31 January 2011

The Push for Pita- The Plan :)


Eeek! I am so excited about this month!!
Like I mentioned before, I have dubbed this month "The Push For Pita" month :)
We have exactly 28 days to reach our fundraising goal of $5,000 for our adoption application fee.
You can read all about our passion and dreams of adoption in this post.
On March 1, we plan to turn in our application, get into the system, and do everything else that we need to do to have our baby.

I have decided to borrow the motto, "Ain't too Proud to Beg," from my girls in TLC :)
I have learned that specific prayer and humbling myself to ask for help when we need it most, is the best way to accomplish our goal.
Bottom line:  we need help :)
This is a very expensive process but our desire for a child overrides any financial fears that I may have.
God can work miracles, I see it everyday.
I know that together, we can raise the rest of the money by March 1.

There are many amazing, talented, lovely friends who have come together to help us!!
Starting tomorrow, February 1, I will be listing donated items in my Etsy shop from these wonderful ladies :


* Elise, * Debbie, * Christen, * Lehua, * Amber, * Suzanne, * Holly, * Kaelah, * Kyla, * Amy,
 * Amanda, * Sherry

These women have generously donated the proceeds from all of these items, right to "The Push for Pita" fund!!! Amazing :)  So, get ready to shop friends!!
I will continually be adding more items to my shop throughout the month so keep checking back.

**If you are interested in donating any items to "The Push for Pita" sale in my shop, please email me ASAP!! I would just love it so much: janel(dot)maclean(at)gmail(dot)com

Here are other ways that you can help!

* prayers, prayers, and more prayers :)

*  Blog about "The Push For Pita" fundraiser, Facebook it, tweet it, email it, anything!!

*  Make a donation by clicking on the paypal "Donate" button below.





I have also added a "Donate" button on my sidebar!!

*  Join us in "The Push for Pita" online art journal class.

* Send in your baby bottles from "Pennies for Pita"

Another fun thing that added to the blog was a cute little "Tracker" on the sidebar!!  I will be updating this tracker daily so that you can all watch and celebrate with us as that little red line grows to the top as we reach our goal!!!  You can already see all of the generosity that we have received so far from online friends and family :)

I love you all!
and she will love you all too.
xo
janel

The Push For Pita- The Class

I wasn't planning on doing another journal class so soon but with the encouragement of my friends and classmates from my last class...
I am "officially" announcing my next online journal class which totally goes along with my theme for the entire month of February :)


This will be my last journal class for awhile as we begin to focus on the hours and hours of paperwork, homestudies, meetings, traveling and such that comes along with an international adoption.

Adam and I have exactly 29 days to raise the rest of our $5,000 to turn in our application fee for our adoption.By purchasing a spot in this class, you will not only be creatively challenging yourself, you will also be changing the lives of all three of us :)


So, here is the deal:  

Join us for a 28 Day journal challenge jam packed with creative prompts, techniques, giveaways, chats, and of course an amazing community of online friends :)

This class will start February 1 and continue on until the 28th.

 There will be a new prompt/challenge each day.  I'm so excited!!

Once you purchase your class spot, the class login information will be emailed to you within 72 hours. 
This class will be hosted on a private blog.

Would you like a peek into some of my past journals??  Click here!


Here are some sweet testimonials you can read from past classmates :)

"I look forward to each prompt like Christmas morning!"
I love you Janel !!
xoxox cuppy

"I was eager to check the class page each morning, wondering what today's prompt would bring.  They all made me think throughout the day.  I loved coming home and getting all those thoughts onto paper. Thanks Janel."

"This was a great class, and I'm so glad I decided to take it.  And I love knowing that I got to do something I enjoy and got to help bring Pita home at the same time."



"The best way to get to know your inner artist, I have learned so much about myself in this class!"

 "Ive never done an online class before but after taking yours, I will do more in the future.  I loved it! No pressure to get it done by a certain time, that it'll be judged etc - just a class to express yourself and challenge your creativity."

"This was a great experience and I loved how interactive it was with both classmates and students. The journal topics were fresh and insightful (along with inspirational) I feel like I learned a lot and I can't wait for you to do another similar class Janel!!!"

