take note!

aaaaaaahhhh....

i *love* the way all these notebooks look together!

 covered notebooks are really fun to me because i rarely work in large amounts of fabric, 

but with these you get to see so much of the loveliness!

 

but i digress - i could be distracted by beautiful fabric all day if i let it.

oh wait. 

i do.

ok, back on track...

the real reason i'm showing you all these pretties is because not only are they fun to look at, 

they are also really useful!

i use one as a mailing list at all my boutiques.

how fun would it be to have a guest book at your house that friends and family could leave little messages in?

i have another that i use for work, to sketch designs and ideas in, to make list after list, and to take notes in.

keeping grocery lists, errands and to-do's all in one place would be so helpful, too.

 do you have a conference coming up?

these are great notebooks to whip out during a seminar to stylishly take notes in.

they close with a button/elastic closure, and have a coordinating pen/pencil pocket on the inside flap.

i'm going to the creative connection in september.

just got my plane tickets last night!!!  

**giddy**

not only will i be carrying my own notebook to the sessions i'll be attending,

but i'll also be a vendor in the handmade market, where you can get your own.

let me know if you're going, i'd love to meet you!

there are so many other conferences out there coming up (or going on right now!).

are you going to blissdom '11?

get your notebook ahead of time!

ok, time to get back to the sweatshop!

-lindsey

what i wore wednesday, er... thursday - oops!

hey all!

since you reeeeally don't want to see what i wore all last week on vacation 

(think pajamas for days in a row, then switching it up with sweats)

i asked my sister to show us a little of her style.
check out her blog if you want to be jealous of her travels.

for those of you who don't know her, 

my sister and her boyfriend moved to london about 4 years ago.

she is a graphic designer and is responsible for all my graphics and my pretty blog.

isn't she amazing?!

and you'll see that she looks much younger than me, but you're wrong.

i won't divulge her age, but she is the oldest of the four kids, and i am the youngest.

i used to love it when people would say that.

now i hate it.

so, without further ado, my sister jennifer (whom i lovingly refer to as "j"):

first, i should say that i do not have any kids, as i suspect many of Lindsey's readers do, so i probably have more time than a lot of moms out there to decide what to wear each morning. i work in a small office in central London as a graphic designer and i have no dress code. i can wear anything i want. mostly, i dress for comfort, but i try to put in some effort if i have plans after work. also, i feel like a complete slob if i don't make a little bit of effort. London is a very fashion conscious city full of people who know how to dress and take risks. if i still lived in California i would be wearing a t-shirt, jeans and my Rainbows on a regular basis :)

day 1: Tuesday - work

t-shirt - Gap
jeans - Uniqlo (chopped, but not hemmed)
shoes - French Soles
necklace - Banana Republic
purse - Nine West

 

day 2: Wednesday - work, 

the weather was a little cooler so i decided to wear a jacket. 

btw, i love these shoes!

t-shirt - Uniqlo
waistcoat - Ted Baker
jacket - Zara
jeans - Uniqlo (same as before but turned under)
shoes - Zara
purse - Coach

day 3: Thursday - work, then meeting friends for drinks afterward

shirt - Primark
shorts - Old Navy
scarf - Primark
belt - Ted Baker
shoes - ASOS.com

day 4: Friday - work, then home to pack for trip to Turkey

(yes, you heard her - turkey! when you live in london you get to holiday in cool places like that!)
tank top - Anthropologie
pants - boutique in Encinitas
scarf - Whistles
shoes - Kate Kanzier (same shoes i sent to you)

day 5: Monday - work

shirt - Primark
pants - Gap
shoes - Rainbows

thanks, j!

now its your turn to link up!

-lindsey

eye candy

no time for blogging.

turns out taking nearly 2 weeks off of work can leave a lot left undone.

funny how that happens ;)

so for now, i leave you with some eye candy from my trip.

enjoy!

