Birthday pre-party Party :)

Hello Lovelies!

Birthday season is upon us (at least in our little family) and we're seriously gonna be partying until the end of the year :)  I was so happy to be asked to guest over at "Come on Get Crafty" because for one, Nicole is awesome :) And it's such a good motivator to actually MAKE something when you have a deadline ;) I actually miss that about being on a design team. But anyhoo, so I received my goodies and look how pretty they look all ready to play?! I love putting my small embellishments in vintage molds on my desk. Cute & convenient. perfecto. 

Now for a moment of truth: i don't make cards. they sort of scare me. is it because they need to be small and i'm used to larger layout formats? i don't know. all i know is that i rarely ever never ever make them. but looky here, i made not just one! but a few!!!

Holy rolly polly! 

:)

I made this one for my dear friend who is my birthday twin ( except she was born a whole month before me. What can i say? I like to celebrate our unique connection. ;) So i made her a cute card with a huge Inspire Lovely butterfly + some crazy typewriter love xo. 

Here's a simple one with our latest family pic. We take all our family pics ourselves using the timer on our camera and our tripod and me running like a crazy mangy lady back and forth pressing the button and trying to make little r laugh so he can smile at the camera. It seems to work that i actually do look like a funny dork and he always laughs :) lol! It's also a sight to see for everyone else around since we are usually out in public and people stop to stare hhahahaaa! Well, I made this one for my sister Cindy and her cute family. I thought of her with all the butterflies in the kit. I also used a Inspire Lovely Stamp: Everyday -xo-. So here's something pretty to add to her fridge. The photo is not adhered and is only tucked behind the we love you piece. I like to give people options :)

I made this one for my dad :) he doesn't read my blog so its cool, he's still gonna be surprised lol! This cute cork envelope is going to hold his gift card/present and a little note from me and the family. He keeps ALL the cards people give him so I knew i needed to make this special. He also loves bicycling and saying motivational quotes all the time like Today is the Day! so this worked out perfectly ;) Its so him xoxo.

You really can't go wrong decorating muffins. These pretties were my way of making the best use of really ripe bananas. I used the Starbucks banana bread recipe. SO good! I added chocolate chips and pecans for extra goodness. They turned out pretty tasty and made plenty to share. 

Well hello there sexy carbs xoxo

;P

I also made a little thank you gift for my sister. She was so awesome and babysat little r for us while the mister and i had a little dinner. It was awesome! i can't remember the last time we did that just us two. The last time we took little r to eat i ended up with syrup & blueberry all over my new shirt and i wasn't even the one eating either. grrr.... It's like a default. i always end up looking mangy no matter what. still cool. i rocked the mange. lol!

Here I used double sided tape & clothespins to add the paper from the kit and made cute clothespins. My sister is a teacher so she always hangs kids stuff to show off :) She's cool like that. I also added a little fabric tape to a paper clip and clipped a few embellishments to each card. She's super crafty and I know this is going to be used up quickly :)

I included a little thank you note. I made the little pink tag out of the packaging that came with the kit. I simply used a bit of dry tape runner and typed over it with my typewriter. I think the butterfly design said something like "chasing butterflies", and now it doesn't ;) easy customizing. ta dah!

and last but not least, i decided the fridge needed a bit of paper love as well. we currently have all our extended family photos up but nothing of us. little r loves looking at pictures up on the fridge. so i printed up a few of our favorites. Even some photobooth love here. I added a few Inspire Lovely Embellishments - the wooden hearts and butterflies. from top left , the top strip is a magnet washi tape thingy. Its just patterned paper glued to a magnet :) top right: The little photo camera square is the magnet :) Bottom Left: The fabric tape butterfly embellishment is the magnet :) Also, the "cool" word is a magnet. Bottom right: The top design rectangle is a magnet. The cool thing about these are that I can easily add them into a layout after I'm done displaying them on the fridge :) 

Now our fridge looks all kinds of cute. sa-weet!

Okay, now off to make more stuff as I have a very happy crafting weekend up ahead. I get to get crafty with my sisters! I love that. It's gonna be fun :)  

I hope you have a lovely weekend and make something that makes your heart happy

xoxo

-d

Tips & Tricks

Hello Lovelies, Happy Friday!

Today I have a little video tutorial to share via the Studio Calico blog. As much as i don't like being in front of the video camera, I really loved sharing a few design tricks that you might want to try :) Here I added geometry without the math ;) & rad neon awesomeness to my page.  It's simple, clean & quirky ;) I also shared a quick tip on how to add the cute neon splotches without the spray paint. I know it's hard to give a new technique a try especially if the materials are a bit intimidating or maybe spending money on a whole spray can just to try it isn't feasible. But i promise this trick is worth a try :)



I used some Inspire Lovely supplies: #ILOVETHIS stamp,  Hot Pink Heart Stickers, & Silver Heart Stickers.

