some people are born awesome

yeahhhh have any of you seen this? completely unrelated to post, but, you know, entertaining nonetheless.

plus it gave me a post title, and i needed one of those.

this will be another one of those all-over-the-place kind of posts {i guess its just what i do}.

i need to spill my proverbial blog brain - you know, the one that stores all those "oh i need to do a post about that" thoughts. so here goes!

*i know you all have heard of tinyprints.  i used them for several christmas cards and i think i used them on bennetts birth announcements.  and they just keep getting better {i just got a coupon in the mail from them for a discount if i do my christmas cards by, like, yesterday.  NOT gonna happen.  but they did have really pretty new designs.}  anyway, this is not about tinyprints.

this is about a website called UPRINTING.  {no they are not paying me to advertise for them, even though i dont think i would turn them down... :) ha! }  i first found uprinting when i was looking for somewhere to print business cards for my apron "business" {for my short lived stint on etsy - i just couldnt keep up}.  they seemed to have the best prices.  and the best part {to me} was that i could completely design them myself, upload my image, they send you a proof to verify, and the quality was amazing!

 since then i have used them for my professional business cards

and most recently for emory's birth announcement

{did any of you just notice that i used an apostrophe? it felt so weird to hold down the shift button in the middle of a sentence - one of the main reasons i dont use any real punctuation in my typing...its so much faster not to punch that dang button. and i like to type fast.}<----but i do use it for my brackets.  and that little arrow thing i just made.  i digress...

lets just say 75 5x7 14pt glossy cards with envelopes and shipping is less than $30.  NO LIE.  and when i find something so awesome, i have to share it.  so go, go create and print.  and if you arent feeling up for the "create" part, they also carry their own styles for "U" to "print." {ha}


*next is a clothing website that really just struck me as something special.  i first heard about it HERE.  and when i checked it out, maybe it was the post-pregnancy desperation to find some clothes that fit me, but i BOUGHT some stuff.  and, again, the quality and fit is great! i love this shirt {in white, and mine doesnt hang down as long as the picture shows...but its really flattering} and this dress.

the company was founded by a mom in birmingham, al {love me some local!} with a vision of serving others and providing modest, fashionable clothing for a variety of ages.  PLUS 5% of every sale goes to Habitat for Humanity!  not to mention i was pleasantly surprised to find that each garment has a wonderful bible verse printed inside.  can you get any better? go check out Nations Outfitters and read about their wonderful mission HERE.


*this really isnt a website, but an etsy store.  since i love to craft and am pretty predictable when it comes to childrens birthday presents {hello monogrammed/appliqued onesie/tshirt...} i thought it would be fun to have a tag of sorts for my clothes.  i mulled over this idea in the height of my apron "business" last year, but didnt bite the bullet until a couple months ago.

when i was younger, my mom taught me to sew by hand.  we started off with buttons and small straight stitches.  my first real sewing project was pajamas for my babydoll, a "my child" doll i named amy.  she was my "prize" for finally jumping off the diving board with my swimming coach in swimming lessons.  i was TERRIFIED of swimming when i was little {to say the least - i was a big ole scared-y cat}.  i remember going to childrens palace and seeing the tall pyramid of "my child" doll boxes.  i went for the one pretty much at the top - go figure.  she had red hair.

this is her.  except MY amy had FLAMING red hair and green eyes.  she was GORGEOUS. :) and i would be lying if i said i didnt almost tear up at all the images when i googled "my child doll."  *sigh*

anyway i wanted to sew pajamas for her, of course.  my mom and i went to the local store-that-sells-doll-patterns, and i chose the perfect one.  i picked out a purdy white seer-sucker material sprinkled with tiny pink flowers.  i sewed the entire thing by hand - lace and trim and snaps and all.  took my young little fingers FOREVER.  enter my first-ever sewing disaster....IT DIDNT FIT AMY! the only doll i had that it fit was my stupid {to me at that point in my life} betsy-wetsy {i would show you a picture but all the ones i googled looked FREAKY}.  i cried and cried and CRIED.  but at least i got to put an awesome "made especially for you by Natalie" sewing tag in there.  it made me feel super legit, in the midst of my super upset-ness that "my child" dolls had to be so, um, stocky.  

here we are, ahem, twenty years later and i still love to sew.  i remembered those labels i loved so much and have been wanting some new ones.  i did a lot of research on this, too, and found what i thought was the best deal and concept.  worldsalelabel had a great turn around time, worked with me on matching my colors, and sent me a proof of my uploaded design.  i LOVE them!

the top one is a flat label to put on the back of shirts and aprons and what not, the bottom label is a folded one to sew in the seam of pants, shorts, etc.  something small and simple but it makes it fun when im sewing for customers or gifts or myself.  {its the little things guys}. if you are ever in the market for something like this, i highly recommend this etsy seller.




