Slowing Down Time

Time is a funny thing. One day you are blogging along daily about the ups and downs of life, contributing to the world of useful and useless knowledge. Then baby number three comes along and you and your computer decide you can't be friends anymore. So your blog goes unnoticed and you forget about it for a while. Out of sight, out of mind.
You've been there, right?

Well, baby number 3 is now 8 whole months old and he is chubby, happy, and full of life! I call him my little ray of sunshine because that is exactly what he is. He fills my whole heart and soul with happiness. He has big blue eyes and the longest eyelashes I have ever seen. (Why do the boys always get the long eyelashes?) 

So I've been a little bit distracted by all the cuteness. The chubby baby thighs and cheeks, slobbery kisses, and baby giggles. He's way too much fun!
With every child I hang on to the baby days a little bit more. With my first I wanted to see how fast he could sit up, crawl, and walk. I felt like it was a race with the other babies his age. I wanted to prove my baby was the smartest. It's sounds so silly now. My second son was very colicky so I wished away the first 3-4 months, hanging onto my sanity and spending a lot of time bouncing him to sleep on my giant exercise ball. (Which, by the way, is a must have for putting baby to sleep in the first few months, especially a colicky baby. It really did save my life and my sanity.) Pretty soon he was running around at the park with his brother and before I knew it he was 2 years old and we were talking about having another one. Time is a funny thing.
I started Cantaloupe Corner when my second son was only 6 months old. And having 2 kids and a business made time fly by at light speed. Then came along baby number 3 and now weeks go by in the blink of an eye. Then months, then years. Whoa! Slow down!!!
What I'm saying is my goals this year don't focus so much on "lose weight", or "watch less TV". This year I am making a daily effort to enjoy the amazingly blessed life I have. I want to spend more time cuddling with my babies, reading them books, and teaching them about life. More time kissing my husband and spoiling him. Less time yelling, and less time being stressed out about things that don't matter.
That's right, I'm going to slow down time. That's my new years resolution.
 So you may or may not see daily blog posts about all the fun things we do around here but that's ok. I will still be doing what I love. (I really do love designing and printing t-shirts.) And I will share as much of my projects, and useful and useless information, as my new found time will allow.

This is going to be the best year ever!

A momentous occasion

We did it!! We just hit a milestone that I am extremely excited about. We just made our 1000th sale from our Cantaloupe Corner Etsy shop!

It has been thrilling watching that number climb daily, One or two sales at a time. It makes me feel all nostalgic thinking back on my very first sales. I hadn't even learned how to screen print yet. I was individually stencilling every shirt. And I loved it! Every sale from 1 to 1000 has been just as exciting as the one before it.

I just wanted to leave a simple THANKS to all of our customers who have helped us to build my little business and making it what it is today. I still think of Cantaloupe Corner as my playtime. I enjoy creating and printing shirts, and interacting with all of you. I have met some amazing people along the way.  The best part has been everything I have learned! I have learned that selling t-shirts isn't about selling cheap, or spouting out sales and links anywhere I can. It's about really listening and caring about my customers. I get so excited when I get emails from you telling me about the great train birthday party you are putting together, or about how much your child loves tractors or ninjas. I have been able to meet so many moms that are just like me.
So thanks for teaching me more about myself and what a girl from a small town in Arizona can do. It's amazing what a dream, some ambition, and a little time can do.

Now on to 2000!

And, BTW, there is a coupon code waiting for you on our Facebook page.  (Yippee!) The coupon code is good through this Saturday 1/21/12

Photo Card

Classic Damask Frame Christmas

Click here to browse our Christmas photo card designs.

View the entire collection of cards.

NEW! Custom BIG NAME Bath Towels

The best part about being the boss of this company is that I get to do whatever I want, including stepping out of the norm and making something new to add to our collection of t-shirts and bodysuits. Who doesn't love new stuff?

Our newest item is unlike anything you have seen! And my two biggest fans really love them!(my kids, of course.) Especially because Ryan's is orange and he is kind of obsessed with all things orange right now.

They are personalized BIG NAME Bath Towels!

These towels are completely unique because there is no scratchy ink, paint, or embroidery to scuff up your beautiful skin. They are extra gentle on our children's delicate skin. They are ink-free printed just like our Toddler Shirts and the result is spectacular!

