:: happy may day! ::

Happy May Day, my dears! Hurrah for May! I love May more than any other springtime month… and it’s not just because my birthday is nestled in. hehe.

The weather and general excitement over the springishness is causing me to contemplate season-appropriate accessories. Rhiannon posted this beautiful photo a month ago. It’s been stuck in my mind ever since! I used to wear flowers in my hair occasionally, but during the wintertime I generally don’t–mostly because I think I’d look rather ridiculous traipsing through snow with a flower stuck in my hair! lol.

The other day I was in Michael’s during a routine “eraser-run” for my always-sketching sister, and spotted their single-stem florals were 50% off. So of course, having spotted some pretty silk flowers a few weeks ago (and not wanting to pay full price), I snatched up a few picks; two “gigantic” and a stem of small, red flowers. I snapped the heads off (eek! lol), was happy to discover that they actually glue together the layers of silk flowers now (so they don’t pop apart like they used to when you pulled the wire stems out), and trimmed down the plastic connectors.

[ its a snap! ]

I glued them all to clip-style barrettes (tip: open the barrettes before you glue the flowers on), and used hot glue to attach the flower heads to the barrettes. I know some people use oversized bobby pins instead of barrettes, but I’ve always had a hard time with those sliding out of my hair over time. For under $5, I have five floral barrettes to embellish my hair-do’s! I am definitely dying to wear the large flowers soon–they’re so dramatic! I think, however, I do need to make some in other than pink or red–I have a tendency to get “stuck” on just those hues when it comes to selecting flowers! hehe!

So, now that I’ve dragged you through the tutorial portion of this post, it’s time to get to what you really want to know: the winner of the giveaway! Using the age-old tradition of putting all the names in a bowl and pulling one out (I’m still so old-fashioned this way!), I found the winner…

Renee!!!

Congrats!!! I think these little drawings are way too much fun; perhaps I’ll have another later this month. So keep your eyes peeled!

Have a lovely Thursday… I shall be back tomorrow with my weekly round up of links and other inspiration; and perhaps some reporting on the craft/creativity front!

 

:: a red-letter day ::

Happy Valentine’s Day, my dears!! Even if you don’t like the day for its romantic overtones, I do hope that you indulge in a little chocolate and perhaps some pampering. hehe! I have some plans for today; although the a bit of a damper has been put on the general mushiness of the day because I have an Algebra test! (How typical! lol!)

In celebration of Valentine’s Day, here are a few links to pretty web pages I’ve run across. Also, I’ve included a link to a downloadable, vintage Valentine I scanned and formatted. You can print off and share with your loved ones! I know its a wee bit late; I wanted to post it a few days ago but the week managed to get away from me. So alas, hopefully someone needs a last-minute card!

1920s Vintage Valentine

Download the .jpg file here. Print off on card stock or heavyweight photo paper and follow the assembly instructions. Write a sweet something in it for your loved one, and present to them (perhaps with some Hershey kisses or tickets to a movie!)!!

♥ valentine sweets ♥
♥ gorgeous, Victorian valentine gallery!
♥ a pretty, paper heart garland
♥ create a secret message-in-a-bottle for your sweetie
♥ more vintage valentine goodness!
♥ printable sheet of old fashioned valentines!

Have a lovely and sweet day, my friends!!!

Cheers & Creativity,
♥ Casey [ email me ]

 

:: stop. start. stop. start. ::

I woke up at 10am this morning… It is a funny feeling to wake up so late–especially when I’m used to be up at least two hours earlier. I keep looking at the clock expecting it to not be so late! hehe. Ahh… this is probably a good thing; it forces me to take a bit of a chill pill today, just go with the flow. Oh, and putting on some good jazz for background music helps too. Jazz–mostly of the Glenn Miller, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday type–is on heavy rotation these days. I usually listen to music all day long, but I find that during the colder months I listen to a lot more swing and jazz. I think because it makes me feel warm and fuzzy; like I want to don a big sweater and curl up in a chair with a cup of hot something-or-the-other and just enjoy life.

Yesterday evening I finished all the voile cockades and attaching yarn pom poms to the glittered snowflakes. So my swap ornaments are almost done! Hooray!! I just need to add the red ribbons for hanging and package them. Which reminds me…

I’m going to do a little Holiday Giveaway!! I’ll be giving away two little packages of goodies: an ornament, a packet of 10 of my Christmas postcards, all wrapped up like a little gift! So, if you’d like to be entered, please drop me an email by Thursday at 9pm (Eastern time), and I’ll randomly draw two names. I’ll post them Friday so hopefully the winners will get them by Christmas! Anyone is welcome to enter–don’t let living outside the US stop you; shipping overseas is no problem! Good luck!!

Have a lovely, warm and snuggly Tuesday!!

Cheers & Creativity,
♥ Casey [ email me ]

 

:: it’s that time of year again… ::

Every year, almost without fail, I hatch grand plans for how I’m going to make Christmas cards and send them out to everyone I know. Most years, something (usually finals when I’m in school) interrupts these plans. And this year it kinda happened (remember that sketch that was supposed to be my holiday card? Its still unfinished, I’m sad to say…). But I did manage to scan a vintage Christmas postcard and do some graphic design magic… Viola! A cute, vintage theme Christmas card!! Which leads me into…

I would love to do a little Christmas card swap this year! If you’d like to get a postcard in the mail from me, just drop me an email with your name and address and I’ll send one to you! (And please, if you live outside the US, don’t let that stop you!) Just be sure to have emailed me by December 10–I plan on sending my postcards out around that time. I almost hesitate to call this a swap, since I’m not demanding you send me anything back. If you’d like to–I’d be thrilled! Otherwise, this is my little Christmas gift to you! And please, don’t be shy–even if you’ve never commented, or are new to this blog!

So far today has been spent working and catching up! The Shoppe managed to empty out a bit after last week (a million thanks to those who have been interested in my wares!), so I’m scrambling to get the last few Christmasy items up later this week. Stay tuned for some more pins, stockings and a surprise!

Highlight of my day today was the mail. I know I probably shouldn’t get so excited, but its nice to get something other than bills and offers from universities for a change! Firstly was the package of cream card stock I ordered from Laura Crow Miller after she recently was clearing out some excess supplies. She included a few goodies that I just love (aren’t the round tags so cute?)!

The new Anthropologie catalog came as well. Gosh, I love their clothes–its a weakness, it really is. I can barely bring myself to pay for the clothes–even when they’re on sale–but I still love looking at them and getting ideas. The cover was just gorgeous–I want to wear flowers piled atop my head like that! lol. And my favorite outfit pictured had to be the one below; stripy pants and a really cute cardigan? Yes please!

Have you peeked at the newest issue of NEET? Every issue seems to get better and better, in my opinion! I purchased ad space in this issue–which was the first “big” scale ad I’ve done! I certainly learned a couple things about ad design that I’ll use next time I have to design a large scale graphic like this. But it sure was fun, and hopefully will garner a wee bit of interest in the Shoppe!

I hope you all are having a lovely, inspired Monday!!

Cheers & Creativity,
♥ Casey [ email me ]