enJOY it

it’s like the end of an era.

January 16, 2014

On Sunday at noon PST I'm closing the stamp shop doors.

I cannot believe that my little THIS on an arrow stamp turned into an adventure and such a sizeable chunk of my business. (You can read about how the stamp shop came to be here.)

I started with six stamp designs in April 2012 and I am closing with 36. I was hopeful that the original pop-up shop would result in a few hundred sales and have been humbled by your support and overwhelmed in the best way with what it turned into. As of last night, I had sold 5835 stamps.

The biggest thing that came from the stamps is surprisingly, not the stamps themselves. The stamps were the push I needed to start my own self-hosted shop and streamline my packaging and shipping processes. (You can read more here about how and why I ventured away from etsy and to e.junkie in the process of launching the stamp shop.)

Since my original launch, I have moved even further away from "the shop that looked like a blog" into the "website that is a shop." I love website coding an awkward amount and so it's been a fun challenge (and less expensive!) for me to self-host.

It's time to close because I'm ready for the next thing. It would be easy enough to keep cranking out four or five designs every few months, but the reality is that the sales are not coming in how they used to and ultimately, making stamps is no longer exciting to me. And that's okay. Change is good. Growth is good. Evolve or die, right?

Since day one, I have had the stamps produced in the USA by simonstamp.com and cannot recommend them enough. They are a great company to work with and I'll miss them (and they'll probably miss me and my crazy orders too, ha!).

So what's next? Soon I am launching a new shop concept that over the next year will play host to many different handmade items. It's bold and (perhaps a little too) ambitious but oh, it's been fun to think about and plan for. I will be experimenting with some new and old techniques, learning a lot and working like crazy. I can't wait to share more over the next few weeks. I hope you'll stay tuned.

And as this era closes, I have to say, thank you. Thank you for your stamp shop orders and thank you for supporting my small business. Cheers to the next adventure.
three things I do when I am feeling un-inspired.

January 15, 2014

I originally shared this post on Amy’s blog, but while I am away from my desk at PLAY! in Anaheim, I wanted to re-run it here for those of you that may have missed it or need some creative inspiration to start the new year.

Something I have learned over the years is that there are days and weeks (and even months!) when I lack inspiration for accomplishing anything above and beyond everyday activities. This is always frustrating because a big part of my job is coming up with new ideas for projects so I have something interesting to share here on the blog or something to sell in my shop. The most important part of dealing with lack of inspiration is acknowledging it. I used to really panic – “oh no! All of my ideas are gone!” But now I understand that the ebb and flow of inspiration is part of creativity. It’s normal and the ideas will surely return. But when I am in a rut and want out, these are a few things that help me feel motivated and creative again.

1. I clean my crafting workspace. I’m not talking about clearing a surface to make something new, I’m talking about doing a detailed cleaning of every nook and cranie. I go through every drawer, every box and every pile. The goal is to see what I have, sort through it all and purge what I don’t need. It’s awesome. When I am feeling uninspired is the perfect time to do it too because there is nothing else to work on and it’s incredibly productive. Inevitably, I end up with less stuff and usually a few ideas, just from re-seeing everything I have.

2. I go through my Pinterest pins. Like many other folks, I love Pinterest. I have pinned over 4000 images in the past few years. Almost everyday I log on and see what’s new and pin to my various boards. This is more of a habit than anything else. I have noticed though, that when I am lacking ideas, going back through things I have already pinned can be super inspiring. I don’t look through what is new, I look through what is old. Often, seeing images I have liked in the past sparks something in the present and I get motivated to tackle a new project or experiment with a different color scheme. It can be more fun (and less overwhelming) sometimes to go back through my own boards than look through other peoples. This same method has worked in the past too. I used to go through old magazine tearsheets or browse my favorite photos on flickr.

3. I think ahead. Let’s say it’s May and I am at a complete loss for what sorts of things I can blog about this month. Sometimes, pulling out a sheet of paper and making lists of autumn projects or holiday projects can help. As I write down things that are not “to-do list” items for right now, just pure inspiration and daydreams, it sometimes spurns ideas of what I can work on or write about in the present. I suppose this can seem counter-intuitive, but really, it works by taking the pressure off. And again, worst case, you have a ton of ideas for the next season to help avoid encounter inspiration burnout in the future.
i love january.

January 14, 2014

west elm charity mugs, vince camuto scarf, Moments to Live for DIY washi tape stickers, UGG glitter loafer, print liberation tee, west elm modern wooden candle holders, everlane weekender bag.

