Halloween Highlights

Such a fun night with great weather!

Hope your family had a fun and safe Halloween.

Here are a few of our Halloween highlights...

pumpkin carving...

roasting pumpkin seeds...

I was asked to do some face painting for the army man...

and more face painting

for the cheerleader

and some make up and jewelry for the bride with very few teeth...

Guess who she called at work last week and asked to be her groom?

I was talked into dressing up too (Princess Leah from Star Wars)

but you'll have to search for those here

as they certainly did not make the Halloween highlights list.

We had a blast at our neighborhood Halloween party

and are so grateful to have such fun, sweet neighbors.

Plus, we had such a fun weekend with my in-laws...thank you Nan and Papa Joe!

Blessings to all you as you begin a new November!

xoxo,

Caroline

Spooktacular ideas!

You may remember from here, I am not a big Halloween fan 

but rather try to focus on the fun of it all 

through the eyes of children 

and have fun pretending to be someone or something different for just one day.

Wanted to share some spooktacular ideas for the weekend...

Ok, the first one isn't spooky at all...but beautiful!

I am trying this as our centerpiece for the weekend since my in-laws will be here for a few days. 

Isn't this pretty? You can see how to create it here.

Now for some create spooky snacks for the kids... from here.

and cheesy mini pumpkins you can try here...

Ok...now for amazing pumpkin carving ideas...

Amazing, right?

I will leave you with  this given to me by Kate last year...

Have a fun and safe Halloween weekend! 

xoxo,

Caroline

Bits of Art Licensing News

I have a few wonderful bits of art licensing news to share! 

Do you remember HERE how kind you were to respond when I asked way back 

if you'd like to help with product development? 

Well, some of you participated and I gathered your ideas and mine 

and painted away and sent it all in to the company who manufactures and requested them.  

After patiently waiting, we just heard this week that 

Family Christian 

will be purchasing both Teacher Bits and Mother Bits for their stores. 

Waiting to hear if this is for most or all of their stores...

Family Christian Stores® is America's leading specialty retailer with nearly 300 locations and over 4,000 employees in 36 states dedicated solely to the $4.3 billion Christian retailing market. Family Christian Stores® sells Christian products and church supplies through its chain of stores and via the Internet. Merchandising categories include Bibles, Books, Music, Childrens, Gifts, Apparel, Software, Cards, Church Supplies and DVD's.

Teacher Bits will roll out before the new school year 

and Mother Bits will launch before Mother's Day. 

Other retailers nationwide will be selling them too.

Woo-hoo!

I am pretty thrilled about this, since I clearly remember when the good Lord gave me 

this small but clever idea to package sweet sentimental notes in cd tins. 

I researched unique packaging for months and this product has proven to be 

such a popular gift and personal purchase for so many age groups. 

I use them all of the time too!

Now Grace Bits and Christmas Bits are produced by the thousands and sold globally

...and Teacher Bits and Mother Bits are soon to follow. 

Thanks be to God is all I can say!

And thanks to many of you who sent in your favorite scripture, quotes, sayings and ideas.

I could not use them all and can't show you all the designs, but here's a peek.

The cover of the Teacher Bits:

some of the bits inside...

and here is the cover of Mother Bits:

So, please tell me what you think! 

What's your favorite from the ones shown?

Who will you give these to?

Comment away please!

xoxo,

Caroline

Autumn Sunflowers!

Our wet weather provided a good opportunity for  this autumn sunflowers craft. 

I found it here and there are certainly many other neat ones to try but I just loved this happy one!

Here's how you begin...
Use a sturdy and deep paper plate (not the flimsy or styrofoam kind)
and paint any way you'd like.
All the colors of the rainbow if that makes your heart content!

I made a small petal template out of cardboard
and they traced many petals onto yellow construction paper.

Then they snipped away with scissors.

 Add some glue to the edges and attach the yellow petals....
overlapping is up to the artist. I gave no instruction at all
and it was so interesting to see their interpretations.

We even had a couple of friends over who wanted to join in...

then just when you are about done...

 you can add a few sunflower seeds to embellish your huge sunflower.

Voila...

Aren't they as beautiful as the ones I saw on Daniel Island a few months ago?

Happy, sunny autumn day!

xoxo,

Caroline

Wonder Woman and Real Perfection

Is it just me or is anyone else besides me willing to admit 

wanting to be Wonder Woman since childhood? 

My sister and I used to pretend to be her...we even had Wonder Woman Underoos 

(do you remember those???)

At one point I think we really believed we had her powers 

and could throw our headbands from our foreheads, deter the "bad guys,"and protect the world.

Linda Carter was amazing and she made her role as Wonder Woman look so flawless and so effortless.

She was busy saving the world and she seemed perfect in our young eyes.

Sometimes I still try to be Wonder Woman and of course I completely fail. 

That role is obviously unrealistic and yet many of us try to "do it all" 

and try to be the modern day, perfect wonder woman. 

We may not be saving the world from all the bad guys, but we're busy protecting our children, 

we're working in and out of the home, running children all over town, 

volunteering and saying yes to everything that comes our way. 

We want to do it all and do it all to perfection, but I am certain that is not what God wants for us. 

I realize as our kids are growing, I find more opportunities to admit my own failures to them

and believe me there are plenty.

It's not always easy, and I can't say I always do this or do a good job with my delivery, 

but these growth opportunities help them and help me. 

They see me as the parent being far from perfect and capable of many mistakes. 

It helps me too, see my own short comings and my own sin. 

Striving for perfection is unrealistic...because Jesus is the only true perfection. 

I am challenged by this struggle often and I bet you are too.

It makes me think of this recent devotion...

The Real Meaning for Perfection

Psalm 119:96

 "Even perfection has its limits, but your commands have no limit."

Let's agree not to try to be Wonder Woman, for we know we'll fail.

Our human efforts will never be perfect, so we can rest assured 

knowing we are loved by God with all of our flaws and imperfections 

as we strive only to please and honor Him.

xoxo,

Caroline

Soaking in...Sinking in...

It's starting to sink in, or soak in in this case, that so many great art licensing opportunities 

are occurring for Multiple Blessings. 

I am grateful, as I have mentioned before 

and although it has taken an awful lot of work and dedication 

to land these great projects, 

I want to remain humble and thankful for each and every one.

Soaking in this weekend, was the launch of my 

Inspirational Garden stone coasters for 

COASTERSTONE.

You can see them here!

Some of you ordered these from me recently and they should be arriving this week, 

but if you live far away and want to order some you can now do that on their website. 

These would make great gifts and they work so well, soaking up all the condensation from your glass!

Other licensing news...

these two collections have been selected and will be produced by

Robert Kaufman Fabrics...
they'll be out in July 2011.

Other fabric collections will follow after these two novelty prints.

Do you like these cheery colors?

What would you make using these prints?

Did you get a chance to stop by FABO this weekend? 

I took the girls for some sweet treats this afternoon 

(yummy sweets and sips!)

and we were captured by camera 

and mentioned on Facebook here.

Thanks Gwen!

Stop by this week and check out the gorgeous art and delicious yummies!

Have a wonderful start to your week!

xoxo,

C