Beach Reading

Happy Monday, everyone. I hope you all had a safe and happy 4th of July (Independence Day if you live in the US). I had an awesome weekend. My sister-in-law had her bachelorette party weekend extravaganza at the beach house and it was a blast! (If you're wondering, I'm the giant in this picture. It really sucks being 6 feet tall sometimes).



11 girls and one and a half bathrooms is always a fun time. We spent a lot of time down at the beach getting burned to a crisp and a lot of time eating. I'm pretty sure I gained 10 pounds, which is great when I'm squeezing myself into my bathing suit. We also did some outlet mall shopping which I highly recommend. Here is a picture of the my Mother-in-law put up for the weekend.



Friday night we had a bonfire at the beach and watched kids set off insane amounts of highly dangerous fireworks all around us...which in retrospect was probably not that safe. But it was made of awesome, none the less. Here's the aftermath of one of the craziest fireworks displays I've ever seen.



One thing I love doing while I'm at the beach house is laying out with a good book. I think I average a book a day while I'm there, sometimes more. Here are some of the books I have read or will be reading this summer:

The first is a series I discovered earlier this summer. Twilight is the first book in a series about a teenage girl who falls in love with a vampire. I've always been a sucker for a good vampire novel and this is no exception. There are three books in the series with the fourth and last coming out this August. I can't wait!



Fearless Fourteen is the latest in one of my very favorite series by Janet Evanovich. The series follows Sephanie Plum who becomes a reluctant bounty hunter after losing her job as a lingerie buyer. I never fail to laugh till I'm crying while reading these books and can't wait to get my hands on this latest installment (hurry up Mom and Dad!).



Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes is a great read for summer. It's short enough to read in a day and a great story about a girl who goes on a sort of scavenger hunt across Europe.



One of my favorite genres is science fiction and fantasy and this book is my absolute favorite book in that genre. I might even go so far as to say it is my favorite book of all time. I've read it more times than I can count and feel like I'm due for another go at it this summer. This particular version is actually three books put into one volume. It is the story of Paksenarrion, a sheep farmer's daughter who is destined to be a legend (If you haven't noticed by now, I tend to like stories about strong heroines). I highly, highly recommend this one.



My last book recommendation is a historical romance novel and I'm more recommending the author than just this particular book. Lisa Kleypas has a knack for writing great romance, mostly set in England in the 1800s. Her books are a great read for the beach with just the right amount of content to suck you in but not be too heavy.



If anyone of you have book recommendations you can share with me, I would love to hear them. I'm always looking for the next great book to read.

Hellooo, hellooo, helloooo

Just letting everyone know I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I have, however, been dealing with the end of my son's school, the beginning of summer programs, the end of my daughter's naps, the beginning of potty training, and sickness times, like, 13. I'm in the process of getting over the stomach flu and plan to resume posting as soon as I'm better. Take care everyone!

Movie Madness!

I looove movies. My date night of choice is catching the latest blockbuster at the theater or renting and curling up on the couch with my hubby. This summer movie season is killing me, though! This weekend we went to my sixth movie since it started and still have a whole bunch to go. When did movies get so expensive require the handing over of your firstborn to see??? Here is a list of what I have seen so far and what I think of them:

1. Horton Hears a Who - Totally cute. I would definitely recommend it to anyone, not just kids.



2. Iron Man - One of the best superhero movies ever made (and trust me, I know my superhero movies). A bonus: Robert Downey Jr.! Never been a big fan of his, but yum!



3. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - Most definitely did not live up to the first three but I liked it better than most people such as my brother-in-law who put it on the bottom of his list along with Freddy got Fingered and Little Nicky.



4. Sex and the City - Sooo good! Many people think it didn't do the TV show justice but I think it was everything the show was and more! As my sister put it, "We laughed, we cried, we laughed so hard we cried".



5. The Chronicles of Narnia - Prince Caspian - Better than The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. Ben Barnes as Prince Caspian fell a little flat but he was nice to look at, at least :-)



6. Kung Fu Panda - Awesome! I usually side with Pixar and tend to not like Dreamworks movies as much but this one was right up there with Finding Nemo and Monster's Inc. A bonus was that my son is totally obsessed with pandas so he was so excited to see this movie.



Has anyone else seen any of these movies? Do you agree or disagree with my opinions? Leave me a comment and let me know what you though!

