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Two Cute Boutique

Two Cute Boutique

Have you heard of the Etsy shop Two Cute Boutique?

Last week she contacted me asking if I’d like to trade a couple of garlands for a crocheted hat … and once I saw her shop I knew I had to say yes! It’s just adorable!

She made up a cotton newborn size hat for Baby, including a detachable flower and headband so that I can mix and match with her different little outfits. So sweet!
If you’d like to get one (or more?) for your own little sweetheart you can find a gorgeous selection at this link here – enjoy!

<3

pretties from the bloggy world

pretties from the bloggy world

Have you seen my “featured on” page recently? I’ve just updated it with a few of the lovely blogs that have featured some of my items or events that used items from the shop (seriously gorgeous events!).

Here’s a sampling:
Style Me Pretty has had a few different posts with things from the shop:

A gorgeous wedding that they featured last October where the bride requested some extra large hearts garlands in book pages to warm up the back wall of the church.

A wedding in Ireland where the couple used  some of the Romantic Vintage Heart garlands in the backdrop for their cake table. So sweet!

A New York Valentine wedding. The event planner did a custom request for chair garlands, and they became so popular that I have since added them to the shop!

And an Australian engagement session where the couple used the Romantic Vintage Hearts garland as one of their props – their photos were stunning!

The baby blog On To Baby featured one of the sweetest baby showers I’ve seen, and it just so happened that the girl who threw it, Mona of Birds and Honey, had asked me to make her some custom “It’s a Boy!” cupcake toppers for it (another item that has become so popular that I’ve added them to the shop!). They were just darling and really complemented the rest of the shower decor.

Anyway, those are just a few! Aren’t they gorgeous? Every time I see photos of where people have used my products I am amazed at how sweet they turn out and how they fit into different settings so well. If you have photos of an event where you’ve used some of my creations, I’d love to see them! And if I’m able to use them here on the blog or on facebook, I’ll send you a coupon for your next order!

lovely limitations

lovely limitations

Have any of you read The Nesting Place bog? If not, you might enjoy clicking over. Right now she is finishing up a series of blog posts titled 31 Days of Lovely Limitations. Her series is inspired by this quote from Henri Matisse:

Her version of that quote goes like this:

Now, isn’t that true? We (or at least, I) want to make a lovely home for our families, but usually have a rather small (or tiny) budget to bring it to reality. So we improvise with what we have. : )

I’ve been finally getting pictures hung up around our new house (I didn’t tell you that we had moved? Or that I might not be posting for a bit? No? Hmm. … guess that post must still be in the “drafts” section) and came across this frame that had gotten some red wax splattered on it.
It used to sit next to a red candle that, well, splattered once when I was blowing it out and the stain stuck. The spots weren’t too obvious where I had had it in our apartment, but when I hung it in our bedroom in the house the spots stood out to me like a sore thumb.
I thought about taking it down and putting it somewhere else, but it really completed the wall. So …. then I remembered the Nester talking about working within our limitations, almost celebrating them.
And I remembered that I had some lovely old lace that a customer had sent me. (can you see what is about to happen here?)

A bit of glue and a few minutes later and we had a solution!

 Ta da!

The problem was fixed and the frame is lovelier than it was before. Yay!

garlands

garlands

It’s really fun to realize that some of the things in the shop are getting featured on websites and blogs (a huge thank you to all the wonderful people featuring them!!!). It brings a huge smile to my face. : )

I was so excited this afternoon to see that it had happened again last week! The blog that carried that post is called It’s A Brides Life (here’s the post). The author was writing about Etsy wedding decor and included the Romantic Vintage Hearts garland. :)

Scrolling through some of the posts reminded me of the hours I spent getting ideas from wedding blogs 4 years ago. *sigh* It was so much fun!

help me love Japan

help me love Japan

Have you been watching the updates on t.v. and online about Japan? Every time they show images of the devastation my heart goes out to the Japanese, wanting to do something more tangible than pray (even though I know that prayer does help).

So, I decided to donate all the proceeds (that’s right, 100%)  from my new garland – Romantic Hearts, white with a single red heart – to one of my favorite faith-based disaster relief organizations: Samaritan’s Purse. They have a wonderful track record of not only providing relief and care to those most in need, but they also share Christ and His love with them.

