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lucky st. patrick’s day printable

Happy {almost} St. Patrick’s Day everyone! 
Just popping in really quickly to share a simple little LUCKY printable with you today.
Download your favourite colour, print and throw it in an 8X10 inch frame and you have yourself something to add to the mantle or hang on your wall for St. Patrick’s Day!
See download links below. Please remember that all free downloads are for Simple as That followers only. Follow via Google Friend Connect on the left sidebar or sign up to receive updates via email or through your favourite RSS reader. Thank you. 🙂
I’m feeling extra lucky {read: blessed} this St. Patrick’s Day since I’ll be picking up the hubby at the airport Saturday afternoon and I can’t even tell you how excited I am to finally have him home!
I truly am the luckiest to have this man in my life. 
Have a great weekend everyone! 
We’ll see you back here on for Simple things Sunday.
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 Click HERE to view more St. Patrick’s Day printables, crafts + ideas from Simple as That.
🙂

PS. Check out this incredible giveaway going on over at Lilian Grace.

little penelope lane giveaway winner

Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to enter the 
Little Penelope Lane giveaway!
According to random.org the winner is….
comment no. 69 from Aracely
Congratulations! 
Shoot me an email to claim your gift certificate and happy shopping!
Thanks for such a fabulous giveaway Sarah! 
Be sure to stop by the Little Penelope Lane shop often for new products and stay in touch via Facebook and the blog for current specials!
🙂

embrace the camera

The other day I was standing next to Emily and she commented on how she was almost as tall as me! I looked at her like she was crazy before I realized it was true….she really was!
 In the blink of an eye nine years have come and gone and my little girl isn’t quite so little anymore.
Time goes so quickly and as a mother I often find myself wondering if I am doing enough for each one of my children during this short time I have them home with me, to help them become strong, kind and happy adults.
It can feel overwhelming at times to think of all the things I want to teach them before these impressionable years are over, but if there is one thing I hope each of my girls will come to know for certain, it is this… 
I am His daughter | Nicole Sheahan

I’m linking up here:

seven cherubs: pockets of happiness giveaway

This weeks giveaway is hosted by another one of Simple as That’s fabulous sponsors:
{Seven Cherubs}
Naomi Ellis, author of this delightful and uplifting blog, tells a little bit about herself and what she likes to write about at Seven Cherubs:


I am a mother to seven gorgeous cherubs who lives in Australia. I have 4 girls and 3 boys, with 1 set of twin boys just to make life fun! I blog about motherhood, happiness and the crazy happenings in our home. I love to write and I started my blog to inspire other women and especially mother’s to believe in themselves and to give them tips and ideas of how to find happiness in their personal and family life. I am passionate about motherhood and am a seeker of happiness. I love to connect with other women on this incredible journey and hope you will drop by to say Hi!


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Today Naomi is giving away 10 copies of her latest eBook titled Pockets of Happiness. Read on to find out more about this wonderful book and to find out how you can win your very own copy!

Pockets of Happiness: Creating Meaningful Moments In Your Life. 

This ebook is an insight into how I have come to find more happiness in my life. I wrote this ebook to help those of you who struggle with finding time for you during your day. I get asked all the time how I manage to fit time in for myself with seven children, so I have shared a few of my secrets.

One of the reasons I started my blog was to help women and especially Mum’s at home feel a little happier during their day. I know that it can be hard to find time for yourself when you are super busy chasing after the kids, keeping up with housework and running a household. I also know that as women we often put ourselves last on the priority list.

In this ebook I have shared how I find pockets of time just for me to make my day a little happier and also help my family to feel happier. It is text heavy and practical in focus. It has pages for you to fill in and ideas to help get your started on finding your own happiness.

It is not a long ebook – there are 28 pages, as I wanted to keep it short so that it can be printed and kept in a prominent place for you to refer to it often. Below is the contents page for you to have a look at:

How to Enter:
1. Follow the Seven Cherubs blog. 
{leave a comment on this post telling me  you did}

2. Follow the Seven Cherubs on Facebook.
{leave a comment on this post telling me  you did}

3. Follow Simple as That via Google Friend Connect on the left sidebar or sign up to 
4. Share a link to this giveaway via Twitter or Facebook. 
{leave a comment on this post telling me  you did}

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Good luck everyone!
Giveaway closes Wednesday March 21st, 2012 at 8pm MST.
The TEN WINNERS will be announced next week!

simple things roundup + weekly photo tip

Thank you to everyone who has linked up with {the simple things} so far this week! 
Here’s just a handful of your beautiful photos that caught my eye…
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If you’ve had a photo featured on the blog or on my facebook page this week 
be sure to grab a featured button below! 🙂
 

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weekly photo tip | black and white actions


I’ve had a couple of recent questions lately about what BW photoshop actions I like to use, so I thought it would be fun to do a comparison of a variety of different BW actions for you today.

