On Antiquing.

On my way back from an appointment yesterday, I stopped in one of my fave antique shops - I've been wanting to take pictures of the unique shop for quite some time. Suzanna's Antiques - this shop is always full of wonderful treasures - and gorgeous displays. I absolutely love perusing through antique shops with my hubby - it's always fun to find new treasures - ones that have a story to tell from long ago!

It's amazing to me how styles, patterns, design and such change so much over time. It's neat to see a glimpse into history and how things used to be. You never know what you'll find - I (of course) am always on the lookout for paper ephemera and vintage fabric, and this shop has a lot of that - from vintage bingo cards to plastic letters and postcards, to beautiful tea towels and other fabric finds. And as you'll see, a lot more than that :)

Their website has a fabulous quote about their treasures: "Long loved, faded and frayed. Peeling paint and scuffed wood included." Love this.

(Photo of Vintage Pin Bouquet by Dara Blakeley)

On Picking Out Papers for New Art Journals

So as I'm nearing the end of my pregnancy, we are getting so excited to meet our new son (and sweet Jimmy keeps kissing my belly and saying how he loves Baby). And, even though I'm feeling rather large, completely exhausted, and not really motivated to do a.n.y.t.h.i.n.g. ;), I'm trying to a) get my home all "nested" b) come up with meals for my family (meal planning!? what's that? grocery shopping? huh?) - hello rotisserie chickens, mac n' cheese, pizza, cereal, and sandwiches...ugh, c) somehow sleep (I think I get up 3-4 times a night to go to the bathroom or have apple juice and animal crackers- I'm so hungry!), d) somehow sit comfortably on the couch and read books with my sweet Jimmy, e) put together new art journals for the shop, f) finish up some freelance, and g) put together the guest posts for while I'm away. So grateful for the response of all that have submitted links and such - I am working through all of them and you should be hearing from me soon (unless I go into labor before I can get all of that done. Quite possible. Hopefully I will get everything done). Thank you!

My doctor has been telling me to "take it easy" because my blood pressure is having all sorts of fun spiking up and down (not good for baby or me). So the other day, I dropped my son off at preschool and went on down to Raleigh to gather some supplies for more art journals - because to me, that's "taking it easy" - perusing the aisles of paper and goodies, all by myself (since that is about to change for awhile) :) Well, I guess I "took it easy" for too long (ok, I'll admit I was standing and walking around for about 1.5 hours), and my blood pressure went through.the.roof. To the point of having vision problems. Yikes! Not good. So we scrambled down to the doctor, with bags packed, baby seat in the car, and family and friends on standby because we were pretty sure that I would end up in the hospital and have to have sweet baby soon (of course, excited to meet him, but also want him to keep baking as long as he needs! :)). Thankfully, all is ok, baby seems to be doing great and is still baking, I'm still at home, and I am now very aware of what "taking it easy" means. :)
A sneak peak of some of the wonderful goodies I am working with for new art journals. Certainly don't know when these will make it into the shop, but eventually. I am liking keeping them on my studio table for now, glancing at them throughout the day. It's nice to keep seeing the different groups of paper for different journals - helping to marinate in my brain for putting them together.

I am absolutely in love with the paper in the top left - the woodsy flower-dy paper. Not a normal love for me, either - I don't know what attracted my eye to it- maybe the vintage look of it?

Call for Submissions: Guest Posts

As I have mentioned before, I am having a Call for Submissions of Guest Posts on The Creative Place. These posts will be scheduled to post throughout February and March while I am on maternity leave. I will continue to post here and there, and hope to be fully back to blogging by Mid-Late March.

I am excited to have this Call for Submissions and hope to hear from a lot of you out in blog land. I love to see others creativity, ideas and finds and am eager to share that with readers of The Creative Place.

Below are some guidelines and info for submissions. I hate to sound all formal and business-y but my hopes are to be clear about the guidelines and what is expected for a potential guest-poster and for myself. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions you may have - about an idea, etc. Or to let me know if I've missed outlining some pertinent info. here. I will add pertinent info. here if necessary.

Around Here

Getting ready for baby around here. Got a lot done last weekend (ok, my hubby did... while I sat there and watched ;) Love that man) while I was on mandatory bedrest (which has thankfully been lifted to "Take it easy"). Baby clothes, towels and washcloths are washed and folded, we found a changing table for free, diapers are out and ready to go and bags are packed. Well, my hubby has packed his half of our little suitcase (our hospital is 30-ish minutes away in Raleigh....when it's not rush hour) and baby's bag is packed. Am I packed? Nope ;) Soon :)

Baby could be making his appearance earlier than anticipated - trying to tie up loose ends, stay calm, and take it easy while enjoying this last little bit as parents of one before our sweet little new addition arrives. So excited to meet him :)
+ Am finalizing the details for a Call for Submissions of Guest Posts while I'm on maternity leave and will post that tomorrow.

