The Season of Giving

Just picked up a fresh batch of these from the print shop. One is going to someone special...

I am honored to be participating in an online fundraising auction this weekend. Melissa of The Cheeky Whale is having an auction to raise money for her mother who has been battling Cancer for 14 years. My heart goes out to her and her family. I cannot imagine the difficulty of that battle even without the added strain of financial struggle. They are accepting donations as well but there are some incredible things to bid on if you still need to complete your Christmas shopping. You can preview the items immediately and bidding runs from 12am MST Dec. 11th through 12am MST Dec. 14th. I know I have my eye on the custom portraits done by Melissa herself. So adorable! If you have something to add to the auction, contact Melissa at helpingjenny(at)gmail(dot)com. To learn more about it, donate or place your bids go HERE.

Best Job Ever

Gemma has been super snugly lately and anyone who knows me is not a bit surprised to hear that I am seizing the golden opportunity to get my snuggle on. Today we spent a solid chunk of time lounging on the carpet hugging, chasing, wrestling, tickling, smooching and laughing. I am grateful to be hyper aware of how fast time flies and the fact that moments like those won't be around forever. So I pulled out my camera. The angle and light are not even close to flattering (for me - G looks beautiful always!)but it may go down as one of my favorite photos of us. I only hope that in the future when I look at it I can - at least a little bit - feel what it was like the day 14.5 month old Gemma was thrilled to play on the rug with her mommy.

{Dream} home away from home

Spent the weekend with my family in Central OR. It was dreamy as ever. Now I'm home and I'll be working on pairing up some ornament swappers. Thanks to all of you who are participating! Check your email Monday afternoon to see where you'll be mailing your bits of Christmas cheer...

Etsy Ornament Parade

Just a few of the pretty little ornaments I found on Etsy today...

Quilled Snowflakes from Forever Filigree

Ceramic/Metal Leaf & Soft Snowflake from Picciolo

Matryoshka Dolls from Kim's Crafty Apple

Your Initials in a Heart & Baby's First Christmas

from This Fine Day

*I am especially in love with these and they are local for me- here in Portland! I neglected to get Gemma a "Baby's 1st Christmas" ornament last year and I think I've got to make up for it by buying this one... darling, right?

PS- Only 1 day left to join in on the fun we'll be having swapping ornaments!

That Martha Stewart is one crafty broad

In case you need a little inspiration for the upcoming ornament swap I've compiled a list of my favorite tutorials from the Martha Stewart website. I kind of want to make them all.

Clockwise from upper left: Three-Dimensional Doily, Button Wreath, Floating Ornament, Holiday Rickrack Craft, Ribbon and Bow Accessory

Button Ornaments, Ribbon Star, Holiday Card, Tinsel Snowflakes, Recycled Ornaments

Tomorrow I will post some ornament finds from Etsy so you'll be covered even if you'd rather buy than make. Meaning no more excuses. Send me that email so you can participate in the swap. You know you want to.

O Christmas Tree!

This past weekend we had a big family Thanksgiving Day feast, nearly avoided the 'Black Friday' crowds and took a trip to a tree farm on the outskirts of town. Visiting Sleighbells is such a fun holiday tradition. We were lucky the rain stayed away - we were able to find just the right tree. Maneuvering the crowded gift shop was a little trickier feat. Little Gemma-grabby-hands was very interested in the thousands of ornaments lining the walls. Fearing a "you break it, you bought it" policy we kept our shopping time brief and I walked away without a single ornament. Sad, but not really because I have an idea...

Let's have an ornament swap!!!

Please, please, please join me in this fun (and possibly first annual?) ornament swap! Don't be shy, I want it to be a big and diverse group from all over the place. Here's how it works:

1) You send me an email: carrie@rascalpantsart.com by this Friday the 3rd and include the following info:

*Your name and email address

*Your mailing address

*Your blog (if you have one)

2) I will match you up with 3 other swappers by Monday the 6th and you will mail one ornament to each of them by Monday December 13th.

3) You receive 3 ornaments from 3 different people (Yay!)

Fun, right? So I want to say the ornaments have to be handmade but I will just strongly recommend that they are. (By you, or someone else). Let the Christmas crafting commence!

Let It Snow

Snow in the forecast tonight. I'm crossing my fingers that tomorrow I will be able to make a few more photos like these...

Mid November

I can't believe November is half over and Thanksgiving is next week! The holidays are here and I have some fun plans for my bloggy friends... If only I could spend all my time having fun! I suppose when your job is photographing it's hard to have any room for complaints. I have been busy busy though and just finished retouching the lovely gal pictured above's senior portraits. Great idea to wait for fall to shoot them, the colors were beautiful!

Thrifty Loot

Behold my loot from today's thrifty adventure. I had a job up the street from my best thrift store today and I couldn't possibly be that close without going in. Sadly it profited me nothing. All was not lost however, the thrift store next to it was filled with treasure! Thrift store #1 is on probation lest I choose a new bestie. My purchases as pictured clockwise:

* The first globe in what I hope becomes a very large collection

* The perfect shade of fabric to go with the mustard yellow paint I'm using to refurbish my work space chair (Will post soon)

* Very wrinkled but in otherwise perfect condition pillow shams from West Elm in a silvery faux bois

* A doily (go granny chic)

* A choker made of what appears to be brass mesh that I intend to wear as a bracelet

* A wooden hanger to be used in Gemma's room makeover (Will post about that real soon too)

* Awesome melamine mugs

This Weekend

My plans include:

*Watching Stranger Than Fiction. I've been in the mood to for weeks- I absolutely LOVE that movie.

*Crossing my fingers my photo shoot doesn't get rained out AGAIN tomorrow.

*Going to the fabulous ACE Hotel to attend Little Winter with friends.

*Cheering for the OR Ducks

*Editing lots and lots of photos.... I'm way behind!

What are you doing?

Happy Halloween

Pumpkin patch picts from a few weeks ago...

We had a "trunk or treat" at church this weekend and friends over for homemade chili with cornbread tonight. Now I'm settling in with a mug of cider to catch up on The Office with The Mr. I hope your Halloween is happy and spooky and whatever you want it to be!

Calendar Love

Hello and happy Friday! I'm real excited because this morning I signed up for a 2011 calendar swap. The gals at Design Crush and Greedy Girl are organizing it and I can't wait to see who they pair me with. You can still join in the fun through tomorrow so hurry on over to check it out. I finished creating my 2011 calendar last week and it's currently for sale in my little shop (which has a new name, did you notice?) Anyway, I'm real proud of it - have a looksy: