Updates!

I have not blogged in a LONG time.  This is not because I have not been creating, it is because I have been BUSY.

Things are a little different around here these days.  Creating anything happens late at night or whenever I can find a spare second.  With the addition of my little Eli a year ago, my time became even more precious and some creative projects have been placed on the back burner.

I am still creating invitations, but moreso now just on a word of mouth basis.  I have taken my website down completely and am just creating things here and there.  I love the stationery business, but my main business now is mom and I love putting all of my time into that.

Since my last post our Art for the Soul pottery business has officially taken off.  We are busy with home parties and pottery to go and it is a blast!

Another endeavor I am working on is the creation of my mittenstuff.com website.  It is not quite there yet, but my trusty web designer is working diligently to get it launched!  Soon we will have lots of Michigan Pride apparel and goods for sale - it is so exciting!  Here is a sample of items that will be available:

 

Currently these items are available at The Michigan Shoppe in the Frankenmuth Riverplace and at The Enchanted Cottage in Lake Orion.

 

Besides all of THAT that was just mentioned, I do want to share some new invitation designs with you because well, they are super cool and must be shared.

 

First up is a LONG overdue shout out to the fun, cheerful, upbeat, and all around awesome bride that is Jessica.  Her wedding stationery was SO FUN to create.  From her save the date cards to her gorgeous stationery, her invitations showed what an exuberant personality she has and were a great introduction to what sounded like a fun, beautiful and memorable wedding.

 

 

 

I have also created a slew of baby shower invitations lately and I must share this one that is my all time favorite.  I love the idea of a non-traditional shower.  This invitation is the epitome of non-traditional and the shower itself sounds like a ton of fun!

These baby boy invitations are adorable.  From a sports theme to a baby cowboy, the cuteness is everywhere!

 

 

This summer I also participated in my first ever craft show. It was a wonderful experience!  I was very grateful to receive some guidance from my experienced crafter friends over at Little Mitten Designs and Kreations by Karen and I now feel that I am ready to tackle another!

So, as you can see, I have been doing A LOT lately.  It was been a wonderful, creative, and genuinely fun few months and I look forward to crafting and creating my way through the fall.

My goal is to try to update the blog a bit more with my endeavors - we shall see how that pans out!

The Seasons are a Changin'

Winter is finally on its way out - the days are getting longer and we are even starting to get more peeks of sunshine, hooray!

Today I have a winter wedding to share as well as some fun springish goods.  Read on!

First, I have to share the stationery of Brian and Sondra.  Brian is sort of like the little brother that I never had - he is my younger cousin and we have had plenty of fun memories throughout the years.  He is a laid back, easy-going guy that is also lots of fun.  Thankfully, he met his equal when he found Sondra - she is as sweet as pie and is a perfect addition to our family.  I was so excited that they were getting married and of course was VERY pumped to help with any wedding details that I could get my hands on!

Their wedding was in Februrary and it was GORGEOUS.  Shades of gray, silver, white and navy were the perfect colors to accent their classy and cozy winter wedding.  The stationery set includes a black and white save the date card, shower invitation and a beautiful lace-wrapped gatefold invitation.  Overall the set was elegant and beautiful and it served as the perfect intorduction to their stylish wedding:

 

Lately I have been crafting and experimenting more than I have been making invitations.  It is a nice break from the norm and I am really enjoying learning some new processes.  Recenlty I discovered (thanks to Pinterest!) the joys of alchohol inks.  If you have not played with these yet, you must.  They are AWESOME and SO VERY FUN!  I got mine from Amazon but you can also get them here:

 

 

Below are two experiments that were successful:

 

Aren't they cool?!  I just love these things!  I have made oodles of fancy schmancy artwork with these but have yet to take any pictures.  I am hoping to post a tutorial and share some tips and tricks with you all in the near future.

 

And the winners are..........

Happy sunny Friday!!

This past week was awesome - we received so much love and support with our new business venture, we are so thankful and excited!