+ Realized I never shared the rest of my December Daily/Christmas Art Journal and will share that next week (I know, it's a little late ;)).

+ Still trying to make it to Raleigh to find a fab Idea Book - or at least some ingredients for one....thinking I might put it together myself and have it bound at a local copy shop. We shall see.

How's that going... 2011 Goals

How are your 2011 goals (resolutions, etc.) going? Day 19 of the New Year and I'm still excited about my 2011 Business and Blog Goals. Determined to keep at these goals.

+ Slowly (keyword: slowly) working through my craft studio and workspace, getting rid of excess I don't need or am not using (giving away). I've found a bunch of inspiration via pinterest and am jotting down ideas about different ways to organize areas of my studio and workspace. Images from here, here and here.+ I am also working on some new products for the shop, but mostly these are still in the idea-in-my-head and notes-jotted-down-here-and-there stage. Ideas and hints? Flashcards and journaling spots. Vintage Inspired. Everyday Idea Books, Art Journals, whatever you want to call them. Supplies? Just need to get going on this new product stuff. I feel like I keep thinking and talking about it, but don't really follow through. Must.follow.through.

+ I am trying not to get overwhelmed with all of the fabulous inspiration on the www I come across - I keep thinking to myself "Oh I should do that" or "This would be great in my work space"... I need to follow through on the goals I have made and not continue to create more and more ideas to overwhelm... especially with a new little one almost here. I do, however, like the idea of incorporating simple ideas into my goals such as a few of the fabulous ideas I've found (most of these are on my pinboards... LOVE pinterest).

+ I love the idea of getting an Idea Journal (different than my binder that holds my calendar, recipe planning, notes, etc.), and having it be specifically for ideas, snippets and such (like organizing paper scraps in this image - via decor8). Hoping to get out and find one this week.

+ Also loving this good way to keep track of ideas (and keep my space organized at the same time) - Idea Boards on bhg.com via pinterest- The ones currently hanging over my computer are completely full of odds and ends...from years ago. Must start over and collect fresh ideas.

Monday Faves

Happy Monday :) Some warm-hued faves for today :) Enjoy!
1. Japanese Masking Tape from PrettyTape
2. Cosmetic Makeup Bag - Lush by JuJuBaju
3. Vintage Small Industrial File Box from cornucopia
4. Olive Tree Cards by ahueofduckeggblue
5. Antique French Country Metal Pitchers from lapomme
6. Emily D. - Flower Brooch by etherealflowers
7. Recycled Newspaper Roller Bead Necklace by hippiekingdom
8. Chocolate Flower Garden Felt Bobby Pins by ElnaDesigns
9. Hand Painted Recycled Corked Canisters by bottlecrop
10. aeiou Hand Embroidery Brooch by Waterrose
11. Yellow and White Bakers Twine from percivalroad

Friday Fun

Happy Friday! As I am approaching the end of my pregnancy (+/- 5 weeks!) - I will be posting about a call for submissions for guest posts next week. These posts will be scheduled to post throughout the weeks following baby's arrival. I will continue to post, but am excited to have some guests on The Creative Place as well! :) If you are interested in guest posting on The Creative Place, there will be more details next week! :)

Some fun links for your weekend:
2011 Goal Books (free download!) over at Ashlee Proffitt Design - Fabulous for making simple goals each month of the year. Love this idea.
Fabric Tape Tutorial over at Simply Modern Mom (via A Few of My Favorite Things). What a fab way to use up fabric scraps. Perfect to use for decorating albums, art journals, etc!Some new pins to some fabulous links on my pinboards, including some DIY links, and some fabulous inspiration.

DIY: How to Enlarge Photos on Blog Posts

It took me the longest time to figure out how to enlarge pictures on my blog :) After lots of looking around on the internet, and lots of tinkering with editing the HTML, I found what works for me on blogspot. I'm looking at my screen in 1024x768, and have found that works well with all of the websites and blogs I visit.

So a quick DIY or How-To on enlarging images.
+ First, upload your image.
+ Then go to the "Edit Html" tab at the top of where you are composing your blog (above and to the right of where all of your text formatting options are). Don't be scared of all the crazy Html code (it still overwhelms me to look at it ;)).

+ Each picture will have a code of something like this (click code to enlarge and see it better):

+ What you are looking for is what is in bold red below:

+ I always increase my picture sizes by 50%, but you can change them to whatever size works best for you and your blog. The key is that the width and height have to be proportionate. I have to get out my handy dandy calculator on my desktop to make sure I am increasing them correctly.

