:: etsyversary week, day five: comments make me happy ::

your comments this week have been making me so happy, as your comments here on the blog always do. (i have a friend who wants me to make "will blog for comments" t-shirts - i think she's onto something.) so for today's etsyversary week free download i made some buttons for your own blog. you can download each of the three separately in two different formats, as shown below:

scrolly comment button: jpg || png
typophile comment button: jpg || png
dash-line comments button: jpg || png

i hope you enjoy and as always, feel free to share this blog post with your friends.

:: etsyversary week, day FOUR! ::

among the more popular printable items in my shop are my recipe cards. so for today's free diy printable i made an etsy-orange printable recipe card file for you. with the nice dark-and-light orange combo, they'd make a lovely hostess gift for thanksgiving, eh? simply download the file here then print, cut, and give.

:: day three: hooray! ::

it's day three of etsyversary week, friends, and today i've got something a little different to share. download the file here and enjoy.

:: day two ::

today's freebie is a little desktop wallpaper to brighten your office or home. i have it available in two different aspect ratios: 1600px by 1200px and 1280px by 800px. go to "all sizes" above the picture to download the original size and set it as your desktop background. then bask in the bright orangey goodness.

(as i've said before, i've never been able to figure out how to make perfect wallpaper. when i design it in illustrator or photoshop it always looks gorgeous and crisp and perfect and no matter the type or size of file i save i never can get it as beautiful as i want it. but enjoy this nonetheless. it's still pretty darn good.)

:: halloween in pictures & words ::

[ can you guess which pumpkin is mine? ]

i've always thought halloween was fun, but man halloween was fun this year. evan, not quite two and a half years old, was so into it. he looked on the internet with daddy to find a pumpkin carving he wanted to do. he helped me draw the picture on the pumpkin (i.e. he held the pen with me) and then helped the entire time daddy carved it. he pulled out pumpkin guts and then basked in the spooky glow of his lit pumpkin when it was all done.

and the costume thing? so into it. he helped me buy the fabric and pick out the buttons. and when it was all done he kept giving me spontaneous hugs. he went as fireman sam, his absolute favorite TV character (leave it to our kid to fall in love with a welsh children's television show; admittedly he is a dead ringer for the red-headed title character) and here we are two days later and he won't take it off except to eat and sleep. he wore it to the library this morning, the grocery store this afternoon.

and then there's the candy. at each house he gave a confident little "trick or treat please" and then a kind "thank you" (sometimes at our prompting) as he watched more and more candy being dropped into his fire hydrant. (we only went to about ten houses but that's a LOT of candy for a two-year-old!) when we got home he piled his booty on the floor and chose a few pieces to try. he's never been into candy at all but he's definitely enjoying trying all the different bars and bites.

yesterday he cried a little bit telling daddy, "i want halloween to come back." so freaking cute.

** worthy of note: i made this costume using fleece. smartest thing EVER because it took a total of six or seven seams for both the pants AND the jacket. fleece doesn't ravel so you don't need hems. i highly recommend you consider this for costumes in your own future. **

:: one year ::

today is the one-year anniversary of my etsy shop.

i hope it's not overdramatic or strange to say that i'm finding it almost as difficult to reflect back on the last year as i found it to reflect back on my son's first year of life. so much happens and changes in a year. our orientations toward things and events and life itself change. we move. we rethink. some things we wish we could redo. some things we wish we could relive.

suffice it to say that it has been a good year and i'm really proud of my work. i'm continually astounded by how much i enjoy doing this.

so this week is going to be a little bit of a celebratory week. i've got freebies lined up for each day of the week, starting today. as you'll see, all of the freebies are etsy orange. i thought it seemed appropriate.

today's download is a pillowbox. the illustration is actually something i drew by hand for the new desk calendars and then digitized for printing.


use this pillowbox for small gifts, jewelry, gift cards, etc. it's super easy to cut and assemble and i'll bet you find yourself getting addicted to them.

to download and print this for yourself, click on either of the images above or click here.

:: a newsy november first ::

i don't know how many of you read my other blog, each penny pretty, but i've decided to stop writing over there for awhile. between trying to grow my little business and brainstorming new ways to bring in much-needed income for my family and oh yeah this little baby who ought to be appearing sometime in the next seven weeks, each penny pretty has fallen below the minimum priority requirement line.

but the good news is that some of the things i've been doing over there will be migrating over to this little blog. i still really love the idea of featuring amazing creative commons photos, for example, and plan to continue here with my weekly CC post. i've also got plans in the works to feature some more of my indie business peers here on this blog. my way of sort of paying it forward.

anyway, i just thought i'd share the news.

in OTHER news, tomorrow (nov 2) is the one year anniversary of the opening of my etsy shop, so look forward to a whole week of fun celebratory posts this week, 'kay?