If you’d like to donate directly through the website of Samaritan’s Purse you can find all the info you’ll need right here.

And, on a happier note, if you are itching to do some Spring-y projects you can find a ton of creative ideas over on these blogs. I’ll be linking this at some of them. :)

just wanted to show you something

just wanted to show you something

One of the things I really enjoy about my Etsy shop is when my happy customers post a photo of how they’re using their purchase or leave a comment telling me how much they love it. It’s so lovely to know that I’ve been able to bless them!

A few weeks ago one of my customers posted something in her own Etsy shop, ZigZagArts, that she had made using the jar she bought.

Susie makes lovely drawings, and she has been featuring the vintage jar she purchased in a few of them.

They’re gorgeous Susie! I can’t wait to see what you are going to do with them next!

And, remember, there’s a giveaway going on here – scroll down the page and enter to win a CSN Stores gift card. :)

(the images are borrowed from ZigZagArts)

sweethearts

sweethearts

(this garland was actually my husband’s idea – one day he saw me making a Hearts By the Yard garland for a customer and suggested that I make one all in red but with one white heart – my Sweetheart has the best ideas!)

I love February. It’s not my absolute favorite month, but I love it.

Partly because in California where I grew up, February was the start of Spring (now, in Indiana, Spring comes more toward the middle of April – still not used to that at all). The bulbs would bloom, the trees blossom, and you could start wearing t-shirts again – on some days.

But another reason that I love February is because it marks some important “firsts” for me: the first time John told me “I love you” (it was on the phone and I was so startled that I hung up on him – poor guy!), the first time John met my family, the birth of our first baby, and the day I opened my Etsy shop, to name a few. Plus it has Valentine’s Day in it. :)

I can hardly believe that the shop has been open for a year now! I’ve had 45 sales so far, and it’s been a wonderful year. Thank you all for joining me in it. You have all been so sweet and encouraging. :)

As a special thank you to all you darling readers, I’ve created a coupon code just for you to use during February. When you place an order just enter the code “1YEAR” to get 10% off of your order.

So, why do you love February? I love reading your comments!
Also, I’m linking this to a few of these fun blogs. You might love heading over and checking out some of their amazing Valentine’s Day ideas – and I’d love it if you would spread the word about the coupon code for the shop. :)

1-1-11

1-1-11

2010 was a good year. A very, very good year. It was a full one, too!

 In January I got Emma’s closet/my craft storage area organized.  It was so nice to see it all tidy. :)

 In February I opened my Etsy shop. I had high hopes but no real idea of how well it would do!

I made Emma a little blue skirt in March. 

I posted my first step-by-step tutorial in April, a flower pin.

May saw me in full nesting mode – wow, there were a lot of things getting done around here! There were the Chalkboard Storage Jars, the Hanging Votives, Moses Basket, made room for baby #2, and my February Sweater to name a few. And another highlight was that some of my projects were featured on other blogs – a fun first for me. :)

June had the biggest and best news of the year – our “little” Ian was born.

In July I added international shipping to my Esty shop (and have since mailed things to England, Spain, Singapore, Australia and Canada!), wrote a post about growing your own ginger, and posted photos of the blanket that I made for Ian.

One of the highlights of August was getting my flower pins featured on the front page of Etsy. :) I also posted a tutorial on how to make your own cushion covers, photos of the sweater I made for Ianhttp://path-less-traveled-market.blogspot.com/2010/08/bench-cushions.html, and about organizing my recipes.

September saw me sewing for Emma and a bunch of custom orders, winning a darling dress for her from Back Country Drive and joining the Kids Clothes Week Challenge to name a few things. That was a busy month!

 In October we took a family vacation and when we got home I got another custom order, this time for a fabric garland. It was so popular, both here on the blog and in the shop, that I ended up writing a tutorial on how to make your own.  :)

 In November I (finally) joined Twitter, hosted my first giveaway, finished Ian’s hat and sweater and a bunch of other things that got jumbled together into one post.

And in December I posted about painting wall words,  making an ironing board cover, and my most popular post yet, making tea towels as Christmas gifts.

Yes, it’s been a very good year. Thank you all for reading and joining me! I’m looking forward to what God has in store for us this next 12 months. :)