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No secret here that we tend to be beer snobs. Well, actually, we tend to be food, coffee, music, chocolate, and beer snobs. We just have such a hard time drinking beer that tastes like watered down something or other that's not even beer. Aside from the occasional Natty Boh (which is a Baltimore staple, so it's a fair excuse), you'll find us going for the more potent, flavorful, and artfully crafted varieties.

This past Christmas, Andrew's parents gave us a home brew kit. We had tried an English Bitter beer that they had given us a kit for and it turned out fairly well. However, it was a beer that you'd rather drink with food rather than have as a refreshing beverage on a hot Baltimore summer day. As our supply of the first beer dwindled, we decided to brew a second batch-- this time my favorite, an IPA. The process is a long one with a lot of waiting after actually brewing the beer, so at this point we're waiting on the final carbonation process that occurs after the beer has been bottled.

The process starts with a giant pot of very hot water, some grains in a bag, and finally the addition of malt and hops.

It ferments for almost a week after some yeast has been added, and looks something like this when it is ready to be bottled.
Super tasty looking, right? ;)

The next step is to add a priming sugar that starts the carbonation process and then siphon the beer into a new bucket in order to filter out all of that sludge. Finally, it is bottling time!



We've been thinking of a few names for this particular batch and then I'll be designing labels. We'll be waiting about one more week until the beer is ready to drink, so I'll try to update you all then.

Have any of you tried home brewing?

Short and to the point, this card is for new moms (which is seems there are a lot of these days in my age group).

I am still hooked on aqua and will soon need to turn to some design palette inspiration to get some other color schemes in my mind. I'd love to start with some bright summery stationery sets.

What colors do you associate with summer?

P.S. A few of my readers have been asking me about whether or not my designs are for sale. The answer is yes! If you click on the photos each day that I list my new design, it will take you to the listing in my shop.

In case you ever wondered what patio furniture we decided to go with for our roof deck, I thought I should finally let you know.

Thank you, Crate & Barrel, for single-handedly making this summer THAT much more awesome. I have to admit that we didn't use our deck a whole lot before. Mostly it was the hassle of having to carry our camp chairs up every time we wanted to use it. We like to eat up there so it was annoying to have to take several trips up and down the steps only to have a not very relaxing spot to enjoy. Now that it feels like an additional room in this house (a very relaxing one at that!) we've been using the deck a lot. It is pretty nice to enjoy an evening breeze, actually see the stars come out at night (something that we thought wasn't possible in the city), and just relax after a long day. This has easily become our new favorite "room" in the house. Andrew compares it to the relaxing screened in porch he grew up with at his parents' house where he could stretch out on the furniture, do nothing, and be quite content with that all while spending time outdoors.

(Oh, and p.s. there is also an awesome umbrella that isn't up in these photos. It's pretty sweet too.)

It is wedding season for sure. I was just discussing this with a friend last night, a friend that is getting married this summer at that. We both seem to have a lot of invites just for this summer and more than any summers as of late. When I asked people what they wanted to see in the shop in terms of cards, the same friend said she'd love to see wedding cards. So today my goal was to create something simple, yet light and summery. I didn't want anything that was too mushy because I'm not a big fan of those types of cards.

I love the pairing of the envelope because it gives a fun, summery pop of color to the final design.

Are you like me this summer with a long list of weddings to attend?

I've got to be real with you people. I need a little bit of advice. During the school year I was so busy that at times I literally didn't have time to eat. To compound the insanity of school, my shop became super busy as well. Woohoo! I was so excited! I thought it would be great to finally have the summer off so that I could work on my shop. No more stressing out about whether or not I'd have enough time to get my orders finished in time.

Then Father's Day came and went.

Then I stopped selling anything in my shop.

Ouch.

The truth about this summer so far is that instead of having the extra time to work on orders, I have too much extra time with no work to be done. And to be honest, this has been rough. Really rough. The good news is that I have all the time in the world to experiment with new designs, so I'm trying to look on the bright side and keep my head up. I know that I can't be the only one that has experienced this sort of thing before. I mean, demand for certain items come and go with the seasons, but I just have never experienced a lull this bad before. I don't want to sit around twiddling my thumbs-- I want to do something about it.

via NiftySwank

So, I'm curious to know from any of you that are handmade business owners-- what do you do to stay positive when you're stuck in a rut like this? What are some ways to help boost business during low points in the year?