3.27.2011

saturday snapshot

linking up again this week with kim's saturday snapshot party at yellow songbird! i know- it's sunday- but thanks to the servers at go daddy my blog was down all day yesterday. fabulous! today it's all fixed so here i am, linking up a little late!

some time in the year 2009 my best friend lynn gave me a random package of stick on mustaches {because i like fake facial hair- perhaps a mustache collage coming soon} i didn't have any reason to wear the mustaches so i saved them for a special occasion- what better than lynn's wedding?! i was hoping to secretly pass them out to the bridesmaids during pictures but it was too hot that day and my brain wasn't functioning properly! so instead we put them on right after the wedding and had the husbands do a little photo shoot. 
we called this one "mustache face" and i love it!  

head on over to yellow songbird to see all the other saturday snapshots!

3.23.2011

what i loooove

so i was thinking about taking pictures of my outfits for a what i wore wednesday post, but let's face it folks, snow boots & sweaters are getting old. i'm sick of them. i've been trying to dress like spring in order to make spring show up, but we're in the middle of a giant snowstorm right now so that's not working very well. 
instead of boring sweaters i compiled pretty pictures of thing i love and i'm linking up to what i love wednesdays over at lollipops

we had a taste of spring this weekend. we took the dog for a walk in the sunshine {without coats on} and i wore flip flops to the grocery store. that little taste of spring made me want more! 

1. brandon is a cyclist. i am not. he's hard core. i am not. no leisurely sunday afternoon rides around here because he's just too fast! i couldn't keep up if i wanted to because he has a road bike and i have a wanna-be mountain bike. i've had my eye on this pretty little bike for a while. she's pretty but not too girlie. she could make me legit!{yes, brandon i want a bike that costs more than yours did- sorry!}  trek madone 3.1 wsd

2. hello gorgeous clutch. you may have noticed eclu as the featured seller on the etsy front page not too long ago! the shop is geared towards bridal parties but i want every single one of their clutches. you can design your own & choose the flower/bow color plus a print for the inside. i don't need to design my own, i LOVE this one! look at that big beautiful green bow! eclu: design your own clutch

3. it's no secret that i love sweet harvey, llc. i have some of brandi's beautiful letterpress & i want more! aren't these cards perfect for writing a happy note this spring? sweet harvey: vintage bike letterpress flat notes

4.i love this bag. i love everything about it! the color, the knobby, nubby fabric, the ruffles. if i could own this i think i would hang it from a hook on my wall and just look at it!  made by hank: tough ruffles shoulder bag

since my optimism is not working, the snowblower is back out, the scraper got pulled out of the trunk, and i wore my boots today. winter is hanging on! these are the things that i love when i'm stuck "enjoying" more winter. 

5. ghirardelli mint bliss squares. 60% cocoa dark chocolate infused with mint. amazing. these are my favorite ghirardelli product but they have been discontinued. i had a stash from the last time i visited a ghirardelli outlet, but i was running out. my wonderful mother in law went to their ghirardelli outlet and sent me a new stash. this might be the last of them so i'm trying to make them last. ghirardelli: mint bliss

6. i love the west wing. it's my favorite tv show ever. i started watching it from the beginning {for the 2nd time in 6 months}and it keeps me company while i work in the studio. if you haven't watched it or think you wouldn't like it i suggest giving it a try! seasons only cost $18 on amazon right now so it can't hurt to buy just one! west wing

7. when it's cold & snowy i like to make things with yarn. it makes me feel warmer. my current yarn love is stitch nation bamboo ewe. when stitch nation yarns first came out it i bought all three varities and reviewed them here. bamboo ewe is my absolute favorite! super soft! i'm working on a bunch of tiny granny squares right now. perhaps for a giant blanket? debbie stoller: stitch nation bamboo ewe yarn

8. we had this wine with dinner last weekend and i loved it! i first discovered mezzacorona when i worked at the melting pot. we served their pinot grigio for $9 a glass and i loved it. happily it only costs $8 a bottle in stores {restaurant wine mark up is just so crazy}! recently i decided to see if the pinot noir was any good. i don't do well with really heavy, kick you in the throat red wines, so this easy pinot made my mouth happy! mezzacorona: pinot noir

9. those were the only things i had planned to mention, but as we battle this snowstorm, i must say i LOVE my boots! i bought these when we first lived up in the woods three years ago. we spent a lot of time in the snow and i already had the classic sorel caribou boots but i wanted something cuter. these beauties {sorel malina's} were on clearance at a local store. they only had one pair left, just my size & they've been keeping my feet warm & toasty ever since! sorel

head on over to krystina's blog & check out the other lovelies who've linked up!

3.21.2011

bead for life

if you are visiting from faith blogs today, welcome! i hope you'll keep checking out the great bloggers listed in the faith blogs directory!

