the Cotton Cupcake shoppe - Gallery

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

2012-01-24T10:09:00.004-06:00

Lately I've been hungry for something potato-y.
So, I went searching to find a soup recipe
and thanks to Pinterest, I found one here.
I changed the recipe to suit our family
and it was a huge hit with the husband
and the little ones. Score!
I'd love to share the recipe with you...

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

1 cup Water
1/2 cup Onion, finely chopped
2 Carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 cup Celery, finely chopped
2 large Russet Potatoes, peeled and diced
2 medium Red Potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 cup Bacon Bits (the real, crumbled kind!)
1/4 cup flour
2-3 cups Chicken Vegetable Stock
Salt & Freshly Ground Pepper, to taste
1 1/2 - 2 cups Heavy Cream

Directions: In a stock pot over medium heat cook onions, carrots and celery in water until onions are translucent. Add soup stock and potatoes and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle in flour and stir constantly until the mixture has thickened slightly. Add bacon bits, salt & pepper. Over medium-high heat, bring the soup to a simmer and cook for 25 minutes or until the pototoes are soft. Mash the soup with a potato masher for a thicker, creamier texture. Add cream and simmer for 5 minutes. Soup should have a creamy texture. Adjust thickness by adding water or stock. Garnish with chives, bacon and shredded cheese. YUM!

This made a large amount of soup. It easily fed my family of 5 (and my 6 year old had 3 helpings!!) and there is plenty leftover for lunch today. My kind of meal! Enjoy!

Cupcake Aprons

2012-01-24T10:06:00.001-06:00

One of my lovely customers
was thinking outside the box.
LOVE that :)
Here are the aprons I created for her!

Kitchen Project!

2012-01-21T15:03:00.004-06:00

First of all, I want to thank you all for being patient with me as I take some time off while waiting for baby #4!!  With 17 days until due date, I am definitely anxious to meet the little one who will be joining our family! But also nervous about the how/what/where/when's of Baby E's arrival, as all Momma's can relate to :)  To keep myself occupied, and stay sane during this crazy nesting period, I have made a fun 'to-do' list that is a mile long and things are being checked off daily...

The latest project was my kitchen back splash!!

When we were anticipating moving into our house last April, we had intentions of getting nearly everything finished before we moved in.   Well.  One day (just before we moved in) I was gonna show someone the tile I bought for my kitchen and I couldn't find the boxes!  I asked my husband bout them and he sheepishly told me that he had moved them to the attic.  Ok then.  Apparently after custom tiling our master bathroom he was all 'tiled-out' and said the kitchen back splash would be a project for next winter.  I was a little disappointed, as I could easily see the so-called 'next winter tiling project' be one of those things that took years & years to take place ;)   BUT...one day last week Erik surprised me by starting on the project, proving he's a man who is true to his word!

I am very happy with how it turned out...he did such a good job!!

My kitchen feels like a whole new kitchen again, and I'm back to shining the appliances (which I did constantly after we moved in, then that sort of petered out....) and cleaning up every crumb (although that may have to be thanks in part to the previously mentioned nesting stage!)

The kitchen window is just waiting for some faux Roman Blinds.  I have the fabric and everything and I found a website that shows how to make some no-sew blinds.  They don't need to be functional, as I have never once felt the need to have blinds on that window. I think they will finish the window off nicely, as I'm going to hang them just underneath the ceiling and they'll stop just below the top of the window casing.

The other side of the kitchen. Still looking for a suitable desk chair!

And, my 'new' kitchen has been a fun place to experiment with smoothies lately! My girls & I have been having fun concocting all kinds of fruit smoothies.  I make special ones for myself though, by adding a few handfuls of spinach in attempts to boost my iron level.

Thanks to Pinterest, I have found lots of ideas, as far as smoothies go.  I have even been freezing them and putting them in my oldest daughters lunches.  By noon they have thawed the perfect amount and she is loving this fun treat in her lunch kit.  I have to add, I am still loving making school lunches!!  Hailey loves taking leftovers and re-heating them, and on the days when there are no left overs from supper she is perfectly happy with a peanut butter & honey sandwich or a ham & cheese sandwich.  She's not hard to please! I love making her healthy lunches, and we are certainly on the same page about treats...they are ok once in a while, but the healthy foods are what makes our brains work extra good :) I definitely need to think about that more with what I put into my mouth throughout the day!!

Thanks again, SO MUCH, for your patience as I'm on my little break from my Etsy shop! Don't forget to check out the 'ready-to-ship' listings if you want something Cotton Cupcake :)  I'm not too sure what life will look like with 3 small children and a newborn, but I hope to get back to custom birthday shirts & personalized hats eventually!!

Owl Birthday Party

2012-01-06T23:24:00.005-06:00

My 'baby', Madelyn Soleil turned 3 on November 24th. (I guess she's not my baby for long, as the new little one is due to arrive in one month!)  She had decided on an owl 'birfday' party long ago, and I was a happy Momma as I planned her party.  I LOVE that she loves owls, just like me!  I made her birthday shirt, and finished it around 11pm the night before her party, talk about cutting it close ;)

The invitations.  I found inspiration on Pinterest HERE.

My three girlies helped with a little party prep the day before the party.

My sweet sister also came to the rescue ;) After sending her an 'sos' text pleaing for help, she came over to help me with some of my crazy ideas.   Baby #4 was sucking every last bit of energy out of me and I guess suddenly I realized I'd need a little help...I love my sister!!!

Marshmallow Pops!

Owl cupcakes & acorns.  We dipped donut holes in icing and then in sprinkles and stuck a pretzel in the end.  Another idea I saw on Pinterest, but mine turned out quite a bit different ;)

Here's a pic of Madelyn's colorful birthday flowers & muffins for the momma's.  I had planned on waking up bright & early to have fresh homemade muffins for the party but Tim Hortons insisted on taking care of that for me...how nice.