+ So, if I want to increase the width of 320px by 50%, I would type in 320/2 + 320, which equals 480. And the height of 400px is 400/2 + 400 = 600.

+ Then you must also increase the /s400/ number at the bottom (in red above). I always set this to 800.

Sooo, your new html code will look like this:

*Remember, all you change are the numbers. Do NOT delete any of the other characters or it will mess up the entire code. Believe me, I know ;)

So below is a picture at regular size after uploading it - no increase in size has been made. While it still works fine, I think it's nice to have a larger image for people to view.
Below is the image increased in size by 50%. So nice! :)

Free 2011 Printable Calendar :: Download

Jeannie of jeanniejeannie.com emailed me recently with a link to this fabulous calendar she designed and has available for download on her blog. She has just launched her blog and is offering the download for free to celebrate! Just print, cut and hang on your wall :) Welcome to blogland Jeannie! Thank you for the free download - I'm getting ready to print mine now :)

For the Weekend.

I read oh, hello friend frequently, but somehow missed this super cute tutorial on making books she shared several months ago... found it via pinterest ;) I've been wanting to try and make a bound book, but every tutorial I have come across involved a special book glue- this one uses a glue gun. And since I have a glue gun, I hope to give it a try... maybe this weekend? It's on one of my pinboards now, so I can't forget (loved reading your comments yesterday about pinterest) :) Have a fabulous weekend :)

Image from oh, hello friend.

Pinterest

Ok, so I might be behind, but have you heard of Pinterest?

Pin·terest (pĭn'trĭst): n. a social catalog to collect and share things you love
Pin·board (pĭn·bôrd): n. a visual collection of things you love
I've seen some links popping up in my sitemeter from pinterest and am glad to have discovered it! It's like a virtual pinboard/pegboard/inspiration board, if you will. You have a little button up in your tool bar and every time you come across something inspiring to you or that you want to save to see later, you click the little button, add it to a pinboard and voila! Boards of inspiration and ideas that link the picture back to the website where you found it. No more bookmarking and having to scroll back through a long list to find that fun idea I saved months ago :) What a fabulous idea. You can also look through other people's pinboards and "repin" pictures (links) to your boards - there are tons of fabulous boards out there!

You have to request an invite since they are still in the beta stage, but it only took me 24-48 hours to receive my invite. :)

*Edited: Here's a link to my "Pinboards" if you're interested - a little sparse, just getting started :)

Business and Blog :: 5 Goals in 2011

Happy New Year! After a somewhat impromptu hiatus from blogland, I'm back and ready to dive in to 2011 :) I've seen a lot of "Goals for 2011" posts and wanted to share mine for The Creative Place blog and shop. So I made it into a nice poster size that is being printed at a local print shop. Will be hanging it in my workspace as a reminder and motivation as we start this new year.

These are my business and blog goals, and while looking at the list seems a little daunting right now (especially with a little one on the way...soon. read: +/- 7 weeks!), I'm excited to work towards these goals and accomplish as much as possible. It's helpful to have them set out in front of me (literally).

Business and Blog :: 5 Goals in 2011
1. Develop and create 15 new products for the shop. I have so many ideas swirling around in my head that I have been writing down, taking notes, sketching, and gathering supply ideas for. Ready to put it into action and get them developed and into the shop.
2. Redesign the blog. I like the look of my blog right now, but am ready for something new. Ready to redesign the header, the side bar, figure out the pages at the top (how to make them centered and a different font) and possibly create a 3 column layout.
3. Keep inventory up-to-date. I struggle with this the most in my shop. Sometimes I have inventory all ready to ship out (like a paper pack, etc), but most of the time it is putting the order together as it comes in. This works for some people, but is definitely super stressful for me - having to stop everything (in my home) and gather the order together to get ready for shipping. I need to plan and make inventory gradually and build up supply as I go.
4. Organize my studio/workspace. Enough said. No really. I got these super cute document boxes for Christmas, so now I have no excuse. I need to get my shipping area more organized, keep better records of incoming orders and expenses, and I need to purge a lot of my supplies I'm not using and find them new homes. Simplify.
5. Get more involved in the blogging community. I read several blogs frequently. I want to start commenting (usually I just stay in the woodwork) and being more involved in blogland. I know I absolutely love when you comment, and I want to do the same for others. I also need to make sure I use my business/blog time wisely (ie not wasting time online when I should be working on shop stuff, getting a blog post ready, etc.) - thanks Randi @ I Have to Say for the reminder to include this in my goal as well! :)

So what about you? Do you have goals for 2011? Business goals? Blog goals? Personal goals?