I also wanted to remind you that today is the last day to take advantage of 25% off your entire order (use coupon code "SUMMERXO" ) at InspireLovely.etsy.com & receive a free set of heart stickers with your order :)

Happy August and a super happy friday to you :)

xo
-d

Inspire Lovely Studio Tour

Hello Lovelies! I wanted to first thank those of you who took the time to leave a little encouragement in my last post. Its truly a life lesson i wasn't sure I should share publicly but so thankful I did as some were able to identify & feel encouraged. And that is always worth opening up to :)

I have been working all month sprucing up the studio and then i realized it's been almost 2 years since I last shared here. A lot has changed stylistically and I wanted to share some decorating happiness going on in my corner of the world. :)



A few weeks ago i was organizing my decoration box and realized i have lots of hanging decorations. That weren't hanging. Anywhere. just tucked away in a box. I love using the pin wheels for decorating our vendor booth but since we won't be doing one for a while I figured these guys are way to cute to leave tucked away in a box right?!



So up they went above my desk work space. I LOVE how stinkin huge they are. I also love the texture it gives the wall with white on white loveliness. I added a cute little frayed ribbon I used as a quick garland. The butterfly garland was another thing tucked away in the decoration box. so pretty floating above the desk now :) I had purchased the vintage floral & bird at a local thrift store ( sadly I didn't have enough to buy the pair but this little cutie came home with me) and I had found in the box too, you know waiting for the perfect corner of our home. When I showed the mister he said his grandmother had once probably owned something like it. He's so good with compliments. Love that guy. I love grandmas and I love this sweet bird. So it's perfect. Up on the wall it went ;) No more waiting in a box for the perfect corner, time or idea. Just get it up somewhere. Make it lovely :)



I LOVE the drawer underneath the desk. It's the most beautiful thing. Mr.Handsome took us on our first family vacation to Santa Barbara a few years back right after we had little r. We went for a stroll and found the farmers market. We wandered a bit and then came upon a beautiful shop tucked away with imported goods from India. i can't even begin to tell you how inspiring this little shop was. I couldn't pick just ONE thing to buy. I kept telling Mr.Handsome that i had to have everything. And that (jokingly) he forgot to get be a push present. ( you know for giving birth to our handsome little son, the most precious thing in this world.) So I came home with the yellow drawer :) This girl doesn't need diamonds. Just a shopping trip ;) jk. I'll take diamonds too.

the yellow drawers got me thinking yellow and this is where it came through. When I had this project in my mind it made me soooooo nervous. I grew up in a home never having painted a wall any other color except white. I remember thinking, eh, kinda boring. I always wanted to add a splash of color but was never really afforded the chance. When the mister and i  married and purchased our wee home i told him it would be nice to add color to our walls and he agreed. one of the many reasons i love him. He thought the idea of painting the door was awesome as long as i wasn't painting it every week. lol! I started this project literally 2 years ago and just finished it this month. That's how nervous i was lol!  And now that i get to enjoy it everyday i don't even know why it took me so long to finish it?! About a year ago I almost painted over the whole thing back to white! So happy I didn't. i love the bright cheery pop of color. It was so worth it :) It was a super ugly plain door to begin with & needed some paint goodness. It's not too distracting because you have to be inside the studio to even see it. Although i don't mind if all our doors ended up with a bit of color & stencil love. I think that would be so awesome :)  So lesson learned, don't hold back on an idea you have, just go go go do it!

sigh* the yarn in this closet makes me want to yarn bomb something. anything. everything.

A frequent question I get asked is where i bought the drawer unit on coasters. Its from IKEA and possibly the best storage in my book I bought 2 :) love it.

this corner now reflects a bit of washi tape love & sewing fabric freshly laundered and waiting to be made into pillows. I need to find cheaper hobbies. hahaaa! I've such a hard time using any tape since i feel like it has to be worthy of a good project :) So far i love using it to wrap Inspire Lovely shop goodness. even though its so simply on display it makes me happy looking into this corner. Love the welcome pops of color. swoon xoxo

And you've seen this little corner already but I wanted to share my $5 find, i found the drawer unit at my local thrift store and i love it. it's actually made out of thick cardboard and super lightweight. Sadly i can't change the knobs on this :( bummer right? I was going to go crazy with this :) I love changing this corner up almost on a weekly basis. i consider this an inspiration board of sorts and love the challenge of changing it up. This week i was really channelling succulents & a cute toy that little r kept leaving in the studio. It's funny that this time last year this place was crammed with a playpen and little r would play and watch me get orders together in the studio. Or he'd be swinging in his little swing in this corner. awww.... my baby isn't a baby anymore. sniff. sniff.