 "janel is an art teacher by profession with an artistic soul and heart. she is encouraging and inspiring without being critical. taking one of her classes is an affordable way to do something positive for someone else and yourself. there is no wrong way to express your art. simply by beginning you may start to think or see things in a new way, and or push yourself further artistically. meeting and interacting with new friends you many never have known before the class is also a fun bonus"

 "I found it very therapeutic to journal each day, it challenged my creativity and it was nice being able to share and look at what other students had done through the flickr group. My classmates were so encouraging and the prompts were relevant and helpful to personal growth. Thank-you! xo"

"I really enjoyed Janel's Journal Class. Not only was this a fun class for me and for others, but it was for a good cause. I am happy I was able to play a small part into getting Pita home to Janel and Adam. I got a little behind in the class, but I feel as if the class is just extended for me :) I made new friends in the chats and got to reconnect with old ones."   -Lindsay




I really hope that you will join us in "The Push for Pita"
Another way to help is just by spreading the word!!




The Push For Pita

Again, I love these classes and I cherish all of the friendships that I have made through them.
Will I see you there?
I hope so.


I will only be taking a limited number of classmates for this class so grab your spot HERE before they are gone!!

xo
janel

30 January 2011

Great News!!!

Due to some amazing, encouraging, classmates, I am hosting another journal class!!!
Next month is the last month before we start our adoption paper work, and with that is the $5,000 application fee.
To help raise money, and to continue on with the inspiration you all give me, I have decided to start a NEW journal class immediately.


This class will be dedicated to my soon to be little girl :)
The cost for this class will be $25
and will include one of the "I helped my friend adopt a baby" prints.

The class starts February 1, so grab your spot!!
You can read all of the details about the class in my shop!
There are limited spots available so hurry :)
I really really really hope to see you all there!!

 xo
janel

29 January 2011

Saturday Night News

Well hello there :)


1.  First and foremost, I have officially dubbed February, "Push for Pita" month.  This is the LAST month before we urn in our adoption application and we have a lot of fun things planned over here to help us raise the final $2500!  Be so very excited!! 
We had our first Adoption "meeting" today and it was soooo great!! 


2.  I have a two sponsor spots open still for February so if you are interested, go grab them soon :)

3.  My family went to the BEST antique mall today! Ohmygoodness :)  I am unable to spend money right now so my treasures are now going to be birthday presents from my parents  so I won't have photos of those until April 5.  I did however, score a few little treasures that I was able to bring home today.  One booth had loads of beautiful vintage doll dresses.  The best part about these dresses were that they were only 50 cents a piece after the sale!!!  I totally just new that these little dresses would be perfect for "Dream" (the little plush doll that I made for my future little).
Here are some photos of Dream modeling her knew duds :

Here she is before the new dresses...


and here is her new wardrobe :)







Aren't they amazing?!  The best part about it is that I don't have to make any tiny outfits for her now :) 

Well, that is it for tonight, I am super tired and I have still have to do my Bible Study homework for tonight before bed!!

Love you guys!!
xo
janel

27 January 2011

pinning!

So, I finally figured out what all this pintrest talk is about thanks to Jamie :)
Not only have I figured it out, I have been spending all kinds of time, pinning like crazy and making my own style boards :)
loving it!
Today I thought that I would share some of the inspiring photos from my "Baby inspiration" pin board :)

















Oh me gusta! I am in love!!  I love having tons of different little pinboards that I can create a print out and add to my files! love love love.  You can check out the image credits for all of these pics, and see the rest of my pin board right here at my pintrest!!  Thank you for stopping by :)

xo
janel

P.S.  While we are on the subject of baby, I wanted to thank all of you who have been snapping up the prints that I made to help with our adoption application fee!!  They are in the mail and looking even cuter after printed and matted!! Love them and love all of you for your generous support.
xo

25 January 2011

24 January 2011

a mili...




Hello Friends!
Here are five new things I wish I had " a mili" for :)
Enjoy!


1.  I am loving the entire "campfire collection" from this shop.


2.  The easiest way to learn how to make a quilt, is buy purchasing a quilt kit.  I am LOVING these vintage quilt kits from SparklePower so much.  I want them all :)



3. This mid-century chandelier for le nursery.



4.  I am also really loving this printer's drawer jewelry display A LOT.  I really need a better way to organize my jewelry.


5.   A million tubes of these lip balms!!  My sweet sweet Jamie-girl sent me a wonderful surprise this week that included the lavendar lip balm and lavendar soap from this shop! I love them both so much!

