happy mail!

One of my goals for 2015 was to send more snail mail, so my husband (the best one ever!) bought me a Happy Mail subscription for my birthday :] Now I have more cute stationary than I know what to do with! Most people get stuck in the everyday routines of life & sometimes just need little reasons to smile. I'm happy to be able to provide that for my family & friends, especially since I'm across the country from most of them. Speaking of thoughtful letters, check out this little gem from one of my third graders! It definitely made my day :]

your slip is showing!

I have a new favorite fashion accessory: visible slips! I stumbled upon A Slip Shop on Etsy & fell in love. We all have a couple dresses or skirts that might be an inch or two too short to feel comfortable, right? This not only helps with that, but makes you feel ultra feminine too! I had to buy one in black & one in cream, to go with everything :] Definitely my happiest purchase as of late!

more heart oil paintings!

I'm on the 17th heart in my series & I am so excited to be seeing my collection grow! My Etsy shop is getting bigger & bigger & I'll soon be displaying some more paintings in a local cafe! Remember that you can get 15% off anything in my Etsy shop until March 31st with the promo code BACKINBUSINESS :]

My Etsy Shop is now OPEN!

My Etsy Shop is open for the first time in over a year & I couldn't be more excited! I feel like life has calmed down enough for me to tackle selling my art again, which is something I've been wanting to do pretty much since I closed up my shop. My main focus will be selling my heart oil paintings, but I'll also be putting up the occasional cute plushie or wreath :] Check it out & perhaps buy something sweet for a loved one!!

back to school shopping!

Today, I bought this shirt,

this dress,

& these as well.

Teachers love back to school shopping, too! I'm definitely going to make more of an effort to remain stylish for the whole school year. I think I burnt out sometime around winter break this past year. 5:30am wake-up calls will do that to you. Anyway, I spent most of the day coming up with some adorable changes to my art classroom, so this mini shopping spree was certainly justified ;]

it's the little things

I just picked up a pretty new nail polish, Essie's Demure Vixen & I'm in love love love! I don't think I'm going to wear another nail polish color ever again :] I've also decided that this is going to be my wedding nail color (with some added glitter to my ring finger's nail, of course)! I don't get super excited about girly things like this too often, but sometimes you just gotta celebrate the pretty little things that make you feel glamorous :]

have yourself an etsy little christmas...

I know November just started, but I'm trying this new thing out where I don't procrastinate, so...I'm thrilled to say I'm about halfway done with my Christmas shopping! Not only that, but all of my gifts have either been purchased on Etsy or handmade by me :] I've always loved handmade gifts and supporting local artists, but this is the first holiday season where 0% of my gifts are store-bought. I wish I could post some of the adorable things I've snatched up, but I don't want ruin any of the receivers' surprises since some of them are readers here.

That being said, I stumbled upon One Up Designs and their clever pencil sets. They even make awesome wall decals and pocket books as well. If you want to make a purchase with them, click here & use the promo code to get 30% off! Enjoy & happy shopping :]

pretty new ring!

As a little graduation present to myself, I wanted to get myself a pretty new ring :] I'm not a HUGE jewelry person & a couple of the prettier pieces I've had have broken or been misplaced. So newly on the market, I immediately went to Rachel Pfeffer, the lovely lady who made my bow earrings (which I get TONS of compliments on).

My heart ring just arrived in the mail a few days ago & I am completely smitten with it :] It's hands down my favorite piece of jewelry I've ever owned, so if you're on the lookout for something sweet for yourself or a loved one, definitely check out Rachel's shop! Her jewelry is beautiful & unique, & she is super sweet :]

anthropologie

Woohooo, do I love Anthropologie!! Even during my internship, I created a lesson plan based around Anthropologie catalogs. My high school students looked through the catalogs for inspiration, which they were going to use for their own photography project. They loved it :]

Yesterday, I dropped by the store because they had a huge sale, starting an hour before the mall opened. There was even a little set-up where they were serving croissants, cream puffs, and fresh squeezed OJ. How adorable is that? Anyway, I was able to snag this cute bedding set which was marked down OVER THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS. I also got a couple other small trinkets, but the bed set really made me feel like a winner :]

playing with my tablet

For Christmas, I got that Bamboo Craft tablet I so desperately wanted (eeep!) so I spent some time last night playing around with it, while waiting for the New Year's Eve fireworks to die down :] This little device is so amazing! I've only scratched the surface of its endless amount of possibilities, but here's a little bit more experimenting:

bamboo craft

Originally, the only thing on my wishlist for Santa was some much needed money. But after stumbling upon this amazing little tablet, I now have to have one. Who wouldn't want to be able to create amazing photos like these?

Le sigh.

wedding fever

I don't know about you, but I heard about countless proposal stories that happened over the Thanksgiving break :] How sweet! Even though I'm quite a ways away from my own wedding planning extravaganza, I've been coming down with some serious wedding fever. My recent fix is photos of Stacy & Paul's Anthropologie-inspired wedding. You can drool over some more photos here.

I am also currently drooling over this sweet little dress.

How about this customizable tree stump necklace? Yes, please.

& I can't help but check out my favorite blogger's new wedding blog, Le Wedding Party, every single day :]

I finally got a bike!!

I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

beautiful new print :]

"When the elephant is young & relatively weak, it is tied to an immovable stick. So later, no matter how large and strong he becomes, he continues to believe that he cannot free himself. Many intelligent people are like circus elephants. They never question their self-imposed limitations."


Thanks, Fee! & I'm sure it will make a great addition to a nursery someday ;]

excitement

I shipped out my first sale on etsy today! Starting the shop up again, reading tips on how to improve online selling, & coming up with new ideas have got me so excited to be a crafty seller! Heck, even printing out an invoice gave me a thrill! I really hope this is just the beginning to one day become somewhat known on the etsy circuit, selling at craft fairs, & maybe even opening a tiny shop :]

Today I went to Joann to get some materials for upcoming etsy products(!) & I left very satisfied. They have some of their autumn things out, which made me very excited for my favorite time of year. Also, their cute sewing room decorations that I posted about a while back are currently on sale for 70% OFF! So get it while it lasts ;] & have a wonderful Wednesday, everyone.

it was love at first sight

I still haven't gotten a new bike yet, but I am absolutely in love with this one. Why, oh, why does this beauty cost $660? Or rather, why did I think I could find a bike I love this much with a $200 budget?

shopping

I bought a couple new dresses! The first one is from Anthropologie & is now definitely my favorite dress that I own. I am by no means a shopaholic, but I would gladly hand over my life's savings to that store. Sigh...

I'm bikeless :[

For as long as I can remember, I had a second-hand bike. It wasn't much, aesthetically or performance-wise, but it go the job done. Only within the last year did I get into biking & bike modification as a hobby. I decided to give my one & only a bike makeover, despite my friends telling me that my bike wasn't worth the time or effort. Well, my stubborn facade cracked earlier this week & I decided to just give the bike away. Now, I'm bikeless & of course, I want to cruise around in this Spring weather more than ever.

Hopefully, the next one I own will be perfect for me.

drool-worthy new items at joann's!

Pardon the lousy camera-phone pictures, but when I saw some of the new merchandise at Joann's, I had to document it somehow! I wish I had enough money in my bank account to guitlessly buy at least one of these items (but especially the button table)! How cute :]

fabrics I desire

These ADORABLE fabrics came to a whopping $142 when I was online window shopping. I'm sure I could use that money for something more practical (a cute new bike perhaps!), so I'm going to scavenge around Joann's tomorrow to see if I could find anything half as cute as these!