Cooking party ideas

  

I'm loving this red polka dot pvc apron from the awesome British mailorder catalog Cox and Cox.  If I could remember anything I learned while earning my International Business degree, I might be able to tell you how much it costs (I do know it is on sale), but alas, too many years have passed and too many Mommy brain cells remain in my noggin to be able to run the exchange rate for you.  BUT...

Seeing how cute the apron is got me to thinking about how fun it would be to have a cooking themed party, either as a child or adult birthday party, or as bridal shower.  

For the birthday party: Have some different stations set up around your house where people could decorate their own aprons and make their own jars of cake mixes. It would cheap for you too because that would be their party favor as well. 

For the bridal shower:  Send these precious recipe cards along with your invitation and have people fill in their favorite recipe for the bride. Then their gift could be something used to make that recipe (like an ice cream maker if your recipe was for homemade ice cream). 

This invitation would be the perfect way to invite your friends for this very memorable occasion

   

Cake Fun Fact

Did you know that cakes used to be actually more like disks of bread that had to be turned over in the oven to cook evenly on both sides?
I came across that fun fact a while back in Martha Stewart Living magazine (my very favorite thing to read in the whole world!). In the magazine, it says "medieval predecessors" of cakes, but in my Monday Bible study this week, we were discussing Hosea 7:8 that says "Ephraim mixes with the nations; Ephraim is a flat cake not turned over." SO..."cakes" were more like pancakes even before Biblical times.  Wonder if they had those yummy tubs of icing like we do???

 

I am thankful that we have come such a long way and now have such incredible cakes at our disposable and don't have to worry about them getting burned on one side and being mushy on the other. Why not throw a party and send one of these precious cake invitations!?!

Monopoly makeover

Monopoly has gotten a makeover! http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/108764/monopoly-gets-a-makeover-but-will-die-hard-fans-buy-it??mod=family-home
I think this is so cool, but oh what a "sign of the times." Each player is given a credit card and the big round thing in the middle is the banker...so no more play money :(  Also, the prices have been adjusted for inflation, so when you pass "GO" you collect $200,000, not $200. Should be in stores later this year.

A Day in the Life

Check out the new header to my blog! Lovin' the picture because my fabulously talented business partner did such a great job with capturing a glimpse into what my life is like.  I try to start everyday with kisses from my Little Lambs and then downstairs to my favorite breakfast of a banana with peanut butter, usually stepping or tripping over a matchbox car like shown. Then after (most days) heading to the gym, I settle in to check email and (if I'm lucky) work on new designs. Of course there are million other things occurring daily but...just a tiny glimpse into a day in the life of a stationery designing lamb lover ;)

This bag changed my life!

I can't tell you how in love I am with this bag!!! It is made by Runaway Rabbit and is called "The Pretty Bag", and truer words have never been spoken. It is GORGEOUS. Such fun patterns (see them all here) but the functionality is what I am digging the most. The inside of the bag is HUGE, but the bag itself is not...how did they manage that!?! It has all kinds of pockets inside and would be perfect for a diaper bag.

Since I have (thankfully) gotten past the diaper bag stage of life just in the past few months, I use it literally every single day of my life to fit my super huge laptop in (I AM a designer after all and need to have a huge screen on which to design!) This is the literally the only bag I have found it will fit in (even though other bags out there say they'll fit ALL 17" laptops, they are liars!)

I bought mine last Fall at Market in Atlanta, but imagine my surpise when I saw them the other day while I was visiting one of our local wholesale dealers. Check them out at Kidz Closet. Oh by the way, did I mention the price??? Holy Moly! Only about $40!!! I'm in love!

Inexpensive valentine idea

So of course since this is what I do for a living, I feel a lot of pressure to be "over the top" like a super out of the box Christmas card, or a spectacular teacher gift at the end of the year, etc.

Valentine's is no exception. Of course the kids in my sons' classes probably won't appreciate my artistic "vision" when they open their cards, but of course I imagine their parents looking through all their cards and saying, "Now THAT one, THAT one was really, really cool and different. I think I'll go out right now buy thousands of dollars worth of stationery from that kid's mom" LOL!!!

All kidding aside, I LOVE to be able to use my creativity on things not just printed, so here is what I am doing for my sons' classes this year. I like to think it would be super easy for anyone to do, so I am sharing the idea with you. (P.S. Super cheap to make!)

I took some coloring book sheets and printed them on cardstock (I drew these coloring sheets, but you can find free ones online all over the place like here.) I slipped those into cellophane self sealing envelopes, added some coloring pencils and few thin pieces of candy. Then I adapted one of our Valentine's cards (the wagon for my 3 yo and the baseball for my 6 yo) into a sticker and adhered it to the outside

Here is the finished product :)

Front

Back

And for the teachers....

Since they have to put up with my boys, I thought they deserved a little more than a couple of swizel sticks, so I got them each a gift certificate to take their families out to eat from http://www.birminghammenus.com

P.S. Please excuse my photography! That's more my partner's thang!

P.P.S. Ever since my older son's first Valentine's cards years ago, we've always used the verse I John 4:19 "We love because He first loved us." Isn't that what it is really all about!?!

