Friday, March 31, 2006

shades of violet open for business!


we are so excited to be launching our new site! shades of violet

please visit and help us kick off our grand opening celebration!

because you are a blogging friend of shades of violet, we are offering you a fantastic coupon code to use on your first purchase! please enter the code:BLOG20 at checkout and you will receive 20% off your entire order!

to help us launch our new site, please feel free to pass on our website information to all your friends and family. if they sign up for our newsletter, and enter the code: FRIEND2 at checkout, they will receive 10% off PLUS a free gift!

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

props where props are due

i'm super duper mega excited to announce that my retail site is going to be having it's grand opening VERY soon! (i'm hoping for this friday) so i thought this would be a great time to give some props to my wonderful, fantabulous, super sweet, never-made-me-feel-like-a-moron site developer! nicole from smart & lovely is the brains behind my site. she took my mock-ups and somehow turned them into a fully functioning retail site in no time flat! when we started this project i had absolutely no idea how a retail site worked, (i still really don't) but she never once made me feel stupid even when i asked really, really stupid questions. i can't say enough good things about her. if anyone out there needs help with a website, i would strongly suggest starting with this lovely lady. (no pun intended!)

Monday, March 20, 2006

the latest


last week the little dude got his book swap books in the mail! the lovely andrea at blah blah babycakes organized the swap and also ended up being our swapper! we got two great books....eloise in paris and an amelia bedilia book. the little dude jumped right in and claimed them immediately! thanks andrea!


over the weekend the hubby took my to the fantastic hamilton wood type museum! i had no idea that something so absolutely cool was this close by! it's located in two rivers which is only about a half an hour away. very cool. i got to see some amazing wood type including an amazing #2 hanging on the wall that had to be at least 4 feet tall! i can only imagine how amazing the banner or signage looked that featured that number. if only i could have bought it off the wall! they also had a ton of old letterpress machine. i could have spent hours there. they offer weekend classes occasionally and i would really LOVE to attend one some day.


while i was there i scored a great print of the hamilton type logo in varying sizes. i can't wait to frame it and find a place to hang it. you can visit their website here.

Thursday, March 16, 2006

busy slacker

i've really been slacking lately on posting to my blog. it's only because i've been so NOT slacking with work projects.

this time of year is always so busy. so much to do with the national stationery show right around the corner. trying to get all the new designs and new products done asap so that i can include them in the new catalog in time for the show. everything hinges on everything else which makes a long line of work to be done! i'm working on finishing up one last new product before i can complete the new catalog and send it to the printer. then we need to collate them which is no small task.

i'm proud of myself because i actually wrote my second official press release yesterday. these are not my favorite things to do and i know it's going to be the hardest goal in all of my 2006 resolutions. i'm just not great at knowing what to say about myself or my products. i'm not a saleswoman. i hate that part of the business. i just want other people to sell my products for me. anyway, i just got the e-mail from prweb saying that i scored a "4" on my release! that's very good news. it's a scale of 1-5 and i've heard that 5 are very hard to come by. so i'm happy. happy that i'm done and happy that i got a good score.

ok, back to work for me. lots to do!

Sunday, March 12, 2006

a beautiful day in the neighborhood

it was an amazingly beautiful weekend here in the midwest. i'm not sure of the exact temperatures, but it had to be in the 50's. such a nice treat for us this time of the year.

on saturday we woke up early with the little dude, got ready, and dug the stroller out from the garage. we took a nice stroll to a church rummage sale just down the street about three blocks away. i love church rummage sales because they typically have great vintage stuff....for a really great price.


here is a picture of the steals i got! on the left is an adorable handbag. it's got rick-rack trim and eyelet fabric. it's adorable as-is, but i'm also excited because the outside fabric is attached only by 3 buttons on each side. i would love to make some swap-out designs and be able to change my bag with my mood.

then, on the right are two patterns straight out of the 70's. very cool. i'd like to maybe use them in some collages.

in the background is an adorable vintage handmade apron. i just love the little pattern of orange flowers and the leaf green trim. besides actually using it, i'd love to use this one as a template to make some aprons of my own.

the best part of everything is that my grand total was $2.20! yes, that's right. $1.00 for the purse, $1.00 for the apron, and 10 cents each for the patterns.


after the nice walk home, we packed up to go to one of our favorite local antique shops. there i found the gorgeous antique stencils above. the owner said they were copper and if i polished them up, they'd be beautiful. i kind of like them the way they are. i'm also planning on using these in a collage, but may try to shine one up just for the heck of it.

today was just as beautiful. we went to a pancake breakfast that my dad's local lion's club hosts every year. then spent some time with my parents and my brother's family. the little dude had a good time playing with his cousins and showing off all his new walking skills.

all and all, it was a good weekend with great weather. i'm looking forward to more in the near future!

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

absence makes the heart grow fonder

i've been pretty absent lately. sorry about that.

the weekend before last i was in california getting some nice warm weather in my veins. i got to see a few really great stationery shops and did some major shopping. it was nice to have a break from reality, but i've been paying for it ever since.

i've been working some major night and weekend hours to make up for the 2 workdays i missed during my trip. somehow i managed to rack up about a weeks worth of work in those 2 missing days. funny how that happens.

i'm trying to get back on schedule this week with work and home life. i managed to make it to the gym last night which had been put on hold last week while i worked every night to catch up. i planned on going tonight, but that didn't happen. i do have a personal training session scheduled for friday though. i'm pretty excited about that. since i'm a "new" member, i get some free sessions to get me acquainted with the gym and the equipment. i've only been attending classes thus far and haven't had to venture into the "lifestyle fitness" area. i'm hoping we can come up with a great plan that i can use when my free sessions are over. i'm really hoping to drop a few before the stationery show in may. i have a little over 2 months. maybe i can manage 10 lbs. by then. that's about 1 lb. per week. we'll see how it goes.

alright, time for me to sign off. i'm hoping to get to bed early tonight since i've been up since about 4:30 this morning with the little dude. i'm hoping we don't have a repeat tomorrow morning. i don't know if i can handle two days like this. just one of the fun surprises that are involved with being a mommy!

oh, i almost forgot to mention! i got a beautiful boquet of flowers today from the hubby. if you know my hubby, you know what a HUGE deal that is. he's not the flower giving type. at all. i honestly cannot tell you the last time i got them. it was such a nice surprise. thank you honey....i love you.

Thursday, March 02, 2006

i LOVE the office

the end.
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