Printable St. Patrick's Day Cupcake Toppers - Guest Post

we added the printables to gold coins to make them extra lucky :)

{{Note from me, Allisa: I am so thrilled to have Tania from Rocajo Studio here sharing her super adorable printable St. Patricks Day designs! Tania has been such a loyal reader for so long, I've enjoyed getting to know her & watching her business grow! And while she designed these printables to top cupcakes, a creative little guy over here found a dozen more ways to enjoy them, a few ideas here. }}

What to do on St. Patrick's Day if you had planned to look for that pot of gold but there's no rainbow in the sky? Well here's an idea: (Sham)rock your cupcakes!

You can use these free downloadable Lucky Cupcake Toppers to decorate your cupcakes and celebrate St. Patrick's Day in style. Just cut out the squares or punch out the circles with a 2" round or scalloped punch and tape a wooden skewer to the back.  You'll be making your own luck this year!

{ download printable}

turned them into a little game of match while waiting for cupcakes! 

More of Tania at Rocajo Studio here:
facebook: www.facebook.com/RocajoStudio
shop: www.RocajoStudio.Etsy.com
blog: www.RocajoStudio.blogspot.com

Watercolor Shamrock Printable for St. Patrick's Day Garland

Embracing emerald over here with these lucky little watercolor shamrocks I whipped up! String them together for a cut garland or post them around the house with messages of happy wishes on them.  Click down below to download pdf file.

Cheers! 

Download Watercolor Shamrocks

I'd love to hear what you create with these little beauties, let me know! 

New Pretties: Clutches and Flowers

fiesta! new flowers...

Hello & happy Monday! It's already a busy start of the week over here, so I thought I'd pop in & share a few new things. Would love to hear your thoughts! I've got some really fun posts in store for later this week too! 

loving this new color

cosmetic bags with custom embroidery, so happy with this color palette!

cosmetic bags with personalized messages

pretty little clutch

teal + grey, love. 

Paper Flowers Tutorial

Spring. It's almost here!  And as much as I love cozy evenings and excuses to drink hot chocolate, I think I'm ready to trade this in for some sunshine & bits of color. The Valentine's hearts have finally come down and I'm thinking about all things pretty & flowery.  Found these amazingly gorgeous paper ranunculus from ellinee.com - she made a super simple tutorial that I might just get up the courage to try (wondering if fabric sprayed with stiffener would work??). 

And since we're talking flowers, here's a little beauty I whipped up - hoping to add them to the shop soon. 

Have a lovely weekend! 
xo, allisa

Design Study - Mexico Inspiration

One of my dear friends just returned from a little getaway to Mexico and with a bit of sunshine, she also brought back photos of color & design.  Since it is the middle of winter and in Oregon that means cold + grey, I really wished I could sneak into her suitcase and ride along for the trip. But, next best thing I guess,  she snapped photos of little things that she thought I might like - the geometric textile in bold colors, embroidered pillow, floral silhouette. Yes, all things definitely me. How sweet!  Sort of made of up for the fact we here schlepping around in muddy grass with our sweaters on a repeat cycle for each day of the week. 

Anyhow, I'm loving these designs & wanted to share a few more Mexican-inspired beauties: 

tea towel, rincon road

hand loomed rug, mexchic

bird planter, sewzinski

Cheers for a lovely, happy week ahead! 
xo

Passion & Pricing & Other Good Stuff

Valentine's Day may be over but I'm still talking about passion over here....

Passion driven businesses that is! I find so much inspiration from all the wonderful creative entrepreneurs out there - the moxie, drive, ambition. I try to soak up what I can.  In my experience on this journey of making + making it work, pricing is the one hitch in the plans. It's hard to get it just right. Usually, hard to get it right for you, the maker. We tend to undersell and sell ourselves short. 

Well, enough of this! I'm over at Oh My Handmade Goodness chatting about passion & pricing and the case to let reason hold the reins when it comes it setting price points & making a profit.  I've got some ideas on how to let go of common emotions we get tangled up in and would love to hear your thoughts & experience with it all. 

{Lots more about that in my ebook, if you haven't scooped that up yet}

In other news...

My personalized embroidery cosmetic bags made an appearance on Huffington Post Weddings this week, that was fun! Lots of other handmade wedding goodness there too. 

Oh, and look at this sweet Valentine's Day card from the hubby - he was out of town so it was me, the two boys, a frozen pizza, and Finding Nemo but surprised me with a little gift waiting in my studio. He always finds the perfect cards! Hope everyone else had a lovely day, xo

Love Story - Happy Valentine's Day!

Isn't this the truth? I found Rumi and all his wisdom in college and held onto this notion of love...then when I met my husband I thought, 'ah, this is what he meant.'  Feeling like somehow you have been part of each other's life all along & can't imagine the days without them. Almost like every heartbreak and lesson and triumph were preparing us for the moments with them. 

When Jack was born it felt the same way to me. As if somehow, strangely, I'd been preparing my whole life to be a mother and it all came together in this perfectly imperfect way for him to be born...and now for Luke too. The other day Jack asked me, totally bewildered, "what exactly did you do before I was in your belly." (Good question! What were the car rides like? Quiet? What about Saturday mornings??) I thought about it for awhile and answered, "Well - I guess I was always just getting ready for you."

My valentines.

Wishes to everyone for a love-filled, happy day! xo

Free Valentine's Day Printables

Hello, happy Monday! 

Sharing these super cute & simple printables I found in our search for the perfect Valentine's day card Jack can give his classmates. I had planned on whipping up a design on my own, but after a weekend blitz of winter sickies, I'm opting for one of these instead. 
Plus, they are kid approved ;)  These made the cut because, as Jack points out, they have something other than candy and are great for boys & girls. Hooray! 


1. Bookmarks by Positively Splendid
2. Pencil Arrow Cards by Sweet Muffin Suite
3. Printable Cards by My Sister's Suitcase
4. Valentine's Day Puppets by You Are My Fave




more valentine's day goodness: 

Heart Pillow Tutorial
Valentine's Day Crafty Round Up
More Valentine's Day DIY


Have a Valentine's Day project to share? Post a link in the comments below!

Color Me Happy: Peach + Grey

I'm always on the lookout for color inspiration and just about jumped for joy when I found this beauty of a palette. Created by Cyd on The Sweetest Occasion, it's a lovely mix of soft and bright. 

I've added a bit of peachy grey in the shop with this clutch: 

Find more color lovin' on my Color Me Happy pinterest board. 

Felt Flower Tutorial & Color Inspiration

Hello & happy Monday! 

Over the weekend, in between soaking up some rare January Portland sunshine & enjoying some much needed family time, I spied these lovely little flowers at Purl Bee. Aren't they just happiness? The actually created them as magnets and I can see them in many ways; framed in a shadowbox, pinned onto a linen board, as a mother's day brooch, gathered up into a corsage... the color combinations are perfect. Check out their post for the full flower tutorial & template. 

I also enjoyed reading lots of post submissions this weekend, so excited for all you have to say. If you're interested in writing a post/curating a collection, check out my list of guest post topics and send me your thoughts! 

February Desktop Calendar

How on earth it is already February, I don't know. But, it's here - hooray! Bring on the chocolate hearts and all the lovin'. 

To bring in the month, I found this gorgeous desktop calendar from InkNest, head on over there to download. 

And, if you're in the mood for more valentines goodness, here's some crafts & projects: 

Crafty Round Up of Tutorials and Printables

Heart Strings Valentines Day Pillow Tutorial

Printable Valentine's Day Card Round Up


Happy weekend! xo