Ixnay on showing new products today.  Had a couple hiccups in an order that I just mailed off. I'm centimeters away from needing an intern...and think I will soon be trolling the halls at the nearest high-school ....

While painting, cutting, gluing, wrapping etc. my spotted card stock envelopes over the weekend, I made a decision that I need to be more proficient in the business lingo dept. I started re-watching all the shark tank episodes and jotting down words and/or phrases that I didn't understand and have been looking them up.  I also decided to keep a "business" journal. This will help me see my progress while also becoming a better business owner. After finishing all the Shark Tank episodes... and not done with my order, I still needed something to keep me company. That's where Donny Deutsch came in.  I've seen him on tv before, but it didn't occur to me to watch his show.  With that said, i've been watching "The Big Idea" episodes one after the other. This guy is sooo amazingly positive and uplifting [something that I wish Shark Tank had more of] that it has now become a personal goal of mine to meet him in person!

Now, this guy: Ryan Allis...was one of my favorites on The Big Idea. His story is inspiring and very motivating. I think i've mentioned before on my blog that I have over $180,000 of school dept. and that's from only 4 years of college...anyways, not complaining... but hearing so many other people's stories and what inspired them to take a risk and go live their dreams is the best kind of mental medicine one can take.

Lastly, I plan on sharing my notes on here in a couple days. If you're in need of something motivating and inspiring.... WATCH The Big Idea! :)

Over the weekend I found these beauties in our backyard. I had to refrain from painting faces on them... I didn't want to take away from what was already inspiring.

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Made a bunch of new items over the weekend for my shop: A print [see below] more stationary and new patterns for my envelope clutch's...as well as a couple baby items.  I'm excited to share the textile items with you.... those will be posted tomorrow. 

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Have you been to the shop: Lana Pelana? 

I am in loooooove with all things this designer Marta Insa from Spain creates! I feel like she and I would be instant buddies. :) I can't stop looking at this cat necklace of hers...isn't it darling?

and her packaging is so sweet too! This is what makes ordering from independent designers so special... you almost don't want to open the package because it is awfully pretty. 

oh gosh... My friend Jenny  just shared this video on facebook..... 

How awesome and inspiring are these girls Lennon and Maisy!?! 

I received a lovely package from Vivi yesterday... with so many wonderful surprises. She recently graduated from school in London [I live vicariously through her] and she is such an amazing designer with an impeccable eye...I really do look up to her. Do visit Vivi's blog, she posts about so many interesting things that will always leave you inspired. :]

Vivi's focus in school was metalsmith...she made these oxidized sterling silver earrings... and I'm never taking them off! The perfect size and weight. A little edgey but because of their smallness, they exude the cutest delicacy. I would most definitely hit her up for a pair for yourself! 

Muji....we both love this shop...infact, I don't know anyone who doesn't love it. You know you have a good friend when he or she stocks up on your favorite pen for you. :] This would make the perfect stocking stuffer by the way....well for those who love pens.

and chocolate [from Switzerland] always makes one feel better....

little faces, people & animals around our home make me feel less lonely....

Egan, you're the winner of my bunting banner! I will contact you shortly for your address. :) 

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I posted new items in my Society 6 shop....

here's a little sample of what you can find there. 

I'm really digging the "eye" phone cover in particular...get it?

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I really appreciate all those who include one of my items in their treasury... 

this most recent one created by Fiddle Heads for Fiona,

I thought was really pretty and nice for fall. :)

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Lastly, aren't these fingerless gloves by extase soo lovely?

 I don't know what that little white "v" stitch is called, but I just love it so much.

I got a little giveaway for a new item that has just been added to my shop.

The Millie Faux Fabric Bunting Banner

Just leave a comment telling me your favorite scene in Thoroughly Modern Millie...if you haven't seen the movie, then tell my your gonna see the movie! lol :) Giveaway ends this Friday at 5pm and drawing will be done at random...as usual. Actually, I think I will have Harley draw it this time. 

p.s. my favorite scene is at the end when Carol Channing sings Jazz Baby and dances/plays multiple instruments, HER DRESS, HER JEWELS, and...her moves... *sigh* :] I want to be just like her when I grow up! 