-linds

ps - ummmm, thanks to kellie for reminding me that its wednesday!  i totally spaced and thought it was tuesday (still in vacation mode).  i will get a wiww post up tomorrow - better late than never!

petal drop necklaces

you know that little vacation my family and i took to my best friend's house last week?

yeah, we're still here.

we were completely packed up in the car,

kids pottied, ev.er.y.thing. ready to go.

then with tears welling up in my eyes,

i put in one last plea to stay longer.

ok, i actually asked if we could summer in bend and winter in slo,

but sean knew what i meant.

i had to put up a fight since nicole and i only see each other twice a year,

and it was going to be about 9 months until we'd see each other again.

too. long.

just when he was almost irritated with me puppy-dog-face-ing him,

he perked up, and said, "well..."

that may be my new favorite word!

he remembered he had to travel for work on tuesday, 

and that stop would be on the way home from here.

sooo, rather than driving home and him turning around the next day, 

we were able to stay 2 extra days!!!

we leave in a couple hours to head home, 

but first i had to show you some of what we've been working on this week.

nicole and i have been making petal drop necklaces off and on for this whole week.

i'm thinking i want to make all the crystals on my 

chandelier over my dining table into petal drops!

how amazing would that be?!

i wanted you to see how you can vary the length of the necklaces.

the chains are adjustable, so they can be worn long and low

or up a little higher on the neckline.

one of my favorite little details of each necklace is the little dangling bead at the back of the neck!

my shop has a handful of new necklaces in it (that's my goal for mondays).

so swing by if you want one, and see if there's anything else you'd like!

-lindsey

petal pushers & a sale!

happy friday, my friends!

yep, i'm in a pretty chipper mood:

sean came home late last night from 3 days of fishing,

and the kids and i are sooooo glad!

so let's celebrate, m'kay?

today through saturday night (midnight pst)

take 10% off every order in my shop!

have you seen my petal pushers lately?

i just came out with a men's stripe design that is so fun!

i love the idea of using a clean cut, business-y fabric, done up in a messy yet girly way!

 

i love it with a white tank and jeans,

or nestled low in a ponytail,

or paired with a couple posy pins.

but if you want more options, i also have

the watermelon petal pusher

the parisian stripe petal pusher

 

and the heather grey petal pusher.

 

pinned to a hat is also a cute option.

or a couple on a bag.

get 1 (or 4) today through saturday for 10% off, along with the rest of your order!

just enter in discount code HAPPY at checkout.

have a great day!

-linds

uninvited guests

as i've mentioned already, we're visiting my bff and her family this week.

they live in the woods.

ok, not really, but you'd think so after reading about our escapades.

since we've been here i now have not one but 2 stories about uninvited guests.

the first night we got here we transferred our sleeping kids into their beds.  silas is sharing a room with us, so we just layed him down on our bed.

as i am walking out the door of his/our room to go unload the car, i see our first uninvited guest standing at our bedroom doorway.

a mouse.

an itty bitty teeny mouse.

but still... A MOUSE!!!

so i freak out and yelp as quietly as i can so i don't wake all 7 of the sleeping babes,

then ohsobravely run in and swoop up sleeping silas so he doesn't get eaten by the mouse.

i may get a little dramatic when rodents are involved.

so the 2 menfolk go into the room.

lots of banging and crashing ensues.

then they come out laughing.

they didn't even have to catch the mouse in the end.

turns out they scared it so bad that it just croaked on its own!

maybe had a little heart attack or something!

(sorry if you are a rodent lover - i'm not).

ok, story number 2.

nicole and i are in her kitchen and the kids are on the back porch eating lunch.

in through the back door scrambles a teeny chipmunk.

ACROSS HER FLOOR & UNDER HER COUCH!!!

so we instantly start screaming like a couple ninnies and jump to the highest surface we can find.

after chasing this thing around for a good while we finally get it cornered in her playroom, 

but then we can't get it out.

after many attempts to scare it out of the playroom and out the back door,

i finally open a window that it finally finds and scampers out of.

then it had the nerve to come back and finish off the kids' lunch!