All images in this post are ©csteinberg2007, and are used by permission of the photographer.

recently i attended a ladies night out with some lovely women here in town. a friend hosted a  bead for life party. until that night i had never heard of bead for life but i came away inspired by the organization and what they're doing in the lives of women in uganda. i want to introduce you to bead for life and possibly inspire you to get involved!
aren't they beautiful?

we watched the following video that tells the story of this wonderful organization. it's a little bit long, but i encourage you to watch the whole thing, it's worth it! 

we also got to watch a video tutorial on making paper beads & practice right along with the video. this is not as easy as it seems! sure you can roll it up any old way and end up with a bead, but to get pretty, uniform looking beads is hard!
rolling a bead
i left the party that night with four gorgeous bracelets and inspired by the work being done in uganda. i love what they said in the video about feeling the woman's hands who created my beads. what an amazing connection! 
my bracelets! this photo is {obviously} mine!
  according to their website the mission of bead for life is to create, "sustainable opportunities for women to lift their families out of extreme poverty by connecting people worldwide in a circle of exchange that enriches everyone."

BeadforLife is guided by the following principles:
  1. Creating businesses and jobs through entrepreneurial development is a more sustainable approach to poverty eradication than providing aid. Rather than becoming dependent on handouts from abroad, members build their skills and long-term capacities through meaningful creative work.
  2. Concerned citizens in resource-abundant countries care about the issues of extreme poverty and are willing to get involved.
  3. Paying the members fair trade prices allows them to meet their daily economic needs.   Investing 100% of our net profits in community development projects for impoverished Ugandans allows for a long-term sustainable future.
  4. Working together enriches all of us.
    {source}
i want them all!
getting involved is as simple as going shopping! you can buy jewelry as well as bags of beads to turn into your own jewelry at the bead for life shop online or visiting their brick & mortar store in boulder, co. if you want to do more, consider hosting a bead party. you can spread the word & help accessorize all your friends! bead for life will send you everything you need to host a party for free! info can be found here


also just a reminder that from now until april 15th, 10% of all sales from my etsy shop will go to the american red cross to help with relief efforts in japan. you can also donate directly through the red cross. thanks!

3.19.2011

saturday snapshot

hi all! i'm linking up today with kim's saturday snapshot party over at yellow songbird! such a fun way to dig through old photos! 

in all the craziness the past couple weeks i didn't acknowledge two important events! march 5th was our little fuzz monster's second birthday and march 9th was the four year anniversary of the day brandon asked me to marry him. i'm writing up the story for this week {better late than never?} but here's a snapshot from that night. 


it was pretty late at night but we went back to my parents house and woke them up. they already knew it was coming but were so excited to hear the story they came downstairs in their pajamas. i love that my dad snapped this shot of my mom hugging the two of us after i showed her the ring! 

3.18.2011

oh klondike days

two weeks later here it is! the post about the crazy craft fair i did! sorry it took so long to post this, i had to catch up sleep and orders after the show and then was down with the stomach flu this week. i'm finally back at it! 
klondike days is a two day festival held by the city of eagle river that celebrates all things winter & woodsy! i knew that the festival wouldn't quite draw my target market, but my mother in law wanted to pay the entry fee so i figured i should at least test the waters! 

perhaps because i didn't pay the fee myself, or maybe because i wasn't expecting things to be super awesome i was a little behind in preparing for klondike days. the week before the show there was a lot of this happening at our house {fabric flowers, snack & my little snuggle dog}
she's a great snuggler, but not a very good helper!

i finally decided to just let myself sleep and whatever i had would be good enough. the show wanted us to demonstrate our work while we were there so i figured i could just keep on working throughout the weekend! since the highschool where the festival was happening is only 4 minutes from our house we only took the big stuff- tables, chairs, shutters & doors- the night before and then brought all the product the morning the show started. 

these doors that i use for my display were abandoned in the basement of our house in wheaton. i LOVE them. they are old & solid & beautiful! there were actually 3 of them & we were hoping to bring them all with us to the woods, but the single one had to stay behind. it was going to be my new headboard- sad!
this picture was taken at the end of the day sunday- things are looking kinda bare! 
my booth was on the corner of the craft fair, right across from the teaching drum. since the festival was all about outdoor living the teaching drum people were there to talk about wilderness skills. now i'm a camp girl, i have some wildersness skills, but these were serious people! they were all dressed in leather outfits they had made, there was a shelter set up in the middle of the gym and animal skins hanging everywhere. i definitely live in the woods!

all day saturday and sunday i had a perfect view of one of the guys actually 'creating' one of the skins that they have hung up. it started with a big furry piece of an animal and he just used a weird branch to remove the guts & fur. saturday it wasn't so bad, but sunday the animal smelled horrible which made the gym an unfortunate place to be. i sent brandon over to take pictures of the process but he didn't want to just stand there & take pictures so he did a walk by photo shoot with my phone- little bit blurry!
he said they usually use wolf skin {not sure where they're getting that?!} but this was just a deer

back to the fun parts- my display! i've determined that i need some sort of backdrop for indoor shows. i've only ever done outdoor shows and the back of my tent creates a nice wall but indoor i don't have anything. when you walked up to my booth the back of it got lost in the massive amounts of fleece at the blanket booth behind me & the giant sign from the dip guys next door. funny thing about being next to the dip booth- i wasn't allowed to have any food or drink all weekend {no coffee!!!} but it was okay to sell & sample dips and skin animals. weird double standard. and yes, i snuck coffee in anyway, which was tricky! a friend and her family came for the festival which was mostly outdoors so she had a thermos in her backpack pocket- they took it from her at the door! the food options out in the foodcourt included a paul bunyan brownie that took up 4 cafeteria tables, elk burgers, bison burgers and {of course} brats! brandon had to man the table so i could leave & gobble down lunch! 