well now we're back around to the end of the studio tour, ( this wall is located opposite to the inspiration wall above) the best & most awesome piece in here. The cubby storage unit made from 2 separate thrifted pieces. I think we ended up paying $75 total. It was an awesome day thrifting. and even better since its one of those thrift stores i don't considered my fav since i never really found great things at. but something kept telling me to go. and i did. i was actually looking for things only for little r's nursery! lol! little did i know that i was going to find this beauty. And thankfully for a good deal :)

i love that she's got some wear on her. i'm 2 knobs shy of actually replacing all the old knobs. with the help of birthday gift cards & gifts over the last 4 years i've added charming knobs to this quirky piece. 

good times, i think i might have to celebrate once i do find the last 2 knobs for this piece. Have a knob party, um yes!?  hahaa!

So there you go, this is where work and play mix with life of a mama & her little cutie patootie kid. xo

Now that the studio is clean i updated the shop with a sale! We need to make room for more loveliness so please enjoy 25% off your order now until next friday. ** Each order will receive a free set of 48 heart stickers ** xo just because we love ya ;)

I hope you enjoy a beautiful Friday and a great start to your weekend!

xo

-d

ps: if you have any studio questions i will answer them in the comments section :) *xo

Hold on

Today i wanted to open up my heart in answering a question i received a few times over the course of my pregnancy and even now. A question concerning an update on my CTS, carpal tunnel syndrome and how/if it effected my pregnancy. So here it goes, first off if you want to catch up on my silly version of CTS please refer to my blog post here , yep, going old skool ;P  i still can't believe the silly things i do to entertain you all hahaaa! (enjoy) 

So back in the day i didn't work from home. i had a corner office with lots of windows, tall ceiling, beautiful space and I was the sole graphic designer & worked a 9-5 for a small company.  Everything seemed fine, until the company hired a new supervisor with some experience in design. I welcomed the change, he seemed nice enough. Not a month into him working there he started attacking me and my character. He threatened to fire me on completely false allegations. He promised to work collaboratively and took on my projects without me. I would find out later once they were printed. His method of design consisted of googling an image and copying it. And any original work i designed he would take credit for. He had heard I had just purchased Mona ( my camera for personal scrapbook projects etc). and he then decided to give me new jobs like become the photographer for the business along with my graphic design work. No extra pay. No over time. And somehow he thought my ONE web design class back in college (5 years before) was more than enough for me to also be the webmaster for the company site. Again, no extra pay, no overtime. Nothing. Photographer + webmaster + my regular graphic design work. great. 

I started feeling the stress. His negative behavior was getting to me. Mind you,  I've been working since I was 17. I've worked with lots of difficult people before. there's always one in every office. I consider myself a hard worker. I love working. but this was crazy. My CTS symptoms started. This is exactly when i knew that the crap i was dealing with at work was hurting me.  I started going to physical therapy and my therapist said that my case was stress related. Get rid of the stress and you're cured he said. Yeah you think ? easier said than done hehee.  

I remember the first day i met my jerk supervisor he himself mentioned he had a problem with his ego. he laughed. go figure. he wasn't joking. i should've quit then and there. sadly, there were others our company did business with that also didn't like how he did business. It reflected so badly on our company. it was embarrassing. People started complaining and word got back to him. He wrongly assumed it was me who made these folks unhappy. I will note this: if i have something to say about you. i will say it to your face. i have no problem with that.  I had several meetings where i did tell him the following: you are wrong. you are being mean. stop tearing me down. i work for you. with you. i'm here to help. i am a great designer, stop taking credit for it. stop assuming and ask people directly if they have a problem with you. Above all, both my doctor and my therapist are telling me to step back from my computer. Can you help me out? (And yes i was wearing both my braces at this meeting. ) You know what he said? I was catty. I was selfish. I was not a team player. With a sick smile on his face he "downsized me". how stupid of me to not see that the door was closing. that i was not meant to continue through it. my path was changing. 