Below you’ll find a selection of BW actions listed {some free, some not} that are available for PS/PSE as well as one edit using the new PicMonkey for those of you who don’t use an editing program.  As you can see, there is a wide range of options available when it comes to BW editing.

I tend to gravitate towards a bright, crisp BW and my current favourite action to use is from MiaBella Boutique {the Lilly Set} but there are so many actions available out there! Which of the ones pictured below is your favourite?

actions by brenda | bw2
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I hope you’re all having a great week so far!

Don’t forget to get your name in the draw for a $40.00 gift certificate to
Little Penelope Lane!!
The giveaway closes soon and you don’t want to miss out on the chanced to win some of these gorgeous hair accessories!

🙂

Ice Fishing: January 2012

Back in January the kids and I went on a little ice fishing trip with my family. It was such a fun day and I’ve been meaning to get these pictures blogged for the longest time! 
Get ready for photo overload…
Our ice fishing adventure took place at Pine Coulee reservoir just North of where I grew up in Alberta, Canada. My brother Chris is the fishing expert in the family and invited us all out for the day.

He had all the fishing equipment and all we had to do was show up to enjoy the day. Thanks again Chris, you’re the best! The day started off a little cool, the wind was blowing, but we all huddled up in the fishing shelter to stay warm. Keeping busy toddlers from getting their feet wet in the holes in the ice kept us busy.

Early on in the day we caught the one and only fish we saw. Wouldn’t you know, as soon as the kids and I left the fish really started to bite! 😉

This is one of my favourite shots from the day. My brother Chris and their little two year old son Jaxson. 
The kids all got to try fishing, there was sledding and plenty of warm hotdogs to eat for lunch.
Emily loved clearing the fishing holes and trying to catch a fish.

Little miss {who isn’t such a fan of the snow + cold if you remember} did much better than I thought she would. She had fun being pulled on the sled and stayed pretty close to mom most of the day.
When the day started out I thought we were going to freeze but we managed to stay pretty warm between the fishing shelter and multiple cups of hot chocolate. The wind eventually died down and it turned out to be a beautiful day! Once little miss had had enough we decided to pack it up and head home.
We seriously had so much fun! My kids were in heaven in the snow and I didn’t freeze….very much. 😉 I had so many layers on and hand/feet warmers in my mittens and boots so I was actually pretty toasty. Yay for ice fishing adventures, yay for playing in the snow and yay for time spent with family! 

the simple things

this weeks simple thing:
the sunshine! it was such a nice day here yesterday and it felt so good to spend some time outside in the sun. we did a little saturday park hopping and it was exactly what we needed after being cooped up indoors with the sickies for the past couple of weeks. yay for sunshine and yay for sweet little two year old smiles!
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Welcome to{simple things sunday}this week everyone!
This party is all about celebrating the simple moments and simple joys that make you smile each week. So grab that camera, snap a photo or two and come share with us each Sunday!
Just a few quick rules to play:
please, please, please read the rules carefully
1. Grab a button and include it in your simple things post.
2. Link back directly to your simple things post not your blog/website.
No links to other linky parties, giveaways or craft projects pretty please. 
This linky is all about the photos.

3. Be sure to pop by and visit at least 3 other links and leave a comment.

Leave as many as you can. 🙂

 
I can’t wait to see your photos this week! I’ll be sharing some of my favs on the blog + Facebook throughout the week so stay tuned! If you’re featured be sure to grab yourself a featured button!

Also, please remember to stop by as many of the other links as you can each week and leave lots of comments! Comments are the funnest. Everybody likes ’em, so be as generous as you can with the comment love. Thanks a bunch!

🙂

Little Penelope Lane Giveaway!

I’m so excited to share today’s giveaway with you! It’s brought to you by Little Penelope Lane, one of Simple as That’s fabulous sponsors.

Little Penelope Lane specializes in unique hair accessories for the young + the young at heart.
Sarah Hull is the creative talent behind Little Penelope Lane and the story behind how her darling shop came to be is such an inspiring one. {Read Sarah’s story here.}

We recently had the opportunity to try out some of Penelope Lane’s cute hair accessories for ourselves and to say we’re hooked would be an understatement! 
My oldest daughter {age 9} is a big fan of Sarah’s hair wraps.  Of course she loves them because they’re pretty and she also loves them because she can put them in her hair all by herself and she’s all about doing her own hair these days. She also loves them because they’re so soft. I could never get her to keep a traditional headband in because she was always complaining that they dug into her head, but no worries there with the hair wraps. They’re easy to put in, they’re comfortable and they stay in place! Love these things!
My little girls favourite accessories from Little Penelope Lane are the cute felt clips. That little owl and kitty pictured above…we may or may not have fights over who gets to wear which one every other day. 😉 They’re just way too cute! Sarah has a wide variety of different clips available, including some with beautiful crocheted flowers.
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There’s a little something for everyone at Little Penelope Lane and lucky you because today Sarah is giving away a $40.00 gift certificate to her shop!!

