision?”

Breastfeeding. Aside from the financial factor {we’re students, so money is tight}, and the fact that I don’t have to wash bottles, it’s been a very special experience. It kind of sucked at first {no pun intended}. But with time and support we got through the rough spots. The health benefits of breast milk vs. formula are awesome, of course. But there’s more to it than that. It’s an almost spiritual experience. Maybe it’s just the hormones that make me love it so much. But it’s been wonderful for Lucy and for me.

“What vacation destination do you recommend to people when they talk about going on vacation?”

If you can afford it, Paris. I was lucky enough to get to go with a relative my senior year of high school and I’ve been dying to go back ever since. The French are charming {the only rude people I met were Americans, be polite and you’ll be treated politely in return}. The city is beautiful. The food is amazing. And the art! Oh, the art! I could spend weeks and weeks just visiting museums.

Vyckie said “I'm curious to know who did the design too ~ did you do all this yourself?”

I did. :)  It took a lot of banging my head against a wall to figure out the coding bits. But there are lots of great websites out there with tutorials. I prefer the drawing part of the process.

Brittany asked “as an American who has had a desire to move to Canada since about middle school, I'd love to know: 1) What is your favorite thing about life in the Great White North? and 2) What do you miss most about life in the US of A?”

Honestly? The health care is why we originally moved here. Knowing my family will be taken care of medically no matter what financial position we find ourselves in is very comforting. But I’ve also found that Canadians, in general, are great people. They seem more laid back than a lot of Americans. Also, having a Tim Horton’s on practically ever corner is awesome {though perhaps bad for my waistline}. I also feel like Canada has taken some steps in the right direction that people are still fighting about in the US {like marriage equality}. 
What I miss most is my family, of course. But I also really, really miss Target. I also miss the USPS {I am not a fan of Canada Post}, and the price of cereal in the US {it’s really pricey up here,and the selection isn’t as good}. I also miss feeling like I know what’s going on. I mostly follow US news because I still don’t have a good grasp of how the Canadian government works.

Jenn asked “How do you decide what to write about/How do you narrow down your ideas?”

You know, I just kind of go with the flow. I just write about what interests me at the time. I narrow things down based on what I lose interest in. I sometimes come up with a bunch of ideas at a time, but by the time I get around to finishing the list I don’t necessarily feel excited by all my ideas anymore and they just fizzle out.

Insanitykim asked “When can I join your club and have a hat like that? And, can the hat ties be made of licorice?”

If you’re a follower, consider yourself in the club. And I don’t know about the licorice part but you can get a hat here or you can get one of many different similar hats and matching gloves {moose, owls, lobster, orca and more!} in adult or child sizes here.

Thanks for your questions! If you missed the last post and have a question just leave it in the comments and I’ll answer it there.

Wow. I am exhausted! Stayed up late, got up early, and worked like crazy to get everything ready but the party went off without a hitch. So hooray! And now, for your viewing pleasure, I’m giving you the grand tour of every. single. detail.

So, let’s begin with decorations. This is the dining room. The big, blue, fluffy balls are Martha Stewart tissue papers balls. I got the kit on sale at Michael’s. And really they inspired the whole theme. Originally I had planned on doing a Dr. Seuss or Lorax themed party. I had wanted the tissue paper ball kit in the pink and orange color scheme because they reminded me of Truffula trees from The Lorax. Then I saw that they were on sale…but only the blue green kit. I love blue right now and wondered what I could do with that…and the idea for a winter theme came to me. After all, Lucy is a winter baby! I left the two greenish tissue paper balls out since they didn’t really match. And I picked up blue and white streamers at the dollar store. I also put homemade snowflake decals on the chairs.

The foam snowflakes were on walls all over the apartment. We hooked up my laptop to our TV and had a slideshow of pictures of Lucy from birth through her first year playing during the party. We also had an iTunes playlist of songs she likes or that make me think of her playing the whole time. Here’s the playlist:

• Birthday – The Beatles
• I’m Like a Bird – Nelly Furtado
• Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds – The Black Crowes
• In My Daughter’s Eyes – Martina McBride
• Winter Wonderland – Gordon Jenkins & His Orchestra/Louis Armstrong
• Waltz of the Flowers – Tchaikovsky (Nutcracker)
• Golden Slumbers – Ben Folds
• Baby Mine – Alison Krauss
• Fidelity – Regina Spektor
• Simple Gifts – Yo-Yo Ma & Alison Krauss
• Blackbird – Evan Rachel Wood (Across the Universe)
• Say Hey (I Love You) – Michael Franti & Spearhead
• New Soul – Yael Naim {Lucy liked this song while she was still in the womb!}
• Neverland Medley – Kenny Loggins
• River Lullaby – Amy Grant
• I Feel It All – Feist
• Dear Prudence – Across the Universe cast
• Here Comes the Sun – The Beatles
• 1234 – Feist

