happy thursday:

hi friends! i am preparing for renegade los angeles this weekend - July 24 + 25 so i won't be posting tomorrow. if you're in the LA area, i hope you'll stop by! it's an awesome craft show, with over 250 crafters and it's free! (i'm actually attending the la food fest on saturday, so i won't be at renegade all day. if you want to meet, i'll be there all day on sunday!)

i haven't posted weekend links in a while but i like these so here are some links from around the blog world, for your weekend enjoyment:

+ pretty dresses from libby story

+ the coolest book camera blogged at our city lights

+ would love to buy this recycled pine wood bookcase

+ anyone have 3.6 million to buy Marilyn Monroe's home? it's amazing!

+ really really really loving this engagement shoot by christian cruz.

+ love this really awesome Faux Gold Dino necklace tutorial at paper n stitch!

okay, see you lovelies next week! don't forget to check back for the blog anniversary giveaway :)

oh, hello friend in 2009:

hello friends! well, 2009 has almost come to an end. i am really excited for 2010... for many reasons: looking forward to many changes, new friends, and of course: blogging! but i didn't want to forget about this year and how much the blog has grown over the last year. so here is a review of some posts from '09!

as seen in:

+ guest post at decor8: in august, i got an amazing opportunity to do a guest post at decor8 while holly moved to germany!

+ diy column at utterly engaged: i put together some pretty packaging for issue 003 of utterly engaged!

blog + shop:

+ lovely package exchange: in july, we did an exchange where over 250+ people exchanged lovely packages.

+ lots and lots of craft shows: in 2009, i sold at over 10+ craft shows. it was lovely! i will be posting a whole guide to planning for a craft show next year!

+ reached over 1000 etsy sales: hurray! am really going to try to focus more on the etsy shop next year!

+ celebrated 1000 followers: in november, the blog hit 1000 followers. so cool ;) its kind of cool and my twitter and blog follow each other in number of followers. its really fun when they both match up!

+ customer appreciation week: lots of fun. look for customer appreciation week in 2010!

+ changes: in june 09, i changed my whole blog layout!

+ over 30 weekly giveaways: in 2009 we have over 30 weekly giveaways from so many lovely shops. click to see the archive!

+ inspire lovely: so many lovely photos in the archives. click over if you need some inspiration ;)

crafts + packaging:

+ book of notes for nick: this appeared on stumbleupon! so exciting!

+ more notes: a little online scavenger hunt note book. this was lots of fun to make.

+ hot chocolate gift idea: some sticky fun!

+ bridesmaid project two: a lovely bridesmaid book of gifts, made for lucy.

+ bridesmaid project one: pretty little ring lockets for michelle.

+ shop packaging: i love pretty packages, if you didn't already know :) archive of all the shop packaging posts!

collections / series:

+ 17 lovely business cards: with some commentary from designers ellie snow and whitney deal.

+ 10 lovely iphone apps: a collection of some fun apps, for you iphone users.

+ fun cameras: it'd be fun to own all these novelty cameras.

+ notions series: a week long series on ruffles. crochet. lace. cutout. pleats.

life:

+ proposal story: in november, nicholas proposed :)

+ always, sometimes never: if you are new here and want to read a little something about me, this was a fun little post i enjoyed doing.

+ met ruby ellen from cakies: in july - i got to meet ruby, true, and brave for breakfast. it was so much fun, i felt like i had already known her forever.

+ met jessica jane from petite house: jessica and i had been 'blog' friends for a while...we texted a lot too. i was so excited when they moved to southern california! we first met at renegade craft - which is appropriate since we're both crafters. i also got to meet valerie, both of them were so cool!

+ blog social at urbanic: this was a blast. met so many lovely blog friends like amanda from 100 layer cake, audrey from parcel post, monica from our designed life, and rachel from heart of light!

+ turned 24: in june, another year older.