My friend Egan was telling me the other night of her sister Jane's granola company that she started here in Utah! It's called Nova Granola [awesome name huh!] and I just ordered two bags, excited to get the stuff and try it out.

This however, is Jane's side job. Here day job is an elementary school teacher [so lucky!] which makes you want to buy her granola even more huh!? Jane blogs as well over at Nova Granola, and from the pictures on her blog, she seems to be a good cook too! I imagine it probably runs in the whole family. 

Just a few images of things she's whipped up.  I'm so hungry now!

and Jane not only shares recipes on her blog but also writes about food related things.

For example, this book [pictured below] which I had never heard of surprisingly till Jane's blog [I thought I knew all of Mara Kalman's books] is definitely going on my list!

and here is a little video of Mara talking about her experience illustrating Food Rules. :)

Ashley Rachelle, an interior designer here in Utah did a little interview with me. 

You can read it here. :]

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My new labels arrived a month or so ago...finally starting to use these puppies!

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Been adding more plush to thee ol shoppe folks.

 One can never have enough plush...er blush? Either one, their both good! 

Let me introduce to you: 

p.s. don't be surprised to find your Lilbow doing this:

 

Ghosts are a lot like opera: You either love it or you learn to love it. I've always loved ghosts from the beginning. They are such shy little things. I can't keep track of all the ghosts that I have run into over the years. Growing up, I would see 1 or 2 a year, if I was lucky. Now, they come in hoards! One of my good friends' Hue,  who doesn't like his photo taken that much [but I bribed him with candy and then he happily obliged] told all his friends about me and how much he likes being at our place. Also, Harley likes ghosts too, I think because they see so well due to their multiple eyes, and perhaps they help Harley around [?] his eyesight is getting worse... poor guy.  Anyways, they love Harley, watching movies with me [the Little Rascals in particular] and eating our food..i.e. candy. 

Recently I made a little film with some friends, that I am very excited to show, but just not yet. Well, Hue wanted so bad to be in the film but I told him "absolutely no ghosts! This a professional film Hue, I gotta look classy" well, that meant nothing to him, I felt so bad...so we wrote a little part for Hue. He cried so hard when we finally let up.  I have to admit, he did a one heck of a job, and made me look pretty high class! Folks, I'm stickin with this ghost! :-[)

how do you make a gif at gickr.com

I love finding a new favorite musician/band and I love sharing it with anyone interested. :) 

Francis and the Lights! Current song on repeat:  Knees To The Floor

image via: Swide

Just finished some late night paper cutting...

more items going up in the shop.... and now back to finishing my ghost costume.

You're totally thinking this costume is for Halloween. Well my friend, you'd be wrong this time! 

Will have some pictures [hopefully] to share on here tomorrow. :)

My kind of gift wrap! Found via J.H.=AMM/Pinterest

Thankyou to random.org for generating my Journey Ho, Cake book giveaway. That saved me about 10 min.  Rachael, you are the winner lady! Email me your address and i'll mail the book to you. :-[) It was fun finding out about the favorite cakes, and I want to make them all now and gobble myself into cake oblivion.

Here's an awesome cake video that is worth watching...it's of Julie's beet cake!

 Don't you just love the music, styling...everything?!!! I can't stop watching it.

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Roxy Marj ghost wrapping paper for the month of October, only appropriate. 

And I have a new set of cards to add to the shop today: they are paper mask themed. Again, only right to introduce them during the month of October...since it basically is the kickoff to covering one's face.

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Now, for a sad story that luckily has a happy ending.  [joking]

It has to do with Harley [our dog] and how he has been frustrating both Jesse and I. You're probably saying to yourself "what, Harley? Naaa...not that handsome and polite dog!" Well don't be fooled by his looks and charm folks, this dog has been acting like a newborn baby! For the past two weeks Harley has been barking twice in the middle of the night for Jesse and I to take him outside to go to the bathroom. No doggie door yet till we get a fence around our yard. Now, he did this in the beginning when we got him for a week or so but then held his pee till the morning. Fact: dog's can hold their pee for 17 hrs! Granted, Harley is 10 years old....but why the change all of a sudden? We think it has been the puppy dog food that I accidentally got him and that apparently gave Harley tons of energy. We stopped giving that to him.

