Thursday, December 16, 2010

blog giveaways!!!

It's time for the Winter Sew Mama Sew giveaways and I'm having so much fun finding new blogs! My sis Dez told me about the last time they had the giveaways- she won like 4 prizes!!!

All of the giveaways are amazing! I stumbled upon Renovating Our Foursquare- a blog that is offering 2 yards of Anna Maria Horner fabric as a prize!!! OH MY! If I could only be so lucky to win it : )

What amazing giveaways are you finding?

Thursday, December 9, 2010

trying this out

Today while looking for a clutch tutorial I stumbled upon this little number by Noodlehead:I've tried to stay away from using zippers.... but this seems like an easy project to try them out on. Wish me luck- off to the sewing machine : )

.gathered clutch. tutorial found here

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

almost september

image found via google images

Enough is enough... right? It's been three weeks since I've blogged!!! The last time I posted it was almost August and now there's only one week until September. It has been a crazy couple of weeks for me with work, but I'll admit it was easy to slip out of the habit of blogging. Hopefully with things a little tamer at work I'll be able to get back in the habit of blogging- and stick with it!

Friday, July 30, 2010

almost august

Wow, it's almost August! You know what that means for most- getting ready to head back to school. There are back to school specials just about everywhere, but guess who's not hitting any of them up- this girl!

old school cursive eye candy journal by crab apple design


Back in May when I graduated I said graduating probably wouldn't set in until fall when I really didn't go back to school. And I'm right- I think it still hasn't set in and probably won't until school is really back in session. What I do know is that for the first time in my life I don't have to worry about getting ready to go back to school, like I did every past fall. For those of you who are heading back enjoy your August and enjoy school- it really will go by faster than you think!

Thursday, July 29, 2010

ladies night at lara's

I'm excited to announce an amazing event that will be held at Lara's Tortilla Flats- Ladies Night! Ladies Night will include dinner, drinking and shopping from local vendors of handmade goods from the Oshkosh area.

Ladies Night at Lara’s Tortilla Flats is $12 at the door and includes dinner, a drink ticket and a free raffle ticket to win one of the 10 door prizes. The first Ladies Night at Lara's will be next Tuesday August 3rd from 6-9pm. Vendors will be selling: coffee, candles, ceramics, sarongs, jewelry, bamboo socks, wearable art, purses, decorated tiles, sugar scrubs, kids jewelry, cards & much more!

The space is limited to 10 vendors each month, so I won't be selling this month. But I'm excited to have an event like this in downtown Oshkosh! If your near stop by for dinner and check out the great gifts available.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

favorite new find

A few weeks ago when I was sharing some inspiration boards of things I love, I shared one that featured owls. Well the other day I came across a blog that is solely dedicated to all things owl. It's AMAZING!!!

I love it, and it's called My Owl Barn. If you love owls you need to check out this blog for a daily does of owly cuteness. Check out these pictures from some of the recent posts:


Tuesday, July 27, 2010

flight of fancy

Every summer near the end of July Oshkosh hosts the International Experimental Aircraft Association Fly-In Convention- known around here as EAA. For this event thousands of aircraft enthusiasts from around the world visit Oshkosh's EAA grounds to visit the museum, view unique aircrafts, catch the daily afternoon air show and much more.

For four years now I've worked as a waitress in downtown Oshkosh and every year I enjoy meeting new faces from around the world. It's always nice too to see the faces that come back year after year as well.

Even though I don't know too much about Aviation, it's fun to watch the unique aircrafts fly overhead in the air show. Although I've never actually visited the convention grounds during EAA it's an event I look forward to summer after summer.

airplane vinyl wall decal by circle line studios

aviator skirt by urban sapling

tailwind pinup by vanguard gallery


plane and simple by verdigris dye

Friday, July 23, 2010

guest post & tutorial!