These flowers were for me in celebration of me, you know, doing that whole “giving birth thing.”  I specifically requested hinted that I wanted white ones so they could double as party decor. Then we put them in a vase with blue glass gems and fake ice. I also added in the two blue glitter stick “thingies” and the silver “thingy.”
    
I’ve had the little snowglobe on the left since high school. It says “Ice Ice Baby” and has an ultrasound picture in it. I picked up the bigger snowglobe at the drugstore. And I’ve had the square block frame for a while. It came from Michael’s. The fake ice I scattered about also came from Michael’s. I had a few pictures of Lucy in her birthday dress printed ahead of time and used little display easels from the dollar store to showcase them.


This was the favor/prize/guessing jar table.

I picked up some blue jelly beans at Bulk Barn and let my guests try to guess how many were in the jar (from Michael’s). There were exactly 250. The winner got to keep the jar {which has silver snowflakes I drew with a sharpie} and the jelly beans of course!

Each guest received a goody bag with Wint-O-Green mints, a glitter snowflake ornament, and a scratch off “lotto” ticket. I got the idea for the scratch and win tickets from ArtMind. I drew the animal images {seal, beluga, and white caribou} myself {just like the invitations} on the computer. Then printed them on cardstock. If you’d like to use them for your own party just click on the images below, then right-click and “save as.” Make sure you get both pages. One is all winner cards and the other is all loser cards. Guests who got a winning card got to pick a prize…


The prizes all matched the theme. The polar bear cup and snowflake cookie cutter came from Walmart. Everything else came from Michael’s. I had a polar bear ornament, polar bear craft kit, two snowflake stamps, a blue and white candle, a snowflake wand, a blue glitter crown, and a snowflake soap.

The party “photo booth” is a popular idea I’ve seen all over the web. Mine wasn’t anything too fancy, just a blue plastic tablecloth from the dollar store and some of my foam snowflakes. Guests who wanted to got to have their picture taken in front of the backdrop and I’ll be sending them the files.
Now, on to food…

I got light blue plates and napkins from the dollar store.

We served veggies and dip, and celery with creme cheese {or “snowy celery”} as well as cheese and crackers {“sleds”} as the non-sugary snacks. We had mozzarella and white cheddar to keep with the blue and white theme. All the foods were labelled with the little snowflake place-cards {from, where else? Michael’s}.And they all had winter names. For example, we served melted snow {milk} and melted ice {soda}.

This cake was a key-lime coconut cake. It was a combo of two recipes. I followed the instructions for the cake from here but omitted the glaze and used canned frosting {with 1 tsp lime juice}.  And instead of baking it in a pan I followed the baking instructions here {minus the cream cheese center} to get a round snowball look. I really liked this cake. It was yummy.

I knew not everyone would want a cake with coconut so I planned chocolate cupcakes as well. Adam baked them and I frosted them. I was running late on preparations and they weren’t frosted until right before the party was set to begin. Fortunately my Twitter friend Krista gave me a cupcake frosting hint that is AWESOME and made it super easy and super quick to frost all the cupcakes. Melt your frosting in the microwave, then just dip the cupcakes in it. Easy peasy! I used a mix of plain white cupcake liners and pretty blue, patterned liners by Martha Stewart {from Michael’s}. But in the future I’ll bake the cupcakes in plain liners, then put a second liner on top because you couldn’t really see the color or pattern very well after baking the chocolate cupcakes in them.

These “icebergs” are cake balls {made famous by Bakerella}. I used white cake and blue candy melts {with blue sprinkles, both from Michael’s}. The snowflake garland {which was also used around the cake} was from...you know, I probably don't even have to tell you where I got it. These cake balls were a BIG hit, especially with the kids. The mini cupcake liners had a snowflake print. I can't remember where I found them, possibly Walmart or Superstore. And I may or may not have eaten a dozen of these things in the process of making them…
      This was Lucy’s personal cake. It’s also based on a Bakerella project. I didn’t have any white sanding sugar for my snowglobe so I just used more of the blue sprinkles. I may or may not have sliced my thumb with an exacto trying to make the globe part and then insisted Adam do it. And before anybody mentions to me that penguins and polar bears don’t live in the same place let me say this: I know. But the little polar bear toy I had and the little seal toy I had were too big for the snow globe cupcake. Besides, sometimes they DO live in the same place. It’s called the zoo. So there.