Your name, last name, child's name. . . or whatever you would love to see on your custom towel is printed in LARGE letters across the long side of the towel. It kinda makes you feel like a super hero when you get out of the shower.

The towels are fluffy and soft and 100% cotton.
These personalized towels make great gifts for Christmas, birthdays, weddings, housewarming. . . and just because.

Click over to our Cantaloupe Corner Etsy Shop to see what colors we have available.

I would love to hear what you think about our newest addition.

A (not so) scary Halloween message.

I'm pretty darn excited for tomorrow. Tomorrow I open Cantaloupe Corner on Etsy and post all of our newest designs for everyone to see! It's a momentous occasion and if I were you I wouldn't miss it!


I have one more design to show off and the subject matter is very close to my heart. I have been anticipating the launch of this new design for over a year and it is finally ready! 

The subject of our newest design is Pro-Life.

I have had the privilege to hold 3 of my own precious little miracles only seconds after they were born. I have looked into their eyes and each time I am taken back by the eyes that are looking back at me. They aren't just little eyes but they are gateways to little souls. They are little people. Little, tiny, helpless, adorable, innocent people that need someone like me to take care of them until they are able to care for themselves.

The only difference between a baby in the womb and a baby in a mother's arms, and a child running through the back yard is TIME. The child is the same person through the whole process.

I will never be able to understand how a mother can abort a baby for her own convenience. From the second she makes the decision to have unprotected sex (or if protection fails) and that baby is conceived, God gives her a gift that is more precious that anything in the world. Whether it is an accident or not, a baby is special. That sweet precious baby should be able to live and enjoy life, not be snuffed out due to embarrassment or so the mother can have a more convenient lifestyle.

It's only 9 months.

For any mother out there that thinks they can't put that sweet little infant up for adoption instead: It's only 9 months out of an entire lifetime. And that 9 months is a small sacrifice for that baby and also for that mother who is not able to have children of her own. I have seen MIRACLES in lives of my friends because of those mothers that chose to have their babies and give the greatest gift to a barren mother. It touches the lives of more that just her. It touches her family and friends and enriches the lives of everyone who will get to know that precious child throughout his or her life.

I have had close friends that were adopted as babies and they are immensely grateful that they were given a good life, and even more grateful for the simple gift from their birth mother to let them live.

This is my baby. He is now 5 months old and he has the same little nose, hands, cheeks, eyes, etc. that you see in this ultrasound picture. He was given to me to raise, protect, lead, and guide.

He is a ray of sunshine in my life. My life would never be complete without any of my 3 special, unique, little boys.

It is with this little boy in mind, and my strong believe in the sanctity of life, that I introduce our newest Cantaloupe Corner product.

It is simple, and sweet, and focuses on the positive. All of us who are alive today can thank our mothers for choosing to let us live!

(This onesie is available today on our Facebook page, and will be available tomorrow in our Cantaloupe Corner Etsy shop. )

I don't know about you but I am really grateful that my mommy chose life  :)

I hope everyone has a great Halloween! Take those precious kids out trick-or-treating and be thankful that they are alive and that they fill your heart with so much love!

My kids' costumes: Wall-e and a baby owl

I say this every day but I'll say it again. Time is flying by!

Halloween is on Monday and I just barely finished my boys' costumes right in the nick of time. We will be spending the weekend with family so it was getting down to the wire. But they are done! And I'm pooped.

I'll show you my favorite one first. This is Ryan wearing his Wall-e Costume. He has had his heart set on being Wall-e for weeks and I kept hoping he would change his mind because i had no idea how I would pull it off. 2 days ago I realized he was serious about being Wall-e and no other costume would do. I just happened to have a box in the right size and we picked up some spray paint at Wal-Mart. Some painting, cutting, glueing later and we had Wall-e. Since I waited unil the last moment I left out the Wall-e hands and wheels. But Ryan LOVES his costume and I am happy because he is happy. 

And this is my adorable little owl:

 Man, I love this kid.

I crocheted his owl beenie, which will come in handy in the cold winter too.

For the body of his costume I sewed felt "feathers" onto a long sleeved onesie and attached wings to the sleeves. I wanted to keep it soft and small so he doesn't look like he is being swallowed up by his costume. I always feel bad for those kids that their parents dress them up as oversize pumpkins or big fluffy mosters. Their eyes say "please save me from this embarrassing outfit my mom is making me wear!"

