Rainy days + Mondays

I hate the combo of rain and Monday! It makes the beginning of the week a little extra "blah". Definitely crossing my fingers for some sunshine! This weekend I: Knocked out 3 pillows for our living room I am OBSESSED! I am making 2 more today. We have a sectional, so I like to fill it with pillows. I am also going to be refinishing a rocking chair from my Mom and I think I might make a pillow to place on that. It is all wood, and I think the little cushion would be nice. Hit the mother load on fabric!  I picked up a few of these before on sale, this time they were final markdown so I was geeking out!

I skipped down to Jo-Ann's after I left Hobby Lobby, and I found these upholstery fabric samples 50%, so $1 each! They are great for the makeup bags I do, the fabric is perfect for it.

The next thing I did, might cause you to question my sanity. I started planning Thanksgiving dinner. Nuts, I know! I started browsing for invites to order and nothing has really jumped out at me yet.
Then I went to Cardstore to see what they had to offer and found some SUPER cute options! (and I may have gotten Thanksgiving sidetracked and spent 30 minutes looking at baby shower invite options for my sister!)
I've also just discovered the Cardstore blog, Cardstyle! They have just placed a guide to the perfect "Christmas In July" party--you must check it out! 
Source--check it out!
They have some amazing tips--and I may just have to make that mulled ice wine ASAP!
Have a GREAT week!!!

Weekly Obsessions

This has been a pretty chill week. I had a few job interviews, my niece stayed over, and I watched an insane amount of tv.
A few things I am loving: Wen Hair Care This summer my hair has been a bitch. I have tried everything. Conditioning masks, leave in treatments, oils, EVERYTHING.  I have been hearing good things about this lately and when Meg (one of my favorite bloggers, check her out!) said she has been loving it, I decided to try. I got pretty lucky, my Mom bought some on QVC (she is retired now, I guess that is how she is passing the time.) She told me she loved it, but her hair is so short, she thought I'd get better use out of it. So sweet. She had the Spring Gardenia and I love it. I have used it just twice now and I cannot believe the difference in my hair.

Hobby Lobby...no shocker there!  I typically only shop HL for craft supplies, or if there is a sale. In the last month, I have gotten KILLER deals on home decor. I found 4 MUST have items for under $5 each. 90% aisle treated me well. In addition to that, I was like an addict needing a fix in the fabric aisle. I came home with over 6 yards of beautiful fabric for less than $17.

I am OBSESSED with the town Farmer's Market! It is no doubt the highlight of my week lately and I am so beyond stoked to go tonight.
Annnnnnnnnnnd my other obsession? My killer boudoir photograher. I keep creeping on pictures of myself. Vain? Nah.

Playing Catch Up

It has been an interesting week or so.
I can finally say that my little sister is pregnant with her 2nd baby! To help announce the pregnancy (she and her husband are in Colorado until Dec.) I made this great shirt for my nephew:
"This Superhero is getting a sidekick"

(I think I am going to list the design in my Etsy store! I have had 3 calls so far from people that saw it on Facebook!)
He definitely wasn't pleased at first. It was traumatic for all of us. He ended up just wanting to sit in his room with Justin reading books. Eventually, he came around. He is going to be an excellent big brother!

I filmed my Mom finding out. I wish I had been able to do that for everyone, but it wasn't possible.
This week has mostly been spent crafting and cleaning. Tons of fun, right ;)

Living Room Decor

Our living room is getting closer and closer to finished!  We decided to say F painting for the moment. I hate painting! Our walls are a taupe color right now, and I can live with that. I do eventually want to paint, but I feel like our entire house is in various stages of completed. It makes not sense to tape off another room. A few weeks ago we picked up these curtains

I am obsessed with them! The great thing? They are ombre. We hung them upside down so the go from Orange (Target calls them coral...I disagree) to White. They can be hung either way!

We have a sofa table (I think that is what they are called?) that we put along the wall because the layout of our room doesn't allow it behind the sofa. 

It is full of wedding pictures and is a great focal point.

In this photo, the table isn't centered. It is now, I promise!!

