So egg-stravagant!

Finishing the prototypes for my new personalized Easter eggs was easy...digging through bags and bags of junk in the attic to get to the Easter baskets for the photo shoot was not!  Looks like a good spring cleaning is in my future.  Low and behold, here are the elegant eggs, with plenty of time before Easter to place your orders!

Front 

Back

The eggs pictured above are 5" long and can be purchased for $8 each or 2 for $15.  Available colors include purple, blue, pink, and yellow.  These eggs are also available in 3, 7, and 9 inches, but I'll have to get back to you on pricing for those.  Email me at karen.psimas@yahoo.com or message me on Facebook to place an order.

As promised, I have put some finishing touches on my products in 2011.  I recently made a plate and bowl set for a little girl's birthday, and it was presented to her in a natural brown bag with a gift tag that matched the design on her plate set.  How fancy!

Project 52: Week 8

Some of my favorite conversations with Brynn take place at the breakfast table over Rice Krispies and chocolate milk.  The conversations are typically light:

Me:  What did you dream about last night, Brynn?

Brynn:  Armadillos.  I wish I had an armadillo.  A real one.

Today, she got a little profound on me:

Brynn:  Why does Daddy have to go to work all the time?

Me:  So we can live in this house and do the fun things we do.  Do you know what Mommy's job is?

Brynn:  No.

Me:  Mommy's job is to stay home with you and teach you and Camryn how to be good girls and smart girls and sweet girls.

Brynn:  But I already am all of those things.

Looks like my work here is done!

If you'd like to start your own Project 52:  Glimpse Into Motherhood, click on the link below:

Space hog

At long last, I have finished all three piggy banks for the Hutchins kids.  You may remember Hallie's ladybugs and Wyatt's superpig, now here's big brother Dylan's space hog:

I think I saved this one for last because I knew it would be a challenge to get it right.  Dylan is the oldest kid I've made a piggy bank for, and I didn't want it to seem too young or babyish.  Hopefully he digs his pig!  Now for the daunting task of packing these guys up and shipping them to New Orleans...I'm shaking in my moon shoes!  Thank you, Lori, for your patience, and for that you get a shout out:

Check out Lori's website - www.peasncarrotsgifts.com - for incredible embroidered gifts.  Yes, the bloomers pictured below (and the cute little backside they're modeled on) belong to my little nugget!  

As for the piggies, large banks like Dylan's can be purchased for $25.  Email me at karen.psimas@yahoo.com or message me on Facebook to place an order.

Seussy swine

Keeping true to the strange luck of Fancy Fonts, large piggy banks seem to be everywhere now, while the medium banks that are currently in high demand are nowhere to be found.  Or they can be found, but without the oh-so-important plug at the bottom that keeps the money in.  Buying wholesale poses the problem of storage as well as up front costs, but it just may be the least stressful way to go.  I have a handy husband...perhaps he can construct a pig pen for me?

Little Leo's piggy was supposed to be medium sized, but he ended up being large and in charge instead.  His design was inspired by his Dr. Seuss bedding, pictured below:

I loved the bold colors and the graphic stripes and dots, but was a little intimidated by the thought of drawing the characters and almost left them out.  However, I'm wearing my big girl panties today and went for it anyway.

Large piggy banks like Leo's can be purchased for $25.  Since I'm having such a tough time finding mediums, I'm going to say they are unavailable at this time, but I'll keep looking for a way to make it happen!  Mini piggies are also available for $5 each.  Email me at karen.psimas@yahoo.com or message me on Facebook to place an order.

Super Piggy!

How lucky am I to have a job I can take outdoors when the temps climb into the 70s?!  Wyatt's piggy was started in my backyard and finished in the Outer Banks with the sunshine at my back and the ocean waves crashing just over the dunes.  Super indeed.

A super piggy like Wyatt's can be purchased for $25.  Email me at karen.psimas@yahoo.com or message me on Facebook to place an order.  

Project 52: Week 7

From the moment my daughter was born, I knew being just me wasn't good enough anymore.  If I was going to be the most influential woman in this little girl's life (as well as the little girl who came along after her), I was going to have to step it up a bit.  I was going to have to try to become a woman I would want my daughters to be one day.  A good wife.  A good mother.  Strong.  Healthy.  Happy.  A woman with the desire to be challenged and the ambition to accomplish something difficult.  A woman who makes her daughters proud.

I initially took up running as a way to shed those last few stubborn pounds of baby weight.  I started running in local races as a way to keep myself motivated to lace up more days a week than I didn't, and it's something fun (yes, I said fun!) my husband and I like to do together.  Racing satisfies my competitive nature, even if I'm mainly competing against myself (my husband runs like a Kenyan and there's no way I'll ever beat him!).  I just completed my first 14K, beating the hefty goal I set for myself by 18 seconds.  I'm running in my first half marathon next month, and I am so excited about this next challenge.  My daughters will be there to cheer me on, and as much as I want to achieve my personal goals for this race, I hope I can achieve my life-long goal of making my girls proud of me.