As part of my sister Desiree's July blog series, she's invited me to guest post on her blog. She's currently featuring all things Christmas and asked me to share a tutorial for an easy add on gift. Please stop by and visit me at .simply.simon. today for my post on her series "Christmas in July" to see what I've made!

Thursday, July 22, 2010

rainy day

Today has been an icky rainy day... I was glad to be stuck inside working all day! The weather reminded me of a quick sketch I did a while back. Seeing it made my rainy day a bit better!
rainy day fun- ink on paper

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

scarf update

beginning of my braided knit scarf

As promised here are some pictures of the beginning of my braided knit scarf. I hoped to put these up last Friday, but my computer had different thoughts and decided to have a mini crash on me : ( I love these bold colors- I think they will be great for fall weather!

So far I have three out of the five strands finished! They are seriously taking a lot longer than I expected. I thought they would knit up pretty fast because they are so skinny- each is about an inch wide- but I also had to knit them much longer than the scarf length I'd like because of the braiding.

It's a great project to work on while watching a movie. Hopefully the last two strands won't take me too much longer to finish- I can't wait to see the finished product!

(un)braided knit scarf

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

crazy busy weekend

Hello all, hope your weekend was great! Mine was super busy- but really fun! I started my weekend off early and headed to Madison Thursday night to see a Mallards baseball game with my friend Ellen. Although we didn't watch much of the game, we had a lot of fun catching up with each other. While in Madison I also visited a great fabric shop, Stitcher's Crossing, and found these great prints:
Friday night my parents came into town late and stayed the night. On Saturday we all woke up really early for the Fremont Triathlon! My family and I have done this 'mini' triathlon for 5 years now. This year's race was a 1/8 mile swim, a 12 mile bike ride and a 2 mile run. And this year was my mom's first year joining us! She usually is our cheerleader and photographer, but after some persuasion from Dad she joined us- and did really great!

On our way back to my apartment we picked up Seth's mom, Diane, in New London for Wedding Dress Shopping!!! We first headed to David's Bridal then off to another bridal shop in downtown Appleton, The Bridal Event. I probably tried on over 20 dresses and think I have it narrowed down to two. Although I had my parents and Diane with me, I still want both my sisters there with me to let me know what they think.

Saturday night after my parents headed back home, Diane and I headed to a barbecue at our friends Matt & Kristina's house. Seth was at a bachelor party all day so the two of us decided to go together. Seth went to high school with Matt and Kristina and their moms are great friends with Diane. It was good to see everyone and a great way to wind down a busy day.

On Sunday Seth and I had a super lazy day until the afternoon when we met up his family for his grandma's 80th birthday! We met up for dinner and drinks at her favorite restaurant, The Black Otter, in celebration. It was the perfect end to a crazy busy weekend!

Thursday, July 15, 2010

so not scarf weather...

I realize that it is so not scarf weather, but a few weeks ago I saw a really awesome tutorial for a braided scarf. I've seen them before and always wanted to make one. Plus it seemed pretty simple to follow and because of simply simon's Christmas in July I've been thinking wintery lately.... so I've started one.

I'll hopefully be sharing some pictures tomorrow of my own braided scarf (minus the braid- I'm not there yet)! Now that I'm about half way done I wanted to share the link with you and cannot find it-grrrrrrr!

I have however, managed to find a similar scarf here- with a tutorial! Doesn't it look so warm and cozy?

braided knit scarf

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

funny face save the date

After yesterday's save the date post I found this hilarious save the date. I guess that's one way to save on paper!

funny face save the date via journeys of mangonett

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

save the dates

Lately save the dates have become more and more of a fun way to express the personality of a couple. Seth and I have know for a while now exactly what we'd like to do for our save the dates... needless to say it does have something to do with baseball. I won't start making for a little while yet, so I'll wait to share what exactly we have in store for them.

With our limited budget we considered for a little while whether or not we really needed them, but being that our wedding will be on a holiday weekend (labor day) we decided we should stick with it and still make them. In order to kill two birds with one stone we've also decided to send them at Christmas time- so maybe we will be saving a little bit that way.