And here I am, with my little snow princess. She might hate headbands but she was totally cool with her birthday crown. She stayed up late, got up early, and woke up early from her only nap before the party. So she wasn’t in the most social mood. I wore her for part of the party. But by the end she let a few people hold her for a few minutes.  Her birthday dress came from Etsy and her snowflake shoes came from Superstore.

This was her very first taste of cake. She didn’t really know what to do with it. For the longest time she just sat there holding it and crumbling it. Eventually a little bit made it into her mouth. Tuesday {her actual birthday} I’m gonna give her another chance to have some, but with frosting!
So there we go. Months of obsessing planning, hours upon hours of crafting, and hours upon hours of baking for a few hours of party. But you know what? It was totally worth it. :)

PS: I think this most definitely counts for the December Photo Challenge, don’t you? Come back tomorrow for another picture.
PPS: Michael’s in no way sponsored this post. But they could have saved me a lot of cash if they had. Geez, they didn’t even offer!

So…I had several people commenting on my post with the free invite downloads that while they do have winter babies, they won’t be turning one. So I’ve made a version of the download with “One-derland” spelled normally as “Wonderland.” These invites are suitable for any winter party, birthday or not. Just add your own text with the party details.

For the .png {for use in programs like Photoshop/Gimp/etc.} just click on the picture below, then select “save image as”}. For the vector file {for use in programs like Illustrator/Inkscape} click here.

ETA: You can now see pictures from the party, and get another free download for use in your goody bags.

The theme for Lucy’s first birthday party came to me when browsing Michael’s back in September: Winter ONE-derland! I think the combination of snow, pretty shades of blue, and cute arctic animals will make for a great party. And before you can have a party you have to have party invitations!
I made these invitations myself. I did them {including the polar bear illustration} in a vector program. Then I had them printed as 4x6 photos {which I’m having a little trouble finding envelopes for, but hopefully Staples will have them}. It only cost $1.90 plus tax to have 10 invites printed at Walmart. I just uploaded my file to their online photo center and they did the rest.
But I wanted to make the invitations extra special so I decided to give them the glitter of fresh snow with glitter glue pens from Michael’s!


Aaaaand…just because I’m awesome, and generous, and “ONE-derful” {and humble, apparently} I’m giving you a blank version that you can download for your own party {assuming you have a winter baby who’s turning one}. To download a .png invitation {for use in programs such as Photoshop} just click the picture below, then right click and save as. To download a vector file {for use in programs such as Inkscape or Illustrator} click here. You’ll also need to go to kevinandamanda.com and download the “Teacher’s Pet Font” {free}.
ETA: I didn't end up finding the right sized envelopes {they can be ordered online but I didn't have time for that}. What I ended up doing is buying blue envelopes and trimming the blue border off the invites. If you use these invites you could either order envelopes online, trim the blue border off, or have them printed with a white border and trim that off.
ETA: If you want to have a party for a kiddo that won't be turning one, or if you just want to have a winter party for the fun of it, you can get free invitations with "Winter Wonderland" instead of "Winter ONE-derland" by visiting this post.

I’ve been feeling like my brain is broken lately. I’m swamped with Coffee clients (and even had to turn a potential client down). I’ve been trying to get some things around the house taken care of. I’ve had a lot of errands to run. I’ve been trying to get some holiday projects and shopping done early. I’ve also got Mama Note’s Body After Baby challenge going on. And I’ve been combating my ADD and the blues for a little while which definitely makes even the little things much more difficult.

I did so-so on the Body After Baby mini-challenge to drink water. I definitely started strong. But I haven’t done a single minute of exercise thus far. I’ve been stretched so thin lately between my blogs and my graphic design projects that fitness has been left by the wayside. I’m not sure how much that bothers me. Something’s got to give and maybe this should be that something. However I don’t want to be completely inactive. I want to at least be training for my running goals.

I’ve got a lot of clients right now, which is great but stressful. I have a pro-bono client that I really want to work on to return a big favor she did for me last year. But my paying clients obviously take the priority, especially since some are in a bit of a time crunch. I also have a few of my own projects I’d like to work on and can’t right now. Plus I’m always unsure if my prices are fair {to me}. I like being affordable because I know a lot of my clients are SAHMs like me and can’t afford to spend a small fortune on graphic design. But, depending on the project my wages are as low as a dollar an hour. So yeah, it’s a bit frustrating at times.