Soo a couple days ago, we got frustrated with Harley....and told him to pack his bags. It was time he found his own place to live, and start acting like a grown up! 

Well, he didn't even make it down our front steps till I started crying and asked him to come back home. We hugged and kissed and he promised to try and not wake us anymore. :/ 

That promise was broken the next day. Dog's don't have memories. Gah! So over breakfast yesterday, Jesse and I were discussing what we are going to do when winter comes and there's snow on the ground. 

Me:  I surely don't want to be taking Harley out in the snow at 1 and 3 in the morning....

Jesse:  Me either! Let's just get a 50 foot rope and hook it to him so we can stand in the doorway.

Me: That's not a bad idea........ or what about we just buy a miniature Jeep for him to drive out to the bushes? 

Jesse: laughing

Guess what we bought Harley for an early Christmas present?!? Click HERE to see. lol 

And as the saga continues of our little 23 pounder needing to be taken out in the wee hours of the morning, last night was no exception. 3 am like clockwork, he whines and whimpers then barks. I do my duty and then we come back inside, where I lay in bed wide awake for an hour and a half! I am thinking about a paper sack mask that I have to make for a project [very excited about this] and listening to Harley snore.... it's just so cute....but i'm not sleeping. So I went out to the living room and started reading on the couch. 5 min later my little shadow comes and jumps on the couch and lays by my feet. We fall asleep...and I wake this morning to Harley sleeping like this: 

So happy I was able to snap a picture of him. This guy cracks me up, like any other dog/animal would. With all that said, if any of you have ever struggled with a similar situation [and perhaps it is just old age] and have any ideas to get him to stop needing to go out in the middle of the night, we'd love to hear them! Last night my sister suggested taking his water away a couple hours before bed... hopefully that will work. 

Have a great weekend. :) 

oh! And we really didn't buy him a Jeep! What kind of owner's do you think we are? 

 He doesn't even have his license yet! We got him a tricycle for now. 

I meant to post this video the other day. It is a film introducing autumn and the senses to go along with Kinfolk magazine's 5th volume. Our good friends Matt & Julie Walker of Tiger in a Jar [awesome husband and wife duo] made the film and I got to help out. These guys are most definitely our favorite film makers...more praises about them in a couple weeks!  I have yet to own a copy of Kinfolk... most definitely something your money wouldn't be wasted on. I think it's about time I get a subscription.... :/

Nothing like a good ol' fashioned night time post. :) I came upon this quote recently and really liked it... I am a itty bitty baby beginner when it comes to typeography...I guess I prefer to actually design it than take existing type and design around that, the latter being much harder! Anyways...I played around with this and switched around "originality and imitation".... and then slapped the quote on a flower I drew earlier.... well, i'm headed to bed now. See you Friday!

My Rob Ryan newspapers came today!  

Definitely met my expectations and very affordable. :)

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Last night for dinner I made one of the best salad's/pasta dishes ever. 

I named it Squirrel Salad or Squirrel Pasta... too cheesy? Luckily my job isn't in naming dishes!

All you need are these 5 ingredients: 

This recipe serves 1 person:

about 1 cup spinach leaves

tblspn cilantro

1/4 cup feta

1/4 cup tomato

1/3 cup walnut oil

I suggest taste testing while you go though...you may want to add more items. When cutting the spinach, stack the leaves and then roll...this saves a lot of time. Walnut oil <- do be generous if mixing in with pasta, and adding some pepper is nice. I hope you try this for yourself...oh and if you're just making the salad...it literally takes 3 min to make! It's that quick. Cutting the tomato is the longest part. 

If you love children's books, then you most likely love Robert McCloskey! One of my favorite children's book illustrators, specifically for his line weight! I'm also instantly attracted to books that have the picture broken up from the text like in this book, divided by a strip of color. It has a nice aesthetic to it.

