Mommy's Writing

So I'm Consolidating

2008-05-25T08:36:00.001-07:00

And I'm keeping everything over at my other blog. It's just been too hard to try and work both of these blogs plus my other two group blogs. Too many blogs, not enough time...

So my other blog has been completely revamped. And it looks awesome! So go check it out here.

It's not strictly about writing naughty books. It's about life. Yes that includes writing but it also includes the kids, the snakes (!!!) and the sixteen cats (!!!!!).

Plus, well, I have contests. To entice you. LOL

So come visit me!!! Please!!! http://karenwritesromance.com/blog

Going Out of Town

2008-04-14T21:16:00.001-07:00

I have my big conference to go to! I'm flying out early tomorrow morning and I won't be back until late Sunday night. So I probably won't see you until next Monday.

Hope everyone has a great week!

My Favorite Lamp

2008-04-10T00:25:00.000-07:00

I have this lamp. Well, it started out in my childrens' bedroom. It's from the Wendy Bellissimo collection at Babies R Us and it looks like they don't carry it anymore. Anyway it was a frog collection. There was a frog and a princess frog and OMG it is sooooooo cute.

Is it wrong that I want to put it in my office? The kids never use it anymore - it was sitting on a table unplugged. I cannot part with this lamp. I want to keep it forever.

I mean look at him!

Isn't he sweet? And he goes with the new color scheme. My 14 year old son thinks I'm silly but I don't care. I'm all about the fairy tale. I write romances, come on! I'm keeping him. I heart him.

I think I'm going to put him on my desk. :)

Tackle it Tuesday

2008-04-08T00:48:00.000-07:00

So it really should've been Tackle it All Week Long for me. I've been hard at work putting together promo items for the conference I'm going to. I leave next Tuesday and I'm in full on preparation mode!

I attached the gift tags from last week's Tackle project to excerpt booklets I made. Inside of the booklets is a bookmark:

I'm also giving away pens. I hope people like the excerpt/tag/bookmark giveaway I've been working on. It's been a lot of fun working on it!

Notice the big green smudges above the bookmarks in the above pic? My daughter really likes to color - right off the paper. Sheesh. Looks like I need to clean that desk.

Flowers a Bloomin'

2008-04-07T00:04:00.000-07:00

I love going outside right now. The weather is beautiful and we actually have a yard!

Yes I am in love with our new yard. The grass, the trees, the flowers, even the bark.

Check out this flower:

Photos do not do it justice. It is a lovely Poppy and it's gorgeous.

I think these yellow flowers (I don't know what they are!) are like a little burst of sunshine:

I need to enjoy my yard as much as possible right now because soon it will be 100 degrees and I won't want to go outside!

I Made Something

2008-04-05T09:35:00.000-07:00

Yes I'm so excited, I made a little mini banner for my inspiration board! Well, my inspiration board is empty save for the banner, which I think is a clue that I need more inspiration right now.

It's never good to be a writer and uninspired!

Here it is:

So cute! I made one for my daughter too. She loves it! I got the template from Pink Paper Peppermints and it was so easy to make.

I also painted the wood frame of my inspiration board a pale lavender (the color was called sweet pea - how sweet). I'm slowly transforming this office and I'm having a lot of fun doing it!

Oh and check out my blog about getting crafty over at the Samhain Weblog. It should post at 3 p.m. eastern time. I put up a picture of the banner over there too.

I can't help it, I'm proud of my craftiness.

Birds

2008-04-03T00:15:00.000-07:00

I'm obsessed with them lately. They're so cute and I guess I'm right with the trend - they're all over the place right now. I'm also obsessed with anything to do with birds.

Like nests.

And birdhouses.

What's your obsession? (Mine changes all the time by the way **grin**)

Cupcakes

2008-04-02T07:03:00.000-07:00

I made cupcakes for my oldest's birthday last week.

And they were yummy.

Tackle it Tuesday

2008-04-01T00:15:00.000-07:00

Okay so I did something totally different. Rather than tackle something in the house (and trust me there is plenty around that needs tackling), I decided to work on a project I came up with. I got a little bit artsy/craftsy.

I'm going to a convention in two weeks and being that it's for romance authors and their fans, I needed to come up with some promo items. Well, there's so much stuff at these events and things get lost in the shuffle. It's hard to be original. I have some cool pens leftover from last year's promo purchase(s) and I'm bringing bookmarks that Croco designed. Plus I'm making up excerpt booklets for an upcoming release but I wanted to do something really cute. Really unique.

And then I became inspired by all of these beautiful blogs I've been visiting lately. So much talent, so much beautiful work I can hardly stand it!

I took out all of those stamps I recently bought.

And I made a bunch of cute little tags (98 of them to be precise - I messed up on two).