And excuse my mass amounts of cat toys. Our cats are like toddlers and have toy piles everywhere.

The gold "G" was formerly in our dining room but it no longer works.

The green little statue things on the table are from Hobby Lobby--MAJOR sale! The were originally $30 each and I got them for $4.70!

I made all of the canvas and wood blocks myself. 

The only close up I have of the big canvas is before the final paint color. Originally, it was teal. But I decided it was too much blue. So it was switched to gold, but this gives a great close up of the bird design.

I am OBSESSED! The bird was cut out of shelf liner from Dollar Tree! Isn't that so thrifty fun!?

The blocks are just left over wood blocks from a custom order I had. I cut different orange fleur de lis designs. I thought the silhouette was just fun. I wanted the wall to be a hodge podge of different things. The other canvas (not pictured) says, "So, I love you because the entire universe conspired to help me find you" It is a quote from The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. It is one of our favorites and we used it in our wedding programs.

On the wall where the tv sits, we hung these:

I've only had them for THREE years sitting in a closet. They were purchased at Lowe's for $20 each.

 My Mom called me a few weeks ago and told me a great story. Back in 1985, she wanted this rocking chair so badly. Looked at it constantly. When she found out she was pregnant she went to buy it, and it had been sold.

That night my Dad came home with the rocking chair.

She told me that she wanted me to have it, and I am so excited to add it to our living room! She and I are going to strip it and stain it ebony to match the room.

I am SO happy to have this room nearly finished! Once the chair is here,  I only need to make throw pillows and finish one wall.

wooohoo!!

Weekend Wrap Up!

Goodness! This has been a crazy 4 days or so! Thursday I spent HOURS cleaning our house. Mop, vacuum, dust, hang pictures in the living room...yuck. I am not a neat freak--at all. I am a total slob. So it sucked. Friday, Justin took a 1/2 day and we spent 4 hours and a bunch of money on food and decor for the party. That night, my college roommate came down to spend the weekend! We were up until 1am making rice. It was a long night! Saturday--PARTY DAY! Justin and I woke up and went to pick up the group gift at Kohl's and I grabbed a new dress for the party. A solid black maxi--and yet, no pictures. Lame. Here is the cake: How cute, right?! The sand is the BEST thing! It is like a mix of brown sugar and graham crackers. Obsessed! When we got the cake, I needed a cupcake, of course Here is the pineapple palm tree I made I didn't want to waste pineapple, so I also added the little shrubs--and made everyone promise to eat the pineapple on Sunday. Here are a few more party shots: My Step dad having a great time Opening the group gift--a Margaritaville Margarita Machine! The other part of the group gift was a gift bag full of tequila and mixers! It was definitely a great weekend. Yesterday we had brunch and said goodbye to Marissa. And then laid around all day. We had Chinese take out for dinner and watched a ton of movies. It was lovely!

I need a little creative pow-wow

My Etsy shop is doing pretty well, I am getting a lot of custom orders.  Which is great, and I love them.
Here are my issues though... *I am getting a lot of orders from friends/family/word of mouth. These are local orders and they are typically not paid through Etsy. This is great because I don't have the processing fee, and they do not have delivery as I drop off or they pick up. Downside-- I don't get the "numbers". Because they are placed this way, my Etsy sale total is a measly 2.    *I am thinking to start a Facebook page. This way, I could reach a wider audience, and I could list some of the items I have been making that are too large to ship or too complex to ship.
*How do fellow crafters/shop owners handle custom orders? Should I be adding more money to the total? I thought my prices were great-I am making about a 50% profit on each item. However, the last 3 deliveries have resulted in the person telling me I should charge more. Which would be awesome--if I could do it. I am cheap! Maybe adding a $5 up charge to any custom product?
*I am also getting tons of ideas thrown at me. "You should do this" "Do it this way" "Make something with this quote" and as much as they might sell, it isn't my style. How should I handle this? For an order, I will ABSOLUTELY do it. But for the people that are just giving me suggestions, I cannot decide if compromising my "style" and what I envision for my shop is worth a sale. 
Thoughts?