I still hate that i stayed long enough for this to happen. i hate that i didn't listen to Mr.Handsome when he said to quit. i wish i had not tried so hard to change. to let this company treat me this way. my hands. my heart. my mind. my soul. ached.  i think it hurt more because i worked for a church. i expected a higher level of moral integrity. i can't believe that even though the truth was on my side that it still felt like i lost. like God had allowed this stupid man and his insecurities to do this to me? That everyone else was so worried about their jobs, nobody stood by me. or for me. little did i know my biggest loss & hurt, was also my biggest blessing.

i got fired right before i was to marry & buy a new home with the man of my dreams. perfect timing. this is when miracles happen people. i am proof of that. fast forward to now, picture above, in celebratory fashion i got dolled up to celebrate mother's day a few months back. i'm a mama now. my proudest most amazing accomplishment ever. i'm a happier mama. (No CTS. No tendinitis during my pregnancy) I'm a better version of that girl who was over worked in a dead end job working for a jerk boss. i've been so blessed. i'm the boss now. with Mr.handsome's help & lots of prayer we are proud small business owners, we live in a cute little home we do not deserve( we always thought we'd rent). as hard as it is sometimes i count it my biggest blessing to raise our amazing little r at home while i work. Once i disconnected all ties to this old company i started to see that my CTS + tendinitis was gone. I had more good days :) These hands, this heart, this soul was reassured in a glorious way that God never let me go. even if i did. even if i lost hope. My blessings started to shine through. that in my loss, i gained more than i could ever imagine. 

i  now get to share my blessing with you :) I am happy to share these photos of our small studio with cute reminders that you are lovely. you are so very lovely. A few months ago we experienced a loss with my dear friend as her mother passed away. I sat in silence at her service listening to what was being said about her  and there was a common theme. she loved. i knew it from personal experience. she truly loved you. i sat with my little guy tears pouring down and wept. death is harsh but it was so very beautiful in that moment when her loved ones were standing & sharing boldly with abandon as a testament to her love. life isn't about what job you have. how much money you make. who you know. that's pretty obvious. life is about who you love. my love has grown so much counting my blessings. I'm grateful God has bigger plans for my family. i smile and can laugh now about the time i had a jerk boss. even him i can say that i love him, from waaaaaaaaaay far. away. far, far far away. lol!!! i'm being honest! hahaaa! even though i know he will never ask for my forgiveness. i forgive him.  i want the good to rise up in me too. i want to raise up little R to be a great man with great character & a heart full of love. I know i have to forgive and love and move on. it's hard. but i'm holding onto hope. Holding onto the truth that has happened to me. that I'm lovely. that i am called to think on things that are lovely and not dwell in the negative. I've experienced the hurt it has caused me physically. At one point in time the pain got so bad that i had to get 2 shots in my back right underneath my shoulder blades of pain medicine. i don't want to go back to that. or braces & pills.

I don't live a life without stress, the mister still gives me arm massages and someday i will totally get a massage envy membership once i get over being ticklish :) i keep reminders like the die cut print above to help remind me to keep focused. to not dwell on the little things that can  rob me of joy.

write down the good in your life. hold onto that. in your heart. pray it out. love through it. Keep your head up and remember, you are so very lovely. don't let anyone tell you otherwise xoxo

love ya,

-d

i heart DIY

First things first, i just wanted to share this little bit of goodness with you, my favorite flower the peony. They always put a smile on my face :)

So yeah, holy moly. I have been on a little sprucing up kick lately. Not so much cleaning just making. it's been fun and exhausting but SO worth it. Especially when the end results are pretty :)

Have you ever tried a DIY project? I have always seen projects that seemed pretty cool but never really "made" any of them. So now to my adventure of DIY'ing.  If you bear with me i will now proceed to indulge you in the very long winded story of it :) why? well my little r is asleep and i have time ;P

ehem...

I have an addiction. i'm kind of a compulsive fabric buyer. i like it. i buy it. mostly thrifted because it's super inexpensive. And mostly linens. but i think some people ( mr.handsome) would say i'm a hoarder of fabric. i have shelving full to the brim with fabric. color coordinated and everything. i'm a clean hoarder :) hahaaa!  anyhoo. i also might have 3 large plastic bins of fabric. and also sorted and folded by color. so so pretty. and all mine. and i'm weird.

so the handsome man asks what are you collecting all this for? i'm like "you know, for when i learn to sew." that's always my excuse. i don't know if you know this about me but i'm a sewing school drop out. :( it's all because of morning sickness. yep. While I was pregnant with little r i had a pretty bad case of it. and my morning sickness wasn't just in the "morning" but aaaalllllll day. ew. anyway. I lost the will to learn and lost the interest in actually following through and finishing the class.

well I was tired of saying someday. and i was tired of all the white on white pillows on our sofa. i googled a simple pillow case how- to- tutorial and happily came upon this wonderful tutorial.  oh my goodness i actually made the black & white stripe + yellow floral + yellow & white  + mini small gold & silver plaid pillow! girl. i don't even know. it's like i got all martha stewart on my living room. I also made the white pillow case with the XO applique. I cut an IKEA pillow in half ( for some reason this pillow case never fit right) to better fit another pillow. Now the question is "can i fit another pillow on this sofa? I think so :) lol!

