Paper, Love, and Dreams

When you buy something handmade, you're giving a loved one a gift that someone made with their own hands. That gift was once an idea, a sketch, a dream. The artist took that idea, sketch, dream, and worked to make it something beautiful. It's a wonderful process and something amazing to witness.

I have a friend. Her name is Grace. She just opened up Paper, Love, and Dreams. It's an online boutique that sells gorgeous handmade stationary.

I know. You're thinking, "Who uses stationary anymore?"

Well. I do. And more people should.

We've become a culture that is always connected by invisible electrical signals. Texting is an everyday thing. The email inbox has replaced mail boxes. And we don't even take the time to print actual pictures anymore.

Grace's block prints are fun and colorful. Who doesn't love a tipsy hedgehog?

I know of at least 5 different people who would just light up if they got one of those cards in the mail randomly one day.

I've teamed up with my friend for a giveaway on her blog. She's giving away a beautiful set of cards she designed called "Drink Up." These cards are dipped in Cabernet Sauvignon to create an ombre effect. That's right. Dipped in wine. How clever is that?

And I designed these earrings to compliment the collection. If your name is drawn, you get both the card set AND those pearl earrings.

Hop on over to her blog and enter the giveaway. Also, check out her shop. She has this collection called "Girls" that is just inspiring. And 20% of the proceeds of a "Girls" card goes to benefit Girls, Inc.

Life Runs Fast

Whoa.

It's been 13 days since I blogged.

I promise, I didn't mean to let life get in the way.

But that happens during the summer.

I last left you saying that I was having a show on the 21st.

Well, the day after (Happy 4th of July, btw), the boyfriend's car died. Long story short, his engine had to be rebuilt. Fun times.

So.

I cancelled the show and we took care of business. I didn't have to help pay for the repair or anything but he works far away and I drove him around (gas is expensive).

I will have another show closer to the holiday season and I'll keep you guys posted on that.

What else happened between now and then?

OH! I hit 100 sales on Etsy! *dance*

And now... this bracelet is selling like crazy. It's keeping me busy and I'm insanely happy about it. I feel so blessed there are people out there who like my stuff enough to buy it.

The blog will be changing a little. I have a few regular weekly post ideas bouncing around in my head. That should be fun.

I'm also working on some tutorials for the blog.

Lots of new and exciting things going around in my mind.

I'm moving forward and it's awesome.

A First for Me

This year has been full of exciting changes and leaps of faith.

Don't get me wrong, there were too many times where I lay in bed, crying, frustrated with myself and with life.

But, I've kept my heart open and continued to move forward. Sometimes, I take great strides... most of the time, I seem to tip-toe on. But I'm moving forward.

I have my first show on July 21st!

FINALLY.

To be honest, I didn't find this show. They found me. An organization called "RAW: natural born artists" contacted me about doing a show at a night club on the 21st.

My heart raced as I spoke with Tyler (the RAW rep). Everything felt right. There will be a fashion show. Music. They will work to get the press there and are currently promoting the show. How awesome is that?

I think it's awesome.

Because it's at a night club, tickets are $10. The money goes to the event and not the artists. It's kind of like a booth fee. I have to sell 20 tickets. So.. if you'd like to show some support, check out the Facebook event to see how to buy tickets.

Oh. And if you buy a ticket, let me know! I'll make you something pretty! I'll have it waiting for you at the table OR I will mail it out to you if you can't make it to the show but still want to show your love.

I'm so ready for this.

Mentally, anyway.

Inventory-wise? Not really. Have I met the ticket quota yet? No...

But I'm not worried. I know good things will happen.

Because I'm ready for good things to happen. I'm ready to do the work. I AM doing the work.

Today is a good day.

A Metal Stamp Storage Tip and New Cutters

I'm a beginner at metal stamping. And I'm not rich. So when I bought my stamp set, they came in a nice red case, but the stamps get out of order easily. I needed a stamp holder.

Like this one:

But with shipping, the holder would cost more than my metal stamps! And then there's the wait and well, sometimes, I'm not very patient.

So, I went to Michaels. And for less than $5 (I want to say only $2, but I'm not sure), I purchased a square piece of floral foam and...

Made it look like a porcupine! :P I could have measured our the foam and made the stamps all equidistant and pretty in the foam but.. eh... I'm lazy. The container for the stamps was square so I bought square foam and eyeballed it. Works great!

I was ready to stamp... But first...

How on earth was I to cut this flat wire???

My regular snippers were to small and my other cutters... well, I once used them to cut memory wire and they haven't forgiven me since. So. For Rod and my anniversary, I asked for a pair of cutters. We went to Lowe's and looked around. I couldn't remember the gauge of my flat wire and all I remember reading about with cutters was to get something called "heavy duty wire cutters."

Well, let me tell you. Couldn't find anything that said "heavy duty wire cutters." So. Well. We bought a $9 pair of bolt cutters. I figured, hey, if it can cut through a friggin' BOLT, it can cut through some flat wire.

Look at the size of these things! 8 inch bolt cutters. Could have gotten the 14 inch version for like $3 more but I decided against it.

And they work great. Of course, you still have to file down the edges, but what was I expecting? Magic cutters? For the price, this thing is pretty magical, let me tell you.

Now, I need something to make holes. I have a coupon for Hobby Lobby and I think their hole punch thingy is only $7.99... maybe $9.99. Michaels has theirs for over $20 now. So I will be heading over to Hobby Lobby sometime this week. I'm very excited. It's coming together... slowly, but surely.

Happy Monday, all!