As if that weren't enough movies to go to, there are a whole list of movies that are coming out that I'll be seeing in the theater. Here they are:

The Incredible Hulk



Get Smart

WALL-E



Wanted

Hancock

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (this one pretty much I'm going to get dragged to by my husband)

Journey to the Center of the Earth

The Dark Knight



Star Wars: The Clone Wars


Whew, I'm tired (and broke) from just typing that list! How about you guys? Are there any movies you are excited for? Anything you've been waiting for with bated breath? Share!

Treasury love!

I finally got a Treasury! For those of you not familiar with Etsy or their Treasury, it is a way to share some of your favorite items on Etsy with its community. The only problem is they only allow you to create a new one when the amount of lists have dropped below 333. People literally calculate the exact moment this will happen and lay in wait to create their own lists. Today I got lucky and happened onto the Treasury just before it opened up and I got my own! I decided to go with Superheroes since I had found so many great products while I was searching for my 5 favorite things recently. So here it is: Superpowers!

Finally Some Graphic Design!

It's been a while since I've showed you what we've been up to in Wildwood Girls and that's primarily because we've been a little sidetracked these past few weeks. We were forced to put almost everything aside as Jen's jewelry show loomed. Now that it's over, we're getting back into the swing of things. Here are two projects that we completed recently.

This first banner was for an Etsy shop that sells lovely little polymer clay pendants. Her shop name is BeesCreations so the obvious choice was to feature a bee! She wanted a classy bee rather than a cutesy one which proved to be a bit of a challenge. Here's how it turned out:


Here is the avatar that goes with it:


The other project that we finished was for an animated ad for Unquiet Design on Etsy. She was so easy to work with because she had a clear idea in her head of what she wanted. She already had a banner and font she liked so she wanted to use those elements to create her ad. Here's how it turned out:



That's it for now. Stay tuned for some custom banners we've been working on as well as some handmade gift boxes for jewelry featuring Amy Butler paper!

Have a safe and happy weekend everyone!

Me Boss

I just had my role as a "boss" explained through the eyes of a 5 year old. It was very enlightening.

P was explaining to his 2 year old sister why she isn't the boss. This was his explaination:

"You don't clean up, you take toys out. You don't watch boring movies or scary movies. To be a boss you have to be a mom and you don't do any of that."

Ah, the wisdom of youth...

Happy Mother's Day!

I'd like to dedicate this next post to one of the most talented women I have ever met...my mom! My momma has been sewing (cross stitch, hardanger, lots of other stitching that I don't know the names of) for longer than I've been alive. She makes the most beautiful samplers and pieces just for the love of doing it. She has been trying in vain to get me interested in stitching for years. Sorry for all of the unfinished projects, mom!

I want to share some of her work with you. This is only a fraction of what she has done (basically what she has had time to photograph and put up on flickr). Enjoy the beauty and Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers! Happy Mother's Day to you, Mom. I love you! (also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JEN!!!)

This one is my favorite. It's also mine!! She was working on this when she was pregnant with me. It's currently living with her because I had it at one of our apartments and somehow managed to break the frame off of it. Needless to say, she's taking care of it until I can be a little more responsible.

This one was hanging in my and my sister's room when we were growing up. It's so cute!



I love this sampler! It's hanging in my mom and dad's living room. I love the colors and especially the fact that she chose something other than white to create it on.



This one is also hanging in their living room. You could honestly stare at this piece for hours and not see everything.



This is a piece she did for my mother-in-law when my father-in-law passed away recently. It is sooo beautiful and delicate!



This next set is all one piece and the pictures do not do it justice. This is a nativity scene she did a long time ago. I think my sister and I are already fighting over it!





This only scratches the surface of her huge body of work (she was knitting a blanket last night!). Maybe this will be part 1 :-)

5 Things I Love

As a mother of a two year old princess girl, it's my job to shop for her, right? At least that's what I tell myself. I can't go into stores like Target and Kohls without coming out with a cute little outfit for her. That's why it is very dangerous for me to shop on Etsy for her. I just can't help myself. Do you think they have LGCAA (little girl clothing-aholics anonymous)? 

Here are a few things I would choose for her on Etsy:

I'm loving the summery feel of this dress. I also love that it can go from being a cute little summer dress to a top as she grows up. The monogram is even customizable!

Green Dots Retro Circles Pillow Case Dress by mysweetpeashop

I can totally see this painting hanging in C's room. How sweet!

Floating About Town, the Painted Version by primpedpaperie

I've been a fan of these hats for a while. I would totally get her and me matching hats...do you think that would be weird?

Flower Beanie with Brim by NuxieMade

In my opinion, every little girl has to have a shelf in her room filled with cute little figurines and curios (just don't let her sister swing a stuffed animal into it and break everything on it...but I digress). These would go perfectly! While I think they are too fragile to play with, being made from polymer clay, they are just too cute to pass up!