Ok, that is it for today! Have fun browsing and dreaming too :)
I hope that this Monday finds you full of peace and inspiration.
loves.

xo
janel

23 January 2011

the adoption :)

After my "38 more days" post, I couldn't stop thinking about all of the ways that my blog friends have helped us reach our goal.  I raised almost $3,000 with journal class sales alone!  Can you believe it? :)

It is crunch time and Adam and I still have $2,000 more to raise for our application fee. 
I decided to create something really sweet and simple (and lovely if I do say so myself) to sell to help us raise the rest of the money.  Plus it's something that you can hang in your home as a reminder of how you touched our lives and helped us build our family <3

 I painted these three sentiments on three different canvases. 
These are statements that will serve as a reminder to you of all of the amazing support and love you have shown my family through this process.

Here they are:



***


***


I am so in love with all of them!!
Anyway, I am going to be making 5x7 prints of each of these original paintings to sell in my shop to raise some more Pita money <3

These prints will be  printed on glossy, professional quality photo paper and will be shipped in safe and sturdy packaging.

It's a really simple, affordable way to help out.
To grab your print, CLICK HERE!!

I hope you all love these as much as I do :)

xo
janel

22 January 2011

winner!




I used random.org to choose the winner for my awesome Crafty Book giveaway :)
Here you go:



which lead me to...


Yay Tiffany!  Send me your address and I will be sending these crafty books your way :)
love it.
Thank you to everyone who entered.
xo
janel

21 January 2011

38 more days


You all have no idea how much I want to buy nursery things and baby toys, and little vintage dresses lately. It's crazy. We are living by a very strict budget and it seems that the more we save, the more I want to buy things for this little baby :)

Saving for this adoption has been so rewarding though, it's so great seeing her little account grow and grow. It's also so incredibly humbling to see all of the support and help and donations from all of our wonderful friends online. Seriously, ever single person who has ever bought a journal class spot from me, sent a donation, a baby bottle full of change, or purchased anything out of my Etsy shop...your name has gone into a little book that I am saving for Miss Pita. This is a list of all of her aunties and uncles all over the world who helped bring her home to us :)
Thank you seems like such a small sentiment compared to all of that love that you have shown our family :)

March is the month that we actually begin the process, we knew that with our budgeting and such,that would we have enough money to send in with our application :) You guys March is only 38 days away!! I am over the moon with excitement.

Yesterday, Adam and I were both off of work due to the weather. I was cleaning out my studio and doing some sewing and I could hear Adam in the other room watching "An Adoption Story" on television. It melted my heart. He's going to be the best dad ever.

Anyway, since I can't shop, I have been building the world's cutest WISHlist of baby stuff over at Amazon :)  Their universal wishlist is the world's greatest creation :)  If you want to check out my wishlist and tell me any must haves that I am missing, I would LOVE it :) Most of the things are decor related (of course) so I need help with the more practical things.
 Sometimes it's fun to just dream and wish.  You can check it out right HERE <3

Again, thank you, from the bottom of my heart,
i love you all so much.

xo
janel

20 January 2011

Fun!



I am finding myself feeling the cabin fever of this snow day :)
Adam and I created a "regional dialect video" that I saw over at Kaelah's blog (cutest video ever by her and Mike BTW)...and the sound apparently wasn't working..lame! We will have to re-shoot later.

But still, I was so bored after that.

I started playing around online and stumbled upon the website I used to use to make word searches with my student's spelling words. 
I thought it might be fun to create a little "Getting to know Janel and Her Blog" cross word puzzle!
Fun right?

You can print this right out, use the clues and search my blog for the answers... love it!
I would love it even more if when you were finished, you sent me your answers :)
In fact, the first 5 people who send me their completed cross-word puzzle will get a super rad surprise in the mail :)

Here we go:

And here are your clues :

Across

2. What animal did I talk about on January 15 this year?
3. Who is my husband?
9. What is my Monday feature called?
12. What catalog did I do my December Daily journal in?
13. What is the name of my current journal  class?
14. What are my most favorite things to sew?
15. what hairstyle did I rock on crazy hair day?
16. What do I teach?
Down

1. What is my favorite color?
4. What is my drink of choice?
5. my sweet dog's name
6. My favorite movie
7. What are we naming our first little girl?
8. What is the name of the doll that I just made?
10. What state do I live in?
11. What is my family's Saturday tradition?
12. What month is my birthday in?

Have fun!!! 
Love you love you love you
janel