*shivers*

blech!  i am not a fan of this kind of living!

and i am perfectly ok with you all laughing at me.

you're welcome.

-lindsey

prototypes & wiww

i'm spending the week with nicole and we are having so much fun getting our craft on!

she is great for pushing me to try out new products,

so we have been working on a few prototypes for new products over the last couple days -

so fun!

i have a really hard time when my first try isn't right, but i'm learning to move on and try again.

so far we've tried coin purses, fun new tea towels, and something too cute to even mention!

here's some shots of our fun coin purses:

 *****

sorry what i wore wednesday is again so lame!

i managed only ONE photo of myself this week,

but fear not - i have excuses!

did you read my posts last week?

i was BUSY with lots of new products!

and we are visiting my best friend and her pile of kids this week,

so packing up my family for a week away

after having my husband gone for 3 days is another great excuse for no pictures.

of course, i could've taken pictures while i'm here,

but today i didn't even get out of my jammies, so there!

tank - old navy

camera strap - shey b

shorts - target (i never wear shorts and i *love* these ones!)

sandals - target

sweater - target

and be sure to come back next week for a super special guest wiww blogger -

i can't wait for you to meet her!

she's super special and like a sister to me (hint hint).

oh, and i thought maybe i'd give all you participating a couple helps for posting pics of yourself.

first off is cropping your picture.

my pic above is more cropped than i'd like, but there's not much else distracting in the pic, 

so i think its helpful.

if you're taking a pic in a tiny mirror, 

try to crop out the wall its leaning against so all we see is you in the mirror.

another tip is adjusting the brightness of your pic if it seems too dark.

and the most important  tip of all is to post the biggest pics you can.

so many of you are participating and we love to hop over to each others' blogs, 

but its such a bummer when the photos are so tiny we can't even tell what you're wearing.

i am thrilled that so many of you are joining me in this adventure to put more effort into taking care of ourselves, and having fun with it!

now's your turn to link up, you crazy ladies!

-lindsey

gettin' down and dirty

apparently i've decided to be the cool mom this summer:

camping

swim lessons

art classes

tons of bike rides

beach

shaving cream painting

planting a garden

and the list goes on...

its about time, i'm sure my kids are saying!

so i decided to stay consistent and press on with the fun:

last week silas asked if we could play in the mud.

i said sure, realizing i say no all too often.

we have a couple empty planters that were just filled with dirt.

here's a quick tutorial for how to be a cool mom:

step 1 - just add water. period.

did i forget to mention step 2?

keep the hose out from step 1 and spray those muddy buddies off!

what are you saying yes to this summer?

-lindsey

this week i'll be...

burying my kisses in this neck

tickling these toes

having these fingers wrapped around mine

staring at these eyelashes

seriously - those eyelashes!

all attached to sweet baby curren.

its going to be a good week!

-lindsey

a little rearranging and a shop update

not too long ago sean added shelves for me above my cutting table.

i think i filled them before he was done installing them.

i'm not kidding.

they hold some random bits on the top shelf, notions on the middle shelf, and my works-in-progress on the bottom shelf.

as nice as it is to have all my boxes of w.i.p.'s accessible, 

i realized i was walking back and forth across the room to get my fabrics to pair for new designs.

so i decided to switch my fabric stacks with my w.i.p.'s.

not too big of a deal except i just got over 60 yards of new fabric and it wasn't all fitting on one shelf.

but i was determined to make it work, so i refolded every. single. piece. of fabric.

and they all fit!  

now i can't wait to be able to pair fabrics and cut them right away rather than making huge piles 

and walking back and forth across the room.

yes, i really am that lazy.

no, no. i'll call it efficient.

*****

i told you on monday that i was adding a lot to my shop.

i didn't lie!

i added more petal drop necklaces

bloom bags

and restocked the sunnies cases that had already sold out!

thank you so much for all of the overwhelming support for my little shop!

it is really fun to put out new products and designs and see the great response to them.

you guys are awesome!

- lindsey