The Bee's Knees - April 28

Are you ready for this week's edition of The Bee's Knees?
Just to remind you, this is a weekly segment that will showcase a few of my favorite projects/creations/decor that were recently posted in the blogosphere that I think are The Bee's Knees (the very best of the best).

Stenciled Fabric Cork Board - Simply This & That
I am so in love with stencils right now.  Bonnie covered an ordinary cork board with fabricthat used to be plain white!  Check out her post to see how she did it.  Wow!

Mirror Makeover - Landee See, Landee Do
Landee took a simple entryway mirror that she already had and transformed it into a STUNNING piece of art!  You can see the before and after and how she did it over on her cute blog, Landee See, Landee Do.

Wednesday Home Inspiration - Splendid Design
I love my house.  I love my decor and my furniture.BUT...when I saw this house featured on Megan's blog, Splendid Design, I kinda wanted it.

There are 8 photos of this home on Megan's blog post and each one I see takes my breath away.  I ♥ it!  I think if I'm in a bad mood I could look through these photos and be absolutely uplifted.  Yeah, it's THAT amazing.  To me, it's The Bee's Knees. ;)

And the Award Goes To...

Liebster is the German word for beloved/dear/favorite.  The Liebster Blog Award is "passed from one blog to another to honor smaller blogs (those with less than 200 followers) that deserve recognition for their fabulous blogging abilities."
The lovely Stephanie over at From IceCream to BellyRings has graciously given Hello, New Day this award!  I am honored and tickled pink that she considers my new blog worthy of this recognition.  Thank you, Stephanie!
Once awarded the Liebster, the recipient may:
Post the award on their blog; Choose 5 blogs (with less than 200 followers) to give the Liebster Blog Award to;Link back to the blog who gave them the Liebster, andList 5 random facts about themselves.
So without further adieu, I award the Liebster Blog Award to:
Claire of A Little Something in the MeantimeRuby of Fuchsia VisionMegan of Splendid Design
These 3 blogs definitely deserve the Liebster Blog Award in recognition of their fabulous blogging abilities.  I chose only 3 recipients because most of the blogs I read have more than 200 followers!  
And now...5 random facts about me (Spoiler Alert if you watch Desperate Housewives and are not caught up to present!):

1. I was a dinner guest at a Mardi Gras Party and was seated with Stevie Wonder, at a table next to Quincy Jones.
2. I would love to live in a hotel.
3. I cried when Mike was killed on Desperate Housewives.
4. Nothing frustrates me more than being stuck in traffic.
5. I have a fear of heights.  A few years ago I made myself go to the top of the St. Louis Arch.  I was proud of myself, but it didn't cure my fear.

Thank you again, Stephanie, for this award, and thank YOU for stopping by!

Just Be You - Snap Conference Recap

Just Be You

My new favorite necklace from Amy Cornwell -
she gave one to everybody at  Snap!

"Just Be You" was the theme for the 2012 Snap! Creativity at Your Fingertips Conference that I was lucky enough to attend this past weekend.  The conference was AMAZING!  It was fun, and exciting, and emotional (yep, tears were shed), and inspirational, and educational, and validating.
I don't have the exact numbers, but there were

• approximately 320 bloggers from across the country attending Snap,
• 60 speakers from some of the most well-known blogs in the creative blogging world,
• 46 of the best vendors selling their homemade goodness at the Queen Bee Market,
• three FULL days of classes, and
• several fabulous sponsors who showered us with tons of swag (free goodies and product samples).

It really was uh.may.zing.

The venue was perfect.  (Of course, it being only 20 minutes away from my house maybe clouds my judgement a bit.)  Thanksgiving Point is a beautiful place.  There are tulips everywhere, the food is fantastic, and the Emporium is such a fun place to shop.

I went to the conference by myself, but not without first trying to find someone to come with me.  I am a little bit socially challenged.  Okay, maybe more than a little bit.  :)  I am not good at all at small talk and chatting and mingling and, having never been to a blogging conference before, I wasn't really sure what to expect.  I think I was practically hyperventilating as I walked into the building to register.  There were 2 girls greeting attendees at the door and as I said hello to one, I mentioned that I was nervous.  She gave me a huge hug and the two girls behind me (thanks Zoe & Jeremy!) heard me and began chatting with me, helping me feel at ease.  This was the atmosphere: welcoming, friendly, and supportive.

After that initial stress and nervousness, the rest of the weekend was a virtual blur of meeting people, exchanging business cards, attending classes, and tweeting!

At registration, Xyron gave us each a ring with hole punch so that we could keep our collected business cards organized.  It's ideas like this that make me giddy! 

Listening to the inspiring Ana White speak.

With Kelli from Lolly Jane Boutique!