An oldie but goody...a tiny little Brynn putting on Mommy's shoes:

If you'd like to start your own Project 52:  Glimpse Into Motherhood, click on the link below:

Back on track

10 days.  It has honestly taken me 10 days since Ryan left to feel like I have any sort of energy after putting the girls to bed at night. I finally had it in me tonight to get to work on three little piggies for some cutie pies in Nawlins.  Perhaps my spark was fueled by (more than) a few Girl Scout cookies?  Regardless, I hope to be back at 110% once my partner in crime is back from his business trip!  One piggy down, two more to go.  Bear with me, Lori!  Ladies first!

Such a pretty little thing, just like the girl she's going to live with!  Large piggy banks like Hallie's can be purchased for $25.  Email me at karen.psimas@yahoo.com or message me on Facebook to place an order. 

My protege

With my husband being out of town for work this Valentine's Day, I figured it would be a quiet evening at home with my little ladies (whatever their definition of quiet is!).  However, a wonderful friend of mine invited the three of us over to share in their Valentine's Day celebration.  Heart-shaped pizzas, pink cupcakes, pink milk for the girls, "pink" wine for the grown-ups.  I offered to make cute little place cards for the pink table, and recruited Brynn to give me a hand.  She picked the paper for each place card, affixed the heart, and wrote the name on each.  I love how when she puts an extra loop on her N's by accident, she tells me, "That's fancy."  My heart swells with pride this Valentine's Day!

 (OK, so this isn't the actual table at my friend's house, but chances are I'll forget to bring my camera or remember to bring it and forget to take pictures once we're there.)

Happy Valentine's Day from Fancy Fonts!

Project 52: Week 6

I am incredibly spoiled.  My husband works pretty regular hours during the week, and when he's home with us on weekends, he wants to do nothing but play.  So when he told me he had to go away for two straight weeks for training for work, I felt like I got punched in the gut.  Then I got to thinking...

I thought about one of my best friends, who spent the better part of her 20s as a single mom, working full time, going to school part time to earn her Master's degree, all the while raising one of the most incredible little girls I've ever known.  I thought about my neighbor, whose husband was deployed with the Navy for 8 months this past year.  The girl did the work of both parents AND full time student, never asking for help and rarely accepting help when it was offered.  To say these women are amazing is a gross understatement.  

My Glimpse Into Motherhood this week is a glimpse into what a mere snippet of their experiences as mothers has been.  I know my husband is safe, and my time on my own with my girls is finite and brief in comparison to 8 months for the military wife...or 7 years for the single mom.  I can get through 2 weeks alone, and I'll get by with a little help from my friends.  Say hello to my little friends:

Having really cute and funny kids helps too though:

If you'd like to start your own Project 52: Glimpse Into Motherhood, click on the link below:

Flower power

I love Valentine's Day.  This hasn't always been the case, but considering I get to spend my days with the loves of my life, big and little, how could I not love it now?  Sure Hallmark may have a hand in the excess of the holiday, but when it comes down to it, we could all use a little reminder how much we are loved and how much love we have to give.  

So, in trying to keep Hallmark out of the Psimas Valentine's Day as much as possible, I decided to go the homemade route with the valentines for Brynn's pre-school class.  Trying to use whatever I already had in my house, I searched Family Fun magazine's website for a way to use the Dum Dums I bought in Target last week to quiet the beast - I mean Camryn - while I picked up a few things.  Combine these lovely lollipops with some scrapbook paper, and you've got yourself a cute little treat for all of your buds.  

Piggies and Plunging

So I originally thought the piggy banks I was making for my friend's twin nephews were going to be monkey-themed, but it turns out their crib bedding has Classic Pooh instead.  For whatever reason, I have made challenging myself a priority in 2011, so I saw this as a great opportunity to do just that.  Bring it on, Pooh and friends!  Starting with John's piggy:

John was the smaller of the twins, weighing just under 4 lbs. at birth.  I thought this quote from Winnie the Pooh was only fitting:

And now Luke's:

Another fitting quote for a twin:

I really enjoyed making these banks for two adorable little guys who were born at only 31 weeks.  They should be big and strong enough to go home this week...good luck, Mommy and Daddy!

Large piggy banks like John and Luke's can be purchased for $25 each.  Medium and small piggy banks are also available for $15 and $5, respectively.  Email me at karen.psimas@yahoo.com or message me on Facebook to place an order.

At the beginning of the year, I decided that every penny I earned until the Polar Plunge on February 5th would go toward my fundraising efforts for Special Olympics Virginia.  I needed $100 to plunge, and I'm excited to say that $75 of it came straight from Fancy Fonts purchases!  In honor of this fundraising effort, our costume theme for this year's Polar Plunge was "fancy," and one could interpret that however one pleased.  Unfortunately, the only picture of myself is with my husband, who would divorce me in a second if I showed his costume on the internet.  If I get a picture that does not include Ryan Boitano, I'll be sure to post it.  I can, however, post the following pictures of my Fancywork:

 Kevin's idea of Fancy was a painted-on tuxedo.  I did not particularly enjoy painting over my brother's nipples or inside his belly button.

Brynn got her hands on my fancy headband, which completed my flapper ensemble.  Looks way better on her!