Blog

One of the most fantastic feelings is having a creative vision and the end result becomes just as you had imagined. Over the past few weeks, I had been brainstorming new product ideas for my shop. Many of you mentioned that you love notebooks. I have to admit, I'm a notebook fanatic as well, keeping many on hand to make lists, jot down ideas, and sketch. I began doing research to find the best possible materials for what I had in mind. I wanted the notebooks to be stylish, whimsical, inspirational, environmentally friendly, yet affordable at the same time. I began sketching and designing the covers and waited for the rest of the materials to arrive. The end result is a line of notebooks that I feel have pushed me to become better at my craft.
Each notebook has been made of 100% recycled paper-- card stock, blank pages, and chipboard backing. The quality of the paper is some of the best I have worked with and has inspired many other ideas to evolve from this project. Each notebook has been cut, punched, and bound by me, making them a serious labor of love.
You can now view the entire line of notebooks in my shop here.

Now that my notebook line is finally complete, I will be turning my focus to a new line of cards that I hope to launch soon as well. I have a couple more fun ideas for future products for my shop, but would love to know what you guys would be interested in!

I haven't made a whole lot of new cards for my shop lately because I've got another new product in the works that I've been spending the majority of my time on instead. In addition, I've also been working on another new line of cards, but I am waiting for the envelopes for this particular line to arrive. I am feeling incredibly inspired by so many things around me. It seems I have all sorts of ideas these days, and I'm having a hard time staying focused on just one project at a time. I finally have the time to execute some of my ideas and so they are all trying to get out of my system at one time, which sometimes leads to less productivity in the end. I have been trying to continue feeling inspired, but take note of these inspirations instead of diving into them as soon as something pops into my head. Despite an inspiration overload these days, I was still able to get some of these new cards into the shop.

I've been really feeling inspired lately by new card stock and envelopes that I recently purchased, new fonts to play with, and colors that are on trend these days. As I prepare my new line of cards that I'm hoping to launch mid-month, you'll continue to see current color trends, but in a fun and bold way instead of these corals, mints, and purples.

What have you been inspired by lately?

This past weekend, Andrew and I drove up to the Pittsburgh area to stay with my aunt and uncle and visit my grandparents. It had been a while since I had been able to spend time with my dad's side of the family. My parents drove from Indiana to meet up with everyone, my great aunt also drove in to visit, and my cousins visited along with their daughters. We spent Saturday afternoon and evening relaxing outside in the backyard and enjoying a delicious lasagna for dinner. No meal would be complete without my uncle's wine. He has his own wine cellar at their house and we were able to enjoy some incredibly tasty chardonnay and Chianti.

Sunday morning was spent on the deck outside, enjoying some of my mom's pastries that she had brought with her from her bakery in Indiana, while my uncle began firing up his outdoor wood-fired oven. For those of you who may remember, my parents have a wood-fired oven in their backyard which inspired my aunt and uncle to do the same. We enjoyed wood-fired pizza for lunch and a relaxing afternoon on the screened in porch before heading back to Baltimore. For those of you that have never tried wood-fired pizza (or wood-fired food for that matter) I highly recommend that you consider building an over like this in your back yard if you have the space. As my dad always says, "You put the food in the oven and it automatically turns out good."

All around, it was a very relaxing weekend. Not only was it great to see family, it was pretty fabulous to have absolutely nothing on the agenda for the entire weekend.

How was your weekend? Did you do anything exciting over the holiday weekend?

In the winter I love wine and I shared some of my favorite bottles of wine with you. However, once summer arrives, I'm a beer drinker. I love mojitos and sangria and all of those tasty things too, but I would be lying if I weren't to say that Andrew and I drink a lot of beer. It's hard to go wrong with a night on the roof deck and a pint of beer while listening to the Orioles game.

It is sometimes hard for me to find a good summer beer that doesn't taste like lysol when some of the best intentions for a citrus beer end up being too much for me. (Yes, I'm going out on a limb here and saying that Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy is gross.) Over the past few summers, I have found a couple favorites and more recently, I have found a few new beers that I find perfect for summer. Here's a look.

1// Magic Hat Blind Faith  2// Heavy Seas Riptide  3// Sixpoint Brewery The Crisp  4// Victory Brewing Summer Love

These just happen to be a few that I have found extremely crisp and refreshing for the summer. I'm usually an IPA kind of girl, hence the Magic Hat IPA on Tour pick as well as the Heavy Seas White IPA. Though these seem to be much more summery than others-- a definite crisp factor. The others are super crisp as well, which ultimately makes a great summer beer. I will be honest though, some of you on the west coast may have a harder time finding these in your parts. That's ok though because I'm extremely jealous of all of you and your west coast beer.

And of course, nothing wrong with a good old Natty Boh either! (That's National Bohemian for all you non-Baltimore people.) While it's not the first thing I'm running out to buy, it's an ever so slightly tastier version of Budweiser. Being the original Baltimore beer, I'd much rather be sipping one of those at an O's game. So we can at least say cheers to that!




Are you a summer beer drinker? What are some of your favorite summer brews?

On the weekends when the weather is warm, we often try to escape Baltimore for at least one day to enjoy a day of hiking. We pack our Camelbacks with water, granola bars, and of course a camera. This weekend we went to Susquehanna State Park near Havre de Grace, which is located in the Susquehanna River valley.

On our way, we drove through rain showers that were less than promising for a day outside, but upon our arrival, the weather improved and we were able to get lost in the woods for a few hours amongst the beautiful and lush plant life. We were also able to see some wildlife-- a snake that nearly slithered by my foot, leaving me jumping away in shrieks (snakes are that one thing I just can't stand!) and a baby deer staring us down on our trail while the mother stood nearby (you can spot the baby in one of the photos if you look closely!).

After our hike, we made a few pit stops amongst some historic mill buildings and in a small park in Havre de Grace that had beautiful views along the Susquehanna River and out into the Chesapeake Bay.


I've been trying to take the weekends off recently since I have much more time to get things done during the week. It hasn't been easy. I spent all day Saturday working on a new line of products that will be coming to the shop soon, but then I forced myself to take off Sunday. Getting out of Batimore made Sunday even more enjoyable.

How was your weekend? Did you go on any adventures out and about?