Really, there is no need for any of this, but it's always fun to make a wishlist. I have those candle holders (was thrilled to get up to the register and find they were on sale) and they are so excellent. Perfect year round, not just for the holidays. And those washi tape stickers? GENIUS. I think they'd made great giant confetti (when stuck to cardstock) too.
this is why I am addicted to weaving.

January 13, 2014

one / it's cheap; I get to use up all my leftover yarn.

two / it's easy; I pick it up when I have time and let it sit when I don't.

three / it's flexible; sections can easily be pulled out or added in.

four / it's experimental; I can play around with various color combinations.

I've been using the Martha Stewart loom kit, but you can totally make one with nails and a piece of scrap wood. See more woven projects here and here.
weekend links / 01.

January 11, 2014

As part of my word WHOLE this year, I want celebrate the work of others by sharing links to my friends, possible friends and complete strangers who are doing great things on the Internet. This is some of the rad stuff I recently saw online…

such an honest post from Ali about being present & living hands-free.

the perfect business card for an off-beat stationery company.

love this succulent poster.

a shutter remote for iPhone? I'm intrigued.

this project image is so very inspiring to me.

and these photos taken throughout a day are making me want to break out my big camera. (the smoke coming off that muffin wins.)

concrete suggestions for authentically growing your Instagram reach.

what a great mission statement.

and just for fun…the best giggle ever.
around here.

January 10, 2014

Safe to say 2014 is off and running. Ellerie can sit and is cutting teeth like a pro. Paul is working nutty hours and still coming home upbeat. I've got more sharpie-d lists than I know what do to with. The only person who didn't get the memo is my laptop who I think is grinding herself towards a slow and painful death (I am so sick of that spinning rainbow I could just scream).

I am glad to have taken the first BIG step to getting my shop & blog newsletter off the ground by creating a mailchimp account. Admittedly, this first step (opening the sign up list) is an easy one and the hard steps (creating authentic, interesting and valuable content for said newsletter) are to follow. But sometimes the first step takes the most effort so I am glad to be rolling. If you'd like to sign-on for some spam-free, occasional updates from me, you can do so here. Please note, this is different than receiving my daily blog posts in your email inbox (which you can do towards the bottom right of this blog page).

Super random update, the jade wreath on my front door is alive and well! We're a month in, and it looks pretty much the same as it did when I made it … and a few of the buds have flowered! That can't be a bad thing. I bought a water bottle with spray attachment and have been misting it every few days. It dries out often because this time of year the front of our house gets some pretty intense sun.

Perhaps even more random, I got my favorite pre-kiddo e&p photo out of it's old frame and into a new one. It's currently hanging in our bathroom and startles me every time I walk in.

If you follow me on Pinterest this is old news, but this past week I got a crazy dream to cover our boring carpeted bedroom in layered rugs. This is going to take some time since I'd love to not pay insane prices for the styles I am looking for and instead "collect" the rugs from craigslist and secondhand shops. I love that this will be a bit more flexible, comfortable and less expensive than installing travertine like we did in my beloved office. Plus, I figure I can always resell the rugs if and when I get "over" this plan. As this project progresses I'll share more here, but so far my craigslist find rug count is at one. And I love this one (it's huge and originally from…ikea, ha!).

Friendly reminder that you can shop stamps for just one more week before I'm offically retire from stamps.

Have a great weekend.
“oh, that didn’t pan out.”

January 9, 2014

When my mom was in town last weekend, one of the things she helped me do was massively purge my collection of fabric scraps. (I have a "scrap quilt" on my "someday list" and so we were cutting down pieces into manageable sizes.)

Some of the fabric in the collection is easily recognizable as something from one of the 800 quilts in this house or the cushions in our old townhouse. Other pieces, not so much. More than twice my mom held up a pattern (or sometimes various patterns haphazardly sewn together) and asked, "what project was this for?"

More than twice I shrugged and answered "oh, that didn't pan out."

Part of my job is executing on ideas and trying different things so I can share projects on this blog. Sometimes this results in something awesome. Other times it results in a mess. The key is being able seperate the awesome from the awful and ideally recognizing the messes early(ish) in the process. I hate taking something all the way from start to finish (with step-by-step photos even!) and then realizing I don't like the project. It's often a blurry line and it can be so frustrating to stop something in the middle and let it go.

But at the same time, it's so incredibly freeing. Taking something that I'm not loving or enjoying off my layer three (more on this here) to-do list is like letting go of a heavy weight. I always feel good when I give up projects that are not coming together like I hoped. True, it's hard to know that I have already spent time (and money!) but I'd rather have wasted time and money than wasted time and money AND have something in my house (or on the blog) that I don't love.

