:: :: in case of mood emergency :: ::

inspired by all the amazing items people have been adding to their customized feelgood lists, i made this:



a deck of feelgood cards. go check them out. i think they're pretty awesome.

:: :: proud mama :: ::

i give you evan's first freckles. right there on his nose, where the shadowy part starts. see them? i know it's easy to be distracted by those gorgeous blue eyes, but please try to focus. they're so nice and freckly. oh i am a proud mama.

:: :: congratulations, it's a worm :: ::

i had my first pregnancy dream the night before last. in it, i was way, way pregnant and i felt like maybe i was going into labor and so i got into the shower.

and then, in the shower, i gave birth to a big, fat, writhing worm. i mean, big for a worm but small still for a human to give birth to.

and then the worm went down the drain.

and what was my reaction in the dream? i got out of the shower and googled it, trying to find out if this was normal. like maybe it was a pregnancy-related parasite? or maybe a parasite that had mimicked pregnancy?

i can't believe no one's found a way to sell hormones on the drug market because dude, they're powerful things.

:: :: why i like doing custom design work :: ::

because i never EVER would have come up with this recipe card set, but now that i did, i totally and completely love it.

:: :: three plus one :: ::

three gifts for myself (totaling just $40 with shipping), to celebrate the little tiny baby in my belly:





1. something luxurious (appleberry sugar scrub from theivorymagnolia)
2. something tasty (strawberry marshmallows from jakebakes)
3. something inspiring (a year of mornings: 3191 miles apart by maria alexandra vettese and stephanie congdon barnes)

and for the baby?



cashmere-blend yarn (that i got on clearance, i'll admit) in a yummy shade of winter white. i think i might try to make a sweater. YIKES!

:: :: oh yes i did :: ::

on a scale from "oh my god that's so inappropriate" to "you are a total freaking genius," where do you think using a maxi pad to dry off the slide at the playground falls?

'cuz i'm just curious.

i could have used a diaper but there was a chance we might need that.

:: :: no nest :: ::

still no movement on the condo in ohio. my prediction: our buyer's going to flake out on us. i'm starting to get frustrated about all this. i hate not being there; i hate not having any control over the situation. we haven't had a single showing since all of this started to fall apart and we put the place back on the market.

in fact, since december when we moved to ny, we've had exactly two showings, the second of which turned into a contract that turned into this protracted nightmare. we're two months past our original closing date now. that's ridiculous.

i know this is a small deal for our realtor, but i am beginning to feel like he's not trying to get our place sold. he's done a good job harrassing the buyer's realtor, but he seems to be relying much more heavily on this buyer than i feel is appropriate. i mean, we're going on six months now. he's not talking to us about lowering the price. he hasn't had a single open house.

i'm starting to need more and more things from storage. we need our own place. i need someplace to nest, for godssake! i need this to happen.

:: :: how to tell people you're pregnant :: ::

it's true. i am.

i wasn't going to tell you yet because, i don't know, you're not supposed to tell people so soon i guess. you know, in case of miscarriages (which, apparently, you're not supposed to mention while pregnant because it makes people uncomfortable).

but i just can't keep it to myself. i'm excited and scared and freaking out and feeling the urge to knit. my boobs are aching and i need a roll (something starchy and bland) and the pregnancy migraines have started.

how can i possibly leave you out of this?

plus with the postpartum depression so recent that it's not even a memory yet, it's a pre-memory, i feel the need to be, i don't know, on top of things this time. to be talking about it. writing about it. expressing my fears and excitements and joys and anxieties.

(besides -- i accidentally spilled the beans to my family on easter when i started a sentence "ever since the first time i was pregnant")

so yeah. yay! i haven't been to the doc yet but i'll be due sometime in mid-december i do believe. i'm so psyched about a winter baby, and so annoyed that i have the complete opposite maternity wardrobe. anyway...

that's the news.

