Finding the Balance

I have often struggled with trying to balance working at home and putting my family first. Being able to set up my studio at home has always seemed perfect. But when the kids come in while I am designing for a client or processing orders, this will often put me in a stressful frame of mind. Typically I end up stopping what I am doing in order to make sure they don't make a mess of things. This usually adds more stress because there is always a deadline to meet. BUT - I love what I do - so how do I balance it all? Sometimes I think I have it down and everything is harmonious. Other days - not so much.

Traci Bisson of The Mom Entrepreneur blogged last week about how she has found the balance (after many years!) She pointed out several tips on how to put family first while maintaining a successful business.

Regardless of whether you are a mom with a business, or not - because let's face the truth - ALL MOMS ARE WORKING MOMS! It is an insightful post and worth reading.

Happy Birthday to my lil' guy

My little babe is 2 today!

To celebrate we are having a little party for him. His current obsession is cars and trains - such a boy! So, naturally I had to create an invitation using one of the two ... the train was easier to make so I went with that!

We are off to have a fun day! Hope you have a great day too!!

From the Swanky Studio

A recent custom designed invitation with Seashell/Beach theme.

This recent design is for a bridal shower. The location? A beautiful house on the beach. A fitting invitation, don't you think? I love the simple star fish used on this particular invitation.

{pertinent information has been changed to protect the innocent}

{please do not steal priginal work by Swanky Paper or any image by me off this blog without proper credit}

patio cover

ok.. so remember this post?

We were digging ditches for those huge posts you see in the background.

This is our low budget answer to a great patio cover. (Anything is better than what we had!!)

It was a simple solution - ok, so not that simple - it took hubs quite some time to get those posts just right. It should have been a two-man job to lift those heavy beams, but he only got one and a half! Being preggers I didn't help as much as I normally would have.

The best thing about this cover (other than its size) is that it is UV protected and has a SPF rating.

Here is hubs relaxing as he enjoys his new patio cover.

vintage circus

I am way behind in sharing some of my custom work.

Here is one that I made a few weeks ago. Mama, Ashley, asked me to create a circus themed birthday invitation for her daughter. She wanted something with a vintage feel to it using orange and light blue (quite possibly my FAVORITE color combination!)

Wanting to get an idea as to what vintage circus theme is all about I poured through tons of images online ... It was too overwhelming, so I quit looking and came up with this:

Creating this made me want to plan my own vintage circus party! I paired the invites with orange envelopes and made a coordinating mailing label. In addition, little Camryn had matching thank you notes to go with her vintage circus invitations.

{invitation by me. please do not steal original work}

surprise weekend

We had such a nice relaxing weekend. It was very difficult to come home.

For Father's Day, I surprised hubby with a spa treatment ... out in Palm Springs! If any of you know my husband, he is a manly man. According to him spa treatments are for women. Well, the idea came to me one night when he asked if men ever get pedicures. Of course they do!! Let's go get pedicures, I say to him. Well, we never did. Being Father's Day, I used this as a great excuse to pamper him - HE LOVED IT!! He has even requested getting massages regularly.

While he was getting pampered I spent the day at the pool with the kiddos. Swimming. munching on snacks. and sipping virgin Pina Coladas!

We all has such a good time and can't wait to go back.


{top image via JW Marriott}

{bottom image via me}

I am thinking of surgically removing my backbone so that I can do this

(Hint: click on the image and skip past the first 60 seconds)