Latest Etsy

I stumbled across Etsy a few years ago, and didn't quite trust or understand it. I understood that it was a site where individuals could sell homemade items. Be it things you've owned for a certain amount of time, or things you've created. You can find the specific criteria here. But now that I've educated myself about Etsy, and will soon be launching my own line of greeting/note cards, and invitations I've become somewhat obsessed with the idea of "Etsy."

During the wedding planning period, Etsy became a friend of mine. My fiance and I wanted our wedding to be "different." We wanted people to walk away saying, "I've never been to a wedding like yours. It was so unique." And luckily people are still telling us that. I did't buy tons and tons of things off Etsy, but I did buy quite a few items that I would like to share with you.

my photo

The first thing I purchased off Etsy was our cupcake toppers. I was immediately intrigued by these because I had never seen anything like it. Amie at Enamorweddings was always available and was able to produce every single detail of my dress, jewerly, hair, and even birdcage veil. It was truly amazing, and Amie is one talented lady. Right now the toppers are sitting in our basil pot, but hands down the best purchase I made for the wedding.

Have you stumbled across unique cake/cupcake toppers?

Andi*

September goals

I've been known to procrastinate every once and a while. Especially when it comes to things that scare me. The doctor scares me. No. It really scares me. Flying scares me. I've flown at least twenty times, but I haven't done it since 2006 and even the thought of it freaks me out. I am also aware that the only way I'll be able to conquer those fears is to just do it. And when it comes to procrastinating, if I make my priorities known say maybe in a public forum, then it helps me to be held accountable. Which is why at the beginning of every month I'll create a list of monthly goals.
One of my inspiration behind a monthly goal list was Elise.

I'll quickly touch on a few of my goals. I got married last month:) (I'll share pics soon), and I have tons of pictures that I want to make into a book. I love the site blurb, and finally have a reason to create a book with them...so excited! I am a graphic designer by trade, but currently work in the school system with special education students. It has its rewarding moments, but it's not what makes me happy. It's not what I was put on this earth to do. I am a creative person at heart, and creativity in the visual sense is what. Makes. Me. Happy. So I've finally decided to transfer all those ideas in my sketchbook to my Mac, and have a crack at Etsy. Keep me in your prayers ya'll:)


What things do you do to hold yourself responsible? What makes you stay on target? I would love to hear your suggestions...maybe I'll use one or two along the way:)

Andi*

Our Garden

So a few years ago, I got into the whole organic scene. I bought a lot of organic veggies and fruit, and I even created a organic garden bed in my mother's front yard. Unfortunately the garden bed only lasted a summer, but the veggies were awesome!

I've been able to keep up the gardening. Mostly flowers, but some vegetables. I think tomatoes are the easiest. It seems as though you see the fruit of your labor quickly when it comes to the tomato. And this year we have a big boy tomato pot, and cherry tomatoes in their own pot. About a month ago we picked a lovely large juicy red tomato from the garden, and haven't seen anything else since:( But our cherry tomatoes are thriving! We have them several times a week with our salads.

We also have watermelon, peppers, broccoli, and basil. Of the four we've picked one pepper, and have yet to see watermelon, and the broccoli. But we use the basil almost daily. Now I understand some of the veggies need to be in much much larger containers, but I think I'll just continue to give my love to the tomatoes...sorry other veggies. Maybe we can try it again next year:)


Andi*

Neighborhood Walk - Colors

I've fallen in love again-with my camera. I've been taking my camera on my walks while getting to know our new neighborhood. I feel like a photography student fresh in school, wanting to capture everything that might be worth framing. Of course the day I decide to go on this walk it is 85 degrees at 9am, and I'm sweating my you know what off. Usually my love accompanies me on these walks, but he clearly gets a little annoyed because I stop every 20 seconds to take a photo, and that slows us(him) down. So on this particular day I decided to walk alone. At my own pace. Loved it!

 Just wanted to remind you guys that I got this idea from Elise Check out her post on her photo walk-colors.

Andi*

Neighborhood Walk - Lines

I love our new neighborhood! Walkability was very important to us when looking for a place, so yesterday we walked to breakfast. I decided to pick a theme and to take pictures of everything related to that theme. I got this idea from elise joy's blog. So my theme for this walk was lines-vertical/horizontal lines.



my photos



My love became very frustrated with me after a while because I stopped every couple seconds to take a picture. BTW, I put the pics in Instagram because there filters make images look awesome. I love this activity because it makes you look at things differently, and it helps you to appreciate the beauty in things you wouldn't normally look twice at. If you've done this, or plan on doing it feel free to share your images:)

 

Andi

Yummy Cupcakes

Before we got engaged, one thing I was certain of was that we would have cupcakes instead of the traditional cake. I love love love cupcakes. Especially moist, can't only have one kind of cupcakes. For my birthday last year my love brought home four cupcakes from Abby Girl Sweets. Hands down the best cupcakes I've ever tasted. My soon to be sis-in-law and her boyfriend were also there, so we cut the cupcakes in half, so we all could try one of the flavors. We had red velvet, and cookies n' cream that comes with a cookie on top. OMG! Nothing should be allowed to taste that good.

The first item on my list after we got engaged was to book Abby Girl Sweets. We've tried several flavors since then, but since we're having 4-5 different flavors we wanted to make sure we tried most if not all before we settled on the final flavors. So yesterday after work I went downtown to pickup a few new flavors. Carrot Spice Cake, Vanilla Bean, and their signature Strawberry Delight. Carrot Spice Cake was amazing, definitely a winner, and Strawberry Delight was a favorite of my love's. Vanilla Bean was good, but it won't be at the wedding.

my photo

my photo

 And the winners are...Cookies n' Cream, Carrot Spice, Lemon-Licious, Strawberry Delight, and more Cookies n' Cream!

Getting Settled

We've been in our house for a little over a week, and have only had furniture in there for four days. It's really starting to feel like home:) There's not much to do around the house. We want to paint some rooms, add hardware to the kitchen cabinets. I've been planting tons, and my love has been staining several pieces around the house. Haven't been taking many pictures, but I wanted to share a couple with you.
 

my photos

Hopefully in a week or so when we start painting, and upholstering you'll come back by to see how our projects are coming along.