Another Featured Designer Friday is here Sweet Shoppers, and this week we’re bringing you part two of Libby Pritchett’s spotlight featuring her super-fantabulous 4 in ’14 post! I have been loving the chance to get to know our designers a little better words and pictures and I hope you have been enjoying it too! Don’t forget between now and next Thursday, April 24th, you’ll get Libby’s playful featured designer kit, Clap Along, absolutely FREE when you spend $10 in the shoppe!
I always have the best of intentions when it comes to playing along with our “Project Love Me” selfie project here at Sweet Shoppe, but I’m horrible about actually putting myself in front of the camera. Still, I was surprised that when it came time to look for photos to post here, I was able to find a few that I really liked.
I usually straighten my hair and wear contacts for photos, so I had to include the first one to show you more of the “everyday” Libby with curly hair & glasses. The upper right was taken on a date night with my sweet husband Jeff back in December. The lower left is with my oldest daughter, Kendra Grace. See that she’s towering over me? That’s not an illusion. Lower right is my cute Chloe Bean. She’s 2 and full of energy!
Up until recently, we didn’t have cable, so the bulk of our tv-watching came from Netflix. Even now that we have basic cable again, we still love to get comfortable and binge-watch a good show. Here are a few of our favorites that we just couldn’t get enough of.
1. Breaking Bad – If you haven’t watched this, do it. Now. The subject-matter didn’t seem interesting to me at all, but we watched it based on a friend’s recommendation. It’s one of the best shows we’ve ever watched, and we found ourselves staying up WAY too late most nights. The writing is absolutely brilliant!
2. 24 – Jack Bauer. *swoon* I don’t even have words to tell you how excited I am for the return of this show in May!
3. The Walking Dead – Another that I never thought I’d watch because I do NOT do zombies or horror movies. I’ve got to admit though that after a friend made us watch the first episode, I was hooked. It really isn’t scary as much as it’s about the lives of the characters living in an apocalypse. Now that season 4 is finished, I don’t know how we are going to make it til October when it comes back!
4. Eureka – This is one you’ve probably never heard of. Again, I didn’t think I’d be interested in it as it’s labeled as a “sci-fi” show. I LOVE it though. There’s comedy, drama, action… it’s just a fun show! This is one I can actually see us watching again at some point.
I love to read and think the Kindle is one of the greatest inventions of all time! I love that I can have hundreds of books at my fingertips at any given time, and I never run out of things to read! Here are a few of my favorites that I’ve read recently.
1. Timebound by Rysa Walker – This was recently a selection in the Amazon First program for Prime members. This is the first book by this author, but she hit it out of the park. Admittedly, I love stories about time travel, so this one sounded interesting to me from the beginning. I actually loved it so much that I had a total “fan girl” moment when I wrote to the author via Facebook and she wrote back.
2. Sycamore Row by John Grisham – I have been a fan of John Grisham since I was in high school, so I was anxious to read his latest offering that is somewhat of a sequel to his very first book, A Time To Kill. It was great to get to revisit those old characters and hear more of their stories.
3. Bossypants by Tina Fey – I’m not one for comedies or “chick lit,” but I do love Tina Fey. I didn’t have very high expectations, but there were several laugh-out-loud moments in this book. I was definitely pleasantly surprised!
4. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn – This is being made into a movie to be released later this year, so I wanted to read the book first. It kept me intrigued from the beginning! Very well-written and exciting.
I think, as designers, we typically love most of the kits we create (or else we wouldn’t create them, right?), but some kits just stand out in my heart as a little more special. These are kits that make me smile when I look at them.
1. Oh, Happy Day – I’m proud of the fact that I’m a Christian, so it makes me especially happy when I’m able to celebrate my faith in a kit. I loved the colors in this kit and had so much fun drawing the flowers in Illustrator.
2. Hey Girl – It isn’t often that I do super over-the-top girly solo kits, but this time I just went nuts. These bright colors were SO fun to work with!
3. Who’s On First – It’s no secret that I love to design sports kits which is especially funny because I’m probably THE least-athletic person you’ll ever meet. I’m an excellent spectator though!
4. Weird Boy – This kit makes me smile because the idea for the kit came from a light-night silly discussion with Robin while we were in Vegas last year for the staff retreat. We stayed up til 5:30am our last night there, and Robin told a story about her son that, in hindsight, was probably not nearly as funny as we thought it was then. In the moment though, we laughed until we cried, and I told her right then that I was making a kit based on the story. Now when I see this kit, it reminds me of that night!
These may not seem like big indulgences to some people, but they are special treats for me!
1. Starbucks – Mmmmmmm how I love coffee. Hot, over ice, blended… I love it all. I rarely pay Starbucks prices for a drink, so when I do allow myself to get one, it’s like a little bit of Heaven.
2. Amazon – As I mentioned earlier, I love to read, but I don’t often buy books. Typically, I borrow from the library or borrow from friends. Every once in a while, when the budget allows, I like to go crazy and buy myself an Amazon gift card to keep on hand so that I can pick up some new books when the mood strikes.
3. Pinterest – I actually have to be careful about going to Pinterest because I can lose hours of my day here. When I’m working, I avoid it like the plague. Yes, I can find inspiration there, but it isn’t worth the cost! LOL So, when I’m finished with a kit or when I’m working on our weekly menu, I love to allow myself some time to just browse. I owe some of our favorite meals to Pinterest finds!
4. Napping – I do love sleep. In fact, when my oldest daughter was in kindergarten, she had to write a little story at school for mother’s day. One of the sentences was “My mom’s favorite thing to do is ___________.” She filled in the blank with “sleep”! That’s pretty accurate! As the mom of a very busy 2-year old, my napping days are few and VERY far between. But when I have time to rest for an hour or two, it completely makes my day!
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Don’t forget to check back in with us next Friday and every friday after that as we put the rest of our incredible designers into the spotlight. Each of them have such quirky personalities that I’m positive each week will bring new surprises and special treats that we can’t wait to share with you!
