Shop Improvement

I've had these for a few weeks now, but I thought I would share them here too. I decided to get some new pictures of my prints in frames for my Etsy shop. I always love to see artwork on display, so I can get a feel for how it looks in a space. Does that make sense? Anyway, I figured others would feel the same way! I only did photos for the 5x5, 5x7, and 8x10 sizes. I might do others later, but for now...

You can see some of the others in my shop. What do you guys think?

I hope you've all had a great weekend! It's gone by way too fast for me. Yesterday, my roommates and I primed and painted the living room. I got a few other things done, but that pretty much shot the whole day! I am looking forward to some family time today and even an Oscar party later! Happy Sunday, everyone.

B-B-Bailybelle

I met Vanessa of Bailybellecreations through Etsy. One day she ran a sale, and I took advantage! I love her wonderful little rosette pieces, so I snatched up some earrings. I also got a sweet little ring that I get lots of compliments on. I would definitely recommend Vanessa as a seller! Her work is great quality, and she's a wonderful person to work with. And isn't her packaging adorable?!
 

Sorry about my tired eyes...yuck! But the earrings kind of make up for it. Thanks, Vanessa! It was a pleasure doing business with you. If you like these pieces, check out her shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/bailybellecreations.

P.S. There are tornado watches out for tonight. Bleah...I hate tornados, and the warnings aren't much better. If you don't hear from me ever again, you'll know what happened to me. But it'll probably be like it always is. We'll sit in the closet until our butts are totally numb, and I'll try to keep my cat in there without him clawing me to pieces. Wish me luck!

random

I have two things that I want to share today! I was going to try to pick just one and post the other later, but I don't think that will satisfy me. Sometimes I just need to get things out RIGHT NOW! So here goes...

1st

The U.S. release of Adele's 21 album was today. I ran by Best Buy at lunch and got it. WOOO! I had already listened to it on NPR, so I knew I loved it, but there's something about holding that cd in your hand. It's so exciting! I am not a writer or a reviewer, so I'm not going to try to describe the music...just listen for yourself. Here's the video for her first single off the album:

2nd

I had my 200th sale in my Etsy shop today! I was lingering around 150 a couple of weeks ago, but when I was in the Etsy Finds one day, my sales picked WAY up. Reaching a mark like that is just an incredible feeling. I still remember opening my Etsy shop and not knowing what in the world I was doing. My shop has gone through a ton of dry spells, but I didn't let that stop me. I just kept promoting and hoping that someday it would catch on. It seems like it really has! Since I've been selling more, I've been way more motivated to make new work...so I'll probably have more images soon. I already got a new one up last week, called Salt Lick!

Anyway, thank you to everyone who has supported me through buying, commenting, and encouraging. I appreciate you guys so much!

I have a problem...

I can't resist taking pictures of my friends' pets.

Meet Alena. She's possibly the sweetest, most adorable dog I've ever met! I could have stayed and snuggled with her all day. This is Scott and Emily's dog (the friends I visited in North Carolina). Emily always wanted to get a puppy and kitten at the same time so they would grow up and be best buddies. They were friends in the beginning, but they're more like acquaintances now.  They chase each other around, which is pretty funny. So...

Meet Charlie! He's a typical cat...pretentious and snobby. That's what I love about cats. Charlie was pretty cute, but not so much a people person. He was also the one that was creepily staring at me from his kennel in the middle of the night. It may have scared me a little bit...

Permission to squeal at the cuteness

Emily with her babies :) 

That's all folks! I hope you've all had a wonderful weekend. Now go take some pictures of cute pets!

Blue Raspberry. Flavor of Champions

I am sitting on the couch watching Rugrats. Yeah.

Since I am being lazy tonight, I decided to make a treasury on Etsy. I made it based on blue raspberry, which is basically the best flavor of sucker EVER. I know, I know, it turns your mouth blue, but it's a small price to pay. Here are some of my favorite picks for the blue raspberry collection:

soap by FairEarthSoaps

necklace by iheartnorwegianwood (I have one of these!)

print by SuncatArt

sunglasses by thevintageholicfrog

You can see the whole collection here

Now get off your butt and go buy some Dum Dums! I know you want to :)

Sunday Morning (last of the NC posts)

On Sunday morning of our visit to Charlotte, we woke up and Emily made us yummy pancakes! That's another weekly ritual that she has now with her hubby. I feel special that she let us in on her tradition.

Oh and we had to make a special trip to get some coffee because *GASP* they don't have a coffee maker! Can you believe it?! I guess not everyone drinks coffee...who knew? My huge pancake was so incredibly scrumptious. It was the perfect way to start a Sunday!

After breakfast we enjoyed some games...Banagrams and Farkle! Both have funny names and are a blast to play. Please notice Stephanie's amazing creeper face...it's the best.

It was such a fun morning! After we played some games we took lots of pictures together...a tradition with us. You wouldn't believe how many pictures there are of us on facebook. It's usually 30 or so taken in a row with us making different faces. It's a little excessive, but I love it! Here are some from this time around.