It sure was an adventure applying for the startgarden.com grant.  Sadly, we did not win this time - BUT we can try one more time and we are going to!  This time, we will be pulling out the big guns, so stay tuned!

However, we did have a super fun giveaway and I am excited to announce the winners:

The first prize, this super cute owl mode from Blue Goat Studios goes to: Jeanna Z!

 

The second prize, a custom mat from Hyde Park Home goes to:  Courtney o!

 

 

Prizes 3, 4, and 5 - you all receive a nail polish pendant, like these from sarZjo: Kelly S., Amy B., and Rose W.

 

And prize #6 - the Michigan shirt from sarZjo goes to: Mary S!

 

Congratulations to all of the winners!!!  Please send your shipping address to: sarahtoyzan@yahoo.com.

 

And thank you all SO VERY MUCH for your support.  You are VERY APPRECIATED!!!

 

When we give the grant our last shot, should we feature another giveaway??  Comment and let us know!

 

 

 



 

MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT - Art for the Soul!

Well, it's time to announce the big plans I have.  I plan to announce them in  a big way AND ask for your help. So please, read on!

About 6 months ago, my cousin Trish and I were chatting about starting our own business.  We were talking away and somehow the conversation drifted into what is now our dream idea - starting an in-home paint your own pottery business.  We frequent a local paint-your-own-pottery studio and we love it.  The only problem we have is that sometimes we don't have the time to travel there to paint, then go back to pick up our finished work.  We talked and talked and our idea came to fruition- we want a business that allows customers to stay home and create - we want the projects to come to you.  After some more talking and some planning, our idea, Art for the Soul was born!

Here is our plan - to have in-home pottery parties.  We will have packages including bridal showers, kids birthday parties, girl's nights, and more!  The beauty of it is, we come to you, instruct, take the goods, fire them, then deliver them back.

We have big exciting plans for this and cannot wait to host our first in home party!

In order to do that, we need your help.

Startgarden is a Grand Rapids based fund that endorses two businesses per week and provides them with start-up grants.  The ideas are chosen based on public endorsement so we need YOUR help to get our idea off the ground.

Helping is simple - all you have to do is VOTE and share this with your friends on facebook.  Voting can only be done through facebook and it lasts until next Thursday.

To encourage you to vote we have some plans.  Our first plan is to annoy and badger our friends into voting for us.  So, be warned.  For the next 7 days you will be hearing from us!

We have some other ways to encourage voting and that is by giving away FREE STUFF!!!

We have these fabulous items up for grabs:

Owl mold from Blue Goat Studio:
This mold is made from FDA compliant food grade silicone and can be baked at temperatures up to 300Deg F. It can be used for all sorts of fun projects like jewelry making, candy making, cake decorating, gift soaps, candles, etc. Use with polymer clay, resin, chocolate, fondant, wax, and soap. Approximate dimensions of the molded piece are 1''W X 1.5''T. We do not have a website or facebook page up and running, could you have readers like our etsy page? The link to my store is http://www.etsy.com/shop/BlueGoatStudio.

 



This custom frame insert from Hyde Park Home:
Here is the perfect gift that will not be re-gifted! First dance lyrics or wedding vows, are written by hand on a matte and when joined with a wedding photo,re-create the special memory.  This special gift idea can also be used for:

-Weddings (First dance, vows, bible verse)

-Baby showers (Lullaby's, bible verse)

-Prom photos w/boyfriend or friends (Dance lyrics)

-Memorials (Song of remembrance, favorite song, bible verse)

Winner will choose the sentiment to be written.

THREE nailpolish pendants from sarZjo:

 

And one of these super cool Michigan tshirts (navy blue, size based on winner's preference):

All you have to do to enter this giveaway is VOTE! Once you have voted, enter a comment here that you did so to be entered to win.  Want another entry?  SHARE that you voted on facebook and ask your friends to VOTE, then comment here.  Each comment will count as a seperate entry.  Want even more entries???  Visit etsy and favorite one of the shops above, then comment here that you did!