Today I found these amazing save the dates over at Craftzine. At first I thought "Wow, that's really over the top! How could anyone afford to send out X amount of those?" But then I realized that the couple sent out a photograph of it in an e-mail save the date- what a great idea & it's beautiful!

diorama save the dates via craftzine

Friday, July 9, 2010

christmas in july

Yes, that's right, Christmas in July! My sister, Desiree, over at .simply.simon. is planning to finish all her Christmas shopping by July 31st! To celebrate she'll be sharing gift ideas, Christmas crafts and holiday tips over on her blog.

Desiree (Dez) has her hands full with my 16 month old niece and another bundle of joy due mid-September and thought it would be a good idea to finish Christmas shopping before the new one arrived. To get in the holiday spirit I'll be sharing a Christmas tutorial (& my first tutorial) in the next few weeks!

Until then, check out these awesome tiny gingerbread houses that are meant to perch on the edge of a mug of hot chocolate. It's been hot and muggy here all week, so I don't know how I feel about drinking hot chocolate now....... but how could you resist these adorable creations? To
make these tiny treasures check out the tutorial at not martha.

tiny gingerbread house tutorial by not martha

For more on Dez's Christmas in July read here.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

alice in waterland

Yesterday in blogland I stumbled upon this amazing underwater Alice in Wonderland photo shoot. The photographer Elena Kalis is known for her whimsical underwater photography. I'm loving these dream-like photos! Check out more from the photoshoot here.


Alice in Waterland by Elena Kalis found here

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

shabby vintage inspiration

Top row from left: prairie field by sora designs, lovely day by alice b. gardens
Middle row from left: vintage shabby chic dresser via tres chic furniture, time to fall in love by my konos
Bottom row from left: pink porcelain flower necklace by lonkoosh, vintage large cream mirror via the vintage tree house

shabby vintage swap

Hello, hope you all had a great 4th of July weekend!

Today I'm happy to share that I'll be participating in Tilly Rose's Shabby Vintage Swap. I've participated in a craft swap before on craftster but I'm excited to be sharing this one on my blog.


The five items to include for this swap are:
*A little something that's vintage or vintage style*
*A little something with a shabby chic style*
*Something brimming with loveliness*
*A little something that's full of colour and scrummy gorgeousness*
*Lastly....a sweet little surprise for your swap partner*


I'm excited to start looking for items to send to my partner Tabitha. Her lovely blog Creative Wings can be found here.

Friday, July 2, 2010

happy 4th

Enjoy your weekend!
Top row from left: play ball cookies via Eleni's, star-spangled pin spinners by allsorts
Bottom row from left: patriotic shortcake via joy ever after,
crab matchbox favors via ivy lane designs

Thursday, July 1, 2010

teatime

I’ve never been a huge fan of the long cold winter months here in Wisconsin. However, there is one thing that always seems to make it a bit better, a nice warm cup of tea!

A few winters ago my then roommate and dear friend Ellen and I had many kitchen study sessions always accompanied by a nice cup of hot tea. This Christmas I saw it fitting to make her a lovely tea wallet that she was delighted to receive.

I’ve been a big fan of tea since I was really little. I remember spending time at camp grandma & grandpa eating breakfasts of oatmeal and berries and drinking hot tea. My favorite kind of tea is Bigelow’s Perfect Peach; it always reminds me of those summers with my grandparents.

So today I present you with teatime, best enjoyed with a nice warm cup of your favorite tea.

Top row from left: tiny teacups print by Abby Powell found here,
afternoon tea by
Benja Harvey
Middle row from left: vintage teabag holder via
tparty,
tea and blueberries via
Julia Stotz
Bottom row from left: ellen's tea wallet by me,
teatime via
mia charmed, i'm sure

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

whoooo wouldn't love these?

I'm not quite sure when owls became so darn cute...... but I'm ok with it. It's hard not to love these adorable little creatures!