Here's a close up:

It was so much fun! I felt so creative. And I let my daughter play with the stamps on a piece of paper. She's a wonderful little artist - in her pre-kindergarten evaluation I received Monday they even mentioned what a great eye she has!

Now I need to make more - lots more but that's okay. I've had a blast doing it and I really think they'll stand out! I have another idea on what to package everything in - maybe that'll be my next Tackle it Tuesday post.

Cow Bell

2008-03-31T00:43:00.000-07:00

I have an old cow bell that was once my great-grandma's. My great-grandparent's owned a large ranch a long time ago and had lots of cattle. For whatever reason she saved this particular cow bell and when we went through her house after she died, I decided to keep it.

I'd love to figure out a way to hang it up outside but I don't know quite what to do. I need some inspiration. Does anyone have any ideas?

Sick

2008-03-29T08:44:00.000-07:00

Not me but my children. My two youngest were up at alternating times throwing up and all the fun stuff that goes with it. Ugh. Needless to say I'm tired and praying that I won't get this either. I don't like stomach bugs.

Who really does? No one I'm sure. Though last summer I had one that lingered for days and I couldn't eat a thing and on about the third day I remember thinking, "Well at least I'm losing weight." Yeah I'm twisted like that.

So since my addled brain is um, addled, this is all I can come up with today. Very exciting.

Old Photos

2008-03-27T00:30:00.000-07:00

I don't have enough of them of my family. My grandma has a ton - I need to go visit her so my mom and I can sit down with her and go through them all. At least to identify many of the people in them who are long gone. Someday my grandma will be gone (Heaven forbid! I can't even think about that, too upsetting) and I will forever regret that we didn't pick her brain over those photos.

I found a photo of my great-grandma recently. She wasn't even married yet - it says on the back Mademoiselle Yvonne (with all of her many names listed afterward that I can't make out cos she wrote it in pencil. Yikes), dated 1918. She would've been 17. Just before she married my great-grandfather.

Don't you love her hat? I do. I love the pic so much I put it in a frame and it sits in my office.

Post-Easter Sharing

2008-03-26T00:15:00.000-07:00

Okay I know I'm a little late in reporting on the Easter festivities but oh well. I had to share pics of the little treats I made for Easter. I got the recipe from Hostess with the Mostess (I love this site!).

Check 'em out:

So cute! And easy! And yummy! A big hit, they got lots of ooohs and aaahs.

Thanks Hostess with the Mostess!

Tackle it Tuesday

2008-03-25T00:10:00.000-07:00

The closet is clean! Hurray! Here it is in it's much cleaner state:

That's the top half. Yes that is open space in there! I know a lot of people said my before pic wasn't that bad but trust me, looks can be deceiving. That closet had turned into a place where I just shoved something in and shut the door. No rhyme or reason, no organization. Just a pile of...stuff.

So I pulled out a bunch of old stuff and boxed it up (if I had my way I would've tossed some of it but hubby wouldn't let me! LOL), and reorganized it all. Sooooo much nicer.

I have no idea what to tackle today. There's a lot of stuff I could tackle but it scares me. Like the kitchen cabinets **shudders**. Or the office closet. What's scary about the office closet is that I just cleaned out a ton of stuff from it but it's still really really bad. Should I tackle it? I don't know!

Sorry but...

2008-03-24T10:11:00.000-07:00

My life is kinda

right now. A few things that need to be done, wrapped up, etc. And I know everyone else is busy too so I have no excuse. I'm pitiful.

But I'll definitely be Tackling Tuesday tomorrow. And I want to share a pic of my cute Easter treat I made, they were a big hit! So until tomorrow...

Yeah aren't those letters fun? I think I really just wanted an excuse to use them.

You can use them yourself here

Happy Easter

2008-03-23T00:16:00.000-07:00

Easter Egg Hunts

2008-03-22T00:15:00.000-07:00

I have fond memories of Easter egg hunts when I was a child. I had a lot of cousins and my great-grandma lived on a ranch. I would help her color the eggs beforehand - what a lot of work! Dozens and dozens of eggs.

The day of the big hunt was always exciting. Usually we went looking in her garden. Then after the "official" egg hunt was over, us kids would go out and re-hide the eggs. And re-hide them. And re-hide them again. It was endless.

And so much fun!

There aren't as many cousins for my kids to play with as I had but they still have an absolute blast finding Easter eggs. And this year, we get to hide the eggs in our new yard. How much fun will that be? I can't wait!

Pretty Eggs

2008-03-21T00:10:00.000-07:00

Isn't this picture gorgeous? My blog mind is distracted. I have a major deadline staring at me plus Easter planning since we're hosting the holiday at my house.

So excuse my simple posts for the next couple of days. I'll share pretty pics I found on Corbis. I love looking at pretty pics.

