PaperDoll Designs: August 2008

Friday, August 29, 2008

Lucy's Chocolate Cake...The Recipe

I know you've been missing my Bundt Cake pictures!

We had such a fun night! We went over to some friend's house for a little pre-Labor Day cookout. The kids all entertained each other and we actually got to sit around the table and have a real adult conversation. How often does that happen??? By request, I took Lucy's Chocolate Cake. And by request, here is the recipe:

1 package Devil's Food Cake

1 large box instant chocolate pudding
1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup warm water

4 eggs
12 oz. package semi sweet chocolate chips

Mix well and bake at 350 for one hour in a bundt pan (MY FAVORITE!!) Let it sit for about 15 minutes and pour a little milk all over the top of the cake. I thought this sounded crazy and I actually made Lucy come over and pour the milk on the first time I baked this cake. Let cool a little and flip and pour milk on the top of the cake. Sprinkle with powdered sugar...YUM!!!

This cake is rich but I LOVE it! I'm usually not a fan of cold cake but I actually think this one tastes even better cold.

The Lovely Assistant has been lovely this week so for the first time in a long time I'm almost caught up with orders. It's a good thing because next week is going to be CRAZY! Birthdays, LOTS of school stuff and of course, The Open House. I'm super excited - I've lost count of how many people have said they are coming so I think it will be so much fun.

I'm calling it an early night but here are a few pictures for you!

A Bride requested these chapsticks for her Bridal Party. She wanted black, ivory and a "hint" of Tiffany Blue. I heart a "hint" of Tiffany Blue! These made me so happy!!!

Sabrena Stripe with Flowers Lunchbox and Sippy Cup

Pink Elephants for Ivy Note Cards

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

PaperDoll Picture Catch Up

A customer asked me to do this Super Hero Design and as soon as Charlie saw it on my computer screen he shouted "Super Charlie!" I figured if a 2 year old new it was a Super Hero Symbol than I was good. Colors can be changed - susie's hand font

Froggy Note Pad, Bag Tag & Note Cards - Tinker Toy font

Hepburn Blue Note Pad - French Script font

Vintage Baby Pink Note Cards - Sweetheart Script font

Sports Note Cards - Tempus Sans Font

Little Bo Peep Pen - Kayleigh Font

Tattoo Baby & Princess Sippy Cups

Sabrena Stripe with Guitar Lunchbox

American Camo - Chalk Font & Flower Power Patriotic - Curlz Font

Maddie's Dots Bag Tag - Kayleigh font

Chocolate Party Pink Bag Tag - Marker Fine Point

Black Camo Mini - Footlight font & NEW Design - Chalk font

PaperDoll Paisley Turquoise & Brown Invitation
Flower Power Lunchbox - Curly Cue font
Big Dotty Pink Mini Candy Bars - Marker Fine Point
Sports, Primary Bubbles & Guitar Stripe Minis

Pink Elephant Pen - Sweetheart Script

Butterfly & Vintage Baby - Kayleigh font

Pink Blossom Note Card - Little Days font

Macy Bag Tag - PupCat font

Hepburn Green Plate - curly cue font

Red Chandelier Tray - Sweetheart script

Circus Purple & Hippe Chic Pink Green Sippies - Curls & Sweetheart

American Camo Sippy & Mini - Leftovers font

Flower Power Note Pad - Sweetheart font

Monkey Note Pad - Sweetheart Font

Hippie Chic Note Cards & Pencil Cup

Hepburn Blue Mini Glossy Invitation ONLY $1 EACH

Dot Dot Darcy Pink & Chocolate Coaster

PaperDoll Paisley Mini Candy Bars

Pink Apple Pens - Sweetheart font

Little Princess Lunchbox

Rugby Lunchboxes
Camo Lunchbox (made to match Gap bag) - Impervious font

Photo Note Pad - Susie's hand

Rugby Flat NoteCards - Beckles Wide font

Hepburn Tan flat note card - French Script

****I apologize if I post the same designs over and over....sometimes I am too lazy to look and see if they have been shown before.

The First Day of Preschool for Sweet Charlie...

Charlie showing off the pink mural he drew on his face.