The adorable Shelley Smith speaking at the Discovering & Defining Your Style class.
I could listen to her speak all day long!

I could go on and on about the inspirational talks that were given throughout the weekend.  Like about Cheryl who told us, among other things, about the time she had Martha Stewart over for dinner and, no, everything did NOT go as planned, but the evening was still a success!  I cannot wait for her book to come out next month: You're So Invited: Panic Less, Play More, and Get Your Party On!
And about Amy from The Idea Room who demonstrated a little "blogger yoga" - squatting down and trying to angle that camera for the perfect photo.  She reminded us that a lot of times we compare our worst to other people's best.  We need to just be ourselves and not get into that comparing game that so many of us participate in.
I've heard people say that bloggers must be so narcissistic in order to blog.  Kind of a "look at me!  look what I did!" attitude.  After this weekend, I can attest to the fact that most of these women are just very passionate about sharing creativity.  It's as simple as that.  And as bloggers, we needn't worry about the numbers/statistics or whether or not we're on trend.  We don't have to worry about posting every day.  We need to "get inspired by our own creations first" (Shelley Smith) and "Learn it. Do it. Share it." (Kate Riley).

With Kate from Centsational Girl!

I also had the opportunity to try a hands-on class in stenciling taught by the President and Creative Director of Royal Design Studio, Melanie Royals.  Oh.My.Gosh.  Now I want to stencil everything!  Her instruction was outstanding and her stencils are beyond beautiful.
One of the conference sponsors, Riley Blake Designs, had a make-and-take project at their sponsor booth where we made these fabric flowers.

Their fabrics and notions are so cute!  And now that I know how to make these adorable flowers, I can't wait to make a bunch more for my daughter and her friends.  In fact, I think I'll whip up a bunch for her dance studio yard sale this weekend.   Finally, at the closing dinner, we were treated to a special guest speaker, Matt Townsend, a communication and relationship expert.  His talk was phenomenal!  He was hilarious and inspiring.  When he was done, I felt so good about myself and my blog and pretty much felt like I could do anything.  :)
It was an amazing experience, Snap.  I made some new friends and found some new blogs to read.  It was wonderful to be surrounded by like-minded women and to feel empowered and inspired.  I am honored to be part of such a supportive, creative, powerful community.
And, I can't wait until next year! ;)

Introducing: The Bee's Knees

Hello, again!  It's been awhile, I know!  We had a good Spring Break and now the kids are back in school for a short 2 months until summer vacation.  I am ready and so excited to attend the SNAP Conference this weekend where I will be rubbing shoulders with some of the best creative bloggers out there.

And speaking of the best, I would like to introduce to you a new segment here on Hello, New Day called "The Bee's Knees":

What is The Bee's Knees?
Each week I will featureprojects/creations/decor/productsthat were posted that week on the blogs that I readthat I think are The Bee's Knees - the best of the best!
One thing I hoped to accomplish when I created Hello, New Day was to share some of the extraordinary creativity that is out there in the blogosphere.  I am constantly amazed and inspired by what I see and now I will be able to share that with you!
So, without further adieu, let's get to the first edition of The Bee's Knees!
This week, in honor of SNAP!, I'd like to share three of my favorite projects (from any time, not just this past week) from 3 bloggers who will be speaking at the conference.  These ladies are my blogging heroes and I'm pretty sure I'll turn into a bumbling idiot if I get the chance to meet them this weekend. :)

Laundry Room Reveal - The House of Smiths

  

This is the blog post that started it all.  A couple of years ago I stumbled upon Shelley's blog when she wrote about redoing her laundry room.  I love EVERYTHING about this project and I guess it will always have a special place in my heart since it was this post that kept me coming back to Shelley's blog and from there to other creative blogs, which all inspired me to create Hello, New Day.  Shelley continues to inspire with fun projects and fun reading.  Check out her latest projects at The House of Smiths like her recent entryway closet makeover! 

Painting a Kitchen Table - Centsational Girl
Kate, from the amazing blog, Centsational Girl, is another blogging/DIY gal whom I admire.  I've read her blog for about as long as Shelley's and I am always super impressed with the projects that Kate tackles.  Recently she gave an ugly, $45 thrift-store table a makeover that you've got to see to believe!  It's one of those projects that makes me excited to check in on her blog everyday.  I always look forward to seeing what Kate has to share. 

Stenciled Ceiling - Not Just a Housewife
I found Stacy's blog, Not Just a Housewife, about a year ago when she shared her stenciled ceiling project.  Who says ceilings need to be painted white?  Check out what Stacy did to the ceiling in her master bedroom!  

Again, it's this level of creativity that just makes me practically giddy!  Genius!