How to Enter:
Stop by the Little Penelope Lane Shop, have a quick peek around,
then come back here and tell us one item that caught your eye.
Bonus Entries:

{leave a comment on this post telling me  you did}

{leave a comment on this post telling me  you did}

3. Follow Simple as That via Google Friend Connect on the left sidebar or sign up to 
4. Share a link to this giveaway via Twitter or Facebook. 
{leave a comment on this post telling me  you did}

5. Pin this giveaway on Pinterest.
{leave a comment on this post telling me you did}

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Good luck everyone!
Giveaway closes Wednesday March 14th at 8pm MST.
For all of you Southern California locals, Sarah is hosting a Spring Boutique this weekend with all kinds of FABulous vendors. Definitely worth checking out if you’re in the area!

Sat. March 10th
doors open at 9:00 and close at 3:00
free admission, free parking
wheelchair and stroller accessible 
located on Katella ave.
(near the Los Alamitos Race Track, Costco, 24 hour fitness, etc.)

Visit the Penelope Lane Boutique Blog for all the info!

🙂

simple things roundup + weekly photo tip

Have I told you lately how much I love going through all of your simple things photos each week! Well I sure do and I missed featuring some of your gorgeous photos while I was away. But this only means I have double the photos to feature today! Yippee!

Here are just a few photos that caught my eye over the past two weeks…

red berries | ansku

a dance for spring | veronica
the little moments | chic homeschool mama
love will save the day | mary

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If you’ve had a photo featured on the blog or on my facebook page this week 
be sure to grab a featured button below! 🙂
 

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This weeks photo tip:

I recently did  a guest post over at Rock the Shot and shared some of my thoughts on everyday photography. I’d love for you to pop over and have a quick read if you have a chance. Leave a comment at Rock the Shot or on this post and let me know what you think. I’d love to hear your thoughts on capturing YOUR everyday. 🙂

{Photographing Your Everyday}



Here’s to a super great week! 
I’ve got a few fun things to share, including a fabulous giveaway from Little Penelope Lane on Wednesday! See you back here soon!

🙂




Please welcome Simple as That’s newest sponsor
Camera Coats

These genius little coats for your camera are created by Emily Ashby and are available in a wide range of beautiful styles and fabrics. Camera Coats allow you to carry your big camera around without having to carry another bag with you and we all know what a fabulous idea that is with all the stuff us moms have to haul around with us everyday!

Check out all of Emily’s lovely camera coat designs and if you feel like doing a little shopping be sure to take advantage of this exclusive offer for all Simple as That readers valid until March 17th. 
Receive 25% off your next Camera Coat order with coupon code Simple25


blog | shop | facebook

night and day studios brand new apps

You may remember me blogging before about a fun little company called 
I first discovered them and their darling apps when I downloaded Peekaboo barn for my then toddler and Night and Day Studios quickly became one of my favourite go to resources for quality iPod + iPad apps for my kids! 

Night and Day Studios recently came out with a few more fun apps and when asked if we’d like to try them out of course I said, yes please! We were able to test drive Big Nate: Comix by U and My A-Z, two very different but super fun apps. One perfect for my older two children {ages 7 and 9} and one just right for my youngest two {ages 2 and 4}.

My A-Z is such a fun fun little alphabet app. It has adorable graphics, but the funnest thing about this app is the ability to personalize it to your child. You can add your own photos {B for butterfly, G for Grandma} and even record your own sounds for each letter. I think this makes the app really unique and my four year old thought it was SO cool. Read more about this app and all the fun things it can do HERE.
Big Nate: Comix by U was an app that my oldest daughter {9 years old} especially enjoyed. What’s not to love about creating your own comic strips and sharing them with your friends and family! The possibilities are endless with this app. You can fill in the blanks with predesigned comic strips or get creative and start from scratch. I loved the silly little stories my daughter came up with and then emailed to me. 🙂
 my a-z   big nate
So, those are my thoughts on Night and Day Studios latest apps. I’m a long time fan of this fab little company! The apps we’ve purchased from them in the past are still some of my kids most favourite and these brand new apps didn’t disappoint!
Join Night and Day Studios on Facebook for news about their latest apps and special promotions!
🙂

disclosure: I tried out these two apps from Night and Day Studios for free. 
All opinions expressed in this post are my own.

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