Calling All Guest Bloggers!

Hey now! 

With wedding season already in a full (early!) stride, I know my time for posting will dwindle a bit. Don't get me wrong, there will still be lots of posts sharing some wise words I discovered, or heaps of fabric I'm waving my magic wand at, and probably more than a few about coffee and kids and me crying because kindergarten is starting soon. 

But I digress. 

In addition to all the goodness, I'd love to share more of what *you* have to offer. I'm looking for original, succinct, clean, and pretty posts for the months ahead.  If you enjoy writing, curating collections, sharing tutorials, and exploring color than this may be for you! 

Here are a few topics I'm interested in covering (of course, if you have a brilliant idea, I'd love to hear it!) 

• Color Me Happy: color palettes, finds within specific color palettes, pantone color features, color trends

• Finding Inspiration: downloads, quotes, roundups of inspirational words 

• Crafty Goodness: tutorials, special occasion crafts (st. patricks, easter, mom's day, wedding), sewing tips, & ideas

• Print Study: Round ups, features, collections of patterns, prints, and designs (think chevrons, dots, geometrics, calligraphy....)

• Business Bits: lessons learned about running a creative business, links to fabulous business-related articles, review of books

While I'm going to shy away from promotional posts for now, all guest bloggers are welcomed to offer a few links at the end of their post to their shop/site/social media. And of course, I'll be linking and sharing your post along with you! 

If this is up your alley, please comment below with an email you can be reached or contact me directly with BLOG SUBMISSION in subject. 

Can't wait!    allisa {dot} jacobs  {at} gmail {dot} com

Creating A Home: Work and Family

I came across this gorgeous image from Caitlin Wilson via Design Sponge and my first thought was, yes!

This how I feel. I'm a home-centered gal by nature. I think because I grew up with so much change and moving and uncertainty, I work extra hard to create a home, a place, for our family. Heaped together is a whole lot of gratitude that I have this opportunity to grow my business & love my boys in the very same place. The conversations about business and creating things. It makes for such a fun dynamic in our little family, I absolutely love each morning when my son pops his head into the door of my studio and I welcome him to the day. Or the afternoons when preschool & nap time & the stars align and I can grab my cup of coffee and create. 

I know these days are fleeting and there will be a time when I'm itching to return to the classroom. Days when the boys are both in school and the house is empty.  So for now, I'm just going to soak up and cherish this crazy awesome time filled with Legos & wedding clutches. 

xo.

I would love to hear, can you relate to this at all? What is something you love about your current situation? 

find more bits of inspiration on my notes & thoughts pinterest board

All Things Wedding - Even If You're Not Getting Hitched!

pleated clutch with chiffon flower

Hello & happy Monday! I mentioned last week it's been an early start to wedding season over here, excited to share a few new pretties along with some other loving-goodness :) 

I'd love to hear your thoughts...and then hear what *you* all have been making!

emerald clutch with chiffon flowers

charcoal & fuchsia, love.  

clutch with little frayed chiffon flowers

chevron clutch with chiffon flower & beads

clutch set with flower brooches

cosmetic bags with sweet new prints

More wedding goodness:

Thrilled to be a featured vendor with Emmaline Bride, you can see my page for even more clutches & pretties...

Also, have you seen the new Poppytalk lookbook featuring all things love & weddings? It's a beauty, such gorgeous photography & inspiration. Plus, my little embroidery clutches are there ;)  Grab a cup of coffee & enjoy it!

I've also created a new pinterest board with lovely wedding details, take a look! 

And after all this if you're feeling love filled & ready for Valentine's Day, checkout out my heart pillow tutorial, perfect for spreading some heartsy cheer. 

 xo

Bridal Beauties

lisa dolan photography

Whew. Been a busy week whipping up lots of new custom wedding clutches & flowers....seems like wedding season is off to an early start! I love this time of year. Well, last year was my first official entry into the ring of wedding clutch design, but it was a good one! The very best parts is hearing reports back from the brides on how much they loved their bags, and seeing a glimpse of their wedding. I mean, truly, they are all so lovely & sweet. I just love seeing where my clutches end up! Here's a few recent wedding glimpses, my clutches in all their glory! 

Happy weekend everyone, xo.

stephen govel photography

untamed violet photography

Scott Bacon Photo

Heart Strings Valentines Day Pillow Tutorial

{FOR PERSONAL, NON-COMMERCIAL USE ONLY}

My sweet valentine. 

A few years ago, I created my 'heart strings' pillow - previously available in my etsy shop and a reader favorite. And just like my Tree Pillow, I thought it was time to give it an update! Here's my new Heart Strings Pillow, on grey with a single red heart and aqua chevron backing. 

