Moleskine Notebooks & a Candle for moi!

Ever since I found ...love Maegan's blog, I'd been drooling over her designer clothing, purchased discount via Gilt.com. Now, I haven't found that many clothing items that work for me yet... but I happened to snag a set of these moleskine notebooks - one each month for the year, and color coordinated! They're so small, and I find myself actually recording more of my creative thoughts and ideas, instead of forgetting them forever like I used to! 

 

Gilt is a free membership retail site, with crazy insane deals on tons of luxury goods. They only keep they're steals up for 36 hours though, so you have to be pretty quick! 

I also just got an Ember candle from Jimmyjane (again, from Gilt) and I have to say, it's like a spa in a candle. Lychee and Lapsang tea, the scent is intoxicating, and I can't wait to try more from this brand in particular!

Quickie Check-in!

aka - what I'm up to!

I wish I'd gotten around to organizing all of my pictures into a pretty blog post, but I just haven't been able to get to it, unfortunately. 2+ weeks of dirty laundry is a lot to get through, not to mention I haven't had a stitch of good food in my house all week. So, why the post? I wanted to update all of you, my good blog buddies, briefly, with what's up with me!

• Planning a paper tutorial that'll be super fun and relatively easy! (The biggest secret to cutting thicker paper is a very sharp knife... more on that later.)
• Redesigning my blog and logo - yeay! But also, kinda (very) scarey!!! Think more refined, but not too traditional - like mid century modern furniture!
  
• Designing a whole new career for myself, and I'm so lucky and proud to be working with a very good friend on it! OMG, so not ready to spill on this one yet!
• Shelving the book plans for now, I'm still trying to collect projects and patterns, but I don't have the right contacts to pull it off in the high quality style that I'd really like to. Maybe later...
• Working my way through the 700+ rss posts in my feed, I have to apologize that I haven't been able to comment on as many as I'd like yet!
• Finding all of my old high school friends through Facebook. This I have to admit, I find both super cool and a little creepy - all at the same time. Huh.

What's new with you guys? I'm totally thinking about another contest to bring you lurkers out of the woodwork again! What kind of prize or contest really makes you comment? I must confess, I always feel like I have such a small chance on the big blogs, I don't really bother trying anymore!

Feature Friday - Pearl & Marmalade

Way back when, I posted about my first purchase from Pearl & Marmalade. I knew I'd be buying from them again, I just didn't have any clue it would take me so long!

I absolutely love their letterpress designs, and am so happy to finally have a set of their Honey Bees for myself. Actually, they're probably for you guys, because I love using letterpress notecards in swap and care packages! Haha! I think the color combination with yellow and grey is so current right now; it's not one I'd normally go for - but I love them. They feel trendy, but not overly so. I think the design elements balance the yellow & grey perfectly.

I also picked up a couple gift cards for someone special, but I won't share those until they've arrived! :P

Gift Tag Tutorial

Lately I've been knitting a lot, so my other crafting has been left on the back-burner, so to speak. I've been focusing on smaller projects that take less time, that I can fit in a few minutes. Paper projects are great for this, because they don't take up too much space to work on, and because let's face it, you can get any color & texture paper you want. Those scrap-booking sections in the big craft retailers are huge!

So, I came up with this super fast and fun gift tag tutorial. It requires a couple sizes of paper punches, but they can be any shape you want (and really, you could do this with scissors & patience, too.) The hardest part here is deciding which shape and size punches look best together. I was slightly limited by the fact that I only own a handful, but I still think I picked the best coordinating pair.

Materials:

• Paper punches in two (or more,) sizes. Can be complimentary or contrasting shapes.
• Sticker machine, glue stick or double sided tape
• Hole punch (size is your preference)
• Coordinating ribbon or twine to attach to package
• Regular or decorative pens (for names, you can also use rub-on lettering, but I'm not that good with getting it lined up right!)

First, use the larger punch to create a base. I recommend simpler paper, if you're using the more decorative on top. But really, you can use any paper or card-stock that suits your taste. Here I used simple brown, light weight craft paper.

Next, use the smaller punch and a more interestingly patterned paper. It can be contrasting or complimentary, again anything that suits you! I like re-using gift wrap paper for this, I always hate to throw away pretty paper like this!

When piecing the two together, you can use a sticker machine* to add a thin layer of adhesive to the back of the top paper; or you can use double-sided tape to adhere them. If you're thinking of using glue for this - I'll caution you - don't use too much, or you might get rippling in one or both layers of your tag. You can also use a glue stick for this, it's probably easier to handle than regular glue, anyway!! *If you're using a sticker machine, I find slightly thicker paper works better than thinner. I've had some rippling issues, and who likes ripply-weird abnormal stickers?!? Hehe.

