New Home Card

Good morning everyone!

I hope everyone had a very nice weekend. I spent Saturday with my family for my dear Grandpa's 80th birthday {post to be shared soon!} and Sunday was spent with my dear sister Jenny. She unfortunately had homework to work on most of the time, so I spent Sunday finishing organizing my craft room and trying to catch up on my sketches. How did you spend your weekend?

So the Frosted Designs blog has become one of my favorite go-to places for sketches, which I have been doing alot of lately. They're sketches are always very gorgeous and challenging at the same time. Recently, they issued their first card challenge and I was so excited!

Unfortunately, I didn't make the deadline of Sunday, September 25, 2011 to upload the card to the blog, but I wanted to share the card with you anyways:

Here is the sketch...

...and here is my card!

This card was created for a very dear friend who recently purchased his first home with his wife in beautiful and historic St. Charles. I can't wait to see their gorgeous new home!

xoxo
Kelster Jean

PS: As said before, I will be posting some photos and a project from my Grandpa's 80th birthday. This will come with a tutorial!!!! I'm also working on a few fall projects, and have lots of plans coming up for my blog!

Thrifty Pretties: 9/22

Hello all:

This is my second reveal in my new blog posts. Anyone close to me can tell you just how much I love thrifting. I already starting posting Thrifty Finds posts, but they have {unfortunately} kind of trickled off. So to "jump start" the posts again, I have renamed my posts to Thrifty Pretties. I will still be posting under Thrifty Finds, so you can still find the tab for these posts at the top of my blog.

So now to share with you some of my Thrifty Pretties:

Shirt: Discovery (gifted); undershirt: New York & Company;
ring: thrifted (gifted); "Kelly" necklace: thrifted (gifted).

Note re: the above photos: I really loved these photographs so much. I usually dislike taking photos without makeup, but this was an exhausting weekend of organizing for me, and I really loved how they turned out. They are the truly natural me.

I really hope these posts inspire you to go out and find your own thrifty pretties. Lots of people are turning to thrifting to find ways to save money, and there are many gorgeous things out there that are just waiting for you to take them home.

Hugs,
Kelster Jean

Take Care

I try to keep my blog as happy as possible, but sometimes real life overflows onto my blog, where I feel free to write how I feel. This past weekend was a rough one for me. I'm going through some family issues, and have been in some very hurtful situations. When you go through tough things in life, you realize how luck you are to have an amazing friend who is always willing to wipe your tears, make you laugh, and give you unbiased advice.

Cue this amazing lady above. My dearest Jessica Lynn has been a very dear friend of mine since high school. I am so lucky to have her as a friend. She helped me get through a very tough weekend and I am forever grateful. Therefore, I created this layout with her in mind about how thankful I am for her to have been there for me.

This layout was created {and is participating in} Sketchy Thursday's 9.15 sketch and ScrapFIT's Workout #52 {"F" is for Friendship}. Below is the sketch.

Thanks for reading!
xoxo
Kelster Jean

Weekly Specials

Hello all! Happy Week! Hope everyone is having an amazing week. Last weekend was Alex's first weekend off for a couple weeks now, so we were so excited to be spending some of the weekend with family: at a picnic and going to the Sandwich Fair. {If you have never been and you live in the Illinois area, you should really consider going because it is TONS of fun!}

So, while I've been dreaming over fun free time, I've also been dreaming over new ideas for my blog. I love sharing my scrapbook layouts and crafting goodies with you all, but I want it to be more than just "Look at my pretty layouts." So....I decided to begin a new special on my blog called "Weekly Specials," which will feature some of my favorite posts of the week. Since I prowl online looking at other crafters' blogs far more than I've been posting lately (I know, terrible), I thought this would be perfect for my blog. {Plus, both of my sisters are always asking what blogs I read, so this is the perfect opportunity to share with them!} I created a tag for Weekly Specials, which will be at the bottom of all my posts. {Feel free to click on it in the future to see all my Weekly Special posts}. So, without further anticipation, let's do this!

For the first Weekly Special, I wanted to feature two amazing blogs that I read religiously. Both are very cool and amazing reads:

1. Eighteen25!

This amazing blog by 3 ladies {Jamie, Jodie, and Jen} is amazing. It contains lots of cool ideas for equally cool craft projects for every season and holiday. They also have lots of amazing tutorials and giveaways. One of my favorite holidays they celebrate is Halloween! I look forward to it every year because they have such cute and fun ideas for Halloween. {Hello, where's the kids when I need them?}

Here's a few projects that they have recently featured on their blog:

-This Decorative Fabric Bird Cage is amazing! It's so pretty and such a cool twist on Halloween and very vintage with the right coordinating fabric. And how amazing is that setup? {Sigh, sometimes I wish for more room in our apartment...}

-You should know from our wedding party photos that I absolutely love love love homemade trees, flower pots, and the like. So when I saw these "wicked" trees on their blog, I was sooooo in love! I would love to make one of these for Halloween. {Unfortunately, because of our love for rocker-chic things, we would probably keep this up all year round}.

2. The Dainty Squid!

I began religiously reading this super cool and amazing blog after it was referenced on a couple of my favorite blogs. I read a couple of her posts here and there, but have been reading nonstop for the last several months. This blog is full of posts about thrifting, vintage finds, super cute outfit posts, and daily life of Kaylah, this amazing girl.

Here are a couple of my favorite reads from her lately:

-I loved every single one of her Friday Faves from this week. The things she blogged about are amazing, especially the photo of the girls with the kangaroo. That would be super cute in a playroom! {Which favorite by The Dainty Squid is your favorite?}

-Her 10 Things Making Me Smile post from this week definitely made me smile. I always love the photos she shares. They are so unique and beautiful. Which are your favorites?

Well, I hope you like my new Weekly Special and my first post that I shared. What do you think of the blogs I referenced? And also, what do you think of the new banner I made? I'd love to know your thoughts.

xoxox,

Kelster Jean

{PS: Both photos above are from the Eighteen25 and The Dainty Squid blogs}.

Lately I've been loving the new Ulta tinted lip balm I'm wearing (fresh color).
Lately I've been pondering lots of imaginative thoughts.
Lately I've been having lots of weird dreams, like the one from last night where I was shopping with Kat Dennings in a Walgreens.
Lately I've been getting stuff done.
Lately things have been 'blah' despite getting things done.
Lately I've been enjoying the crappy decaf coffee at work.
Lately I've been dreaming up new ideas and tutorials for my little blog baby.
Lately the bunnies have been bad asses.
Lately I've been realizing I am so much more in love with my husband than I could even realize.
Lately I've been finding new ways to let things go.
Lately I've been in a bubble.
Lately I feel like the world has been trying to bring me down, but I'm not going to let that happen.
Lately I love me and whom I've become.
Lately I love you too for taking the time out to read my blog.

Find You, Be You!

{PS: I really hate that shiny string behind my head. Where is my Magic Photo Eraser?"