Treats!

Some of the party guests!

The birthday girl enjoying a marshmallow pop.

 Sweet cousin Hudson picked his owl shirt for the party, lovingly made by Auntie Amber, of course :)  Last year at Madda's puppy party he was appropriately dressed too.

 The contents for the treat bags.  I started working on these one Saturday afternoon and after 2+ hours they still weren't finished!!  I had NO idea it would be so much work, but Madelyn's reaction to them made it all worth it.  She loved them!

I traced out all of the circles and most of the other paper parts & cut them out...it was certainly a labor of love, and I KNOW there are paper punches for these kind of things.  But Madelyn happily handed them out to her party guests, and it was fun for her to stare at these treat bags day after day while we waited for the party day ;)
 
 My birthday girl.

Studying her new gifts.

And, one last picture of the birthday girl tired out after the party!!

Crafty Goodness

2011-11-12T17:14:00.014-06:00

Yesterday my daughters and I

gathered around the table
with a whole bunch of craft 'stuff'

'Stuff' that would soon be made
into pretty things.

I let them glue
and color
and stick stickers
and tie
and bend pipe cleaners
and color
and pom-pom
and thread beads
until their little hearts were content.

After they had lost interest
(which, to my surprise,
was much earlier than I had anticipated!)
I started creating these
turquoise Christmas trees.

How festive!

Close up.

They are a pretty decoration in our living room now.
I used foam cones, wrapped yarn around them,
applied green & red buttons with the glue gun,
and created a pipe cleaner star and
used pom-poms to top the other 2 trees.
It was my first time working with yarn. FUN!

Then we made some clips.
We were hoping to give them away as
little gifts this Christmas, but I used the
wrong kind of glue and
the buttons pop off very easily :(
Sigh.  Better luck next time.

Madelyn's 3rd birthday is coming up
later this month
and I got started on some birthday invites.
I hope you can tell that those are owls ;)
I was inspired by something I saw on Pinterest (here)
But I made my own version of it.
Madelyn was pleased as punch!

Lots of fun was had,
lots of messes were made,
and can't wait to be more intentional
about craft times in the future!

Fall Baking

2011-09-28T14:52:00.002-05:00

My mom-in-law finished canning a batch of pumpkin yesterday and she had 1 1/2 cups left over.  She lovingly shared that 1 1/2 cups of fresh pumpkin-y goodness with me and this afternoon I did some baking.  There is just nothing like baking with fresh pumpkin...SO YUMMY!  I'd love to share the recipe I used (I found it here)  I doubled the recipe and it made about 50 mini muffins.

Pumpkin Spice Mini Muffins

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon allspice (I omitted this)

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

3/4 of a medium sized banana, mashed

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup canned plain pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)

1/2 cup skim milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices in a large bowl.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together mashed banana, vegetable oil, brown sugar, vanilla extract, pumpkin and skim milk until blended well.

3. Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Do not overmix. Spray a mini muffin pan with non-stick spray and fill the cups to the top. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

4. When muffins are cool enough to handle, dip the tops in the melted butter, then roll in cinnamon sugar.

To me, these tasted an awful like those mini-donuts
that you can buy at festivals & carnivals! 
And, because they are 'mini' you can eat
2 or 3 (or 4!) and not feel guilty ;)