I was all geared up and ready to send Charlie off to his first day of school. He's my baby so I shed some tears just thinking about it but I was ready. His Big Brother and Big Sister had already spent a year in preschool by the time they were his age but for some reason I just couldn't send this little guy off last year. But Monday I was ready. I knew he would have fun and I had a ton of work to do. I made my list of things that I had to get done while he was gone and I stayed up later than usual Sunday night packing his bags and making his new sippy cups and bag tags and labeling every diaper. We dressed him in his new "school clothes" on Monday morning and got my camera charged up. About 30 minutes before we needed to leave the house we had a diaper explosion. A SERIOUS diaper explosion. We got that taken care of and just as I was tossing said explosion in the OUTSIDE trash can there was another. Five minutes later...another. So we missed the first day of preschool. He was perfectly fine for the rest of the day but it would not have been a great way for Charlie to introduce himself. All day he kept asking "Charlie go to school??" I must admit, I was kind of happy to keep him home with me for just one more Monday. He's my baby!

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Dear Mom,

The best way to get me to respond to those "Getting to Know You" emails is to say that I am the least likely to respond. So you win...here you go!

1. What is your occupation right now? Diaper Changer, House Cleaner, Nose Wiper, Referee, Homeroom Mother, Chauffeur, Stationery Maker, and much more...
2. What color are your socks right now? I don't think I even own a pair of socks!
3. What are you listening to right now? Third Day
4. What was the last thing that you ate? Mexican Food
5. Can you drive a stick shift? no way!
6. Last person you spoke to on the phone? my friend Lucy
7. Do you like the person who sent this to you? I love the person who sent this to me
8. How old are you today? 34
9. What is your favorite sport to watch on TV? Olympic gymnastics...does that count?
10. What is your favorite drink? Diet Dr. Pepper...that could also be my answer to "what is your favorite meal?"
11. Have you ever dyed your hair? yes
12. Favorite food? Ben & Jerry's ice cream
13. What is the last movie you watched? Definitely, Maybe (so cute!)
14. Favorite day of the year? Christmas
15. How do you vent anger? I never get angry...ha ha ha
16. What was your favorite toy as a child? my dollhouse
17. What is your favorite season? Spring
18. Cherries or Blueberries? blueberries
19. Do you want your friends to e-mail you back? They should all consider themselves tagged and blog about it now that everyone has a blog...Everyone is doing it!
20. Who is the most likely to respond? this question doesn't really apply when your blogging it
21. Who is least likely to respond? doesn't really apply either
22. Living arrangements? In "This Old House" with my husband, my three little darlings and our dog.
23. When was the last time you cried? Today when I was talking about Charlie's first day of school that is coming up on Monday :(
24. What is on the floor of your closet? shoes and purses
25. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending to? I bet Kara is reading this.
26. What did you do last night? Worked, worked, worked
27. What are you most afraid of? Anything happening to my babies
28. Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers? plain if it's fast food...I don't eat fast food cheese. I'm afraid of it.
29. Favorite dog breed? I think Pugs are adorable but we have a Schnauzer because they are allergy friendly and my family is a big sneeze waiting to happen.
30. Favorite day of the week? Saturday
31. How many states have you lived in? 1...that is so sad.
32. Diamonds or pearls? diamonds!!!
33. What is your favorite flower? Gerber Daisies
34. What are your favorite colors? Pink and Martha Stewart blue
35. Ice cream or cheesecake? cheesecake!!! YUM! White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle from the Cheesecake Factory!!!

So there you have it...35 things about me. I LOVE reading these things BTW, but I'm just bad about responding.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Save the Date!

It's been years since I've had an open house and I think it's time to suck it up, clean my house and have a little party! My friend, Erika from B's Purses (http://bspurses.com/ereeves) and my friend, Betsy from P.S. Designs (domino necklaces, cross tshirts, Christmas/school ornaments) will be joining me. Let's celebrate Back to School and get a head start on our Christmas shopping!! I feel a little funny about posting all the details on my blog SO if you are in the Tulsa area and are interested in a little shoppin' on September 4th just send an email to paperdolldesigns@cox.net and I'll send you the official invite!

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Pink Elephants for Ivy

This is my sweet little friend, Ivy.