It's a quick little project and adds lots of valentines goodness to a room (though I think I'll seriously keep this one out year round ;) 

Since so many folks recreated the first one, I thought I'd share a little tutorial this time around. Most of it is pretty straight forward, the only tricky part is laying out the hearts evenly & stitching them in place. 

Here we go: 

16" pillow form (or any size)

17" fabric piece for front

two 12" x 17" fabric pieces for back side

felt pieces ( I use the gorgeous felt from Benzie Bazaar)

heart template (i just sketched mine out) 

Trace and cut out 13 white hearts and one red from felt (or any combination you want). 

Either with disappearing fabric pen, or just your trusty eyeball, lay out the hearts in a format you like. I made mine in 4 vertical rows, starting 2.5" in from the side and placing the hearts in the middle of the line. From there, the middle rows are 4" apart. 

Carefully stitch in straight lines down through each heart. This creates your pillow front. 

For the back side, I made an easy envelope style backing.  See my super easy Envelope Pillow Cover Tutorial for directions. 

Presto! Heartsy goodness!

So, what do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts, and if you make one of these pillow, send me a photo!

The Depths of Winter

It's been all frosty morning and wool blankets around here this week.  This time of year, I find myself repeating my phrase to live by again & again, 'sometimes you gotta make your own sunshine.'  Kind of the story of my life really ;)    I love this Albert Camus quote as well & appreciate the idea that summer - the sunshine, happiness, & promise can live inside us, even in the depths of winter. 

With all this cozy time indoors, we've been crafting up a storm around here. Look forward to sharing my heart pillow (and tutorial!) soon.

xo

Valentine's Day Crafty Roundup

We've *finally* taken down the last of the Christmas lights (please tell me I'm not the only one...) and the pirate party is all cleaned up....  Now it's time for all things valentines-y! 

Here are a few of my favorites:

{top}
I Love You Bunting (entire alphabet) Two Brunettes via Ruffled Blog
Printable Valentine Garland - Whisker Graphics


{middle}
Heart Tree - I Gotta Create
Heart Coffee Cup Sleeve - Martha Stewart
Heart Wreath - The Idea Room


{bottom}
Heart Doilies - Martha Stewart
Valentine's Day Print - Persnickety Prints

Heart Garland - Landee See, Landee Do


{another Valentines Day Crafty Roundup from the years past}

Good Things - New Clutches and Such

 Hello! Heading into the new year with lots of goodness coming to the shop. New clutches, new fabrics, and new designs. I've somehow been more productive than ever (let's now jinx that...) - here's a few bits of recent goodness:

(in the comments, I'd love to hear what you've been making this year!)

New ribbon clutches, love these.

A custom checkbook cover I whipped up for a local bank who is featuring me in their local business spotlight! (Portlanders, come check out my table at the Umpqua Bank on Barnes Rd!)  

Pretty pleated clutch sets

custom order in grey

I especially loved creating these jewel toned embroidered bags, such a pretty combo!

Looking forward to getting more ideas in my head out there on fabric & into bags. I'd love to hear what you've been making & planning!

Ignoring My Garden- The Biggest Mistake I've Ever Made

my new watercolor floral print

Being the daughter of a farmer, you'd think I'd be better about growing things. I've given succulents, gerbera daisies, and basil plants a try... but to no avail. Whether it's too much water or maybe not enough,  I never really know. Last year, I decided a cactus might be my best bet. But, sadly, even this cute prickly little thing didn't stand a chance.  I resigned, and admitted to myself that the only thing I could possibly grow was actually my business. In fact, I sort of had that whole thing figured out and everything was going - growing- just wonderfully. 

And that, my dear friends, is quite possibly the biggest business mistake I've made. 

(Oh, and I've made plenty!) 

Thinking that I'd figured out enough that I could keep cruising along. So there for awhile, I kept rocking my shop on Etsy. I continued to celebrate a stellar wedding season. I even patted myself on the back a few times (and baked a couple dozen cupcakes) for taking the leap into textile design. 

And, then the party was over. 

Just like that. 

It was almost as quick as waking up to an impossibly dead cactus. My sales, my momentum, had eeeked to a near stand still. 

What happened?! 

Well, in short, I planted the garden (my shop) and enjoyed the harvest for a bit, but neglected some of the essentials. 

I missed an extremely important Etsy memo about search relevancy changes. I didn't follow up on my initial gut feeling that something had changed. I had written it off as a slow time of year. I let a few of my listings get a little rusty and outdated. Because of all this, my shop had sort of shriveled up in the realm of Etsy search universe. Sure, I had my lovely return customers but that could only last so long.....