Rating: 10/10
A complete (and delicious) success!
~~~~~~~~~
PS - I found the Candy Corn prop in photo #1 on the front page of Etsy one day.  I couldn't resist them! Click HERE to enjoy them yourself!!

How Button Flower Hats Came To Be

2011-09-17T18:27:00.006-05:00

Today was the perfect morning. 
It looked cold outside,
so my daughters & I cozy-ied up
with some paper, glue & buttons.
What a big mess it made.
But their doors now have
their names on them :)
And the bigger the mess,
the more the fun, right?!

Suddenly I had an idea. 
So I spent all afternoon making
the first of their kind...

...introducing Ready-to-Ship
Button Flower Hats!

I just listed them in my Etsy Shop,
and I hope you like them!

Bread Maker Bread

2011-09-08T20:52:00.005-05:00

Part of my birthday gift from my husband was a bread maker! I've always wanted one! :)  I finally got a chance to try it out this afternoon. I always buy whole wheat bread, and 'white' bread is non-existent in our house, but I wanted to start with something 'easy', and so I used the white bread recipe found in the booklet that came with the machine.  It turned out SO good!!

My daughters LOVED it!  I put a thin layer of Saskatoon Jam on for them (we picked the berries earlier this summer and made homemade jam, mmm) and they each feasted on the fresh bread for their snack before bed.  Get this...my daughters NEVER eat their crusts.  But this evening one of them said this "I'm going to save my crust for the last part because it's the best!" and "mmmmm I love the crust Mom".  My jaw dropped to the floor!  So...here is the recipe I used.  I'm excited to try many other 'healthier' recipes, but this was a good start!

Bread Maker White Bread

2 cups Water (80 - 90 degrees)
4 tbsp Butter or Margarine, cut into pieces
2 1/4 tsp Salt
4 tbsp Dry Milk Powder
1 tbsp Sugar
5 1/2 cups White Flour
1 1/4 tsp Instant Yeast

1. Measure ingredients into bread pan, in the order listed.
2.Insert bread pan securely into unit; close lid.
3. Select "White" setting & appropriate loaf size (3lbs) and desired color (light, medium, dark)
4. Press Start button.
5. Once bread is done, use pot holders to remove the pan from the unit. Carefully remove bread and turn right side up.
6. Allow bread to cool on wire rack until ready to serve (at least 20 minutes)
7. Enjoy!!

Two Favorites

2011-09-08T20:40:00.000-05:00

I am LOVING the asphalt hat color for this fall.
SO sweet!
And looks great for boys OR girls.
Recently I have done a 'medium' pink name
and a black name on these hats
and I think both of them are my new favorites :)
You can get your own HERE
along with many other creations,
100% Calorie Free.

Pinterest Project

2011-09-07T14:44:00.019-05:00

I was inspired by a something I saw on Pinterest and transformed an old ugly frame into a fun chalkboard. I forgot to take 'before' pictures (ARGH!) but trust me, it was old & ugly.

This was my first attempt at using spray paint, and it was trickier than I thought it would be! I quickly realized that 2 thin coats are better than 1 thick coat and so I tried to be patient while I waited for the paint to dry.

I also gave these cute little owls a quick spray, as they were in need of a facelift (oops, AGAIN forgot to take 'before' pics!

After the paint was dry, I took some sandpaper
and gave the frame some character.

Then I prettied it up with some of my handmade flowers.

I don't know if chalkboard paint is really meant for glass (does anyone know?) but after 3 coats I had a fairly smooth surface of black.  Perhaps I didn't use the right brush...I just used one of those cheap foamy brushes and the paint didn't seem to go on very well.

But, in the end I was happy with the finished product :) It was exactly what I had in mind.  Today was my daughters 1st day of Grade 1.  I want her to write her name and the grade she is going into each year, and it will be fun to see how her hand writing changes!  And...here are a few more pictures that I snapped this morning. Enjoy!

Hailey Mercedez.
All ready for Grade 1!

I am thrilled that my daughters like owls :)
Guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree!

Showing her sisters what's in her lunch kit!

My oldest daughter & I.  It will sure be a change not having her around all day.  While some other Mom may be wiping their tears or trying to hide their watery eyes, today I am happy.  Happy that my daughter gets to experience another year of learning.  Happy that she is healthy enough to enjoy life at school. Happy that she loves learning! Happy that we have such a good school for her to attend.  Just plain happy.
I love you Hailey!

Birthday Sale!!

2011-09-03T14:05:00.006-05:00

It's my 29th birthday tomorrow

(Sept 4th!) and to celebrate,

I am putting two of my favorite knot hats 

ON SALE for 29% off!

For this first hat,

seen here modeled by the sweet Clara,

you choose the hat color,

heart color and

the color for the name!

For more info, see Etsy listing HERE.

And, the second hat ON SALE

for 29% off is seen here,

modeled by handsome little Silas!

You choose the hat color, name,

and thread color for the name.

Check out all 11 hat colors HERE.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

These are the lowest prices

these hats have EVER been!

Tell your friends! :)

This sale will only be up

until midnight on Sept.4th!

Madelyn's Room

2011-09-02T21:01:00.010-05:00

Madelyn's room is a pretty shade of purple,

Sarah Richardson's 'dusk' to be exact

(remember this, I ♥ Sarah Richardson?!)

and the ceiling is 'oyster',

from that same palette.

I love special, personal touches

and the quilt on her bed is just that.

It was lovingly made by Grammy Jo.

I think it keeps the room fun,

while the chandelier adds class.

Her pillow case shows

another personal touch :)

along with a handmade doll.

Here is Madda looking out her window.

I think she forgot that she had one,

as I have had the black out curtains

closed for weeks now.

(hey, they helped her sleep past 6:30am

on the bright sunny summer mornings!)

There's a little peek of the window.

And, a close-up of the curtains.
Yep, you may recognize
that fabric as I sometimes
use the scraps in
my Cotton Cupcake shoppe (as in here or maybe here)

And here's a peek into

Ms.Madelyn's spacious closet.

So much space for so many little clothes!

I have lots of plans for her bare walls,

but 6 little framed owls do reside

on one of the walls.

I found some cheap decals at Kohl's

and stuck them in Ikea frames.

I love the clean & crisp look

of the white frames and how

the owls are bursting with color.

I'm glad she likes owls

just like her Momma!

She even wants an owl birthday party

when she turns 3 in November! YAY!

Pink Sweet Pea

2011-09-02T20:29:00.005-05:00

See this hat?

(Modeled by the
sweet Jadyn!)

This is what happens when someone 