In December, I gave up on my quilted tree skirt idea. I bought (expensive!) fabric, cut it before I had a perfect plan and hated how it was coming together. So I tried to re-cut the pieces and started sewing the scraps together. Then I hated the second plan even more. The pile of fabric mocked me from my sewing table and to-do list every day until I finally tossed it in the scrap box (and then bought a tree skirt on clearance at Target on December 26).

Another recent example was my black and white striped knitting project that I thought was going to become a rug. After way (way) too many stitches I realized it was a bit narrow. Bullheadedly, I kept going, figuring there would be a way to make it work once it was done. And then after many (many) more stitches I realized it was oddly misshapen (bowing in in the center – which I think is a result of making my stitching too tight OR the fact that I didn't keep my strips of fabric consistent).

I had to be honest with myself and awknowledge that this wasn't something I'd actually use. I'm all about imperfection but this not good. So off the knitting needles it went and I found the next project (weaving!) to keep my hands busy while we're watching TV in the evenings. It wasn't a total loss either since now I know that fabric knitting looks rad and I have it on the back of my mind for future (perhaps smaller scale?) projects.

The lesson (if you're the sort of person that likes a lesson with your morning blog posts) is that the more crafts that I try and the more projects I experiment with, the more ideas I have. I've found that it's totally worth the exploration and possible failures to get to the good stuff.

And it's also totally worth it to stop or let go when something isn't working.
quinoa for breakfast.

January 8, 2014

My new go to breakfast is cooked quinoa. I make a big batch at the beginning of the week and then reheat with a bit of milk every morning. I throw in a bit of honey, cinnamon, sliced almonds & banana. It's like oatmeal, but so much more filling. So far, very much enjoying celebrating my mornings with photos in 2014.

ps. this is still our favorite savory way to enjoy quinoa.
our photo shoot in a photo book.

January 7, 2014

You may remember that in May I had a maternity shoot with the fabulous Tara Whitney. Then, in July, after Paul was officially home from deployment we did a family shoot at the house. I have printed and framed a few of the photos from that shoot (hopefully more to come). But I really wanted a photo book of my favorite images and decided to go through Pinhole Press after seeing the beautiful wedding album a girlfriend of mine had made.

I loved that there was a panoramic option so I could get huge seemless photo spreads. I used their online system and uploaded all my photos (it was quick and painless even though the files were huge) and choose from their various layouts to fit my needs.

For the most part, the beginning of the book is the materinity shoot and the end is the family shoot, but I decided to mix the maternity photos in with the baby photos wherever it made sense.

Like these two from a similar angle.

And then with these three with the repeating theme of her baby quilt.

The book I made had room for 60 pages. Because I really wanted to print some huge (taking up a full spread), I was selective about what went in. There are some layout options that fit more photos – (I want to say 6 or 8?) – but for this book I only used the spreads that fit three.

The spine and the backing are bookcloth (you can choose various colors) and the total size is 8.75 x 8.75 inches.

I am SO thrilled with the quality. The paper stock and printing are beautiful and those panorama pages are so fun. I am also so glad that these photos are off my harddrive and into something that can be looked through. I predict there will be much more bookmaking through Pinhole Press in my future.

ps.. we ordered their calendars to give to the Grandmas for Christmas and the quality was awesome (even with iPhone photos!). Custom calendars are currently 20% off with code 2014.

please note : this is not a sponsored post. I paid for the book myself, adored it and wanted to share a truly excellent product and memory-keeping solution. However, the links throughout are affiliate, so if you purchase through them, I will recieve a small commission.
goals for this year.

January 6, 2014
I'm not that big on resolutions but unless you're just visiting for the first time, you know I've very big on goals. I set monthly goals, birthday goals, business goals & yearly goals. I set big goals, small goals, overly ambitious goals and simple goals. I even wrote an ecourse on goal-setting.

My focus on goal-setting over the past few years has helped me grow creatively. I have found that the more goals I set and obtain, the more inspired (& motivated!) I feel both personally and professionally. I look forward to each year as an opportunity to dream up new intentions.

In 2014 I'd love to :
- take a pottery class
- start a podcast
- finish decorating the house (hallway, master bedroom, entryway & bathrooms)
- launch a shop newsletter
- grow a decent vegetable garden
- finish off the backyard
- take a trip as a family
- capture one photo of the three of us each month
- take my shop in a new direction
Three major business goals and six major personal goals. They are specific (well, not that last one but that's because my plan is currently under wraps) and will involve a decent amount of work, time, effort (and in some cases, money) but the benefits should be numerous.

Goals should make you excited, not horrified (or even worse, bored) and all of these are layer three (more on that here) tasks that I cannot wait to make progress on.

Let's roll, 2014.