Win a $50 Williams- Sonoma Card!

2008-03-20T00:15:00.000-07:00

Kate at the Clean Plate Club is offering someone a chance to win a $50 gift card to Williams-Sonoma! There are so many things I would love to get if I won...I lust over their catalog every time it shows up in my mailbox (which it just did a couple of days ago). I think I'd put it toward a good knife...

The contest ends at five p.m. eastern time on April 30th. Head on over there and check it out!

Found Treasure!

2008-03-19T00:09:00.000-07:00

I've moved many times since I left my parents' house. For a while there it felt like I'd moved once a year! Now we're settled in and we don't plan on going anywhere for a nice, long time...

Well unless I won the lottery and I can move to Maui. Then I'm outta here!

Okay I'm getting off subject. I knew a little box had always moved with me. A special little box that held treasures that are near and dear to me. But where was that box? I knew it was in a bigger box out in the garage...

Found it! Look it even has a pirate ship on it. Like real lost treasure! I think the box belonged to my great-grandmother.

Look what's inside...

All of my jewelry from the 80s...aaaah pure bliss (click on the pic for all the fine details)! Well some of it belonged to my great-grandma and grandma (the pearl necklaces and rhinestone necklaces, ack!). But much of it I bought myself or received as gifts when I was a teen in the mid-80s. Those are authentic circa 1984 rubber bracelets people. And giant cross earrings. Oooh Madonna! I wanted to be her so bad.

Such fabulous treasures. My daughter is in love with it all. Someday if she's lucky I might give it all to her.

P.S. - Heather over at PresentPast Collection shared her stash of jewelry recently. Much larger than mine and so beautiful! Go check it out...

Tackle It Tuesday

2008-03-18T00:15:00.000-07:00

I failed Tackle it Tuesday last week AND the week before. Yes I am a failure. But last week I had an excuse. I'd just had minor surgery and was doped up like a zombie.

I had mentioned last time that I wanted to tackle the hall closet. Well I haven't done it yet. I'm going to this Tuesday. Yes indeed I have a plan of attack, a few pictures torn from magazines as inspiration and whoo hoo, I'm gonna clean that sucker!

Let me humiliate myself now by sharing photos of the catastrophe known as our hall linen closet:

And another one so you can get the full scope of the mess:

Oh yes. This definitely needs to be tackled. So look for the "after" pictures next week!

So what are you tackling?

Mommies United Party!

2008-03-17T00:14:00.000-07:00

Butterfly and Flower Cupcake Tower.
Originally uploaded by Le Cupcake - Australia

There's a fabulous new site that's celebrating its launch for the next two weeks starting today - Mommies United! They're inviting everyone in blogland to party and well, I can't resist a party so here I am!

Check it out. I even brought cupcakes - these kind you can just admire. Much easier on the waist line. *wink wink*

I'm editing this to add what prizes look the coolest - all of them are pretty darn cool but I don't need any baby stuff cos my baby is now three (sob!). The Cedar Valley Publishing books look cute - my daughter starts kindergarten in the fall. Oooh and Alli's Originals jewelry is pretty pretty.

I love bath products so the Bittersweet Soap prize looks yummy. And hey the Sexy Slang gift looks fun. Since I am the naughty romance writer and all...

Inspiration...a la Flickr

2008-03-16T14:00:00.000-07:00

Flickr is the devil (my devil used to be YouTube). I have wasted so much time there lately - oh how I love it! Such delicious, delicious photos! If you haven't discovered it what are you waiting for? Time's a wastin', head on over there and go waste some time!

Photo credits for mosiac are here

My New Yard

2008-03-15T17:41:00.000-07:00

Today was fun. I got my hair did. The kids hung out with their grandma and ate McDonald's. Mom got free time. Which meant she went to Home Goods. All. By. Herself.

What fun! I bought an iron birdbath for the new backyard. And a rooster for my kitchen. And a pretty pink pot and white wire baskets and a little glitter bunny for Easter my daughter has fallen in love with and...

Whew. Such fun! I'll share pics later. First I want to share a pic of what I came home to.

My new front lawn! With working sprinklers and planted trees and flowers! I'm beyond excited.

I'm Back!

2008-03-14T10:18:00.000-07:00

Going offline is tough. Oh I went on occasionally and checked email (I had to or my inbox would explode, it was that bad) but for the most part I rested. Cos I had to. My mama made me.

But now I feel better, life is good. My mom went home this morning and I was sad to see her go.

Oh! And there are men in my backyard laying sod as we speak. Yes after living here for almost seven years, we're finally going to have a real yard! Real I say! I'll share pics, I swear. It's almost done. I'd take pics now and share but the hub took the camera to work to show off what they've done so far.

I wonder how he feels walking around with my pink camera? Heh heh heh...