likes the sweet pea hat,

but thinks she would like it even more 

if it were in shades of pink!

If you have a custom order or special request,

I'll all ears!  cottoncupcake@gmail.com

Bedroom

2011-08-30T18:38:00.003-05:00

After this tour of my entrance,

some people have been asking

to see more of my house.

Here is a sneak peek of the master bedroom.

(unfortunately the chair wasn't quite right

for the space and I had to return it)

I have lots of ideas for our bedroom,

as it's still quite bare.

But hopefully the ideas I have will

come to life in the next few months!

What's For Supper?

2011-08-30T17:11:00.002-05:00

(image from www.melskitchencafe.com)

Just made these for supper.

Oh.My.Goodness.Yum.

Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps

is what this dish is called,

and I added guacamole

& a little sour cream to the side.

Thanks once again to pinterest for

the brilliant food idea.

My Workspace

2011-08-30T16:03:00.017-05:00

We moved into our new house

almost 5 months ago.

Along with our new house,

came a new workshop!

I just hung this

yellow clock today,

so I figured it was time

for some pictures.

This window is one of 4 that brings such

beautiful natural light.

My new workshop is a far cry from the

dimly-lit basement that I used to work out of.

I am still pinching myself,

hoping that this is for real :)

As a house warming gift,
a few of my
sweet friends
gifted me with
this awesome sign!
I love it!!
And it's handy, too.

Did you notice the paper on the clip on the above pic said "hang chalkboard"? That was taken back in June. Here's the hanging chalkboard. It feels good to accomplish things on of the 'to-do' list :)

I purchased this neat 

little organizer at Michaels.

The plain white backing just

wasn't cutting it for me,

so I added a fabric piece to the back.

I forgot to take 'before & after' pics,

but trust me -- much better!

My lovely business cards,

thanks to the lovely Kathy

at The Modern Polkadot.

Here is my packaging station.

It doesn't always look this neat & tidy,

but I found a sign that said:

"Creativity is Messy, and I am very creative"

HA! Love that!

A few of my 300+

spools of thread :)

I heart color.

Window ledge,

with a valuable reminder.

Buttons,

lovingly sorted

by my daughter

Hailey :)

Next up,

making these jars even prettier

by adding some ribbon to the lids.

That's a winter project though :)

Oh My Stars

2011-08-30T15:40:00.002-05:00

I love custom orders!
For this particular birthday shirt,
my customer told me that
the birthday boy loved stars
and all things star-shaped.
I searched my fabric,
picked some thread,
And then, this creation was born.
Hope the birthday boy loves it!

Pinterest Yumminess

2011-08-24T21:30:00.004-05:00

Oh pinterest, how I love thee.

Without pinterest, I would have never found these.

Zucchini Pizza Bites.

Tonight, husband was eating supper on the field,
kids wanted mac & cheese (go figure),
and so I feasted on fresh corn-on-the-cob (thanks Mom!)
and these zucchini pizzas,
using fresh zucchini from my Grandma (thanks Gram!).
This is definitely something I will make again! YUM!

A few nights ago I made these pizza bites...double yum! My kids love them (hello! freeze them for easy lunches!) and my husband loves them (hello! quick meal for the field!) and they were easy to make. Can't beat that.

And, right now (it's 10:20pm) I have these babys in the oven. Appropriately named "Quick, Easy-Peasy Buttermilk Cinnamon Rolls". As my 6 year old likes to say "easy-peasy-lemon-squeezie" They smell divine.

You can find me on pinterest HERE.

Musical Bibs

2011-08-11T21:07:00.004-05:00

I just may have one of the most fun 'jobs' ever! Take this set of monthly bibs for example...WOW! Someone asked me (little ol' me) to create 12 bibs for their daughter, who was born into a very musical family.

SURE, I'd love to do that!

After a few rough sketches, the plan was to rotate 4 designs. I started getting excited and then I got right to work. I hadn't planned on finishing the order so quick but one bib lead to the next and before I knew it hours had passed and the bib set was complete! Thankfully my daughters were very patient with me today (and I even tore myself away from my shop to take them swimming for a couple of hours!) and in between bibs we also got some coloring done :) It was a very productive day!

Giveaway Time!!

2011-07-21T11:14:00.007-05:00

I hope you are all having a wonderful summer!!

I know I have been soaking in the more relaxed pace of life and
enjoying every moment with my three little girls!
Just for fun, I added a picture of them enjoying a round of golf while we were camping recently!

Let's celebrate summer with a giveaway!
There will be THREE winners!!!
AND, here are the prizes:

1. A FREE BABY HAT of your choice from my Etsy shop!
2. A FREE TOTE BAG of your choice from my Etsy shop!
3. A FREE COOKIE TASTER APRON personalized with
the name of your choice!

You have 5 chances to enter...
make sure you leave your e-mail address
AND don't forget to leave a separate comment for each!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1)Visit the Cotton Cupcake shoppe on Etsy and
let me know what your favorite creation is!

2)Become a fan of
THE COTTON CUPCAKE SHOPPE on facebook
OR if you are a fan already, let me know!

3)Share my FACEBOOK PAGE
with your facebook friends
(on the left side bar, scroll down
and hit "share")

4)Follow me on TWITTER !

5)Spread the word: Tweet about this SUMMER GIVEAWAY
OR e-mail 5 of your friends! Here's the link to the page:
http://cottoncupcakegallery.blogspot.com/2011/07/giveaway-time.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Tuesday, August 2nd I will draw
THREE lucky winners using the random number generator.

HAVE FUN :)

Back In Business!!

2011-05-19T21:47:00.004-05:00

UPDATED: I HAVE MY 15 PARTICIPANTS - THANK-YOU!! :)
CONTEST CLOSED

I just re-opened my shop, after about a 2 month 'vacation'!! I wasn't on any grand or exotic vacation, but I DID manage to move me & my family into a new house!! There are still plenty of boxes to unpack, but my workshop is ready to go, so what better time to re-open The Cotton Cupcake Shoppe! I'm very excited to start stitching again :)

I'd love for you to help spread the word. Here's what I'm thinking...
1)The first 15 people to respond to this 'contest' will get a special Cotton Cupcake treat mailed out to them, for free!! My thanks to you!

2)I will post 5 tasks below, pick TWO of them and then COMPLETE the task.

3)After completing 2 tasks of your choice, send me an e-mail (cottoncupcake@gmail.com) and let me know which tasks you performed! Simple as that!!

Here are the tasks, remember,
you choose TWO:

Task #1) On your Facebook page, announce on your status that The Cotton Cupcake Shoppe is open for business and link back my Etsy page: http://www.cottoncupcakeshoppe.etsy.com

