It was my pleasure to have recently opened the doors of our home for my lovely sister-in-law's baby shower. She loves to read and so it was only natural to make her shower a book themed shower.

The actual hostess (also her childhood friend) is from out of town, so I provided the local home and some of the decor while she made the invites, co-ordinated the food, games and added her touch to the decorations on the day of. It was a great collaboration! 

During the last few weeks I have had some fun creating some book themed decorations. If you have been following me instagram you've seen some of these pictures already but if you haven't, here are a few pictures and details about what I created for the baby shower.

The day of was great, the house looked great, the food was great, the company was great and my sister-in-law was truly showered in love and gifts for her first baby to be! I certainly enjoyed myself, the food and the sangria!

It was fun making all these items and I appreciate all the wonderful comments while my creations were in the works. I think what was best about the process was that the 4 projects (mobiles, balls, pinwheels and banner) were all made by the three books I purchased for $8. I think that is pretty good investment and I think it all turned out really well. What do you think?

Everyone has good days and bad days. 

On those bad days a good stiff drink helps, maybe a box of chocolates... truth be told, my go to comfort is really my Faith. On the good days my Faith reminds me to stop and give thanks for the goodness in our lives and on the tough days it reminds me that it is alright to feel beat up and take comfort in that same goodness.

Another truth is not everyone has the same faith but I think everyone has something or someone that reminds them about the good in the world and the good in themselves. That is a cherished gift no matter the name it has or the form it takes. 

So I will always find comfort and strength in my faith, my family....
and only occasionally in a stiff drink or box of chocolates :) 

Where do you find your comfort on those rough days? Kids, Dog, Chocolate, Cupcakes? I'd like to know.

Did you know that I like to doodle? I use to sit and doodle quite a bit in my sketch book but as life got busy I stopped taking the time to sit and would just doodle on scrap pieces of papers during calls, meetings, napkins during meals and then almost not at all. 
Last year I started to doodle again and realized how much I missed the simple creative exercise. I then started doodling pictures that I would then tuck into my daughters lunch box during her transition into kindergarten, however, it was still hard to fit it in and keep it up on a regular basis. This is where some of the amazing creative people that I admire and follow online have inspired me to keep it up. 

Inspiration #1 - I first saw Three By Sea's Project 300 through The Languid Lion. Instead of a 365 Project, where you commit to doing something everyday of the year (now that is a commitment), she proposed committing to doing something (whatever your something is) for 300 days...doodling 300 days out of the year, now that is little more realistic for me.

Inspiration #2 - Cupcakes for Clara, who I've written about before, also proposed sharing a sketch, photograph or any work in progress once a week. Sharing a doodle once a week on the blog sounds like a great idea too!

So these amazing creatives have inspired me to keep up and improve my hand drawing skills. I am aiming to doodle something 300 days out of the year and to share at least one of them once a week on the blog. To kick this off I am sharing my some of my doodles from last year and I will start sharing some new ones next week....and maybe you can give me a virtual smack if you don't see one for more than a week :)

Follow the links above to learn more about these creatives, to learn about their work or even join in. If you are already doing something similar, let me know in the comments, I would love to hear about it.