These three blogging girls will be at SNAP!  And so will 57 other unbelievably awesome creative bloggers.  It's really like the "Who's Who" of the Creative Blogging world.  And those are just the speakers!!  There are a bunch of other very cool bloggers who are attending this conference.  It'll be awesome and I'll be sure to keep you posted on what's going on at the conference.  Make sure you're following me on Twitter if you're interested in real-time updates.  I'm learning how to tweet and will do my best to tweet often!
Thank you for stopping by Hello, New Day today!  I wish you a fantastic day and I hope that you've found a bit of inspiration here.

Spring Break & SNAP!

Hello, dear reader!I'm just popping in with a little update on Hello, New Day.When I started this blog 2 months ago, I jumped in head first to the whole blogging experience.It's been amazing and sooooo much fun!
And now that I have a tiny bit of experience under my belt, I'm going to take some time off to focus on which direction I'd like to go with Hello, New Day and to develop some fun ideas I have for the blog.
Since my kiddos are on Spring Break from schoolI'll be spending more time with them and less time in front of the computer this week.
And then next week I'm attending SNAP!This is a 3-day creative blogger conference and I'm absolutely giddy about the opportunity to meet and learn from some of the women whose creative blogs I admire so much!
I will continue to participate in Fat Mum Slim's photo-a-day challenge.
My photos will show up dailyon the sidebar of Hello, New Day,on my Instagram and Twitter feeds, andon Hello, New Day's Facebook page.
Thank you so much for stopping by, and I'll see you soon!

A Month in Photos: March 2012

Some of my favorite photos from March:

Elliott enjoying the chocolate frosting from his birthday cake.

Sophie wants her cat treat right now.

Elliott with his new Mario Party 9 Wii game.

Jon teaching Elliott to ride a bike.

Jon celebrated a birthday this month.

My favorite snack: chocolate-covered espresso beans.

Elliott at his birthday dinner with Emma, Ethan, and Grandpa.

And I had a great time with Fat Mum Slim's Photo-a-Day Challenge for March!

Here's the recap:

| Up || Fruit | Your Neighborhood | Bedside | A Smile | 5 PM | Something You Wore || Window | Red | Loud | Someone You Talked to Today | Fork | A Sign || Clouds | Car | Sunglasses | Green | A Corner of Your Home | Funny || Before/After | Delicious | Kitchen Sink | Moon | An Animal | Breakfast || Key | Your Name | Trash | Feet | Toy | Where You Relax |

Thank you for stopping by!I'm linking up to:

Easter Tulle Wreath and Easter Canvas

Yesterday I told you I had one more Easter craft to share with you, but really I have two.  :)

The other day when I went to print a Michael's coupon from their website, I found a tulle wreath tutorial and thought it was so cute and looked easy (I just can't pass up a cute, easy craft!)  I followed their directions but I cut the tulle to 22" instead of 30".  And I added the little egg ornaments (found at Michael's for 40% off) that I hung with some hemp yarn that I had.  The letters are just stickers that I stuck on the eggs!

I was planning on only making the Easter wreath but I got carried away when I saw this gorgeous canvas art on Pinterest.  It sells at an awesome online store for over $300.  Really.  I love, love, love the idea of the white, raised letters on a white canvas.

So this is what I made.  A simple, understated piece of Easter canvas art.

My canvas version only cost $11!  I already had the spray paint and the other items were on sale plus I used a coupon.

It was simply a matter of gluing the wood letters to the canvas and spray painting the whole thing white.

It's been a fun, craft-filled day!  Thanks so much for stopping by!
I'm linking up to these blog parties:

{The Jellybean Prayer} Banner

Have you heard of the Jellybean Prayer?  It's an adorable way to share the message of Easter with children using something that they love - jellybeans!


Red is for the blood He gave,Green is for the grass He made.Yellow is for the sun so bright,Orange is for the edge of night.Black is for the sins we made,White is for the grace He gave.Purple is for His hour of sorrow,Pink is for our new tomorrow.A handful of jellybeans colorful and sweet,Is a prayer, is a promise, is a special treat.May the joy of Christ's resurrectionfill your heart and bless your life.
I came across the prayer on Pinterest and decided to make a simple Easter banner using the words from the poem.

I used this tutorial for fan-folded flowers and made one for each color that the prayer mentions.

I printed the words in Photoshop Elements, cut them out, and inked the edges with some stamping ink.


I glued the word circles to the flowers, and then it was simply a matter of stringing the flowers onto some twine and adding jellybeans to the ends, like this:

I was able to thread the twine through the jellybeans using a large needle.  Super easy - just a little bit sticky!

Now we have a colorful reminder of the wonderful message of Easter!

If you'd like to use my photoshop elements template for the word circles, you can download that document
here.

I have one last Easter craft that I'll be sharing here tomorrow, so until then, have a wonderful day, and thank you for stopping by!

I'm linking up to: