“Why do we have to do this?”, I remember asking my mother as a teenager. That’s because she insisted that every Wednesday night we gathered for Family Nights. I’m the first to admit that at the beginning I thought it was so corny. Being teenagers we felt we had so many other things we wanted to do. Like be on our phones or go out with our friends. At the time there was a lot of resistance. I have to give it to my mama for being faithful to having these evenings. Family Night just meant that we […]
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First day of school – How to make it fun.
Oh I’m not gonna sit here and pretend that the first day of school is super fun! But there are ways that I have found over the years to help prepare us. When it was time to send our third child to kindergarten, we had him in pre-school activities to expose him to social settings and routine. I recommend doing that if you can. Making school a big deal — since it is — includes some creative and thoughtful planning. I’ve always admired those who post chalkboard signs. I love the answers children give, it changes over the years and […]
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You Are Loved
“I don’t understand why you don’t want to try, you’re brilliant and amazing!” These words caused my daughter Camryn to cry as if she had no idea. I remember thinking how can she be doubting herself already, she’s so young. Am I failing her?⠀ Our self image is shaped by everything around us. We are so sensitive to the opinions of others and form our own conclusions, not always to the truth. ——– On my 40th birthday I received a gift. The gift of delivering a very important topic to young adults in our Christian community. I say it’s […]
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Baby keepsakes, how much should I do? Tangible vs. digital
It’s so much easier nowadays to snap a shot, document your daily activities right in the palm of your hands. Leaving you with a keepsake all the time. #Poweroftechnology But do you wonder if there’s still a point to printing things or is the cloud enough? When I first got pregnant we received albums and books about baby’s first year. Being a new expectant mother, I dreamt of filling it up, I was fortunate that I kept some thoughts in a journal. When my baby was born I printed a few photos and wrote in the book but any new […]
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Safari birthday theme ideas – Drawing for my children.
My youngest is the first to celebrate his birthday every year and I was doodling his favorite animals for a safari theme. He’s my little party animal so it was perfect. I illustrated a tiger at first and expanded to more jungle animals such as the zebra, giraffe, monkey, hippo, lion with monstera leaves. Check out the process video below. I’m pleased to offer my safari designs for you to purchase as part of a new collection from our shop. Customize jungle-themed party supplies, safari t-shirt (for the celebrant, mommy, daddy), banners, decor and more. These easy to use templates […]
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Our love story. Perspective of the bride and groom
Staying true to my father’s advice “Keep telling your story” (see main post article “Ideas for a memorable wedding”) Here’s what we included on our wedding website. I hope it helps and inspires you as you share your love story to your wedding guests.
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“Boring” a word I wish to ban from our home.
I was in the middle of reading an email from @jennakutcher, somewhere in there she says “Are you wondering what really does set you apart? Or maybe you’re just feeling like you’re the most boring human on planet earth and everyone else has cracked the code on being different! How did she know 😳??!! I received another email. It was from a friend sharing that they saw I was the featured designer on a blog post. If that happened then someone finds me interesting afterall. We are so much more than we think. My fear of the word “boring” stems from […]
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Don’t Wish it away.
“Don’t wish it away!” Wise words from a friend whose children are grown and on their own. She said that when she spotted this photo on my desktop wallpaper — time flies. My children are at that stage that only mom will do. It can get overwhelming and tiring but she’s right!! You know she’s right! ❤ . The other day my husband said I left the garage door open and when I tried to recall what happened I had to laugh. I got home and quickly dropped some groceries in, when my 1 year old and 3 year old […]
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This could be the start of a love for writing.
In grade 6 I had the most wonderful teacher, her name was Mrs. Stewart. One thing I recall was how she got us writing in our own journals. She wrote back encouraging fun notes, and rewarded us with cool unique stickers. Bubble gum scented, glittery and even fuzzy animal ones too. Stickers are LIFE don’t you know! As a teenager I came across that grade 6 journal and started writing for myself this time. I found it brought dreams and goals to life, it helped me visualize reflections and insights that I never knew I had. Believe me when I […]
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The art of gift giving
I don’t think I can be a shop that shares unique gift ideas without telling you this personal holiday story. I was a witness to such a heartwarming gift-giving experience for my own girls over Christmas. See when I started LD Design Loft, my eldest girl Julia started drawing sketches right beside me; talk about a personal cheerleader. She even called her imaginary shop ‘JD Shop’. Julia loves to sketch and on one visit to her cousins’ place she left some of her dress sketches there. We had no idea that Lola Nanay (a grandmother figure) got hold of the sketches. […]
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