*and now {prepare yourself, you might have no interest whatsoever in reading any further - be warned} i want to end this post with something thats been on my mind for a long time - pretty much as long as ive been blogging.  its the whole blogging subject - or what to blog about.

i use this blog as an outlet for things i love.  number one being my babies and my family.  i wish i could verbalize, or put into words-on-the-screen, my true number one love - my faith - but i dont feel like i have ever been good at that.  i envy all those fabulous bloggers/friends out there who can so easily and beautifully write about their faith in a way that encourages and provokes thought and inspiration.  so many times i try to write a post as the mood/inspiration strikes, but every single time i press "save" instead of "post."  i dont know why i have such a hard time with it, but my deep feelings always seem to turn out trivialized and ... commonalized ... when i write about it on here.  it means something to me, but i dont ever feel like it would mean anything to anyone else.  just my insecurity with it i guess, and something i would love to be better at.

but the basis of this blog is summed up in the title - i love to create, live, and design.  so i blog about it.  usually you get me on a good day, because those are the times i find myself inspired to write.  write about all the things i love to do.

and then every once in awhile you catch me on a bad day.  rarely do i blog about the bad days.  this does not mean the bad days arent there.  i just dont often choose to blog about them.  who wants to read a blog about how stressed i am? how overwhelmed i am? how helpless i feel? how overworked i make myself get?

maybe its the eternal optimist in me, but i just feel that focusing on things like that turn you into a stressed out, overwhelmed, helpless, overworked miserably negative person.  i choose to focus on the good, even if the "good" only happens to be a good night kiss and hug from what has been an incredibly unruly, pill of a three year old the entire pull-my-hair-out-and-cry-when-i-get-two-seconds-alone kind of day.

however i also like to consider myself pretty real - and realistic.  i dont like to sugar coat things, and i have never wanted this blog to come across as an "oh life is so perfect and wonderful and i cook and craft and sew and smile at pretty babies all day long" misrepresentation of my life. bc HONEY - that aint it.  nothing is perfect and life is not perfect.  believe me, when ive had "a day" one of the first places i come is to the blog {after venting to a sibling, parent, husband, or friend - God bless you all} to deliver vengeance on my poor keyboard.  writing helps me sort through my thoughts and feelings and i almost always feel better after typing them all down.  it actually keeps me from blowing up at certain significant-others and has honestly saved us from some arguments that never needed to be had in the first place ;).  but i never post them, and i dont honestly ever plan to. {well, one may sneak by every once in awhile...}.

my worst fear is to come across as ungrateful, unappreciative, unaware, or unrealistic.  i hate complaining and know how it sounds, but man sometimes you just gotta get it out.

what i will promise, though, is that i will always strive to be real, and honest, and me.
wordy and long winded at times, yes.
scatterbrained and opinionated, yes.

relevant? eh? i hope to be.

but to those of you who read, thank you for reading.  getting comments is really honestly one of the most fun things about blogging.  i get so excited when i get that email saying i got one {even if its from my sister or mom who i just talked to five minutes ago...}.

feedback is wonderful.  especially after typing something so - personal - as some posts can be.  its overwhelming at times to know how many people i do not know are reading this - especially bc i do not think i am that interesting - so every once in awhile i think it is important to let the "strangers" know {as well as remind myself} that the blogging world paints a really pretty picture.
sometimes, though, this pretty picture is just one snapshot on a roll of slightly damaged {and perfectly common} film.


thankfully though, by His amazing grace and mercy, most of the rolls turn out just fine

and so i will keep a'bloggin if youll keep a'readin
{and keep a'knowin theres a lot more going on im not necessarily always a'postin...all the time'in....}
{ok...im done}



xo