Simply Hue

My interview with Vicki, of Simply Hue, goes live today. Please check it out!

Sneak Peek.

So here is a little sneak peak of what is to come to The Stationery Boutique this summer. You all know how much I L O V E D my Paper Source field trip last week. Just their colors alone are inspiring. I can't get enough of those bold and beautiful hues. Oh, the ideas!

I also plan on trying out a new size, A2, for my note cards. Up until this point I have used the 4Bar size exclusively, with a few exeptions here and there. I'm also going to give flat cards a go, too.

While I was on R + R I created a lot of new designs, as well as modifications to existing designs. For example, I made a few adjustments to my existing Seashell and Dandelion Note Card sets to accommodate the new color palatte I'll be using. Now that I'm back home I'm in the process of printing the new designs and going to start photographing them within the next couple of weeks.

It's great to get back to work! My "work" is so much fun!!

Seven Years and Counting.

It's been seven years today since Mike and I got married. Wow, I can't believe we still haven't unwrapped the china! No really, time has seriously flown by...

I vividly remember seeing him walking down the halls at Cal Poly. I thought he was sooo handsome and was very excited to see him in one of my first classes. Turns out he was a Geology major, too! I think our first class together was Minerology, Fall 1999. He had me at Ordered Atomic Arrangement. We became study partners and it wasn't too long before studying became "studying". We eventually became a couple.

He left Cal Poly about six months before me. The Air Force brought him to Wyoming so we were apart of a huge chunk of time. I would fly out there when I could, and he'd fly back out to CA when he could. He was able to come home for the holidays. It was Christmas 2001 that he surprised me with an engagement ring.

June 17, 2002 is when we exchanged vows in front of a small group of our friends and family (we would have our huge wedding and reception {Mike calls it the Public Viewing} the following Spring). I left Cal Poly and moved to Wyoming with my husband.

The rest is the first few chapters in our history book. I love you Baby! Happy Anniversary.

A Great Week.

So my days of R + R are almost done. I got to spend a whole lot of time doing a whole lot of nothing. Which is a good thing. And for some reason, the boys decided to sleep in almost every day. I don't know why, but I'm not complaining. I slept until 9 a couple of times and stayed in my jammies till lunch.

But at the same time I am getting a little antsy to start getting back to work. I can't wait to relist everything in my shop. And as soon as I get some photos taken of the new stuff I'll be adding those, too. Whenever I see a "just sold and relisted" post on Twitter I get even more anxious to get back to work. That's the beauty of loving what you do!

As you can see, I've been working on changing the look of The Stationery Boutique. So far, I've made the changes to Twitter, my blog, and Etsy. I eventually want to do my main website, too, but have no idea where to start as far as html goes. I can attempt to do it myself, but who knows how that will end up. I want the design to be my creation, so I don't think I will be hiring a web designer this time. Maybe just someone to do all the html work for me? Is there a such thing?

You know what else has been awesome? In the week that I have been away from home I have been featured on Etsy Item of the Day, Pretty by Pistachio, Lemon Drop Studio is hosting a giveaway featuring my Dandelion Note Cards, AND my Peony Wedding Suite is being featured in an Etsy Treasury. I feel so honored and blessed to be noticed by all of these wonderful ladies! Thank you!

So, Wednesday I will be headed back home, back to reality. Being away has really made me realize how much I love my business and how blessed I am to be able to do it from home.

A Kid in a {Paper} Shop.

OK, so I've just recently started shopping at the Paper Source online store. I love their colors, I love the envelopes (which will start to show up in my shop this summer), I love how all of their products coordinate. Oh how I would love to peruse an actual store. Well, today I finally got to. I am at my moms visiting and she happens to live near the South Coast Plaza Mall in Costa Mesa, which happens to have a brick and mortar Paper Source. I know, to some this might sound totally ridiculous, getting all excited to go see paper. But if you love paper like me, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

So this morning I got the kids up, fed and dressed kinda early cause once 12:00 comes around they are like ticking time bombs. I wanted to spend as much time as I could in there before lunch and nap time rolled around. I had my mom with me too, because the chances of me being totally distracted by the mass amounts of Papaya and Pool were pre-tty high.

I could see it from across the mall and when I walked through the doors I swear I heard a triumphant angelic chorus. The walls were covered in Rhubarb, Curry, Moss and more. It was a sight. I could have easily stayed for a couple of hours but as lunch time approached the kids started to get restless. They even had a little section with a whole bunch of kid stuff. My mom bought the boys some monster looking finger puppets. It kept them busy while I made my final round of the store.

I highly recommend going to a Paper Source store if you are ever near one. You could definitely say I left inspired.

Etsy Item of the Day -- Bicycle Note Cards!

Yay! I'm so excited. This is my very first feature... Thank you Jackie!

Etsy Item of the Day!

Have you guys come across the Etsy Item of the Day! blog? It's a fantastic little site that totally gives props to many of the thousands of Etsy sellers one item at a time. Jackie, the lovely lady behind this wonderful blog has a passion, much like the rest of us, to "buy, sell and live Handmade". Each day you will find a new favorite of Jackie's posted front and center at Etsy Item of the Day. Keep your eyes peeled because one of my items from my Etsy shop will be featured in a couple of days. Don't worry, I'll remind you!


Oh, and you can also follow Jackie on Twitter... @etsytoday.