Stelie Designs

I never venture out to shop on black Friday, in college I used to work it while in retail, then prior to kids, I worked to save vacation time for Christmas. Well, yesterday I decided I would brave the crowds because I saw Leapster's for $20 less than normal or a $40 savings for two. Hmm..is $40 worth it, how many cards would I need to sell for $40? Okay it was decided to be worth it. I even went to the place I never shop, Wal-Mart. I'm a Target girl all the way, always have been always will be. Maybe working 7 years for Target/Marshall Field's Store Planning & Design solidified the fact but I digress. Kids are usually up at 5:00 so I planned on getting up at 4:30, but after waking at 1, 3, and 4 I finally just got up, got ready and waited with my mom (who did the same thing.) We waited for the kids to wake, P was up shortly before 5 and I ended up waking A up at 5:20, we were off by 5:30. Arrived at Wal-Mart before 6 only to find all were sold out, we quickly turn

My parents live on a lake not far from us, it's frozen of course. This afternoon, the kids wanted to play at the beach, they found Papa to see if he'd take them down. He agreed and I said we have to change our clothes. I looked at Little Miss Avery and saw her putting on her swimming suit! me: Avery it's 32 degrees we need to have our warm clothes on not our swimsuit. Avery : Oh They bundled up and shoveled the sand for a while, well until it started getting too dark to see.

Has it really been 4 days since my last post? Our weekend was wonderful. P&A enjoyed their cousin playing with us and even getting to sleep over. My niece is so quiet compared to my kids, we did get her to join in the running around chasing game. Apparently she's in the awful to bed stage, we couldn't tell she was out like a light before we left the room, then she slept for over 12 hours. My kids were up at 5:00am as usual and I had to keep them quiet for 3 more hours until she awoke. My husband, sister-in-law, baby niece, three 3 yr olds and I made our way to Mall of America. Our first stop, Underwater Adventure is always exciting but a quick journey for P&A since we go there a lot. Sienna was excited but unsure too, I mean there are sharks and giant turtles, sting rays swimming all around you. It takes a bit of getting used to. P&A pet sting rays and sharks but then it was all talk of going on rides. Next stop, Nickelodean Universe! This time was diffe

Who doesn't love to see their name in print? Personalized stationery is special and well...personal, which is why they make great gifts for the holidays. The list is long that I've been creating for clients. Most are teacher gifts, some are friend gifts and some are team/staff gifts. Here are just a couple that I'm working on. Do you remember this post ? Here it is finished. Aren't they fun?! Only a few personalized stationery options are currently in my etsy shop , however, I have over 40 options. If you are interested please contact me steliedesigns@yahoo.com and I'll show you what you can choose from. Now go enjoy your weekend. My niece is coming over soon so my kids are having their first slumber party. Three 3 year olds should be interesting. Then tomorrow it's a full day of Mall of America activities. I'll post photos next week.

The winner of my EtsyGreetingsTeam blog carnival is... Congratulations 2girls you have won a set of 10 string of snowflakes greeting cards! Please contact me steliedesigns@yahoo.com with your info and color choice so I can mail these to you. Thank you to all who participated, I really appreciated reading your comments, checking out your blogs (if you had one or more) and am grateful you found my blog. Thank you to my sweet boy for choosing a name, I guess it pays off to not nap today!

The fabulous yet very busy Holiday season is upon us and with that comes timing changes. Non-custom orders that used to be shipped the same or next day will now take between 2 & 4 days to be shipped. Custom orders will take 2 weeks, weddings will take 2-4 weeks.

My kids always say lots of silly things but today stuck out in my mind. First, my sweet kids had a full morning, doctor for flu shots then dentist for a first time check up. It wasn't all bad, they did get to Starbucks in between and Target after. Two of their favorite things. After their flu shot Me: I am so proud of you both. You did such a great job. Avery: (In her not very happy face nor happy voice) That wasn't very nice of them to give me a flu shot! At home looking through our goodies from the dentist Paxton: Oh we got camofloss! Me: Sweetie Pie it's floss, not camoflage. While we're at it, here's how a conversation went while putting on Mr.P's pink polo a few days ago. Paxton: This is Avery's? (I have been known in a hurry to start putting the wrong item on a kid) Me: No it's yours Paxton: It's Averys! Me: This is Paxton's Paxton: But boys don't wear pink. Me: Yes they do, boys can wear any color. Paxton: No boys