:: :: top five :: ::

although i am not totally surprised that i am somewhat talented at the business-end of running a new business (and could i add more qualifiers and vague adjectives in one clause please), i have to say that i am a bit surprised how consuming it can become.

in my blog reader, for example, i have at least 44 blogs i follow that i consider "work-related" blogs. i read these to stay current with trends, to see what's going on out in the wider design world, to be exposed to things i wouldn't normally find. i also read them to get business advice, creative inspiration, and a dose of reality. and sure, i read them to see if anyone is out there talking about me. i feel weird saying that but it's true. because sometimes they are. and i think that's exciting.

the trouble is, each of those 44 blogs posts daily. some post several times a day. it's too much for anyone to keep up with.

and reading them in a blog reader is like eating diet ice cream. it's cold and sweet but there's nothing wonderful or luxurious about it. you don't get the full ice cream experience.

so i'm attempting to pare it down. (did i mention i follow 40 blogs that i don't consider work-related?) i'm trying to choose just ten. ten that inspire me. ten that i enjoy reading each day. ten that i really really love.

and i'm looking for your help.

i know, i know. i have 84 blogs in my blog reader. but frankly? they don't all inspire me. and i know there are some gorgeous, thoughtful blogs out there that i'm missing. so if you don't mind, can you share your top five? or even your top two? i'm out looking but i'd love your help.

thanks. i'm looking forward to my blog cream. maybe in a cone.

:: :: events :: ::

i'm excited to share two things with you:

1. i have just released my first wedding stationery line. this represents a big step for me and the shop. i'll be offering printable designs but i'll also be doing in-house printing. i bought the most gorgeous papers to use - cotton papers, recycled felt-finish papers. oh, i was swooning. i hope that this next big move will be rewarding and will also help me grow my business.

2. you can win top-of-the-line royal treatment wedding stationery design by up up creative in the beautiful ripple event charity auction. i donated a complete custom design package that includes custom design of invitations, save the dates, response cards, menus, favor packaging, the works. it also includes forty percent off printing. 100% of proceeds from the auction will benefit carolyn's compassionate children, a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of young adult cancer survivors.

:: :: picture quilt :: ::

working on taking and editing photos for the shop today, i couldn't help but be so inspired by this:



it's just a picture of all my pictures after being imported, but i just love the color and arrangement. makes me think of quilts. makes me want to make a quilt that looks something like this.

:: :: happy hoppy :: ::

ahh. it was a good day. sunny, if a bit cool. brian spent the morning working on a project for me (more on that to come this week) and evan spent the morning playing with his new basketball hoop (from the easter bunny, i.e. my mom) while my mom put candy inside plastic eggs and i sat out in the sunshine in my pajamas and winter boots and coat, wrapped in one of my favorite quilts, drinking coffee and drawing some wedding invitation sketches. and running into the street for stray basketballs.

then my sister and her fiance joined all of us for easter lunch and we all played some more baby basketball. evan couldn't nap because he was thinking about basketball. this is actually what he told me when i went in to get him after an hour and twenty minutes.

anyway, i hope your day was as enjoyable. here's to springtime and sunshine and lots of creativity in everyone's coming days.

:: :: seven, eight :: ::

i know back in the nineties, steven covey and his seven habits were both popular and also considered a little cliche. maybe a bit overexposed or maybe a bit misunderstood? but i had to read his book for a class in college and i remember thinking that it was pretty smart. to this day i think often about covey's third habit: putting first things first. it's a habit that's all about prioritizing. about understanding the difference between what's important and what's urgent and what's both.

as i work on this blog and my shop and the new design blog, and as i balance all of this with being a mother and a wife and a daughter and a sister, and as i see things like showers and haircuts and leg-shaving being neglected, i find i think of covey and his seven habits more and more.

i think about priorities. i think about being proactive. i think about what covey calls "beginning with the end in mind" an awful lot. i feel like i'm doing a good job and also not doing such a great job. like i need a day to sit and think and then a day to organize my thoughts. i feel like i spend 3 minutes here and six minutes there and a couple of random minutes here and there throughout the day thinking and processing and setting goals and considering priorities, but that doing it that way is making my thinking and processing and all about half as effective.

but i also feel like i'm having too much fun to stop and spend two whole days just thinking and processing. i have things i want to do and things i need to do.

so i'm thinking i need to figure out how to be effective more efficiently. perhaps that's the eighth habit?

