Owls
My sister bought this apron for me, found at Kitchnglam.com. It’s so stinkin’ cute – how can I pull this off with leggings? ;)
And this little dude is from fishy fishy. I have never worked with felted wool, but I love how it looks. Just look at those big button eyes…
Fishy Fishy also does other really incredible stuff. Check out her shop at fishyfishy.etsy.com.
Nicole Hoxie Photography
This little beauty is my good friend Nicole. I can only appropriately describe her as; authentic, loyal, empathetic, talented and STUNNING. She can sew ANYTHING, create just about EVERYTHING, and most recently she’s been putting her heart and soul into photography {and it’s working}.
Nicole’s photography reflects the way she sees the world. This is a happy girl, and you can tell from her photography through her composition and unique view of color. Add Nicki’s photo blog to your reader {nicolehoxiephotography.blogspot.com}, and if you are in the San Francisco Bay Area, schedule a booking now while her pricing is so affordable!
{ohYes!} Cleansing Thoughts
I just got back from a very fun weekend of camping: wakeboarding, foil dinners, s’mores, floaties on the lake, ice cream cones and playing cards. It felt like a retreat from the monotony. Coming home, as you can imagine, was bittersweet. Sleeping in my bed trumps sleeping in earshot of other campers and the unmistakable waft of their herb of choice, but coming back home meant back to the norm. I was ready for a change, ready for new attitude, and most of all, ready for a shower.
Cleansing Thoughts is created by the lovely and friendly Kris Jones, who wanted to make something more of her nine-to-five graphic design job. She created waterproof affirmation cards that you can stick in your shower and start your day off on a positive note. Not only are these cards durable and memorable, they are very well designed.
What I love even more about Kris is her quippy and fun greeting card site: Roast Greetings. Urban, funny, and slightly innapropriate, these are a great cards for your close friends and family. Here is a little peek at what the girls at the review party had to say about Roast Greetings:
Perfect Packages with Tape Swell
Check out Tape Swell’s awesome decorative tapes, mailing labels, and envelope wraparounds at www.tapeswell.com.
One Year Later: Getting Stuffy
It’s been over a year now since we’ve lived in our condo, and the “new” is wearing off. I’ve been spending more and more time in my “croffice” {craft room + office} and I needed more room to work at my desk. So, out with the old {*gasp*}:
And in with the new:
So, this time I put the Ikea furniture together *off camera* and I was a little less smiley, little more *holy frick when will this be done* about the process, made a big mess, and finished in a show-stopping three days. Oy! I’m happy with the change, and the type-A side of me won’t rest until I sew a really cool modesty panel for below the desk {I’m told that my on-camera Ikea assembly will be part of a National Geographic show due to air October-ish. Don’t worry… I’ll post links when it airs if it turns out that the camera DOESN’T add ten pounds}.
Links to my new Ikea furniture {and DO get the pasta alfredo from the food court while you’re there}
Vika Alex, Ung Drill, Vika Amon, Vika Curry
And my FAVORITE part of the room, my new sasea boutique pillow cover! These are one of my favorite products from the {oh Yes!} party, and everyone agreed. This polishes off my black and white croffice theme, and makes my green chair look SO CUTE!
They have more ADORABLE pillow covers in their shop, and I’m keeping them in mind for gifts… you can’t beat the price of $15 each, and buy two get one free!
My Boring Kitchen
Ok, yes, it’s a lovely kitchen, it just happens to be slightly on the notreallymystyle side, and slightly on the reallyboring side. There is very little wall space, and I don’t like a cluttered counter-top. And you know me, I don’t like having items that are purely for decorating purpose; they must pull their weight!
Enter LobotoME. This product does a heap-load of weight-pulling by organizing my life! I am a busy bee: volleyball on Mondays, dinner with friends on Tuesdays, softball on Fridays, wakeboarding on Saturdays, and a myriad of odds-and-ends activities to fill my week to avoid having to sit down. Cooking dinner when I get home from said activities feels like I’m getting my teeth pulled without novocaine. I can’t stand it. BUT – LobotoME has cured me!
I’ve found that the root of the problem is having to come up with meals on the fly. I’m now using LobotoME’s “Meal Planning 101″ organizer to plan my meals ahead of time. I’m saving time, I’m whining less and spending less moolah at the grocery store with this organized list. Now, the teeth-pulling has transformed to a little arm-wrestling match between hubby and me; winner doesn’t have to cook. *wink*
With it’s contemporary design {LOVE the colors}, this is truly form meets function in my kitchen! {I have it on a mini clipboard I purchased at Longs for $2, with mod podged scrapbook paper. Oh, and what isn’t cute on a hook?} LobotoMe has other really great organizational pads {packing lists for trips, babysitter lists, honey-do lists} that are printed on recycled paper and are sold at The Container Store and on the LobotoME website.
