Stelie Designs

Last night while working in my office, my husband asked "do you know where anything is in here?" (meaning it's a mess) I said "yes." Then he proceeded to quiz me on a few items, I passed of course. My office has always been a sort of organized chaos, whether it was in or out of the home. When I would find some down time and cleaned it completely, I could never find anything quickly. Anyone else like that? Here is a pic I took earlier today. I am a bit embarrassed to show it, because, it is through the laundry room so it's my little oasis that I would close the door on if I had one, or would be clean if I knew you were coming over. My home office is a small room in the basement. I only have a couple more days to finish projects for my card party, so it's easier to leave it out than put it all away. Right? Speaking of offices, my kids have created a small space behind their door which they call "my office." It's really adorable how excited t...

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We are spending our last Thanksgiving in the home I grew up in, my parents are moving to MN to be close to us. We are very excited about that!! Even though I am out of town, work doesn't stop. I brought everything I need for production and packaging. I set up shop yesterday at the dining room table and next thing I knew, my husband, mom, aunt, and grandma were all anxiously awaiting for me to assign them a project. It was incredible. I am very lucky and thankful to have such a wonderful family.

3 years ago, we bought a new home circa 1947. We bought it from the original owners, and it was in desperate need of updating. Among other things, we had major plans for a kitchen renovation, then we found out we were pregnant with twins, then I went to part-time, then I quit my day job, and now...there's Stelie Designs. Meaning...completely gutting our kitchen keeps getting postponed. In the last 3 years we have removed the desk area, chair rail, vinyl cove base, added wood trim, painted the cabinets & hardware twice, replaced the appliances and lighting, added a doorway to the family room, removed walls between the kitchen and playroom (maybe someday it will return to a dining room again.) But we had never touched the ugly, dingy, vinyl floor. My goal is to put in hardwood floors like the rest of the house once we rearrange the kitchen, add an island, remove and expand windows, etc. Now that I spend most of my time at home and lots more time in the kitchen, I had it with the ...

Here is a sneak peak of 3 cards in the new "The Essential Card Kit II". I'm done with the prototype now it's production time! It's 8 cards & envelopes: 2-birthdays, thanks, cheers, baby, wedding, love, & blank. They will be complete by December 1. I am so excited.

Most days the lunch discussions with my 2 year olds are funny and quite interesting. Today at lunch was no exception, my kids asked to go play at their cousin's house. I said, she's not home, she's at daycare. They looked puzzled so I explained further, remember when mommy worked away from home, you went to school/daycare? their response, "we cried when you left us, we not like that!"

Surprisingly it's a gorgeous day outside, where we were able to go for a walk, kick leaves, pick up sticks, and thouroughly enjoy the outdooors. A breath of fresh air always sparks creativity for me. After much consideration, I have decided to do a holiday card party at my own home the 1st of December. Since I sold out of all the good stuff at my first card party, I must get to work on recreating some I already had, as well as, creating new designs too. Here is a sneak at one of my new designs that you won't see posted on my etsy shop. I have also been sketching (until my son took my pencil away so he could draw) for the "Essential Card Kit II" since my original was a hit, I've decided to add another with 8 different designs. Keep checking back for a sneak preview. They will be available for purchase Dec. 1.

Here's a peek at my Stelie Designs brochures. My planwas to send them out in mass as marketing material, however, actual Stelie work keeps moving in front. Which I am very thankful for and am always looking for more creative opportunities.

I thought it was time for a Stelie Designs entry. I have been slowly adding cards to my shop on etsy, check out my link to see. I still have many, many more to add so keep checking. I like to do a few at a time. The weather has turned very brisk, we even had to break out the winter jackets today! Yesterday seeing a few flurries, made me realize the Holiday season is upon us. I have to start thinking about my own Christmas cards... I realize Thanksgiving is still weeks away, so thinking of Christmas may seem early to some. However, I am currently taking orders for those interested in custom Christmas/Holiday cards. So let me know as soon as you can by contacting steliedesigns@yahoo.com .

Every kids loves a good party, balloons, presents, and of course cake! My niece's 2nd birthday party was earlier today. Here's a glimpse of A&P eating cake or should I say frosting.

Trick or Treating was so fun last night. We had practice at the zoo on Saturday, Avery was a natural, Paxton was a little reluctant. So we practiced saying trick or treat all halloween day in preparation for the real thing. We typically hit only 3-4 of our neighbors. We started out and of course the 1st house no one was home. Then we went to another, A was great, P was reluctant by the 4th he was getting into it. I said "you're doing great Paxton!!" so he would say "Mommy, I doin' great!" after each house. It was so cute. I think they turned into pros. We ended up going to a total of 10 houses (2 weren't home). I carried my camera with me the whole time and forgot to take a photo. Here is one of them from the earlier zoo excursion. We ended up with 2 pumpkins full of candy that they can't eat. So they would pull out a candy bar or something, we'd say you can have it when you're bigger. Paxton was totally into taking out a piece of candy, show...