+ met dionne from city of dionne: for a socal bloggers social she put on. it was so much fun.. and kind of my first real blog meet-up. before i walked in, i was like "nick what if they turn out to all be old blogger ladies?" hehe. they were all so cool.

misc pics:


random weekend post.


pretty puzzle books.


thrift finds.


an awesome banner from the fabulous katie of made by hank.


i love this vintage dish.

i made a skirt in sewing class!


a sweet book nick made for me.

see you in 2010!
have a safe and lovely new year.
xo.

oh, hello friend elsewhere:

thank you to:

- amy of old sweet song: i was a part of her 'blogger crush series' - a series of blogger guest interviews i simply love and am so honored to be a part of!

- kelly of design crush: featuring oh, hello friend shop goods for a giveaway! (stop by her blog, you can win some goods and have till monday to enter!)

- brandy of the lovely list: i was a part of the lovely list this past tuesday at brandy's wonderful blog featuring lots of talented bloggers + artists.

- becky of sugar plum invitations: so lovely to be interviewed on this gorgeous wedding blog. i am also working on some packaging for becky, she is such a dear!

thanks for the love ladies!

finally back:

so lovely to be healthy!

( image from flora douville )

hi friends! well, i am back from san francisco renegade, it was a good (quick) trip! thank you for all your kind get well wishes: i'm about 90% better now! it is crazy how often we can take health for granted. well, i am posting swap details tomorrow - be sure to stop back in :) happy monday!

thank you:

i was recently mentioned on decor8, which was so exciting! thank you holly, what a lovely surprise! she posted a picture of my charm buttons, these are always popular at the shows. i've recently come up with some new designs too. my favorite is the hummingbird :)

and another wonderful blog, desire to inspire: in her easter reading guide!


thank you to these lovely ladies, it is such an honor to be mentioned on your blogs.

new math:

some clever little math skills:

new math.

( found via my adventure is your advantage )

sales:

1. JacqleenBleu photography is having a buy 1 get 1 free sale at her shop.

2. chronicle books is having a f&f 35% off everything sale + free shipping! enter code "friends" at checkout. ends today, december 10th.

3. mi spa's 3rd anniversary is celebrating with a free bar of soap and goodie bag with each order. until 12/15, while supplies last.

4. martha stewart crafts - 20% sale, enter code "holiday" until 12/15.

poladroid:

digital polaroids, from poladroid.

yes, very soon polaroids will be a distant memory, so sad. but to keep the memory going, you can download this super duper program that converts your photos into polaroids! ok, so it pretty much just sticks the frame around your photo, but still. it's cool. and free! i'm all about the free.

note * application is only available on macs right now. (uh-huh, go macs.) so get on it. sorry pc users. but according to the website, the download for you guys is the works.

ok, i know it's not the real thing. but hey, it's all about digital now i suppose. and it's as close to the real thing as it gets. you drag your picture onto the 'polaroid' and you actually wait for it to develop - as you can see below in my screen shot. i'm gonna be honest, this really confused me at first and i was like, "ugh, great..what is wrong with my pic?" and considering the instructions only come in a FRENCH pdf with your download, i just had to figure it out for myself. but aren't you glad i am explaining it to you now? :) be sure to add your pics to poladroid's flickr group.

have fun!

brother email:

1986 * my brother is 11 here. he said he wanted a sister for his birthday.
pretty sure i was the best birthday gift ever!

nothing like a good old loving message from my big brother.

sent yesterday:

"i just wanted to say hi to you, you lil' piece of poo!"

aw. thanks jerk face!
:)

apple:

i thought this was entertaining: how to dress like a mac/pc. go mac's and justin long! except everyone at my work dresses like a pc. i'm even on a pc right now, such a sad-bear.


ok, i know i'm a bit of a nerd when it comes to apple but i thought i should inform you that they have announced a media event, september 9 in which they are expected to release new iPod nanos and a new iPod Touch. so be sure to tune in! so exciting :) my bro says i'm brainwashed. they did employ me for 2 years so sure, maybe a little. apple rules!

oh, and there's this poll at just creative design to see what people use for their design: mac or pc. it's interesting so far, pretty split down the middle. vote! (for mac cause they're the best!) brainwashed? no way.