She was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes earlier this year. Her parents are dear friends of ours and we have been amazed at how brave and positive they have been as they have dealt with Ivy's diabetes and learned more about the disease. We love Ivy and we would love to be able to help in finding a cure for her and others like her. Ivy is my little friend that loves PINK ELEPHANTS so we have decided to create a PINK ELEPHANTS FOR IVY line at PaperDoll Designs. Between NOW and September 27th (the day of the JDRF Walk for the Cure) I will donate all profits from the PINK ELEPHANTS FOR IVY line to JDRF. Just choose to have the PINK ELEPHANT put on any of the PaperDoll Designs items and know that you are helping find a cure for IVY! If you look VERY CLOSELY you will see "Ivy" is written on the tip of the elephant's tail. It's so tiny you might not see it...but I know it's there and I'm going to tell her it's there and I think it will make her happy.

Here's a letter that we received from her family recently. My family hopes to be a part of Ivy's team. Come join us!

Dear Family, Friends, Co-workers, and Colleagues:

Lucy and I are sending this email on behalf of precious little Ivy, our 3 1/2 year old daughter with boundless energy and a joy for life. On Feb. 26th of this year she was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. Since that day we have learned a lot about the disease and the importance of finding a cure. Unless a cure is discovered, Ivy will be insulin dependent for the rest of her life. Since her diagnosis, she has endured at least 6 to 8 finger pricks a day and at least 4 insulin shots a day. In addition to her blood testing and insulin injections, we must track every carbohydrate she eats. In spite of all this, she has maintained an amazing attitude and been a real trooper in dealing with her condition.

As you can imagine, this has dramatically changed our lives. As parents, we feel the need to protect our children from the day they are born. We want to do everything we can to help find a cure for her. One day we would like for Ivy to know what it's like to NOT have to live with diabetes. It is our hope and prayer to avoid heart and kidney disease, blindness, amputation, and a shorter life span that is a reality for many people with diabetes.

However, please understand we are not asking for pity. We are blessed to have wonderful doctors, access to amazing medical technology, insurance, and a little girl with a strong will. In our attempt to encourage and support Ivy we have formed a team, IVY'S PINK ELEPHANTS (I don't know why but Ivy LOVES pink elephants), for the upcoming JDRF event in order to accomplish two things:
1) Raise money to support the research required to find a cure.
2) Provide Ivy with support and let her know that she is not alone in her fight against diabetes.

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JRDF) is the #1 non-profit funder of diabetes research in the world. One of JDRF's largest fundraising events is the "Walk to Cure Diabetes". To achieve our goals, our team is walking in the upcoming 12th Annual JDRF Walk for the Cure taking place Sept. 27 (Sat) at the OU-Tulsa Schusterman Center.

If you are interested, there are three ways you can help us make a difference for Ivy:
You can join our Family team named Ivy's Pink Elephants, which consists of family and friends who collect pledges and walk with us.
Send your donation and contact others in your circle of friends, family, coworkers, etc. to donate as well. You can contact me for a pledge form.
You can send our family a tax-deductible contribution in any amount made out to JDRF or go to www.walk.jdrf.org, look for "donate to a walker", type in the required information, select Oklahoma, click "find a walker", and then donate. It's seems pretty easy but let me know if you have any problems donating online.
Even if you're unable to donate, please come join us for the walk. Your presence would mean a great deal to our family.

Please keep Ivy in your prayers, as well as others you know who may have diabetes.

Thank you for your support and we hope to see you at 41st & Yale on Sept. 27th.

The Wilsons
Layne, Lucy, Jonathan, and Ivy

I'm looking forward to making LOTS of Pink Elephants!!!

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Slowly catching up...

I LOVE PaperDoll Designs! I really do. It makes me so happy to be able to create cute stuff everyday and I have been so blessed over the past 5 years with so many wonderful customers, many of whom are now friends. I've also been blessed with an amazing husband who never complains that I am a bit of a PaperDoll-aholic, amazing kids who actually beg to "help" me work and amazing friends who let me ramble on about personalized pens and which new product should come next and whether or not this new design is cuter than this new design. When I first started doing this I would get a few orders a week and I laugh now about how it stressed me out when I thought I was SO busy! Now I'm constantly struggling to catch up and my new orders file is never empty and I know that God really has blessed this business. I should never complain about being busy. It's a blessing....really it is. So, I'm trying to cheerfully drown in PaperDoll orders and I'm praying that I will soon be caught up. Thank you so much for being patient and don't let this scare you from sending in your orders. I still smile every time I get one.