Have you ever read Journey Cake, Ho! ? Written by Ruth Sawyer and illustrated by Robert McCloskey? A great book and sure to be a favorite among kids! I happened to find a copy of it a couple weeks ago [I have my own] and bought it for someone else.

With that said... guess what...this is a giveaway! YEE HAW!  {pistols shooting in the air}

This giveaway is open to anyone in the world and all you have to do is tell me what your favorite cake is and if you happen to have a link to that recipe please do share, I'm sure anyone reading would love to have it. Giveaway ends Friday Oct, 5th. :) And if you don't want to wait till Friday to see if you have won, you can find it HERE. 

Put up a couple Halloween/fall decorations yesterday...I am regretting donating my crows. I had 6 and only have 1 now.... Anyways...so last night Jesse and I made a guilty trip to Walmart to get some groceries. I have Walmart remorse every time I leave that place... This will be the only time EVER that I will encourage you to buy something from Walmart. If you like good smelling candles w/out the weird plasticy scent and the kind that makes a room smell good even when it's not lit, t hen you will love Mainstays brand candles for only $3. We got their Mulled Cider and our house smells soooooo good right now. These were the same candles we used at our wedding reception.

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Lastly, a disco ball! I am a lover of all things shiny & sparkly. I am the Smeigel of sparklies...when I see something twinkling...I turn into a zombie and head straight towards the light. No matter the tackiness of the object. Luckily I was born with sparkly restraint...but I do fear for when Jesse and I do spawn children, who just might also [especially little girls] have a thirst for the glitter, the sequins, the rhinestones etc. 

So because I have been managing our money well [this is big for me] Jesse rewarded me with this disco ball that I "precioused" in the Christmas Section at Wallmart. <- yep, Christmas already. sad. Luckily, disco ball ornament goes beyond Christmas for me. It is an everyday object that now happily resides hanging in our office. This precious item could be yours too for only a $1.49.

A quick and easy way to make someone happy :

I am sure I am not alone when I say receiving a hand written note in the mail makes the day that much better! Today I wrote my self a letter...sort of. It's a time capsule letter in bullet point form. 

This is my 5th time capsule i've done and each one is very special. I was looking around for my others yesterday but they are still packed away somewhere. I really want to find them though so I can share with you exactly how much of a trip it is to make them and then a year later read what you wanted to have happen that year.  For example, my 2010 capsule letter that I wrote New Years day had 9 things I was hoping for, one of which was to know the guy I would be marrying! Six months later, I met Jesse! All 8 of the 9 things happened for me...the one that didn't happen was traveling outside of the states.  

Anyways, I highly recommend this activity by yourself, with your partner, kids or bff's. Seal it and put it away for a year...I also did a video capsule with one of my best friends during our Senior year of college, we talked about 1 year, 3 year and 5 year goals...I need to find that too. 

I blacked out 3 things because as of right now those are personal. :/ Sorry. However, Oct 1, 2013 I promise to share the whole list whether or not they happen for me.... i'm a little nervous... oh and the 5 "new" classics.... that means to stop rereading the same classics over and over again and branch out. I'm a creature of habit when it comes to books. If you have any favorites to recommend I would love to know. A classic i've been meaning to start for a couple years now, is Atlas Shrugged. This is the year! :-)

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I am in the Young Women's at my church [those of you who aren't Mormon, it just means I am a youth leader] and I was put with the 14-16 year old's...such a fun age! Anyways, my lesson that I was supposed to teach yesterday was on health & beauty. I love giving/getting handouts from lessons even if it's just a quote printed out. It makes it more memorable,no? I thought sharing some of my homemade granola would be a fun handout since it's health related. The recipe was taken from the Armstrong Mansion B&B where I use to work. I want to share it with you too and I included the print out if you would like. Cellophane bags work great for this and can be found at any craft/paper supply store and they are also affordable. Folding the label over and stapling it brings it to a whole other level. :) Do this with any treats and feel free to send me some via snail mail! lol eh? eh? :-[)

Click on print out and drag to desk top - much larger in size :)