The Silver Lining

Mike and I just got back from a very relaxing weekend at the spa. We were celebrating Mike's birthday (32 today, Happy Birthday Baby!) and our 1 year engagement anniversary. A year ago this week we were in Alaska. I can't believe how much our life has changed over the past year. This has been a really tough year, I just hope the worst is behind us. I'm ready to get back to a normal routine. I'm ready to get back to work. I'm ready to have our life back. I mean there has definitely been a silver lining in all this. Mike and I have gotten a ton of quality time together, which at times maybe hasn't been such a positive thing! We've really been able to focus on our wedding planning and get a lot of things done that normally would have been difficult to do while working. I've been able to focus on a lot of hobbies and things I just didn't have time to do while working full time. I have to look at the positives, otherwise I would go crazy worrying about all the things I can't control, and right now that is a big list.  

Photo: Samantha Lamb

Holiday Rush

What are you all doing to prepare for the holiday rush?  I feel like I am already behind.  I need to order more supplies.  I am still waiting for my molds to arrive and then I can really get moving.  I'm just so overwhelmed between wedding planning, job hunting, and craft fairs and holiday prep my head is spinning!  I really want to integrate some new projects/ideas into the shop too before the holiday rush but I might be piling too much on my plate. Not to mention, I am already starting to think about Christmas gifts, I am going to be making a lot of gifts this year since the purse strings are, well lets just face it, they are glued shut right now!  Note to self: Hop in time machine, go back in time, pick a wedding date that isn't in November, right in the middle of the holiday season!

Get to soaping!

As if I needed one more thing to add to my to-do list, I just found out that I was accepted to participate in a local holiday craft fair! I'm so excited but also super stressed about the idea of having to make all those soaps. I need to get started now so I can get it all done before the wedding. I ordered some new molds which should help tremendously in the process. They are no-liner molds and they come with a cutting mold which I'm psyched about because my soaps always end up being slightly different in size from batch to batch because I can't cut them uniformly! Once the molds arrive I should be able to jump in and start making soap, I want to make about 200 bars of soap. It's a 2 day show and any overflow inventory should be able to carry me through the holiday season.

Photo: Flickr

Settling in...

Well the last of the boxes have been unpacked. I guess you could say we are officially moved in! It only took two + months to do it! There is still A LOT to be done. I honestly get really anxious when I think about all the things that have to be done but at least the house is livable and for the first time in three years, all of our things are in one place and THAT is a great feeling. While it doesn't quite feel like our home yet, it's A home, and that's a start.  

Photo: Alexandra Grablewski

Wedding updates

Planning a wedding is some seriously stressful stuff, especially when you've taken on the task of doing EVERYTHING yourself!  The time is going so fast, I want to stop and relish in this moment for a while but there isn't time for that!  Not with flower arrangements, and invitations, and rehearsal dinner planning, and wedding favors.  "Wedding" is the topic everywhere I go and I guess this is how it will be for the next two and a half months....

Print Gocco

I really would love a Print Gocco. We almost bought one recently to create our wedding invitations but decided to go with good old fashioned printing instead. I have a ton of ideas going through my head and a lot of the projects I want to start involve screen printing but we only have huge screens and to coat and prepare the screens for a 3 x 5 design just seems crazy! I mean, just look at the beautifulness (word?) you can create with a Gocco...

Photos: A Lovely Morning Blog, Bridbird, Morris & Essex

Flowers Blooming

There is a hibiscus bush right outside my kitchen window that is blooming right now. This is what I get to look at every morning while I wash dishes and make tea. This is one of the things that makes moving from New York worth it. Our backyard is full of butterflies too but they wouldn't sit still long enough to be photographed!

Photo: Candice

Wedding updates

Mike got his suit yesterday, he looks so good in it, I am a very luck lady ;) I can't believe how much stuff we are getting done. The invitations are almost finished. We came up with a concept and now Mike is working his magic in photoshop. I went through 80 pages of vintage stamps last night on ebay and am going to start ordering those today. I feel like once the invites go out I will be able to breathe for just a bit before I have to jump into the next wedding task. As each big "to-do" gets marked off the list I feel a little bit less anxiety about the whole planning part and a little bit more excited about the fact that I am getting married!  

Photo: Ben Blood Photography via Once Wed

Antiquing

This weekend my mom and I drove to Mt. Dora to go antiquing. We found some great stuff, including an amazing wood and glass display cabinet from the original Macy's Department Store in New York, it was beautiful. The thing was ginormous though, you would need an equally amazing and huge house to put it in.

These were two of my favorite finds. I'm kicking myself for not getting the thread cabinet...the 24 hour rule has passed and I am definitely still pining for it.

Photos: me

I'm a lucky girl...

My soon-to-be hubby is such a wonderful cook.

Photo: Mike

A Little Anthro Love...

If I could register at Anthropologie, I totally would...

Photos: Sporades Tablecloth, Latte Bowls, Geometric Garden Plates

Strawberry Bubblegum

This print makes me happy...

Photo: Papermoth

Stamping

I'm on the hunt for vintage stamps for my wedding invites. I know, I know, if you are doing the math in your head right now you will realize that this is probably something I should have started months ago!! But, like all the planning for this wedding has gone, I have been MAJORLY dragging my feet!

Honestly, Mike and I have never had this much on our plate at one time and I feel like at any given moment I could have a major melt down so I keep barreling through, trying not to think of everything there is to do but honestly trying to plan a wedding in a recession while you are unemployed and have just purchased a house is really enough to give anyone a headache! But we were talking about stamps weren't we? Yes, so anyway, I have been on the hunt for vintage stamps today. There is something so beautiful about a wedding invitation adorned with lovely vintage stamps...

Photos: A Lovely Morning, Heather Ross via Decor8

Happy Monday

Happy Monday everyone. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I have a loooong list of things to do this week, I'm already looking forward to the weekend and the Antiques Fair in Mt. Dora I am going to.

Photo: Irenesuchocki

Shop Talk

I'm ready for a complete shop overhaul. I want to revamp my logo, my colors, my shop photos, everything. I'm basically looking to do a "shop baptism."

I need a cohesive look and right now I don't think I have it. I have some shop photos that were taken in New York on the wood floors in my apartment with really cool partial light coming in through our window and then I have some shot here, outside on the balcony. I've been doing some research on how to build a light box, I think that will make a huge difference in how my photos turn out.

My labels and packaging also need to be improved.   I've been looking around the internet for inspiration, here are some of my favorites. Stay tuned for some big changes!

Photos: Flickr, Naiad, Flickr

Wedding inspiration

I love this idea for my wedding.  It would work perfectly since our ceremony and reception are outside, surrounded by many trees!  

Photo: Once Wed

Terrariums

I love terrariums, I even considered them for centerpieces at my wedding. There is something so lovely about plants growing inside a beautiful glass container.

Photos: Country Home

A Picnic Set

Picnic season may almost be over in some parts of the country (here in Florida it's a year long activity!) but I thought this was a great project to liven up your next picnic.

This is also a great for those of you who want to make the switch from paper towels to cloth napkins. Mike and I did this a few months ago, I made us each napkins in different patterns and now we use these instead of paper towels. It is so much better for the environment and it now takes us twice the time to go through a roll of paper towels!

Photo: Purl Bee