Task #2)On Facebook, go to The Cotton Cupcake Shoppe's page and hit 'suggest to friends'. Please tell a minimum of 20 people. I'd love for your friends to be fans of my page :)

Task #3)Send an e-mail to friends and/or family who you think would be interested in my creations! Include links to my Etsy shop and to my facebook page.

Task #4)On your blog, make a short post and tell your readers about The Cotton Cupcake Shoppe. Include links to my Etsy shop and to my facebook page.

Task #5) On Twitter, tweet about your favorite Cotton Cupcake Shoppe creation, make sure to link back to my shop AND include me in the tweet (@CottonCupcake28)

**********************

I'd love for you to help me get the word out :) Thank-you kindly!! I'll be waiting for those e-mails and I'm excited to send out some freebies!!

Re-Opening Soon!!

2011-05-12T22:22:00.001-05:00

It's May 12th - one month after we moved into our new house and things are starting to feel more normal! We're getting more & more settled each day and my ETSY SHOP is going to be opening up soon! Click on my logo below and then make sure you click on the button that will notify you the MOMENT my shop re-opens :)

Thank-you SO much for your patience

as my family & I have been building our house, moving & settling in :)

Here's a quick rundown of the process:
-Summer of 2009 we realized we needed to make some big changes. With an expanding family and our growing business, our small house just wasn't working out too well anymore. We set out on an adventure to figure out a way to find a living situation that would suit our needs.

-We started building in June of 2010 (doing a lot of the work ourselves...we have a grain farm, so over the winter months my husband could dedicate nearly all his time to building our house) Months before we started building, we began collecting ideas and information in our 'house building binder' and one of the first things I did was tape some verses on the front cover of the binder. They are from Proverbs 16. We have been praying for the last few years that God gives us direction in this area of our life, and I love what these verses have to say, and how they put things into perspective:

"Mortals make elaborate plans,
but God has the last word.

Humans are satisfied with whatever looks good;
God probes for what is good.

Put God in charge of your work,
then what you've planned will take place.

We plan the way we want to live,
but only God makes us able to live it.

Make your motions and cast your votes,
but God has the final say."

-We worked through the winter, many days just dropping into bed exhausted. Yet God gave us strength and some how we had energy to keep going day after day. We also had lots of help with the girls, and many friends & family did caring, loving & kind things for us during this time.

-Late in March of 2011, I realized I was not superwoman (duh!) and I wasn't able to run my Etsy shop, finish our house, take care of our young children, and fulfill all of life's other commitments, etc. all at the same time, so I had to make the hard decision to put my Etsy shop on Vacation Mode.

-April 12th - we moved into our new house! It has been a HUGE adjustment. I don't think I was quite prepared for all of the changes, and it's been quite overwhelming. Example: our 'old' house was very small and for all of their lives, all 3 girls shared one small room. There was a lot of sleepless nights, but some how we survived and learned how to cope the best we could. Now in the 'new' house, they all have their own rooms and I had to learn how to put them to bed in 3 separate rooms. Doesn't seem like that big of a deal, but when ALL routines change drastically, it's a big adjustment!

SO...that brings us to today. We made sure our house has a great big workshop, and I'm excited to get back to work in the new space!! It will be quite a change from working in my dimly lit basement!! I am SO excited to start up my shop again, to create things that I love and to work with my amazing customers again!! It won't be long now :)

Entrance Tour

2011-05-11T22:34:00.001-05:00

Some of you have been asking to see more house pictures! And some of you have been asking all kinds of questions about the little glimpse of my entrance that I showed on facebook. I'd like to give you the grand tour of our entrance...since it's the only room that is completely decorated and DONE :)

Walls: Sea Haze, Benjamin Moore
Ceiling: Blue Box, from Sarah Richardson's paint line

Rugs: Home Sense

I heart etsy.

The shelf is from Old New Again. Their shelves have been on my Etsy 'favorites' list for a long time and I love how the aqua shelf ties in so well with the ceiling color!

Mirror: Rona
Bench: Walmart (of all places!)

The gorgeous custom print is from Parada Creations, an Etsy shop I came across and absolutely love! Susana is a joy to work with and she made each of the wee birdies a custom color for my three girls. Keeping in mind their favorite colors, Hailey is the pink birdie, Jayda is turquoise and Madelyn, my littlest birdie, is purple.

I purchased the owl a few years ago-- on Etsy, HERE.

The other corner ;)

The art on the wall is a carved wood piece that a dear friend gave me for Christmas a few years ago. You can find it, and many other beautiful pieces, on Etsy here: ELWoodworks.

And, the other corner:
Coat Rack: Pier 1

I heart birds. Well, I heart bird things.
It's kind of funny, because I don't really like 'real' birds.
From a distance they are alright, but I don't like them to come too close!

Another peek at a bird that now lives in our entrance.

And some more birds. This is actually a table runner (from Pier 1), but for now it serves as a coat-rack-embellishment of sorts ;) Who am I kidding, most times there are plenty of jackets covering it, hee hee.

A close-up of the pillow on the bench (also from Pier 1). I covered the cushion on the bench with fabric from one of my favorite online fabric shops, Tonic Living (although for now the fabric is just neatly tucked under the cushion, I need to make a proper cover yet!) So, there you have it. A tour of my entrance and a little glimpse into what I've been keeping busy with lately. Hope you enjoyed it!!

And, on a completely different note, here is a photo of my daughters and I on Mother's Day! God has blessed me with these precious gifts and I am so thankful to be their Momma!!

Sarah Richardson Meets The Cotton Cupcake Shoppe!

2011-01-15T09:19:00.014-06:00