I have one more costume I made for my 5 year old that I just finished tonight so I'll post pictures from our Halloween party when we get back.



Feeling a little red today.

I got a "wild hair" this last weekend and dyed my hair red! (Ok, I got a whole head full of wild hairs.) Really RED! Red Red Red!

 I have this amazing sister-in-law that does my hair for me. She took me with her to CosmoProf so I could pick out the color.  I was really nervous to go so bright but I needed a change and I haven't change my hair color in a while. 
Back in the day, when I was in high school and college I had my hair every color from platinum blonde (which I LOVED) to dark brown. I must have been missing my wild side becuase wow this color is vibrant! But I am loving it.

I realize this has nothing to do with t-shirts, or that fact that I will be opening our Cantaloupe Corner Etsy shop on November 1st (YAAAAY, I'm so excited!). My next post will be all about that. And a preview is coming your way!
And BTW, if you haven't already done it yet, join our Cantaloupe Corner Facebook page to be the first to see and purchase our brand spankin' new designs!!!

This is Epic!

I'm the proud mommy of a Kindergartener!
Simon is just finishing his 3rd week in school and he is loving every second. He comes home happy and exhausted every day. Every day he has new stories and lots of new questions. I am so proud of him and his endless ambition to learn everything he can!

I had so much fun making Simon new t-shirts to wear to school. Since I knew I wasn't going to be selling these I didn't have to be completely original in my designs. In fact, one of my favorite shirts I finished was a copy-cat of a great shirt I found at Nordstrom.com

Excuse the wrinkles. I had to grab these from my son's clothes pile and snap shots before the baby woke up. I think the wrinkles add to the vintage look. don't you?

Here is the original tee from Nordstrom:

You can find this tee Here.

I learned a new technique to get the vintage style ink-printing on dark colors. It worked really well and it left the shirt so soft, almost like there was no ink at all. I used the same technique on 2 other shirts as well. It's. . . EPIC!
 I'll post those shirts as soon as I get caught up on my pile of laundry, a.k.a Mount Washmore.

{ a little madness }

Things at our house can be described in one word: madness.

All of you moms with 3 or more kids, you have my respect. This mommy business is tough. But the madness is great too! We are enjoying every minute of time with our new (now 2 month old) baby. We are at the stage right now that we can venture out into public for short bursts of time without him crying inconsolably. There is no calming down this child when he is hungry. And he is hungry all the time. This week we took him in for his 2 month checkup and he weighed in at a hefty 15 pounds! Yes, this kid likes to eat.

Since we are still trying to get our family on a schedule, which includes our oldest going to kindergarten (wow, is he that old already?), we will be pushing back our re-opening to sometime late this fall or early winter. I have new ideas in the works, and new designs that are sooooo close to being finished. I need a clone so I can get all my biz stuff done and make sure my mommy stuff gets done too. So for now I choose the most important of the two. Once I can effectively juggle being the best mom I can with running a happy business I will re-open my shop with new goodies inside! And I have new tutorials in the works too!

Until then, I will enjoy this madness.

Pancake scribbler - drawing with pancake batter

"What do you want for breakfast?"

I ask my kids this every morning. Usually I get a blank stare or an "I don't know." 

Sometimes they will get creative and invent a new type of pancake batter, or smoothie. Sometimes they request chocolate cake waffles, or just cake.  

This time they requested "pancakes in different shapes." 

I don't know about you but I am not a pancake artist.  My pancake talents stretch as far as Mickey Mouse ears.

But this time I had a Great Idea!!! Instead of pouring on the pancakes, Squirt 'em on!

I had an extra mustard container hanging around my house. You can pick these up at the dollar store. 

I snipped the top to make the opening large enough for the thick batter and funnelled in my batter.  

  

It worked like a charm!

Now I can make whatever shapes I want, as long as they are flippable.

I thought about writing "good morning" but soon realized that I would need an extra wide spatula to flip such words. I settled with the more convenient "Hi" pancake for my hubby.

 I made the boys letter pancakes and they ate them up and asked for more. And with my picky eaters, that's saying something!

S for Simon.


Simple, quick, cheap, and fun!   You have to try this!