Well, that's all we did in Charlotte. Sorry I couldn't show you more of the city. We had less than 48 hours to spend there, and we really just wanted to hang out and catch up. I'm hoping to visit again this year and take a tour of Charlotte. It seems like such a wonderful place...of course any place with Emily would be wonderful!

Thanks for reading, and I hope you all had a lovetastic Valentine's Day!

things i like: IKEA

I'm so sad that the weekend is over! It's been a pretty productive one too. Saturday I got some pictures edited and visited a local potter's gallery for his Valentine's show. I got an awesome mug! I will share some pictures soon :) I also watched a couple of movies, and today Paige and I spent 3 hours cleaning out our cars. And that's JUST the inside! It feels so good to have that done.

Since I am too lazy to edit those pictures from the gallery, here are some things that I love from my last visit to IKEA:

This couch is very likely going to be in my house someday, possibly with a chaise at the end. 

I love the corner couch, but the boy isn't a huge fan, so I think we'll stick with the traditional sofa!

This desk with all the shelving is a DREAM! I love shelves...I wish I just had shelves all over every wall in my house. I have an awesome oak secretary though, so I won't be buying this desk. It's just fun to look!

Love the side tables on this bed! 

I really like the design on this dresser. And the white front is perfect!

I adore the pattern on this rug. I don't have an area rug....maybe someday! I do have hardwood floors, so a rug might be pretty nice.

Don't forget to enter my earring giveaway. Not a lot have entered yet, so you'll have a pretty good chance of winning! ENTER HERE.

emily takes us to IKEA

After catching up on sleep from our long drive, Stephanie, Miranda, and I accompanied Emily to IKEA for breakfast and some serious shopping. Emily and her hubby have made IKEA a Saturday morning tradition since moving to Charlotte. Isn't that sweet?! I don't know many men that would go shopping with their wives every weekend. He's just that nice of a guy :) He knows how much Emily loves her some IKEA! Well, I think he was happy to hang back and watch some sports while we girls had an outing.

We made it in time for breakfast, so we enjoyed some really cheap food before shopping.

We had to get a group picture. Usually some nice stranger offers to help us out. Either we looked like we were managing alright, or no one really cared to help us. ha! I did notice that people don't pay attention to each other in Charlotte. Everyone sort of had a bubble around themselves...no one smiled or said good afternoon like we do around here. It was a little bizarre, but I actually like it!

It was a very successful trip! I got some great things for the house...including some curtains that I will have to debut on the blog at some point. I also managed to resist buying furniture! That was partially because I set a budget and partially because we had to drive back with 3 people in a Yaris.

We didn't eat the hot dogs, but I was glad IKEA had the courtesy to let me know that the one pictured wasn't actual size. A 10' long hot dog would be pretty terrifying.

I love these girls <3. Still more NC posts to come! I'll show you some of the other stuff in the store that I resisted...but will probably go back for at a later date :)

Take a second to enter my earring giveaway here. All you have to do is comment to enter!

Susie Frances Earring Giveaway

Susie Frances

up for grabs - Wrapped, oxi, small earrings. $42 value!
*the ones modeled are slightly larger than the ones I'm giving away*

Susie is a wonderful jewelry maker whom I have had the pleasure of working with on product photos. You can see my posts about her here, here, and here. I gushed and gushed about how much I loved her work, and she decided that as a thank you for taking photos, she wanted to give me a pair of earrings! These wrapped ones were my favorite, so she sent some over. She actually sent me a pair of the small AND the large so I could choose which one I liked better. I chose to keep the large pair, and she agreed to let me give one of my lovely readers the other pair!

This is my attempt at "modeling" my pair, and the pair in the first picture is the pair I'm giving away.

To enter: just leave a comment! 

IMPORTANT: Make sure to include an email address so I can reach you if you win. I'll be drawing a winner on February 23.

Please take a moment to glance through the rest of Susie's earrings and necklaces. I promise you will not be disappointed! The jewelry is not only gorgeous, but incredibly well-made. 

Good luck!

***Update: Congratulations to our winner, Liza! I hope you enjoy your earrings :)

snow surprise

 This morning I went to work a little annoyed because it was raining, and I really hate starting the week off with rain! It eventually turned to snow, which I had no idea would happen...I didn't check the weather today. Sarah and I had to run a couple of errands around campus, so we ventured out and it was TERRIBLE! I could barely open my eyes it was snowing so hard, and a lot of snow fell into my car when we got in. It was quite the fiasco.

I work at a university, and they ended up closing campus at noon, so I came home! I actually waited until it stopped snowing before leaving, so the roads weren't bad at all. It's always nice having a day off, especially when it's so lovely outside. The big group of trees near my house looks so neat! I walked around and took some pictures just for the blog, so I hope you all enjoy them <3

Those last two are from my backyard

Tried to take a picture of myself. It's really difficult with a fixed 50mm lens!

I hope you're all having a great (white) Monday!