Top row from left: peach and ivory framed owl brooch via down & out chic, owl carry your things bag via mod cloth, photo by me- bottle cap necklace from dainty daisies
Middle row from left: owl on a branch decal via simple shapes, little owl newborn hat via the stitchery boutique, creature kingdom hook via anthropologie
Bottom row from left: n is for night owl via sea urchin studio, stewart the owl graduation card via cuore, yellow owl to do list via boygirlparty

So whoooo's your favorite little owl from above?

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

hello yellow

Hello all, hope you had a lovely weekend (+ Monday). This week I thought I'd share a little more about myself and a few of the things I absolutely love.

Yellow is my absolute favorite color! I love light buttercup yellow and deep mustard yellow the most. It wasn't a big surprise when I choose to incorporate yellow into my wedding colors (plus pair it with Seth's favorite color, blue, and you've got the Brewers colors)!

This color always seems to brighten my day, I hope it brightens yours!


Top row from left: hello yellow envelope via eat drink chic,
french lace ring (lydia's treasures) via .simply.simon.
Bottom row from left: vappu dress via anthropologie, dandelion
lemonade via love.obsess.inspire., reta shoes via jenn3star

Friday, June 25, 2010

oh, the things i could make!

There are so many things I could make with a Silhouette SD! And if I'm lucky enough I'll win one from oh, hello friend's weekly giveaway. If I win this, I could use it to create so many beautiful things for my wedding!


.wedding.lovelies. via here

Wish me luck, my fingers are crossed to win this amazing cutting machine by Silhouette. For a chance to win, visit oh, hello friend- but hurry, the giveaway ends Monday June 28th- good luck!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

baseball......really?

This is usually the question (coupled with a curious stare) I get when I start to talk about the details of my wedding.

Yes, I'm engaged! And in a few days I will have been for a year- a year that went by faster than I could have imagined. My fiance, Seth, and I decided to have a crazy long engagement that will total a little more than two years. We decided that it would be best to hold off the wedding until I had graduated and we both had a little more time to settle into our careers.

So what does baseball have to do with it? Seth loves- I mean LOVES LOVES LOVES- sports of any kind. His two biggest (sport) loves are football and baseball. Our falls are filled with Sundays (and occasional Monday nights) having friends over to watch the Packers, while our summers are filled with trips down to Milwaukee to tailgate before watching the Brewers play.

Before we were engaged we talked about how fun it would be to have a baseball themed wedding. Something to have fun with and really showcase something we've loved over the years together. Since our engagement we've had fun coming up with different ideas to tie in our baseball theme with the wedding. Some ideas include: a will call table with tickets for escort cards, vintage coke bottle centerpieces and peanuts & cracker jacks as favors.

Our very first picture together... of course at Miller Park! (April 2007)

I'm excited to see the wedding come together over the next year as we anxiously await our big day- September 4th 2011!

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

mid-year resolution

Yes, I'm making a mid-year resolution...... one that I also made last year but didn't stick with. My resolution was/is to start a blog to document my creative endeavors. I actually did begin another blog at the beginning of the year and wound up posting a grand total of two times- Wow! Here is my excerpt from December 22, 2009:

It’s about that time of year when everyone starts thinking of all the things they will (or won’t) do in the year to come. About this time last year I too sat down and thought of all the things I wanted to accomplish in 2009- one of which was to start a Blog to document my creative endeavors. That being said…. with a little more than a week of the year left- I’ve finally had some free time to sit down and start one!

As I enter the year ahead, my resolution is to use this Blog to share my work with others and to stay motivated in my creative journey through life. I hope that you enjoy the journey with me.

Now that I'm finished with school (just graduated in May with a Journalism Major and Art Minor) I feel that I finally do have more time to devote to a blog.

So today is a day to restart. As I start a new chapter in life, I also begin this blog to document my creative journey. As I said last year, I say again, I hope that you enjoy the journey with me.

Welcome and enjoy!