quick question: Do you sew? If so, which sewing machine do you use or recommend? I'm on the hunt and would love your thoughts :)

There's Nena, my sewing machine, she's getting a bit old and needs a break :( Anyhoo, back to some more DIY projects!

next up, i totally went crazy making terrariums ( see the window sill in the second photo) they are so addicting! Well i for some reason had the urge to "make" my own clay pot. ( crazy right? i'm not a potter! ) but decided once i saw this beautiful post to make a few cute mini clay house pots.  I have made 4 little houses so far. Although they aren't perfect, they are my wonky little houses and these succulents love their new homes :) This is what i do while the baby naps lol!

i had just a teensy itsy bitsy bit of clay left and found the perfect project for it. A mini geometric clay plant pot. THE cutest thing! It's super teeny tiny and why am i squealing?! oh geez i'm a nut.

and since i was on a geometric kick i found this super awesome paper polyhedron craft. I just printed the template onto different color cardstock paper + cut + paste = love. i love the rainbow cube too :)

Plus this new die cut print in the shop 

put it all together and ta da! awesomeness.

this wall was my fathers day installation art card to mr.handsome from little r and me :)

check out that belly button. adorable.

stop it. so cute :)

I love making our home pretty for these 2 handsome fellas. I know it's not always in their taste but it's all made with love :)

And before i forget, a sweet question to answer from my dear lovely friend Valerie :)

"I guess my question would be about craft vendor booths/tables - do you have any ideas on setting up one that would make someone stop in their tracks and come over? :) I'm going to be signing up for one this summer and have never really figured out how to get a dynamic display going! It's tough! I just love yours! :) "

Hi ya Valerie :) I have to admit, setting up a booth is pretty daunting. I have to thank Mr.handsome for being a strong supporter of our lovely booth both in craftsmanship & in macho strength :) I say this because I've never set up our booth alone and don't see that happening either. I'm cool with that :) Our booth requires a lot of set up ( a backdrop + a long table + 1 large wall for hanging merchandise (made by mr.handsome :) + 2 chairs + 1 big box full to the brim with tons of product )

1. I would decide what is doable for you + your mode of transportation: what fits in your car and what is physically possible for you to carry? all of our stuff fits strategically packed into our small Matrix & the Mr. can carry it. hahaa :) It's ridiculous once the car is packed and we look like we are in the circus lol! But it works! Keep this in mind as you figure out the following. 
2. Branding + payment.  Signage is super important + business cards + your logo/shop name on every single thing you are selling. I have been to several booths where i cannot find either a business card or the price & name of a shop marked clearly on the product. It's always good to have your items clearly marked for your customer to easily purchase and take home with your info. For payment we have been using Squareup (love it) + cash ( bring plenty of $1's + $5's and $10's. Also, don't forget bags for your customers to take your product home (fill it with a business card and we like to add a free gift with every purchase, a sheet of our cute heart stickers.
3. Make your items accessible & organized. Since we have so many little items this is a bit tricky. I have to depend on a lot of little baskets etc to help sort our product for our customers to browse through. I try to add height and depth by using books & boxes. This makes it easier for people to scan & see everything.  
4. Above all, Be friendly :) not weird. i mean this in a nice way. i give people there space. i say hi and smile like this --> :) but way cuter. jk. ;P I wait for them to ask questions. i don't stare at them to see what they are looking at. i've been to several booths where i feel SUPER uncomfortable when the seller is just staring or has to explain everything they are selling for 30 min. It just makes me not want to buy anything and get the heck out of there. have i mentioned i think i might be socially awkward? Don't get me wrong! i do have fun meeting awesome people that "Get" my shop. It's like we're long lost friends. Girl i could talk about my paper crush allll day :) lol! 
5. I think decorating our booth is the last thing i think about. i know our booth will probably never win the most beautiful booth but i love it.  In our current booth, I went with a crisp white linen for our table cloth ( from Target ) and added handmade white fabric yo-yo's & vintage buttons to the centers. To add depth & texture to the booth background i added the HUGE paper pin wheels to our backdrop. it's my favorite. it's like a happy shop party :) 

Thank you so much for your beautiful comment Valerie and all the best with your plans for your upcoming booth! I know it's going to look lovely! Hope everything goes smoothly and lots of success to you :)

sigh... i'm tired of typing.  and you are probably tired of reading. so lets call it even :)

happy DIY'ing to you and go try something new!

xo

-d