The countdown had been going on for weeks. Finally, it was Friday January 14th. It was the day my Mom & I were going to the Kitchen Bath & Reno show in Winnipeg, where my all-time favorite designer, HGTV'S Sarah Richardson was the special guest!! I couldn't have been more excited to go see her live and hear her presentation. That Friday morning, an idea came to me. What if I stitched a couple of aprons for Sarah Richardson's daughters?! I did a little google search, found the names of her girls and then got right to work. I was quite excited about the finished product and wrapped the aprons up all nicely. At this point, I honestly didn't know what I was hoping for. I didn't know how I would ever get to GIVE these aprons to Sarah. I figured at best, I could some how get close enough to her and throw them at her ;) Or, worst case scenario, I could just mail them to her.

I decided to take some photographs of the aprons and I posted this on my facebook page:

"What can I say, I'm starstruck! I get to see my all time favorite interior decorator tonight -- HGTV'S Sarah Richardson!! I couldn't resist making a couple of aprons for her girls...now here's hoping I actually get the chance to GIVE them to her (AHHH!)"

I linked the post to Sarah's facebook page, not thinking at all that she would actually see the post. Just thinking it would be fun.

Later that afternoon a storm was brewing (gotta love Manitoba!) but my Mom & I braved the icy roads and made our way to the Convention Centre. We arrived in plenty of time and snagged some really good seats, right behind all of the rows of reserved seating. Shortly after, the place really started filling up. I heard there were over 1000 people in attendance that evening. I was beginning to give up on the idea of getting my aprons to her. It just seemed to good to be true. So, I decided to relax and just enjoy the night.

At 7pm Sarah entered the room! She was as lovely as ever, sitting casually on stage and going through a bunch of pictures describing design tips and sharing ideas. At the end of the 'show' Sarah opened it up to questions from the audience. I really truly did have a question, but I was pretty nervous!! As some of you know, we are in the process of building a house and I am going to start painting this month yet. I figured, what are the chances that I would be picking paint colors RIGHT at the same time that Sarah Richardson is in town?! I decided I couldn't miss the opportunity, so I got in line (where I whispered with an equally-nervous Sarah Richardson fan while waiting for my turn at the mike -- hi Tavia!!!) and asked the following question (because some of you have been asking me what I asked her!) It went a little something like this:

"My husband & I are building a new house and I am in the process of picking paint colors. Our main floor has an open concept floor plan and our kitchen & dining room are under the same 'ceiling' - a regular flat ceiling. Then our living room joins up to these 2 rooms and has a vaulted ceiling. We are having white cabinets in our kitchen that go all the way up to the ceiling, so it really doesn't leave much room for paint color on the wall. My question is, I'm thinking of painting the ceiling in the kitchen/dining room a light turquoise, but I'm wondering if I have to carry that color on to the vaulted ceiling?"

She was SO helpful and quite honestly I didn't catch all of her answer as I just COULDN'T believe that I was making eye contact and having a conversation with the Sarah Richardson about MY house. Hee hee. She basically said that where ever there was a break in the ceiling, it's a new room and you are able to change colors. She also mentioned that when people step into our house, we need to have something interesting in the furthest corner of the room, something that draws people in. It was very cool to get her advice on MY house! Yep, my Mom will agree if I say I was a little giddy after I sat down.

Shortly after my question, as the evening was coming to a close, Sarah asked something like "Now, is there a girl here from a cupcake shoppe who has some aprons for me?" I couldn't believe my ears!!! She was calling me (little 'ol me!) to the front! She said she had checked her facebook page earlier in the day and had seen the photos and was excited to get them!! CRAZY! It was SO awesome!! So, I got up and made my way to the front. I got to go up on stage and she asked me what my name was and what I did. I got to tell the audience a little bit about my Cotton Cupcake shoppe and then I told Sarah a little about the aprons. She seemed quite pleased and happily accepted them! It was AWESOME!!!! She even unwrapped the aprons and showed them to the audience --who 'ooohed and awwed' - over MY creations. It was such an honor!

Unfortunately when I ran up to the front with the aprons, I took my bag with me, which had my camera in it (ARGH!). So, my Mom couldn't even snap a picture of me on stage with Sarah :( It was a pretty silly thing to do, but what can I say?! I was a little flustered in the heat of the moment!! I went to sit back down in my seat and when the presentation was over and Sarah stepped off stage I hurried to her to see if I could get a picture in yet. She was whisked away pretty fast, which left me pretty sad UNTIL I remembered that there had been a photographer taking photos all evening. I found her in the crowd and asked if she happened to get a picture of me on stage with Sarah and the aprons. She checked her camera and she did have 3 or 4 photos!! We exchanged business cards and she sounded hopeful that she could e-mail me the photos, but she said she was taking photos for someone else, so she had to check with that person first. To make a long story short, she wasn't able to release any photos of Sarah Richardson from that evening. I am SO disappointed!! To know that there are photos of Sarah & I out there but I will never be able to see them :(

Even though I was hoping to include a photo of me & Sarah in this blog post and all I can share is the story, the evening will rest in a special place in my memory :) To know that our house will have a little touch of Sarah's advice is already super cool and then to have been able to give my aprons to her on stage?!!! Oh man, it took at least 24 hours for my heartrate to come down to a normal rate :) Sarah, if you are reading this, a HUGE thank-you to you for coming to Winnipeg!! Enjoy your aprons!! Here's to many happy moments in the kitchen with your two daughters!!

My 5 year old daughter Hailey (who LOVES watching Design Inc with me!) tried taking a photo of me & a magazine picture of Sarah ;) It didn't quite work, but when I asked her to do it, she said "Sarah Richardson is in a magazine?! Whoa, she really is famous!" I thought that was cute :)

And, I'm happy to say that I have the whole collection of all 75 of Sarah's paint chips (see photo #1 at the top of this post) and I've been pondering them for a couple of weeks now. Many of her colors will adorn the walls in our new house!!

If you're interested CLICK HERE to check out my
aprons and other personalized items!
~~~
Tasty Creations, 100% Calorie Free!