To finish, punch a hole through both layers of the tag, and use ribbon or twine to attach it to the package. Add your to: and from: names and you're done! Easy peasy! Here's a couple more examples, and I'd love to see how you use this tutorial!

Cardstock Calender

There was really no reason I put this project off for so long. (It's Patricia's template, available over at A Little Hut.) I bought it back last year, just before January, and only got about half-way through it before I put it down and let it languish. It wasn't hard, but I let it get buried under a few other things on my craft table, and didn't think about it again for a while.

Now that it's June, I thought to myself that it might be really nice if I actually finished it, and was able to enjoy it on my wall*! So, I finished the last bunch of cuts, punched holes at the tops of each page, and got to work on a hanger to mount it on the wall. I used a plain old dry cleaner hanger (which is weird, cuz I haven't gotten anything dry cleaned in recent memory!)

The only thing left to decide was what fabric or paper to use behind each month's "window." Of course that was easier said than done, but I narrowed it down to 4 fabric scraps - one in aqua wool gabardine, one in teal silk charmeuse, one in silver silk dupioni and one in purple minky. I really liked another blogger's version of this calender, although for the life of me I can't seem to dig up the link. She used a piece of orange wool felt the same size as the calender page, and I thought it was so simple and bold. I wish I could figure out where I saw it...

*I actually finished this last month, but didn't get the pictures taken and uploaded to Flickr until today. What can I say, I'm a lazy blogger!

Etsy Spotlight - MillyMollyMandy

When I first stumbled onto Mandy's print, Joy Aqua, I knew I had to have it. It only took a few days for it floating around in my head, before I had to buy it. C'mon, if you know me or my blog, you know I'm a sucker for aqua! Total sucker! LOL

In person, the print is just so much more beautiful than I ever could have imagined. The detail is so fine, and the colors so rich; I love it so much! On my screen it was pretty; but in my hands, it's just so much more, and I find it hard to put into words. You'll just have to scoot over to her Etsy store, and buy a copy for yourself! She even sent a handwritten notecard with another of her beautiful illustrations on it, and free stickers which I love!

If you're looking for beautiful art for your wall, with sweet themes and bunnies(!) - you have to visit her store. Her illustrations are simply breathtaking, so sweet and elegant. I can't wait to see what she does next! (I have another order coming this week, but it's almost all gifts, so it'll probably be a little while before I share pics!)

I will be sharing pics of my completed bamboo Clapotis tomorrow, though! Yeay!

My March Sampler!

Ok, so I'll first confess I was planning on posting a sewn FO today, and have only barely started it! I'm not telling what it is yet, though; instead I thought I'd share my March Sampler goodies that came yesterday! I love the fabric bundle from Reprot Depot, and the Sugar Lily card (up front.)

It's been kind of a scatter-brained week for me... I just can't seem to get my act together and get everything I want to finished. Like calling my sister (Jenn, I'm sorry! I don't mean to ignore you!) and writing a few emails... I just can't seem to get to a few things that are actually important to me these days. Hrmmmmph. Hopefully next week there will be a sewn FO, and I won't feel so mentally absent!

Etsy Spotlight - Pearl & Marmalade

I started doing a Blogger Spotlight this year, and thought to myself recently that doing the same with Etsy sellers I like would be fun too! I've personally bought from these sellers, so I can tell you with confidence that their quality and service are both great! Without further ado, here's the first installment!

I don't really remember when I first found Pearl & Marmalade on Etsy. At first I just "hearted" them, and kept them in "My Favorite Sellers" section. But then, I saw their Secret Admirer Hounds cards (via Design*Sponge,) and knew I had to have them! Actually, I knew they had to go to my MIL Robin. One of them had a Tiffany blue Boston terrier on the front, and it was fate. Except when I clicked through to their store, I was very sad to find they were already sold out. Ok, so I emailed them and asked if I could get a custom set, and I waited. It took about a week to hear back & they apologized for the wait, but I was just ecstatic to get the news... I could get my custom set of 12, all Tiffany blue Boston terriers! The price was very reasonable, too! (Email me for the price, they were a gift and I don't want to go announcing it! LOL)

They're in Chicago too, which I love! I'm all about supporting local small businesses! They're starting to include letterpress into their store recently; and I ADORE their first (letterpress) card A Startling Life. With foliage, birds and an Emily Dickinson quote, it's simply elegant. I really think it's classically beautiful, and I can't wait to see what else they do next! (They actually have relased a second letterpress card set, Honey Bees. I'm just a tard and didn't notice til a minute ago! LOL)