My 1 Year Blogiversary & a Giveaway

Shabby Apple

Friends,

Happy Friday! I don't know about you but short work weeks always seem harder than a normal 5 day week. Is it because there's more work to try & fit in? Or that the transition from a long weekend takes a bit to adjust to? Or is it just me?

So remember how I was saying that July was going to be a great month because of various occasions? Well one of those happens to be my 1 year blogiversary, which was yesterday. I can’t believe that it’s been a year already. In some ways, it feels like I’ve been doing this all my life & in other ways, I can’t even imagine how a year has already gone by & how I still feel very much like a newbie. What I know is that by blogging, I’ve made some incredible friends & have constantly been amazed & inspired by this online community.  

 

In order to celebrate, I'm hosting my very first giveaway. So without further ado - the giveaway includes this fantastic book:

Creative Time and Space: Making Room for Making Art, Rice Freeman-Zachery

                                                                            AND

The next three handmade cards I create. There are 3 ways to enter: 1) Leave a comment below telling me what makes this summer special for you; 2) Follow me on Facebook, Twitter or this blog (check out the sidebar of my blog for these buttons) & leave a comment telling me which one(s) you chose; and 3) Spread the word via your blog, FB or Twitter & leave me a link for the one(s) you used. The contest ends next Thursday, the 14th at midnight & I will announce the winner on the 15th. Good luck!

I just found out that my Intro to Letterpress Class was cancelled for tomorrow due to a broken part. I'm disappointed but choosing to look at it as having a free day. Then, there's brunch on Sunday to meet our friends' newest addition to their family. Have a wonderful weekend. 

Handmade Love Wednesdays

The first feature is of these charming printed pillowcases from Kin Ship Press. The duo Hilary & Dan hand print these using soy-based inks. My favorite is the Good Night Moon Pillow. You can visit them at their Etsy shop & blog.

Counting Sheep Pillow
(Photo credit-Kinship Press via Design Sponge)

Good Night Moon Pillow

Good Night Sheep Pillow

The second feature is this gorgeous jewelry line from Fail. Visit Christine's Etsy shop to see more of her elegant pieces and her blog.

Small Crescent Earrings 
Photo Credits-Fail via Creature Comforts

Simple Tourmaline Slice Necklace

Large 14k GoldFill Infinity Earrings

Tomorrow will be my 1 year blogiversary. I will be back on Friday with a celebratory giveaway post, since tomorrow right after work, we will be going on our first ghost hunting trip. You can visit our other blog if you're interested, for live updates, pictures and videos of our experience.

Have a great rest of your week & see back here on Friday. 

A fresh start

Source

I am ready for a fresh start & there's no more of a perfect time than with a new month fastly approaching. Especially if that month is when your birthday is -what better time for change, renewal, and new beginnings? Also, coming up this month is my 1 year blogiversary & our 9 year wedding anniversary. July is sure to be fantastic!

Mysteriously, wonderfully, I bid farewell to what goes,
I greet what comes; for what comes cannot be denied,
and what goes cannot be detained.
                                                 ~Chuang-tzu

This has been a challenging year for me & I'm more than ready to leave all the sadness, anger & frustration behind. I haven't shared all the gory details because it's a delicate balance in what is too much info & how some things are just too personal & private to post, while still keeping it real. Personally, I want this space to be one of optimism, creativity & general happiness. That's not to say that I want to gloss over the negative or sometimes just plain awful parts of life, but there's a limited time & place for those things here.

I have big goals, plans & projects coming up that I can't wait to share. I'll slowly be unveiling these in the next few weeks. First off, I want to invite you to check out my newly created Facebook page. If you're reading this in google reader or some other type of web aggregator, you will need to go directly to my blog so that you can click on the "like" me link on the right hand side. Apparently, I have to get 25 likes in order to be an official fan page, so do me a HUGE favor & visit me on FB. Secondly, while you're on my blog check out my new Etsy mini, which displays items from my shop. Lastly, I will be celebrating my 1 year blogiversary with a giveaway - my first - so stay tuned for that.

So here's to a new month & an amazing week. I'd love to hear about your plans for the upcoming month. See you back here on Wednesday for the Handmade Love Series & as always, thanks for stopping by. I am so grateful for your support, encouragement & friendship.