Let's Work Together To Bless Someone!

2011-01-07T23:24:00.006-06:00

When I look back on 2010 I feel incredibly blessed that the year was such a success for the Cotton Cupcake shoppe. I am thankful for all of the wonderful people I have been able to work with and have even built some neat relationships with some of my customers! I love that!!

As I think about 2011, I really want to be able to do more for others and extend love & generosity to people in need. To start things off, I want to 'give back' and bless a deserving family with some Cotton Cupcake creations! If you know of a Momma who needs a little 'pick me up' send me an e-mail telling me why you would want to shower her with love in this way :) On January 31st I will choose one of the e-mails and then send a package out to the family, along with a card (signed with your name OR an anonymous note , whichever you prefer)

Send your e-mail here: cottoncupcake@gmail.com

I'm SO excited about this! It's just a small way we can work together to bring a smile to someones face :)

Valentine's Day & FREE Gift with purchase!

2011-01-04T09:45:00.009-06:00

I know, I know. It's hard to believe that

Valentine's Day is right around the corner!
BUT, I'd love to show you a few of my
*NEW* Baby Knot Hats!!
Perfect for a Valentine's Photo Shoot!!!

Of course, there are the 'regular' favorites too:

And, if you don't think hearts are for boys,
check out these sweet creations! How cute is
baby Bennett wearing his Valentine's Day outfit?! Adorable!!

And, I'd love to offer you a 'free gift with purchase'!!  I will send a little something extra in your package if you say "Happy Valentine's Day" in the 'notes to seller' section while purchasing a Valentine's creation from my Etsy shop!!  Click HERE to view all of the items in my Valentine's Day section!

It's easy...let's review:
1)Purchase something from
my Valentine's Day section! (HERE!)

2)Say "Happy Valentine's Day" in the
'notes to seller' section upon checkout!

3)I will send you a FREE GIFT with your purchase!

It's just my little way of saying
Happy Valentine's Day
from The Cotton Cupcake Shoppe!!!

NEW and WINNER!

2010-12-09T10:59:00.008-06:00

Introducing my newest creation:

Vintage Inspired Baby Hats!!
Enjoy this chic & unique version of my popular baby knot hats! The beautiful handmade flower, with neatly frayed edges, is lovingly hand crafted and made complete with a perfectly matching button.  You can check them out HERE!

And, since I was having so much fun making the little button flowers, I decided to add some fun clips to my shop! You can check those out HERE in the "Sweet Little Extra's" section :)

And, last but not least, the winner of this "Cotton Cupcake" onesie is Jona!! She said: "I have to pick just one, that's hard but I would say I would pick it for my new little Isabella that's on the way she already has a wonderful wardrobe from you why not make it bigger!"

Thanks to everyone for entering!

Another Giveaway!

2010-12-01T10:09:00.006-06:00

I have finally decided on a new logo!!
This one suits me perfectly.
It's just so 'me' and I love Kathy's work...
(PS - you can find her here: The Modern Polkdot)

Since this new image makes me so happy,
I'd love to have a little giveaway!!

For a chance to win:
leave me a comment and let me know
which little person in your life would love
to wear a Cotton Cupcake shirt :)

Looking forward to hearing from you --
I will pick a winner in a few days!!
And, one more thing...
my ETSY SHOP will be bursting with
fun & exciting creations in the New Year,
so don't forget to check back for a full shop!!

My Story and `Holiday Mode`

2010-11-15T23:50:00.009-06:00

Note: If you don`t want to read the whole post,
please scroll down to the bottom 2 paragraphs which explain
how my shop will function until the new year! Thanks :)

I want to write a little bit about how The Cotton Cupcake Shoppe came to be and about how I manage it all with a young family! I get asked that a lot "How do you manage?!" or "When do you find time do your work??"

First of all, here's a little bit about myself. My name is Amber and I'm 28 years old. I've been married to my highschool sweetheart for almost 10 years (yep, do the math, we got married young! And have never regretted it, hee hee!) and we have 3 daughters...

Hailey was born in March of 2005...

Jayda was born in May of 2007...

...and soon after Jayda,
Madelyn was born in November of 2008.

I love being a Mommy to these 3 girls!

Something else that I'd like you to know about me is that I love Jesus Christ with all of my heart and my most favorite bible verse is this one: Psalm 16:8 "I have set the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken."

My husband & I own an embroidery business together (ya, he never dreamed he would be selling clothing, nevermind doing EMBROIDERY...we still laugh about that one sometimes) and we have had the business in our basement for over 6 years. It's mostly corporate embroidery: stitching company logos onto hats, jackets, shirt etc. and then also supplying mugs, pens and any other hard good you can think of, imprinted with a company logo. We also have a grain farm, so on the 'off season' my husband & I work in our business together and when he's farming, I'm flying solo. I thoroghly enjoy our business and yet at times I struggle (ok, who am I kidding, I struggle DAILY!) with finding a balance between work and being a Mom and all of the other responsibilities I have. Some how God always works it out and these years have taught me what it means to daily rely on Him for strength. I cannot do 'life' on my own. That never works...and I have had to learn that lesson many many times!

So, soon after having our 3rd daughter I looked at one of her onesies and thought "Hmm! It would be neat to put her name on that!" So I ran downstairs and got right to work. That shirt (pictured on the left!) was the starting point. I had always dreamed of starting a 'kids line' in our business. So, in March 2009, after many weeks of brainstorming (mostly during late-night nursing sessions!), I opened up a shop on Etsy and named it “THE COTTON CUPCAKE SHOPPE”. At the time our three little girls were 4 years old, 1 year old and 4 months old.

My Cupcake Shoppe started out being my ‘me’ time. My time to do something fun and my time to do something that I had a passion for. Not before long I was spending every evening after my kids were in bed working on new designs, promoting my shop ON FACEBOOK & spending lots of time in Etsy chat learning everything I possibly could about Etsy. It was exciting and everyone who I talked to about my 'stuff' was so supportive and encouraging!!

Fast forward to today. I am very blessed by having people love my creations and my shop is doing extremely well. I send competed orders all over the US and Canada, and even other countries like Ireland, the Netherlands, Australia and Maldives (definitely had to google that one!) In October I had 314 orders and here we sit at November 15th and I have had 202 orders this month already! It's fun, it's exciting and yet there is a problem. I simply cannot keep up. It's a GOOD problem, but a problem, none the less :) I have the privilege of having one of my wonderful auntie's working for me now (bless her heart!), but I am still spending way more time than I can give on creating orders, answering e-mails, etc. I spend 4-5 hours nearly every night stitching and managing my shop. (I am a night owl at heart, so this really isn't too hard for me, but after months and months my body is telling me that sleep is actually really important!) Then I am often out of bed a couple of hours before my girls so that I can get some work done in the mornings too. Then through out the day I spend time replying to e-mails and Etsy messages, running to the post office to mail huge stacks of packages, ordering supplies, keeping my trusty spreadsheet organized (all of the order details get put into one big spreadsheet), etc on top of everything else going on in my life. It is SO much fun, and yet I simply can't keep up.