Sew and Sew

There are few things that I love as much as I love my sewing machine. But, I somehow lack the capacity to follow a sewing pattern. I am more of a wing it kind of gal. It results in a lot of wasted supplies. But, it works for me.
I was just text a photo of something that I am pretty positive I cannot make. I really want the order, and I am impressed this person thought my skill level was that high. But there is no way. 
Perhaps I need to practice. 
Any great projects with simple directions? I get very overwhelmed with a bunch of steps and cuts of fabric. To date, I've stuck to scarves and makeup bags for the shop.  I've like to knock out a really big purse, and eventually move on to clothing.

Thankful Thursday

I used to link up with one of my favorite bloggers to do a Thankful Thursday post.  Unfort, she hasn't posted lately, so I am just going to do a post of my own.
This week I am thankful for:
*My husband--as usual!
Yesterday was my birthday. He woke me with cupcakes in bed and singing Happy Birthday! I'm going to get real with you for a minute, I truly didn't think this much happiness was ever possible. HOW was this guy made?? He is perfection. He is really the greatest part of my life.
*Also thankful for my hilarious friends! I got this little gem in the mail: I kind of love Michael Bolton.
*Instagram linked with Facebook.  I *hated* instagram until yesterday. I used it here and there for the past year or so, but never loved it. Then I realized I never linked it with my facebook (which is probably why when I tried to share my instagram photos they were always private). Then yesterday, I linked and well hellllllllllllllo. Picture mecca. 
*New Fabric!!!! Hello new makeup bags for .West 19th.!! I am in love with them.
It has been a FULL week for me! I am ready for the weekend for sure! I also have a minor sprain in my wrist. It has been like 2 weeks and it gets better, then worse. My crafty side has been taking a hiatus with hopes it heals. Mornings SUCK. I cannot open or close my hand at all--maybe I should get this checked out? Perhaps.

Hodgepodge

I've been a bit MIA in the last week.
Updates:
*The craft show last weekend definitely exceeded expectations!! So many custom orders for .West 19th.! *The Etsy shop is UP and selling! I have only had one "sale" on Etsy, but about 8 custom orders placed from people that are local and are avoiding ship charges. *Last night was the Volunteer Waitress Night for Cystic Fibrosis. My cousin has CF so this is definitely a BIG cause for my family! *Tonight, this handsome guy and I will be seeing Celtic Woman
Cannot. wait.
* This weekend we are celebrating my 28th birthday. So excited to go out! 

Craft Closet

I need a dedicated crafting space The problem is, we have a small condo. Well, not really "small", just not a lot of empty space. I want to avoid crafts downstairs. It is our entertaining space and the last thing I need to fabric and bobbins all over.
We have one spare room, but I have babies on the brain, so that is out also.
So, I have this dream of a craft closet: Source
Source
The spare room as two large closets, so this would definitely be an option. The other option is a hall closet. It would be an easier undertaking, as it is large enough to hold a desk.
This weekend, my Father in Law showed me his awesome craft cupboard.  It was similar to this: Source
How awesome would that be!? 

Etsy shop!!

This weekend, I officially opened my Etsy shop!  I only have two products listed right now. I was editing pictures to list, I decided to wait until next Sunday (4/14) to list everything else. I have a craft show on Saturday and I want to have plenty of inventory to take with me. Next Sunday, you will see: Picture frames!  Shadow Boxes! Make Up Bags! Tote Bags! Infinity Scarves! Water bottles/cups personalized! Baby items!

Check it out HERE!

Craft Madness

Next weekend, April 13th, I have a craft fair. I've only been prepping for THREE months. I shouldn't be this far behind.
However, in Jess world "prepping": Order sweet fabric Picking out new business cards Ordering a cool square reader (ok that one actually helped a lot---I LOVE it!!) Planning my day of outfit
Not taking inventory. Not making sure I have enough of everything.
Thankfully, I have been a busy bee this week, and will probably finish up next Wednesday. That gives me two days to pack up and get organized. 
Nothing like last minute ;)
Monday I will post pics and links!