(note: i do know that covey published a book called the 8th habit and i'm sure that if i googled it i could find out what the eighth habit really is, but i like to think that i came up with it myself. so there.)

:: :: blue yonder :: ::

stefani from blue yonder is hosting an up up creative giveaway this weekend. you could win a printable stationery set or a custom feelgood list. go, enter. and while you're there, check out stefani's blog. it's charming and sweet and wonderful. and sometimes it features chickens.

:: :: no wind :: ::

hey creative shop owner friends: want to know an awesome way to take all the wind out of your own sails? (this works best if you have a spouse, significant other, or close relative with a steady day job and a salary or hourly wage...)

add up your sales from today. then compare your daily income (before expenses -- let's not be sadists) to your spouse/s.o./relative's hourly rate.

then weep quietly.

oh, i know. it's not about the money. or at least it's not all about the money. but it does put things in perspective for you and makes you think. for me it makes me think about how if i ever hope this fulltime gig is going to pay like one, i'm going to have to learn a lot more.

which i don't mind. i like what i'm learning so far.

(like today? today i learned that being featured on the front page of etsy does have its benefits. in that one hour i was on the front page, i got 21 shop hearts, 15 item hearts for the item featured (the image of which is shown above), and 20 item hearts for other things in my shop. many thanks to my friend anne for telling me my cards were on the front page. i was so psyched.)

:: :: wip :: ::

i don't know what this is destined to be but i've had it in my head (and in my sketchbook) for awhile now and tonight i had to take a little while to make a first "draft" of the idea.

just a little preview of things possibly to come in the shop.

:: :: april goals :: ::

jena from modish and modish biz tips has initiated a monthly goals check-in that i thought it would be interesting to participate in. i'm supposed to establish 5 business-related goals that i hope to accomplish this month.

mine are:

(1) order business cards (finally!)
(2) list my first screenprinted items in the shop
(3) list my first wedding stationery in the shop
(4) promote promote promote
(5) work on branding
(6) figure out a better bookkeeping system
(7) be happy

hmm. i have seven. plus i have some goals for each penny pretty. they are:

(1) increase readership by 25% by the end of the month
(2) get the two each penny pretty flickr groups up and running

:: :: portrait of a boy :: ::

portrait of a boy waiting for the garbage truck to come back down the other side of the street.

:: :: wow :: ::

after i published that last post, about my cards being in a real brick-and-mortar shop, and then thought about my week and all, i realized: this business thing is going really well. it's hard to remember that when i'm in the middle of it and barely eeking out a penny for my work still (in fact i haven't checked -- last i knew (yes, i need to do some bookkeeping, thank you) i still hadn't even broken even yet). but i've been open five months and a day and i'm making sales pretty much every single day and getting wholesale inquiries and things are happening.

and i love it. every moment of it. truly. even the shipping.

really, the shipping. it's not so bad.

i hate to get all stuart smalley on you right now but i just wanted to give myself a little "i'm good enough" shout out. i'm proud of my self. i'm proud of all the work i've done. i'm proud of how much i've already learned.

this is pretty cool.

:: :: coming to a store near you :: ::

well. coming to a store near you if you happen to live near greenville, south carolina. i guess i should have stated that in the title, huh? hope i didn't get your hopes up too high.

but yeah. today i sent 25 cards to the mayme baker studio in greenville, south carolina. my cards are going to be in a store. a store that, if my googling is accurate, has bright pink shutters.



a cool store.

i'm so excited.

:: :: wishful :: ::

From Film in the Fridge.

Making me wish that I had the time and space right now to make a new quilt. At least I've got my Yudu for an upcoming fabric-related project.