And because I like things in pairs, I hung a framed print from 3-Lambs Graphics above my life-saving grocery list.
I think this print is so stinkin’ cute. It would have looked really cute in a sleek white frame, but I’ve got enough of those around the house, and my boring kitchen could use all the oomph it can get. There are some other really great prints at 3 Lambs Graphic’s shop {I love this one}.
And lastly, you may remember the chalkboard on the door from an earlier post. This is a vinyl decal that you can use as a chalkboard. I put it on the door because: A. That’s where I’ll see it, B. My hubby might actually read it there, C. It’s reminiscent of the frame on the door on Friends. {found at Paper Source for $6.95}
Le Viette – Goodies for Guests
Le Viette makes housewarming sweet with their mini towel-desserts. They create adorable treat look-a-likes using organic cotton towels in all different colors.
My little “swiss opera” below is the perfect little treat for a guest bathroom. I love how the striped towel looks so polished all rolled up with a “kiwi slice” tucked on top.
When Le Viette sent these samples, they were all so unique, and so professionally packaged. You will really feel like you just came home from the bakery. SO CUTE!
After you’ve enjoyed the towel all glammed-up, you’re left with a quality organic towel.
The girls at the {oh Yes!} party agreed that this would be a great shower favor, or as a wedding present in the bride’s colors accompanied with a cake stand or serving tray. I love how these look, and where I thought I wouldn’t need just one towel in a contrasting pattern from my collection, this little striped towel is now one of my favorites.
You have to take a peek at all the cute little towel desserts at leviette.com.
If you want to know what the other {oh Yes!} reviewers thought, use the sidebar to see their review entries.
La Plume Creations
I worked with Christine in T.V. Production a couple of years ago. We chatted and grunt-worked our way through a couple shows and had fun doing it. I was OVERJOYED to hear that she wanted to participate in the {oh Yes!} review party. I knew she was creative, and loved painting, but I had no idea that she designed jewelry as well!
Christine and her friends formed La Plume Creations and make some really beautiful and affordable jewelry. Christine made me this really cute pair of earrings above, that I have worn three times in the last two weeks. I would wear *any piece* of their really unique jewelry… in fact I have some purchases in mind. Below are some of my favorites! You can find them all in their shop at LaPlumeCreations.etsy.com.
The Morning After…
..the {oh Yes!} party, and I don’t think we did {or said} anything regrettable, so I’m feeling good. Well, okay, I’m feeling more like a wet noodle after all the work and the sleepless nights, but we had a total blast. The girls made for a fun group; some discussion was very pointed and serious, and some was downright girlie and giggly.
I have to throw up a BIG {oh Yes!} gang sign to Nothing Bundt Cakes – our edible reviewee for the night. Nothing makes an all-female review {not *revue*} panel more loose-lipped than a good dose of sugar and diet coke, and that is exactly how we got started.
Nothing Bundt Cakes has ten rich flavors that we were able to taste and fall in love with {our favorite was Red Velvet}. What we thought was the best part of the product, is that we could have them shipped or delivered. So instead of sending flowers {which we all agreed is fun to get, but seemingly a waste of money next to these treats} we could send a beautiful and witty cake for a range of occasions. And what I LOVE THE BEST – is the prices are just about the same as picking up a cake at the grocery store. No need to order in advance, they have Bundts and Bundtlets ready to serve.
Be warned that there are MANY adorable mouth-watering photos to follow… I’m going to go snack a leftover piece while you look…
If you are local {Bay Area, California}, you can find Nothing Bundt Cakes on Dublin Blvd. & Daugherty.
And here are a few snaps from the party…
{Oh Yes!} Fortune Cookie Invitations
Oh My! Tonight is the {Oh Yes!} party! Oh, how I can’t wait! {okay, you get the idea…}
I have eleven fantastic products that I love and can’t wait to show you! And I’m starting number one EARLY.
Whitney of Whisker Graphics *bumped into* my blog a while back, and after a few emails, we realized we live quite close to each other and have chatted quite a bit since. I have shared her stationary and etsy shop on a previous post, but I cannot *GUSH* enough about this wonderful product that she has: PRINTABLE fortune cookie invitations. Oh-so-brilliant! {You sick of that yet?}
So naturally, these became the invitations that I sent out to my {oh Yes!} party reviewers. Whitney has carefully marked out where to cut slits in the card so you can tuck a fortune. The PDF is all set up, all you have to do is print and trim! Such a great idea; it enables anybody with or without the resources of Photoshop or Illustrator to create some really fun and unique invitations on the CHEAP!
I added an insert that I designed with all the details, lined it with another colored piece of paper and paperclipped a hand-written little note {I always think it’s a good idea to personalize invitations… showing your handwriting is a great way to do that}. Whitney – your product gets a HUGE two-thumbs up from me!