I have one more post about bullying I’d like to write. And I’ve got a list of posts I want to write for my other blog. Plus NaNoWriMo is coming up and I know that is going to take a lot of my free time. I also have some reading I’d like to do. And of course there’s a long list of random to-do items that need to be taken care of {e.g. open a RESP account for Lucy, return some borrowed items, sort out all the clothes Lucy has outgrown, etc.}. With so much to keep track of I think even if I didn’t have ADD I’d feel overwhelmed. But I do have ADD and it’s been bad lately. I feel like I’m in such a fog. I’ve started taking fish oil supplements again because the Omega 3’s are supposed to help. But I don’t know if it’s enough. I may have to ask the doctor about using antidepressants {which can be used to treat ADD} since I can’t take the normal ADHD meds while breastfeeding.

I’m also considering shutting down Coffee for the duration of NaNoWriMo, or maybe for the month of December. But I can’t decide if I want to do that. I’ve even considered retiring this blog but I know I would regret that in about 24 hours. If I were rich I’d just hire a personal assistant/maid. Yeah, that would be perfect.

Anyway…that’s just some random stuff I wanted to put out there.

A client was asking me about how to add watermarks to her blog photos as a way of deterring photo theft. I did my best to explain it, but felt that text just wasn’t the way to describe the process.
So I made a video tutorial.
At four in the morning.
You can thank me later.*
Now, go protect those photos!

ETA: Here are the links for GIMP and for Windows Live Writer.


*Thank me, tell me how crazy I am for staying up that late…whatever.

It’s time to pick the winners of the Coffee Graphic Design giveaway!

The 5 lucky readers who will be getting a free button?

The 3 lucky readers who will be getting a free header?

And the 1 very lucky reader who will be getting the ultimate prize pack which includes a header, button, and signature with 2 additional seasonal versions?

Well, well, well! Aren’t you lucky Sarah? Winning twice! You must have some magic mojo goin’ on or something!

Congrats to ALL my winners. I’ll be contacting you shortly. And if you didn’t win but still want some graphic design work done I’m very affordable.

See that beautiful camera? Are you drooling? Yeah, well…I’m getting a new-to-me one tomorrow morning for an excellent price {yes, be jealous}. And people, do you understand what that means?

That means I’m going to be able to take much better photos for the blog. That means I’m going to be able to use photo elements in my graphic design. That means I’m going to be able to take excellent family pictures during our vacation.

.

.

.

That means I’m going to have to use ever ounce of will power I have to not spend all my time between now and Sunday playing with my new toy instead of packing.

I am pleased to announce the opening of Coffee Graphic Design!

I’ve been making art and doing graphic design for years. My first graphic design project was a playbill for a production of Children of Eden. From there I did more playbills, as well as t-shirt designs. I started doing graphic design for the web when I was tired of my boring, pre-made Blogger template. After much encouragement from friends and family I’ve decided to make my services available to the public. And I can’t do that without offering a fabulous giveaway, now can I?

Here’s WHAT you can win:

• 1 of 5 “Iced Coffees” (buttons)
• 1 of 3 “Cappuccinos” (headers)
• 1 Ultimate Prize Pack (header, button, and signature, with 2 extra seasonal versions)

Here’s HOW you can win {sorry, family members are not eligible}:

1. Leave a comment on THIS post. Tell me how awesome I am, tell me how much you love or hate coffee (the drink, not my new website), whatever! Just leave any comment. You must do this for other entries to count.
2. Go to Coffee and grab a button to put on your blog. Then leave a comment with the link to your site.
3. Blog about this giveaway (leave comment with link to the post).
4. Follow this blog or Coffee (current followers count) and leave a comment telling me you’re a follower.
5. Follow me on Twitter (again, current followers count) and leave a comment telling me you’re a follower.
6. Tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment with the link to the tweet (not your profile). You can tweet daily, just be sure to leave me a comment for each tweet.

MAKE SURE YOU PROVIDE A WAY FOR ME TO CONTACT YOU! If your e-mail is not available through your Blogger profile you MUST leave it in each comment.

Winners will be announced {and contacted} on August 20. That gives you plenty of time to get lots of entries and to daydream about what you’ll do if you win! Winners have 72 hours to claim their prize before it’s given away to someone else. That’s it, and GOOD LUCK!

Winners are announced here!