After many, many discussions with my husband (he's SO supportive and wonderful!) on how we can make this work, we never really come up with a solution. What started out as something fun for me to do in my 'spare' time has now taken over! You can see where this is going...this Momma needs a little break to get some of that 'spare' time back again!! :)

Which brings me to today. As of today, Nov.15th, my Etsy shop is going to be on "holiday mode". There are going to be some "ready-to-ship" items there for purchase, but many of my personalized creations aren't going to be available until the new year. This has been SUCH a hard decision to make, but I really need to step back and take a much needed break.

I want to thank all of my wonderful (wonderful!) fans & supporters for making The Cotton Cupcake Shoppe a huge success! It has been so much fun working with each & every one of you...thank-you for allowing me to do something that I love! Blessings to you all this Christmas season and looking forward to connecting with you again in the New Year!!!

Blessings from our family to yours!

Help Me Please!!

2010-11-07T07:37:00.013-06:00

The wonderful Kathy from The Modern Polkadot

has been working on a NEW logo for me!
It has been very exciting
to go through this process.
I want to share with you some of her ideas with you.
I'd LOVE some feedback!!
And, if you comment on this post and let me
know some of YOUR thoughts,
I will put your name in a random draw!! I am offering a surprise prize for the winner. It will be a Cotton Cupcake creation, of course, and let's just say it will be pretty sweet :)

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

So, what did you think? Which one is your favorite?
I have a couple that I favor but
I would LOVE to hear from YOU!!!
And remember, your comment will be
entered into a draw to win a great prize!!
Everyone loves free stuff! :)

Here is a link to my ETSY SHOP,
if you are interested in checking out my creations!
They are 100% Calorie Free :)

PS - PLEASE leave your e-mail address
so I can contact you if you win! Thanks!!

Going Bananas!

2010-10-11T09:43:00.009-05:00

"Add Monkey Designs"
has been on my to-do list for WAY too long!
There has always been many requests 
for monkey 'stuff'
and I hope this satisfies :)

Baby Knot Hat,
for your little monkey!

COUPON CODE!
PS - For 2 DAYS ONLY (Oct.11 & 12th/2010)
use the coupon code "GO BANANA'S" upon checkout
and receive $2 off this monkey hat!!
(You will be refunded by PayPal
after your payment has been made.)
You can buy the hat HERE.

In Stock Items

2010-10-01T00:41:00.013-05:00

Here is the list of items that I have on hand,

ready to decorate for you!

.(MOST of the items/sizes below I have in stock...on occasion there are shortages. Please email me with any questions cottoncupcake@gmail.com)

For prices, please visit my ETSY shop:
www.cottoncupcakeshoppe.etsy.com
OR
send me an e-mail: cottoncupcake@gmail.com

American Apparel Short Sleeve Diaper Shirt
Colors: Light Pink, Light Blue, White*, Chocolate Brown*, Black

Sizes:

3-6 month
6-12 month

*Chocolate Brown and White
available in 12-18m

*White available in 0-3m

American Apparel Long Sleeve Diaper Shirt
Colors: Light Pink, Light Blue, White, Chocolate Brown, Black

Sizes:

3-6 month
6-12 month

*Chocolate Brown
available in 12-18m

*White available in 0-3m

Short Sleeve Diaper Shirt
Colors: White with Red Sleeves
Black with Red Sleeves
Sizes:
12 months
18 months

**LIMITED AVAILABILITY, PLEASE E-MAIL ME FOR DETAILS**

American Apparel Lap T - Short Sleeves
Color: White

Sizes:

12-18 month
18-24 month

American Apparel Lap T - Long Sleeves
Color: White

Sizes:

12-18 month
18-24 month

Chocolate Brown T-Shirt - Short Sleeve
Sizes:
12month,
18 month
24 month

American Apparel Knot Hats
Colors: Chocolate Brown, White, Light Pink, Black, Light Blue, Asphalt, Organic Galaxy Blue, Organic Natural, Organic Ultra Violet Purple, Organic Cinder, Organic Pomegranate

Lettuce Edge Short Sleeve Shirts

Sizes Available: 12 months, 18 months, 24 months

Colors: Light Pink (pictured), Turquoise, White, Black

White & Black also available in size 3, 4 and 5/6

American Apparel Short Sleeve T-Shirts

Sizes Available: 2, 4, 6

Colors: Light Pink (pictured), Light Blue,

Grass Green, Sunshine Yellow,
White, Red, Black

(see selection of colors HERE)

Girls Solid Color Cap Sleeve Shirts

Sizes Available: 2, 4, 6

Colors: White or Black

Long Sleeve T-Shirts
Sizes Available: 2, 4, 6
Colors: White or Black

Long Sleeve Raglan Shirt

Colors Available: White Body/Light Blue Sleeves (as pictured),

White Body/Cobalt Blue Sleeves
White Body/Red Sleeves

White Body/Light Pink Sleeves

Sizes: 12 month, 18 month, 24 month

White Body/Heather Grey Sleeves: Size 12m

3/4 Length Sleeve Raglan Shirt

Colors Available: Light Blue Body/Navy Sleeves
White Body/Light Pink Sleeves
White Body/Red Sleeves
White Body/Light Blue Sleeves

Sizes: 2, 4, 6
(Some size 8's available, contact me!)

Long Sleeve Lettuce Edge Shirt
Colors Available: White Body/Light Pink Detail (as pictured)
Light Pink Body/Hot Pink Detail

White Body/Lime Green Detail
Sizes: 4, 5/6, 6x