Owl Couple by IttyBittiesForYou

I'm currently trying to grow my daughter's hair out. We've resisted the urge to chop her some bangs so it's been a long road of ponytails, pigtails, and "hair pretties" as she calls them. She's just about ready to go without anything in her hair but who wouldn't want these! This whole shop is filled with the cutest hair accessories for little girls and even some for big ones. Check it out!


Covered Button Clippie Set - Brown and Blue by girleegirls

Monday, lovely Monday

Happy Monday, everyone! I hope you all had a pleasant weekend. Mine was filled with fevers, snot rockets, and moving furniture (including three beds!). Needless to say, I'm kind of glad it's over. I'm one that tends to look forward to Monday with a frown on my face but I decided today would be a good time to change that.

Inspired by my sister's blog, JLCStudio, I am going to name a few things I'm thankful for on this beautiful day.

1. The gorgeous weather. We had an icky, rainy weekend for the most part but today the sun is shining and it's warm!

2. The nap I had this morning before my kiddos woke me up.

3. The fact that we've only had two temper tantrums so far this morning and one time out. I realize the day is young but I'm viewing those stats as an optimist.

4. The tickle session I had with P and C before I sent them off to Kindergarden and naptime respectively. There is nothing sweeter in life than hearing your children laugh.

5. God's beautiful creation. May all of you be filled with it's splendor each and every day!

Beauty+in+the+nature originally uploaded by pvsahiesh

Now it's your turn? What makes you thankful today? What makes you thankful any day? Get your comment on, people!

A Recap on This Crazy Week

Wow, wow, wow. Never in a million years when my sister and I started Wildwood Girls did we think it would take off like it has. We are so appreciative for all of the support and love we have gotten from our family and friends. This definitely wouldn't be possible without all of you, so thank you!

This week was definitely a learning experience for both of us. We're both learning how to work with our clients to get the best end result. It's been hard to figure out which questions to ask and figure out exactly what the client is looking for. Hopefully this is something we'll get better at as we go along.

Last weekend we had some free time to spend creating some new pre-made products for our Etsy shop

This week we also worked on a few custom banners for some clients. The first banner completed is for cake-business.com (They are still working on their site). We started out by creating a banner based on the lovely close-ups of cake elements they already had on their page. Here is the result of that:

The client liked it but expressed a desire to go more for vector/illustration based design. We also wanted to create an image that could be used as a logo throughout their site. We went for a frosting feel on the flourishes and we love the way the final product turned out! Here it is:



The next banner we worked on was also a challenge. This project was for GypsyCharmsJewelry's Etsy shop. She wanted something that could create a business identity for her and translate into brochures and business cards. Here is the banner she started with:




To begin the banner we first started with a color scheme. Her favorite colors are rusty reds and oranges and lilac/purple tones. We originally went with purple, green, and gold to tie in the Mardi Gras theme she has in many of her pieces but soon changed to the rusty reds and gold. We wanted to give her a logo as well so here is my first attempt at that:



After reviewing it she decided the mask put her too much in to the Mardi Gras theme and she wanted something that evoked more of New Orleans than just Mardi Gras. We decided on an interesting Fleur De Lis (which ended up being the same one she has in her carpet at home!) and a vintage feeling background. It took a while to get the color just right but everyone was so happy with the result!



The last image I will leave you with this week is an avatar we did for someone we know very well...our mom! She is fairly new to the Etsy community and needed an image to represent her on her shopping excursions. Here is what we came up with:

5 Things I Love

Time once again for 5 things I love. Hmm, mothers day is fast approaching. Hubby, take note!!

I love the springy, airy feeling of this print. I'm also a sucker for anything pink!

Little Sparrows (white and magenta edition) by yumiyumi

This little guy is so weird but I just love him! He's made out of polymer clay and is fully posable. I have no idea what I would do with him but I bet I would have a hard time keeping him away from my kids!

Neptune by societysedso

These earrings are sterling silver and are gooorgeous!!  I highly recommend checking out this shop. I had a hard time picking one favorite from here!

Little Sakura Earrings by howlindoggie

Ok, by now we all know i like flowy, comfy tops. This one is no exception. This would be so cute for summer with a pair of leggings and some flats.

Matchmaker Tunic by HagadagaClothing

I just love the idea of upcycling and seem to be finding a lot of it on Etsy lately. This bracelet uses legos (gotta love legos!) and heat to create a funky and fun charm bracelet.

Fade to Grey - Upcycled Lego Charm Bracelet by upcycleme