cache county fair

here's some less-than-good-quality pictures of us attending the cache county fair about a month ago. i LOVE fairs - farmer's markets, carnivals, festivals - you name it i love it. there's just something about walking around, people watching, eating fair food and checking out the booths that i really enjoy. probably why i signed up to do a booth for the farmer's market here in logan and i'm so glad i did. the market ends october 17th and i'm sad but kinda glad too because it's a tad stressful to make sure you have enough stuff to sell each time and then make sure to document any new stuff you made for the etsy shops because if someone buys it at the market and you didn't take pictures then you have to make it all over again for the etsy shops...i realize this is self-imposed stress and a completely uneccessary componant of stress in my life but...i love it.

sorry i'm rambling, here's the pictures. oh and i finally figured out how to post large pictures - thanks photobucket.

two cows. (i think they're boyfriend/girlfriend.)


paul with a cow. (our camera was being weird and spotty).


penny with some baby cows. (see how blurry her hand is? that means she's excited...)


me and penny with some stinky sheep.


jumping back because the stinky sheep tried to get his stink on me.


sorry these pics were such crappy quality. i'll do better next time...

penny's 1st birthday party!

it really was so fun. my sister lana was so nice to let us use her house for penny's party - we played a little game, had some yummy cake, and opened prezzies. i really loved organizing her little party and seeing her play with her new toys - she was so spoiled with tons of gifts! all in all i'd say penny had a terrific time...even though she won't remember a thing. :)

the birthday girl!


after everybody arrived we played a very sophisticated party game: "pin the hairclip on the penny!" it was blind-folded hilarity and joyness. (in case you're wondering where i got that ginormous picture of penny, i took a picture to kinko's and they blew it up for me, it was 7 times cheaper in black and white).


the cake! i'd never decorated a cake before and i wasn't going for anything fancy...but it actually turned out exactly how i planned it in my head and i luuved it! i just wanted some pink filigree on a light green background (although the piping was kinda sloppy...oh well). and it was chocolate inside, of course. i'm such a chocolate-head.


opening prezzies. i think she loved the bows more than the presents themselves.

giving her new toys a test run. (i think she's a tad suspicious of that chubby hand belonging to a certain jealous cousin named max...)

jordan was very excited to be in attendance... (sorry i didn't get pics of everybody that was there.)


all of the guests received a goody bag complete with candy and flarp - a delightful gooey putty substance that makes fart sounds, modeled here by my little brother derek.


with our one-year old! we love her so much!

happy birthday penny!

since my baby turns one today i thought it would be fun to post all her month pictures. i didn't really take official month pictures in the beginning (you'd think i was recovering from something...) so i just chose my favorites for the first 3 months.

minutes old!

one week

6 weeks (ha)

2 months

3 months (with santa larsen)

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

10 months

11 months

we're having a rockin' birthday party for penny tomorrow at my sister's house in lehi (because our apartment is tiny and most of our family and friends live...not in logan). i'm gonna try my hand at decorating a cake...we'll see how that turns out. it's been fun planning a little party - it makes me excited for more birthday parties to come!

happy birthday pen-pen! i love you!

happy birthday paul!

sorry...it's a few days late. paul turned 29 on friday and i was crazy busy getting ready to go out of town to visit paul's parents and paul's sister kenna who flew in from new mexico with her new baby, madeleine. it was fun to see them! i always plan on taking pictures for events like these but - and i'm sure i'm not alone - i always forget or get lazy about it or take one or two but they're really crappy quality...

anyways, happy birthday husband! you're friggin awesome! you work so hard to support our little family and you make me laugh every day and you go to plays with me and you keep your sideburns just because i like 'em and you clean the bathroom for me and you make really good mac and cheese and i love you!

(i made him pose for this picture.)

new jellabee items!

i know this is what you've all been waiting for...new items in my jellabee etsy shop! hooraaaaaay.

i've been having way too much fun with my new ribbonwork book - i wanna put ribbon roses on everything! here's my latest creations - embellished keepsake/jewelry containers. i got all the containers at my local thrift store (thoroughly scrubbed, let me assure you) and i had such a fun time fussing over each one until i was satisfied. (click on the pics if you wanna see the details up close).





but wait there's more! here's some new clips and headbands that i've been working on and have listed in my jellabee shop as well. (i told you i wanna put ribbon roses on everything...)



LOVE this one.




this one's not a rose...but i think it's one of my favorites. it took me FOREVER - all those tiny stitches and beads.

i'm getting some pretty wicked calluses on my fingertips from all this sewing.

(you can see more pics and prices for these items HERE)

the story of the picnic in the park

once upon a time paul and i were pondering that we haven't really gone out to enjoy the summer evenings as much as we should. probably because i trap myself like a hermit in my craft cave every night. so we decided to have a picnic!!! hooray!!! it really was nice sitting outside and enjoying the warm evening by the little lake and penny loved it for sure.

yay for eating outside! penny enjoyed noshing on her rubber aligator.

then some nosey geese came over to investigate. they were HUGE.

penny eyed the feathery intruders warily, afraid they might steal her plastic bag.

but don't worry, paul threw his sandel at them and scared them away. (he didn't actually hit one).

then we sat miss penny on the grass for the first time to see how she'd react. you can't really tell here but she luuuved it! she kept laughing every time the grass tickled her legs.

from then on the larsen family vowed to appreciate the rest of the evenings this summer as much as possible. the end.

new burp cloths!

i know, this is probably the most exciting news you've heard today or, dare i say, in the past week. please stop bouncing with excitement in your seat.

i love love love chenille and i love chenille burp cloths even more. pretty convincing sell, huh?

i just added 19 new burp cloths to my jellabee jr shop (if you hadn't noticed, i kept my headbands in jellabee and moved my kiddie hair clips to a new etsy shop - jellabee jr) and i can't wait to make more!

here's some of my favorite patterns:






and of course, the fancy "shipping example":


my etsy shops are officially an addiction and i plan to branch out and add more stuff than just hair accessories to both shops. i found this ribbonwork book, well, paul found it and predicted that i would love it, AND I DO LOVE IT. it teaches you these techniques from the 1920's on how to make ribbon roses and other flowers and leaves and it's my new obsession (sorry paul). i'll have to post some pics showcasing my ribbonwork skillzzz. you'll probably look forward to that day more than christmas.

(p.s. word to the wise, if you've got the bucks to buy a $300 light box to achieve those white, diffused light, catalogue-ish pictures, then more power to you. OR, you can buy a 50 cent piece of white posterboard and take outside during the daytime in the shade. they look EXACTLY the same.)