New in the Etsy Shop

I haven't talked much about the shop lately, so I thought it might be time to give you an update on how things have been in the office over the last year or so.

In a word- fantastic. I love it. I love the designs, I love the clients, I love creating new pretty things. I'm the luckiest girl ever. I spend my days doing what I love in my slippers with my puppy sleeping in my lap. I try not to talk about it, honestly, because I don't want to rub it in. It has exceeded every expectation I ever had about running my own business.

Not that there aren't trying things about it. My designs get ripped off. My text gets ripped off. Sometimes that weighs on me, probably more than it should. The principle of the issue is what really gets me. I understand that there are going to be common threads, because wedding trends are what drive my designs as well as the designs of my competitors. What I don't understand is a fellow designer thinking that it would ever be ok to exactly replicate something of my creation to the best of their ability, and then sell it. We all got into the business of creating things so that we could create things, didn't we?

In order to combat my frustration with that, I have taken to creating one new item every time I start feeling blue about the fact other creative people think that its ok for me to do the legwork for them. This might seem counter-intuitive... but I like to remind myself that I have yet to plumb the depths of my creativity. Its a good challenge for me, and it helps me understand the market trends better for the upcoming year.

Here are a couple of fun things that have hit the shop over the last year (there are at least 10-15 more here if you are feeling particularly peckish)

  

Since You've Been Gooooooone... 15 Thing Update

1). I broke my first bone. It happen while playing soccer on a boat. I'd like to say its a long story, but that is actually the entire thing.

2). We welcomed 3 new babies into our family in the span of 2 months. Yes, our life is overwhelming with adorable. Send me some ugly puppy pictures, would you?

3). I chopped my hair off. Again. And regretted it. Again.

4). I crossed seeing New York off my bucket list.

5). Painted 4 rooms and redid flooring in 2. Also tried tile paint for the first time and adored it, just as soon as the toxic cloud made its way out of our house following the actual use of said paint.

6). I road tripped through 4 states with the BHO. Who says you can't exist on a diet of jelly beans and salt and vinegar chips?

7). The smartest got his MBA and was, of course, in the top of his class. My eyes may have glistened in proud spousal tears.

8). Celebrated 4 years of blissful (ahem, most days) marriage.

9). Went to 11 states: New York, Montana, Wyoming, Minnesota, Colorado, Kansas, Florida, Missouri, Nebraska, Arkansas and California.  And also stopped briefly in 3 countries: Honduras, Mexico and Belize.

10). I started writing a trilogy in June.

11). I had around 880 amazing clients. It was a fun year full of most creative and delightful people.

12). We discovered the cinnastack pancake at iHop. And promptly gained 20lbs.

13). We survived another tornado season- and this year, for the first time in the last 3, we didn't have to replace our roof! Here's to THAT trend continuing in 2016.

14). We went skiing together for the first time. Surprisingly, no lasting injuries from that experience, other than psychological ones.

15). We went to Disney World with the artist family and tried to smuggle Mickey home with us in our pocket, but alas, to no avail.

The Learning Curve

You guys want to see something humorous? I was organizing some files the other day, and came across some of the early illustrations I did when I was just opening the shop (3 years ago- can you believe it?!). I thought it would be fun to see how my illustrations have progressed in the last couple of years, so I give you "Then and Now: The Illustrated Version".

Ps. Sorry for the radio silence. There's a good reason. Which I will share with you next week. And no, that reason is not a mini-smartest/artist. Just in case you were wondering.

1,000

Today is sort of a big deal. Today, the shop made its 1,000th sale. Today, I am sort of choked up thinking about the amazing clients that let me live my dream every day.

Today is a VERY good day.

Thank you for today. You are the absolute best clients, friends, family and strangers that a gal could ever have.

Ps. I am blogging again tomorrow. About a secret trip. To a patriotic place. There are ridiculous photos. Join me, won't you?

Menu Matching

Today, between bathing the dog and warming blankets in the dryer, I have been making some menus to match some of my favorite programs in the shop! I have a couple of completely new ideas that I am mulling over- but in the meantime...