This giveaway is crazy awesome and you can win a ton of cool goods if you simply vote for our idea!!

 

Ch-ch-changes......

This blog post is a bit of a preview for tomorrow.  There are some BIG changes coming - for starters, I have taken my invitation website down.  I have decided from here on out to just conduct business through my facebook page.  I have gotten most of my business through my facebook page anyway, so it seemed like a logical step to take.

I still will be creating invitations, just most likely not on the scale that I did before.  In the next few days  I will be revamping my page, updating photos, prices, etc. to ensure that everything is current.

Stay tuned for a blog post tomorrow - BIG exciting things happening - BIG things!

We're Published (sort of!)

Recently I posted and shared the invitations of Carmen and Christopher.  I am so excited that those invitations are now published on the website of one of my vendors, CutCardstock.com!!!  What an honor it is to have my invitations on the website of a busy, reputable company!

You can check them out here and here!

What do you think - don't they look so professional??? 

Hello, Time? Where did you go?????

This post has two topics today - hopes and accomplishments.

Let's start with hopes.

To begin that topic, I have to give a big shout out to my friend, Kaylie, of Little Mitten Designs.  Kaylie recently wrote a post that made me happy.  It made me happy because I can relate to it so well.  It also made me happy because I was so relieved to find out that other crafting moms are in the same position as I am - we have no time, EVER!  We have hopes and dreams and ideas galore, but can hardly find the time to put them into fruition.  We want to make time to pursue art, however, time with our precious families certainly takes a very important priority. It was very comforting to read her post because I was envisioning myself being the only one struggling to juggle it all.  I have ideas coming out of my ears it seems and  I find myself crafting during naptime rather than cleaning or doing laundry.  I used to be able to complete projects at my leisure, but I am pretty sure those days have taken a little vacation.

With that being said, I must say, I do have some BIG things on the horizon - BIG things.  Those things will all be announced later, but I will share one little snippet with you.  I recently started selling several of my goodies at an adorable shop in Lake Orion, called Uniquely Yours.  This store is ADORABLE and the best part is, they sell wares created by Michigan artists.  I am such a strong patron of the arts, I love to buy things handmade and handcrafted by others.  This store is the perfect place for that and I am so blessed to be selling my nailpolish pendants, Michigan tshirts, and much more here!  If you're ever in the area, certainly stop by - you will be glad that you did!

I hope to be successful here and to create many more things to sell.  I plan to be having a BIG giveaway soon with the announcement of my other ventures, so stay tuned for that.

On to part 2 - accomplishments.

As you may have noticed, my invitation promotion has slowed down considerably.  This is not because of a lack of desire. Again, it is a lack of time. I am struggling to juggle it all, so my production has slowed way down.  I do love creating wedding invitations though, and I have worked on a few during these past few months.

This set that I am going to show you is purely a work of art.  These invitations are special because they were for my cousin. My cousin's new wife is so sweet, we are all so grateful that we could officially add her into our family.  I was honored to create their wedding invitations and I am so very excited to share them with you all.

They had a January winter wedding, themed with snowflakes and colors of silver, gray and purple.  The invitations were the perfect introduction to a perfect wedding day:

What I loved most about these invitations was that they were different from anything that I had done before.  The invitations were in a silver metallic A7 folder, which I had custom made from my favorite vendor, Cut Cardstock.  This vendor is so awesome - their prices are low, their shipping is fast, and their custom cutting, folding and scoring services are outstanding.  I am so very glad that I found them years ago!

Ok, back to the invitations.Once I had the A7 folders - I cut a slit into the center of the fold - here a ribbon was run through, which held the rsvp card on the inside and was adorned with a custom monogram on the outside.

Inside I used Curious Metallic paper for the invitations .  They were so shimmery and beautiful - perfect for a winter wedding.

These invitations were regal, shimmery, and all around beautiful.  A gorgeous set for a great couple.  Cheers to Carmen and Christopher!

And, as I said before, stay tuned.  BIG things on the horizon.  BIG things.