my booth & my wonderful helper for the weekend!
besides the doors for the statement necklaces and wreaths, i also had two tables. both were covered with white table cloths and then burlap. i try to make sure my table cloths come down as far as possible in the front so i can hide bins & supplies under the table. in the middle of my larger table was a "tree" {just branches in a jar of sea glass} that held all the flower clips. i couldn't get a great picture of it since i didn't have a great backdrop. i found these fabulous shutters at goodwill down in wheaton for $1.99 and use them as my earring display. 
also included here: payment accepted & custom order signs
the smaller table just held cake stands. these were a huge conversation piece and i sold a few, but people were really funny about them. i admit, if i saw these at a craft fair, i would just leave thinking "i could make that!" and that's fine! the funny people were the ones who obviously wanted to figure out how they were made without asking me or actually touching the cake stands. this led to a lot of people bent over, awkwardly trying to see the bottom of the plates. these same people would leave as soon as i tried to make conversation. made me chuckle! the most fun was having people recognize some of the china as their mom's or grandma's pattern, or even as their own! 

i didn't get good pictures of my headband display {a wine bottle} or the bracelets {on a velvet bracelet holder} but those both sold well! a couple of the crocheted bracelets i was working on sold right after i finished them! 

more pictures of some of the craziness i encountered? why sure! sorry for the poor quality, these are cell phone pictures i snapped quickly as people walked by!
the typical klondike days patron. these people didn't really go for
fabric flowers or crocheted bracelets :)

he was wearing a hat made of a whole skunk, but he must of gotten hot because the
skunk was just sitting on his shoulder

this was the booth across the track from me. she came to visit a few times and was pretty frustrated with the whole festival. it moved weekends and the price of admission tripled. she said in the past 10 years attendance has gone down dramatically and it won't really be worth her time anymore. she said she only sold one hat on sunday {perhaps because everyone at the festival already owned one?}


it was a very interesting weekend! i learned more about my target market and gained experience at an indoor show. i discovered that little old ladies aren't afraid to wear giant flowers! i did just fine financially and got to watch a hatchet throwing contest. i met people who raced dogsleds and others who did the 6 mile race in snowshoes. i learned more than i ever wanted to know about leather outfits & skinning a deer. i'm not sure if i'll be back next year {i might need to add a line of fur necklaces...} but klondike days was a weekend i'll never forget!

linked up with sew chatty's made with love monday, blue cricket design's show & tell wednesdays along for the ride's saturday is crafty day and the craft fair link up at the mrs.!


3.04.2011

random thoughts on a friday afternoon

i'm sitting at work waiting for the bulletin to print & thinking of all the work still to be done at home. klondike days set up begins in 2 hours and i'm not quite ready! i won't be taking much product over today since i live so close and i don't want it all to sit there for too long. i will be taking the display over, including the two massive oak doors i use for hanging necklaces on. luckily we don't have very far to go because they don't quite fit in our car! come to think of it, neither does the 8 foot table i'm using. hmmmm

you may have noticed that the shop is looking pretty empty. i've cleared it out for the show and will restock next week with everything that's left & hopefully some new products! i made a few statement necklaces for the show that i'm secretly hoping won't sell. they might be my favorite ever! like this one, shown in progress...

sorry for the crummy late night phone photo!

this week has been stressful, filled with not enough sleep or coffee, feelings of anxiety and not good enoughness {yep. made that up} but i have been reminded again and again that God's mercies are new every morning. what a wonderful gift! when i would go to sleep exhausted and discouraged i would awake to a sweet, encouraging email or a note from a friend. thank you Lord that your mercies truly are new every morning! feel free to download and print the verse below to remind you on your tough days!


i'll resurface on the blog sometime next week but look for me on twitter this weekend with updates from klondike days. i'm really not sure what to expect from the show since the other festival activities include horse pulls and chainsaw carving and dog sleds! we shall see :)


3.01.2011

a collection of treasures

treasury tuesday is back! and because i love the craft cult widget and they've told me they're working on the "treasuries not showing up in readers" problem please click on over to view these lovely collections!

my current crushes
this features my winter morning dahlia earring trio plus lovely items from some of my favorite crafty ladies. thanks lauren

erin go bragh
a collection that makes this irish lass smile & includes my fresh cut grass dahlia earrings. thank you lexilu who designs!

snow in california
this gorgeous collection features the blue skies statement necklace. thank you alyson!

hot and spicy
makes me long for a warm, sunny day! this collection features the sunshiny day headband. thank you Ever & Anon!