EtsyGreetings is hosting a fun blog carnival all this week. I'm participating and giving away a set of 10 line of snowflake cards, you choose the color, strawberry, green, blue, or purple. To participate in my giveaway, just leave a comment below with your favorite item from my Etsy shop . I'll choose a winner at the end of the week. To enter to win other fun prizes offered by the many talented members at EtsyGreetings, stop by our blog for a linked list of all the giveaways happening this week.

when you sit in your kids' room waiting for them to fall asleep? The last 2 days I worked on these... 75 handbags...each was cut, holes punched, and strap threaded all by hand* while my little ones were tucked safely in their bed reading books, playing with their stuffed animals and then dreaming sweetly. What are these for you ask? Custom personalized stationery. I can't wait to show you the finished product...well, when it's finished of course. *Okay not completely by hand, a scissors and poker were used too.

There's something refreshing and timeless about the simplicity of black and white together. Maybe it's because life is never just black and white it's full of color and shades of grey, now my wardrobe on the other hand...

This is the matching Sydney save the date card to these invites. The blue and green is just perfect for a spring wedding don't you think? Hard to believe spring is ahead when we haven't even seen winter. It took me a while to post but these are for a sweet and adorable couple in Oregon. I cannot wait to create their wedding invitations.

Yep! It's true my kitchen is finally complete thanks to my saint mom and loving husband. They finished painting over the last orange wall Friday night and touched up the walls around the back door and into the playroom, while I lay in bed. You can see the before here . Plus, the fun art from IKEA brings in the colors from the playroom. It's a wonderful change and I'm delighted with the results. What do you think?

My weekend, if you've been following me then you know, was full of rest. I know you are dying to know what happened while I was in bed for 48 hours ( okay it ended up being 53 hours, but who's counting) I twittered, facebook, emailed, shopped, researched, watched tv, read magazines, napped, got waited on, snuggled with my P&A, relisted some items, ate, answered convos, slept, and watched movies. Please note, I can't remember the last movie I saw in a theater nor the last grown up movie I've seen until this weekend...Baby Mama, Made of Honor, Sex in the City, & Vantage Point. Vantage Point by far the best one, totally on the edge of my seat even though it was predictable. All while my mom folded and put away laundry, cleaned up, took care of the kids, made snow penquins with them, played, played and played, and my mom & jer even finished painting the kitchen! It looks fabulous and I can't wait to take photos and post them. My favorite was Friday night hav

More pre-designed Holiday photo greeting cards for you to see. many more coming right up...well maybe not right up!

Our frozen embyro transfer is scheduled for 9:30 this morning. Please be thinking of us with good luck, prayers, and well wishes.

Nothing says Christmas like a modern or traditional Christmas tree!

The holiday photo cards are coming to a shop near you. I'll be offering multiple styles with one or more photos with printing services, as well as, design services so you can print at your local photo studio. Stay tuned for further details. To me the Holiday's signify a time to gather with your loved ones, a time to remember what you are thankful for and a time to send well wishes to friends and family. A little Holiday love for you!

Did you vote? I did!

These Hadley2 wedding invitations were created by changing the brown background to red and using red and brown text. Unfortunately, the floral paper has been discontinued so I'll be redesigning and relisting the Hadley2 sample in the near future. These are created for a sweet couple who have been living in South Korea for 3 years and will be married in New Mexico. The brides wonderful sister in TX gets to do all the envelope addressing. Check out how fun and unique the rsvp cards are! These are also shown with a small wedding website card.

Saturday started with my Mom whisking the kids away at 8:00 am, so I could get showered, dressed, finish cleaning the house, rearranging furniture/toys/stuff, and set up for my Stelie Designs card party open house! [Jer works Saturday's] The weather was beautiful, so much better than the snow storm last year . The turn out was great too and kept us very busy! {Thank goodness I had my friend and former business partner , Julie, to help, I couldn't have done it without her.} A special thank you to everyone who attended, I truly appreciate your support. [I especially enjoyed getting a chance to catch up with friends and meet new people too.] Of course in my whirlwind to get it all set up and chatting away, I forgot to take pictures until after all was dismantled. To celebrate my sweet husband and I went out for cocktails, alone, just the two of us, at a table, in a restaurant, just us, no kids! We can't remember the last time we've done that without meeting people, or doi