My Before and After

I've always been a larger person. Over the years, I've heard so many adjectives. Fat. Chubby, Chunky. Thick. Plus Size. Overweight. Obese (this term only came from the height/weight charts though). I'm also nearly 6 ft tall. That means that no matter how much weight I lose, I will never be small. It's also means that all 300 lbs of my weight was distributed over a large frame, so to many people I didn't look quite that large. But I was.

When I was pregnant with my youngest, my mother died suddenly of a heart condition that no one knew she had. She was 57. Her own mother had passed away at the age of 56. I don't want to be a part of that trend, and I knew that the biggest threat to my health was my weight (I had already quit smoking in 2010). I got serious about working out at the gym and being more mindful about what I was consuming. I have a completely new relationship with food, am so much stronger than I ever was, and I've lost 88 lbs. so far.

Here are my before and after pictures:

August 2012 and April 2015

I realize that saying, "I got serious about working out at the gym and being more mindful about what I was consuming" doesn't say enough. But I want this post to be shorter, so I will post later about the steps I took to get where I'm at. 

Cup of Sunshine

Lately I've been working hard to create some Mother's Day cards for my Etsy shop. Being a "motherless mother," Mother's Day is very bittersweet for me, but I wanted my shop to have cards to celebrate these important women. This card is probably my favorite. The image is called "Cup of Sunshine" from Meljen's Designs, who sadly is closing her digi stamp shop. This card is so bright and cheery. My mom would have loved it!

Have a wonderful mother's day

Customized Birthday Cards

My Etsy shop has quite a few cards that can be given to different people for different occasions. I wanted to create some cards that are more personalized, but which are still very much "handmade" (rather than digitally printed). So, I used my computer to design some tags that I can use to customize each card. I now have tags for nearly every relation you can think of, and I can always create more. While the cards I've created so far are designed for women, I have tags for males too.  

Happy birthday to a very special sister

Happy birthday to a very special daughter

Birthday wishes for a special mom

Meet Little Bear and Con Man

Right now, I am a happy stay-at-home mom to two wonderful boys. I am sure these kiddos will be featured prominently in this blog, so I want to introduce them to you.

The small one is Con Man. I know it's an odd nickname for a child, but it really does suit him. When he looks at you out of the corner of his eye, and gives his sneaky pirate smile, you're a goner! He has the broadest, happiest smile and talks a mile a minute, complete with hand gestures. He's prone to dramatics, but he loves to cuddle too.

The big one is Little Bear. He's my dimpled superhero in training. Today he was Leprechaun Man: yesterday it was Pizza Man. I love listening to him play, because he narrates the best stories for his toys. He's very excitable, sometimes too much, but he wants so much to please us.

These boys keep us on our toes!

Happy Birthday Chihuahua Card

Lately, I haven't had much time to create new cards. I usually craft during nap times (the boys, not mine), but naps have been hit or miss lately. So, I wanted to highlight one of my favorite cards:

I've noticed lately that many birthday cards for men fall into two types: the "come hither" cards or the "silly, dopey man" cards. I wanted a card that would be suitable for any male without falling into one of these categories. This design started with scrapbook paper from The Paper Studio, It is cheerful and bold, and I colored the chihuahua to match. Stamping the sentiment took a few tries, because I don't have an even hand for stamping. Overall, though, I'm very pleased with this card. I think I'll create a similar one with "Muchas Gracias" as the sentiment. What do you think?

~Amanda

Hello and welcome!

My name is Amanda, and I want to welcome you to my blog! I am a mother, wife, and creator of handmade cards. I am passionate about teaching, eating clean and training hard, and organizing my home. I expect that all of these topics will find their way into this space. I hope to provide a glimpse into my life so that you can get to know me better.

~Amanda