:: up up website is UP ::

it's been four months in coming, but here it finally is. i'm pretty psyched.

whaddaya think? soon i hope to spiff up this blog to match.

:: daily drop cap ::

ow cool is this? it's a daily drop cap and it's available (along with 25 other beautifully illustrated letters) completely free from typographer and illustrator jessica hische. jessica provides the letters as well as simple instructions (and html code) for including a drop cap in your next post.

am kind of tempted to use them to begin every single paragraph in a blog post, just to see what they all look like together. as you can see, each letter is different. i myself love hische's take on the letter V.

:: behind the scenes: acorns ::

every so often, i like to share a little glimpse of things to come at the shop. i'm releasing a new desk calendar sometime super soon (still testing colors, tweaking patterns, waiting for the last supplies to arrive, etc.) and here's one small little peek at what you can expect.

below i've also included the original inspiration. last week evan and i went hiking and while he threw things into various bodies of water, i took pictures.
something about this acorn top (is there a name for the top of an acorn?) just really captured my imagination.

:: go indies ::

{ photo credit: from susanlprince's flickr photostream }

brian and i are worst case scenario budgeters, so there have been several years in our eight year history (okay, there have been eight years) when there was some doubt that we'd break even at the end of the year. with law school and graduate school and then with loans and mortgages, money's always been, well, let's say snug.

recently we've been having a lot of doubt about making it through 2010 without accumulating some serious debt. we've got some plans and things in place to help and since we've made it through every other tough year we've just assumed we'll make it through next year.

but now things have taken a turn for the worse. suddenly, we're worried about making it through this november let alone 2010. needless to say, my wheels are turning. there's only so much more saving and scrimping we can do, so now it's time to come up with a way to make more cash flow in. i don't know if that means i'll be seeking more freelance work or taking on new projects or what. i'm still in the beginning brainstorming stages.

my business is quote-unquote successful for a new independently owned business. i'm approaching my one year anniversary with more than 800 sales and (just barely) in the black. but it's just not right. i work so hard, put in so many hours, i am seen as having been successful in my first year out, and i've literally made peanuts. i know that's how things work but it just doesn't work for us.

anyway, this holiday season, i'd love it if you'd keep people like me in mind. sure, you can get your christmas cards at target this year, but think about all the people like me who run these great little businesses and who make something like $800 a year when all is said and done.

support the indie movement.

and that's the word.

:: likey? ::

so, friends. what do you think? good ad? would you click? it's headed to a blog directed at knitters, sewers, crafters, etc. you know, sort of the diy set. i can't decide how i feel about the cutting-and-scissors line. thoughts?

:: flickr favorites ::

more things that have me excited:

things to make, things to inspire, things to want for yourself, and things to make you happy.

1. munki in the middle back, 2. ", 3. vintage kitchen things, 4. Cake Box Illustration 18, 5. Garland of hearts, 6. Nursery from doorway, 7. Whit's Knits: Crocheted Stash Basket, 8. POSTER: Weinsburg, Ohio, 9. Pink and brown quilt

:: benevolent postcard society ::

have you heard about the benevolent postcard society yet?

it's a postcard exchange / art project with the aim of bringing a smile to its members through the random exchange of postcards. it started in september and runs for one year. at the beginning of each month, i get an address and i am to send a "cheerful, amusing, inspiring, pretty, or quirky postcard" to my recipient. (quoting from the BPS blog)

this is the one i made for october.

you can see lots of others at the BPS flickr group. some of them are pretty cool. i especially love this one:

hilarious.

:: knit one, knit another ::

i'm afraid i can't stop. me, the girl whose bio used to read, "julie hates knitting but knits one item each year." i just can't stop knitting.

in fact i've already got my next project on the needles. something for me.

but first: a little showing off. because i'm freaking proud of this little sweater. i wanted to make it but it scared the heck out of me. raglan shaping? neck placket? words i barely comprehended. i tried reading through the directions and they left me bewildered.

but then i just jumped in. i had yarn of the right gauge just sitting around and needed something to keep my hands and brain occupied, so i just started. and row by row i figured it all out. and it was actually pretty easy. and i love it so much.

hooray!

** edited to add: the pattern is from joelle hoverson's lovely book, last-minute knitted gifts. it's one definitely worth investing in. **