I spun into a bit of a tizz. Freaked out over lost income and the potential that everything I had worked for was lost in my weeks long moment of blurry complacency. I stomped my feet a few times. I cried. Probably threw some lovely pleated fabric around the studio.  I thought perhaps I'd reached the end of my creative business journey.

And then. 

A few things happened: I read an amazing article on Aeolidia comparing social media presence to tending a garden. It hit me (even though it's oh-so-obvious it shouldn't have to be said, but in fact, it does) that running a shop, a site is like a garden as well. It needs watering and tending and loving and replanting and researching and tilling. And about the same time, my ever bright star, Jess from Oh My Handmade Goodness sent me the Invictus quote,  'I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.'   And,  it made me cry more. But it also gave me a jolt of confidence to clean up this mess. And finally, in the midst of all this chaos, my husband left a card on my desk expressing that he admired how I always manage to stay on the saddle. 

eva juliet

So that's what I did. I hopped back on the saddle.  I contacted a few search experts. Pulled a few near all nighters and tended my shop. Not only did I fix things. I made them better. I've learned my lesson and am sharing it with you. In the spirit of reflecting for the new year ahead and with the hope that others remain vigilant with their gardens. 

So here I am. Prepared to proudly walk into 2013 armed with a plow & pruning shears.  

Ask & Answer

During some of my reflecting on 2012, I looked back on the questions readers and customers asked me and noticed that there were five that came up again & again. While I love connecting with everyone, I thought maybe it was time to share them! 

Question #1: How do you take such great photos? 
Aw, shucks! Thank you. First, let me say that this is one of my favorite questions. Because I worked SO hard for nice photos that I'm happy they're at least getting noticed. Unless you started out as a professional photographer, this has probably been a journey for you too. But, as I say a million times over, I think it's the very best way to market your shop. I use a Canon Rebel and am always happy to share my personal photography tips. 

Question # 2: Where do you print your garment labels?  
Happy to share this source secret! While much of my work involves lots of time & energy into sourcing the right materials...some of which I guard pretty closely ;) But, with my garment labels, I went with a few companies before working with Custom Couture Labels and have never thought of switching again. They are such a peach to work with and the labels are the best out there! 

Question #3: What time do you wake up?
4:03 am.  

Hold on, I'm not crazy! I also go to bed early too. Folks began asking this when they noticed twitter posts showing up super early, even for the west coast. Or as a follow up to, how do you get it all done?  It's not punishment. It makes me happy. I'm a morning bird by nature and do best when I have accomplishments early in the day, it leads to more achievement for me as the day progresses. 

Question #4: How did you start your business? 
Oooh, I love talking about this! I started small. Very, very small. My Etsy shop was an avenue to capitalize on my sewing skills to make extra money to stay home with our first son. There wasn't a grand vision or a plan...that came along the way. If you're familiar with my blog, you've probably read me blab on about it all. I do share my story in the ebook, Rise & Shine, I created for others to find success on their creative journey. There's also a bit more in my about page. 

Question #5: How did you start designing fabric & where is it available? 
I'm self-taught. Well, that's not quite right. I read a few amazing books. Took in invaluable advice from some design pals. Enjoyed a couple online courses. And am working on getting better. I currently use Spoonflower to professionally print my textiles.  We'll see where it goes but it's such an awesome feeling to make something with my very own design. 

Whew, ok...enough about me!! How about you? What question do you find yourself answering again & again? 

Oh, and check out this gorgeous landscape from a little nature hike earlier this week, who wants to visit Oregon?! 

Hello, 2013 {January Desktop Calendars}

love mae

Hello, 2013! I hope everyone had a glorious start to the new year. We had a wonderful day yesterday celebrating Little Man Jack's fifth (!) birthday. I can hardly believe five years ago we welcomed him into the world and I found a whole new purpose and joy in life. 

In the studio, there's lots of planning, cleaning, and dreaming going on and look forward to sharing what's to come! To start off the month, I've collected these three desktop calendars from some of my favorites sites - they are all individually lovely but somehow all look like they're from the same family too. I just don't know which to choose! 

Have a lovely day, allisa

oh, hello friend 

smashing magazine

{update} thanks to Lily Emme for sharing this beauty from Genine's Art Blog with us also! 

More Happy Wishes

2012 finished with a peaceful, glorious sunrise. And now for the best way to start the year...

Happy 5th birthday to the sweetest Lego-building, chess-playing, book-reading, treasure-hunting, story-making boy in the world. You are my light, Little Man Jack.

I can't think of a better way to start the new year than celebrating his life! 

Happy wishes to everyone, xo. 

{sunrise image courtesy minoggie kennels}