My favorite quotes about love

Here are some great quotes you can put on your Valentine's cards. (Today is the last day to order ours!)

We love because He first loved us.

~1 John 4:19

'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

~Alfred Tennyson

Love at first sight is easy to understand; it's when two people have been looking at each other for a lifetime that it becomes a miracle.

~Amy Bloom

Love: a temporary insanity, curable by marriage.

~Ambrose Bierce

Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking.
It is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.
~I Corinthians 13:4-8

Tell me who admires and loves you, and I will tell you who you are.

~Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve

The love we give away is the only love we keep.

~Elbert Hubbard

I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you. I love you not only for what you have made of yourself, but for what you are making of me. I love you for the part of me that you bring out.

~Elizabeth Barrett Browning

There is no remedy for love but to love more.

~Henry David Thoreau

The one thing we can never get enough of is love. And the one thing we can never give enough of is love.

~Henry Miller

Love is a promise, love is a souvenir, once given never forgotten, never let it disappear.

~John Lennon

And this one is for my hubby:

Grow old along with me, The best is yet to be
When our time has come, We will be as one
God bless our love, God bless our love

Grow old along with me, Two branches of one tree
Face the setting sun, When the day is done
God bless our love, God bless our love

Spending our lives together, Man and wife together
World without end, World without end

Grow old along with me, Whatever fate decrees
We will see it through, For our love is true
God bless our love, God bless our love

~Lyrics by John Lennon (based on a poem by Robert Browning), also performed by Mary Chapin Carpenter

Little Lamb Design Announces its Participation in the 64th Annual Nat'l Stationery Show

LITTLE LAMB DESIGN, LLC ANNOUNCES ITS PARTICIPATION IN THE 64^TH ANNUAL NATIONAL STATIONERY SHOW

BIRMINGHAM, AL February 4, 2010

Little Lamb Design is pleased to announce its participation in the National Stationery Show, running May 16-19, 2010, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. This year marks Little Lamb Design’s first time to exhibit at the show, and it is excited to debut its line of personalized, fully customizable stationery, invitations, and greeting cards at the Show in Booth number 1154.

Little Lamb Design offers a wide variety of products and designs. Its stylish offerings range from fun and cute to elegant and classic. The company’s products are available for retailers to sell through 6 different albums. Retailers will be particularly interested in adding Little Lamb Design to their in-store portfolio because of its ability to customize its designs according to the client’s preferences. They can request color, font, and photograph changes as well as a completely custom design option. It also offers clients the chance to put photos and text on the back of all photocards and invitations, allowing the client to make the design truly one-of-a-kind.

“Participating in the industry’s top trade show is a dream come true. We are beyond excited to be able to meet with our existing clients in person, as well as explain our exciting product line to prospective retailers,” explains co-owner Ellen Gillespie.

Little Lamb Design, LLC was founded in 2008 by designer Ellen Gillespie and photographer Stella Schreiber. Gillespie had been home-based stationery entrepreneur working when Schreiber became a client of hers. Their business relationship turned into a partnership in the spring of 2008 when they decided to combine their talents. Their combined 17 years of industry experience has given them great insight into being able to offer clients extremely high quality products with extras like expert photo editing, color changes (to reflect things like a favorite team’s colors or clothing matches), and a variety of paper and design options.

Little Lamb Design, LLC

Ellen Gillespie and Stella Schreiber

205-979-6363

www.littlelambdesign.com

littlelamb@littlelambdesign.com

Great wedding planning article from My Scoop

I love a good ol' fashioned southern wedding! For all you Yanks, I'm telling you, if you haven't been to one, you haven't lived! Steel Magnolias is by far my favorite movie of all time.

Check out this amazing article by Ashlyn Stallings of My Scoop on how to plan the perfect Southern wedding. I was so honored to be a part of "a team of Birmingham's wedding experts." Who knew?!

Cool, easy, and cheap panini recipe

I got married right around the time that the George Foreman Grill was just getting to be popular, so we got 2 or 3 as gifts (we just kept one, but thank you Aunt So-and-So for the LOVELY gift!). I guess it was because it was such a novelty, to be able to drip away all the fat from the the stuff we grilled right in the comfort of our kitchen, that we used the heck out of it for about a year. I think it was my "thing" I have with HATING to handwash dishes and the fact this grill could not go in the dishwasher, it kind of became relegated to the back of the cabinet. Fast forward ___ years ;) I came up with this awesome sandwich the other night using none other than that awesome little countertop appliance. See if you have one in the back of your cabinet and give it a shot! (And for the record, yes, I know they make them now where you can put the grates in the dishwasher, but alas, that is not how mine "rolls.")

Super Awesome Panini Recipe:

Tomato topped focaccia (I got one on sale at Target, but here's a great recipe if you want to make your own)

Slice bread in half horizontally.

Put some provolone slices on the bottom half.

Put some smoked turkey slices on top of that.

Repeat the cheese layer.

Top with the other half of the bread and put this on the preheated grill. Let it grill for about 15 minutes and then slice like a pie as shown above.

The Mommy Files review

Thanks to Shannon at The Mommy Files for the great write up of our Valentine's Day cards! Check out the review here http://www.themommy-files.com/2010/02/little-lamb-design-valentines-day-review-giveaway/