Infographic Wedding Menu 

Poster Style Wedding Menu

House Update: Office Rearranging

Did I mention that I have spring fever? Which is particularly ironic, because our yard (and our dog) is currently covered in a strange white precipitation that we don't typically see much of around here.

In the spirit of spring fever- I have been rearranging things about the house... the smartest's keys... his various school books... enormous pieces of furniture. You know. The usual.

A couple of weeks ago, I ordered a new desk online, because my Ikea desk was starting to bow a bit under the weight of my enormously heavy monitor. I opted for something a bit simpler and more table-like, and when it arrived, I decided that some deep cleaning was in order.

The weekend started off like this, with the smartest and the puppy showing their support:

Eventually, I banished them so I could be productive, and turned this:

Into a hot mess:

It seriously took me the better part of a day to get everything changed around and set up. Organizing is always so fun... for the first 5 minutes. Then comes the next 456 minutes which are somewhat less fun.

The end result? I'm a fan:

In case you were wondering... the puppy is also a fan

And I made meatballs to celebrate. They were tasty.

Super Hero Monday

I've got super heroes in Long Beach on my agenda today. SO fun.

New in the Shop: Illustrated Beach Invitation Suite

As I sit here and debate whether or not walking the puppy is worth getting out in the snow, I am dreaming of beach weddings. Fortunately for me- so are some of my darling January clients! I've got this little slice of sandy goodness in the shop today!

New in the Shop: P is for Program

January is one of my favorite times to start making new designs for the upcoming year. I love researching the trends for the new year, and I love getting to give the shop a bit of a face lift in preparation for the warmer months. This program is actually based on our Christmas card design- I am really excited to see how it does! See it in its full glory in the shop here.

New in the Shop: Mushrooms and the Eiffel Tower

Psssst. I've been making stuff again. I know, I know. You thought this day would never come. Ever. These bad boys are officially listed in the shop and ready for purchase!

 

Pssst. Christmas is coming.

Now that we are officially on the flip side of October, I am getting the Christmas tingles a little bit. To spread those tingles around a little bit, I wanted to share a couple new and fun Christmas items I'm putting in the shop this year:

 

Don't worry- we'll be back on Monday with more ridiculously detailed trip recaps!

New in the Shop: Love Story Programs

I've been loving the August program rush for the past couple of weeks- and even found a tiny corner of time to make a couple of new things... like this brand spanking new love story program that I absolutely love:

Ps. I have the sewing machine out. If you hear screaming in the night, please come and rescue me from its angry teeth. If no screaming commences... I may have a new tutorial soon. Gasp.

New in the Shop: Info Graphic Wedding Programs

I've been working on some new goodies for the shop lately. Here's one of my favorite (ahem, and completed) projects as of late: 

The Book Illustrating Saga

Do you guys remember a couple of years ago when I made the nephew a personalized book for his 2nd Birthday? It looked a little something like this:

On a whim, I listed that bad boy online, and have had varying levels of interest in the last couple of years. While I was working on a book for the best friend's birthday, I reviewed some of the book projects I have had the pleasure to work on, and thought I would give you a little peek at some of my favorite pages.

This book was for a sweet little girl who loved alpacas. I too love alpacas, so I feel like we are kindred spirits.

There was an order for a series of books for Christmas gifts for a little gal's grandparents. Each book was different, and it was such a cool peek into the culture of her family. She is going to be VERY busy when she learns how to walk- what with the skiing, Hawaiian vacations and musical lessons.

This mother's day, I did a book that was a salute to a mom who gave her children the gift of the love of reading. Her kids are all grown up- but they wanted to give her a little piece of reading back to her.

For Father's day, I worked on a book dedicated to a wonderful daddy that was all about dinosaurs. The family puppy made an appearance as a panda bear, which was a fun character to play with.

When the best friend turned 25 last month, I thought it would be fun to make her a little book about some of our memories together. Complete with sarcastic captions... because sarcasm is an important part of our memories. Who's surprised?

Illustrated Valentines Day Prints

New in the shop this week (look familiar)- lovely Valentines day gifts for your sweetie!