Tuesday, March 31, 2009
cut paper art
i'm just amazed by the intricacies of this cut paper art. it's so delicate and beautiful. right now you can find 190 different items for sale at papercutdiecut including amazing monogram letters and other various cut paper art. while most of it is a little pricey (and justly so), you can score a letter for as low as $15! i haven't quit decided which one i'm going to get, but the one above is one of the front runners.
Monday, March 30, 2009
sneak peek : holiday 2009
a quick sneak peek of a few of our holiday designs for 2009! stay tuned for their official release at shades of violet!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
lake country academy
*not sure why they picked the boring side of their building to feature instead of the front*
a few weeks ago we received some of the best news we've ever gotten. the little dude was accepted into lake country academy, a charter school focusing on core knowledge and core values. we went and toured the school back in november and on our way out the door, the hubby and i looked at each other and said: "well, that school totally sucks", knowing full well that both of us were in love with it without even having to ask the other what we thought. we both laughed and then quickly became depressed with the odds of the little dude getting in. here's why:
lca was once a private non-parochial school with private school tuition. a few years ago, they chartered with our local school district, which now means it's tuition free. because of this, enrollment is on a pure lottery system. the only way you're guaranteed a spot in the school is if you have an older brother or sister already enrolled. this is really the only school of it's kind in our small town, so it is highly sought after. for the example, the 4-k program (which is the program the little dude applied for) has space for 18 students. of those 18 spaces, 15 were already filled with siblings of current students. the average applications taken for the 4-k program is said to be around 100. so, with these numbers, there were only 3 students who were going to be accepted into the program out of 100 applications!! not great odds. at all. to make it worse, if you don't get in the 4-k program, your chances of ever getting in are extremely slim because it's rare for anyone to drop out. therefore, never making space available for anyone else to come in.
we applied in february and then waited on pins and needles while also lining up alternative options knowing that our chances of getting in were nearly impossible. we were not excited about any of the other options which made it all the worse. it was hard to keep a positive attitude knowing that we'd most likely be stuck with a second choice option that was a long way off from our first choice. i prayed for his acceptance a lot.
i really loved everything that this school believed in and was based on. it was like a parochial school in the sense that they taught virtues and values, how to be a good person, citizen, neighbor, and friend. this was huge for me. we were also highly impressed by their alternative teaching methods we got to see first hand during the tour. although there are grade levels in the school, they move the students around a lot to be at the learning level that fits them. so if you're in second grade, but can do fifth grade math, you go to have math class with the 5th graders. and vice versa. this concept is also really intriguing to me. and, i think, makes a heck of a lot of sense. you can read more about the school and curriculum on their site.
every time we think about the fact that he's actually one of the 3 lucky ones, we get giddy. we were just so prepared to hear "no" that when we heard "yes", we didn't know what to do with ourselves! in fact, when i got the letter in the mail i had to read it over at least 5 times before i accepted that it really said he was in! i then proceeded to run around the house and try to find my phone so i could call the hubby who was at work. looking at it now, it was very similar to the day the infertility clinic called to tell me that we were, in fact, pregnant. maybe he's just always going to be our lucky little guy.
lca was once a private non-parochial school with private school tuition. a few years ago, they chartered with our local school district, which now means it's tuition free. because of this, enrollment is on a pure lottery system. the only way you're guaranteed a spot in the school is if you have an older brother or sister already enrolled. this is really the only school of it's kind in our small town, so it is highly sought after. for the example, the 4-k program (which is the program the little dude applied for) has space for 18 students. of those 18 spaces, 15 were already filled with siblings of current students. the average applications taken for the 4-k program is said to be around 100. so, with these numbers, there were only 3 students who were going to be accepted into the program out of 100 applications!! not great odds. at all. to make it worse, if you don't get in the 4-k program, your chances of ever getting in are extremely slim because it's rare for anyone to drop out. therefore, never making space available for anyone else to come in.
we applied in february and then waited on pins and needles while also lining up alternative options knowing that our chances of getting in were nearly impossible. we were not excited about any of the other options which made it all the worse. it was hard to keep a positive attitude knowing that we'd most likely be stuck with a second choice option that was a long way off from our first choice. i prayed for his acceptance a lot.
i really loved everything that this school believed in and was based on. it was like a parochial school in the sense that they taught virtues and values, how to be a good person, citizen, neighbor, and friend. this was huge for me. we were also highly impressed by their alternative teaching methods we got to see first hand during the tour. although there are grade levels in the school, they move the students around a lot to be at the learning level that fits them. so if you're in second grade, but can do fifth grade math, you go to have math class with the 5th graders. and vice versa. this concept is also really intriguing to me. and, i think, makes a heck of a lot of sense. you can read more about the school and curriculum on their site.
every time we think about the fact that he's actually one of the 3 lucky ones, we get giddy. we were just so prepared to hear "no" that when we heard "yes", we didn't know what to do with ourselves! in fact, when i got the letter in the mail i had to read it over at least 5 times before i accepted that it really said he was in! i then proceeded to run around the house and try to find my phone so i could call the hubby who was at work. looking at it now, it was very similar to the day the infertility clinic called to tell me that we were, in fact, pregnant. maybe he's just always going to be our lucky little guy.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
wire baskets
check out these 2 great wire baskets i scored last weekend when thrifting! they need a little clean-up, but they're super great! they measure about 1" x 1.5". the best part? i scored them for .75 each! not sure where i'm going to use them exactly, but i was thinking of using them in our newly remodeled bathroom. i've been looking for something like this for our vanity area!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
i heart obama
(photo: the baby last november)
from the little dude:
"i love barack obama, he's the greatest guy ever!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
studio paint
when we moved into my new studio space 3 or so years ago, i painted it before we moved anything in so that it would be a smooth transition and i could unpack everything right away. well, i've hated the paint color since the day i put it up. however, since i was moving an entire u-haul truck of stuff in the next day, there was no time to repaint. so here we are 3 years later with the same horrid color on the wall.
above are some new options and i'd love your opinions. the brown color is on some trim in the room, so really not a lot. the raspberry color is on one small wall in the office. both of these colors are ones i chose, and ones i'd like to keep. the new color i'm choosing to replace will go on the other 3 walls of the office. since the raspberry color is on the dark end of the spectrum, i would like something rather light on the other walls. the fist option is a light yellow. i though this would be nice since my studio has essentially no windows. the second is actually just a lighter version of the blue in my logo, and the third is a nice neutral grey. what do you think? which would you choose?
laundry day
since the arrival of etsy, i have been addicted to book marking art i find and love. often times it's gone before i ever order it which is a shame. i have an outrageous number of bookmarks overflowing with amazing art that i would love to snatch up. i'm going to make a point to invest in more of these pieces this year.
this particular piece entitled: laundry day, has been in my bookmarks FOREVER! i just love everything about it. who can deny the whimsy* of big red balloons suspending laundry from european looking buildings? i think this will be the first of many art purchases this year. find it at atwhim's etsy shop.
*i HATE this word. does anyone have a good synonym? i've looked online and can't seem to find an appropriate replacement.
Monday, March 23, 2009
coming soon to a store near you!
when i started the new division of my company, fin+roe, i had plans of selling online for a year and a half or so and then moving on over to the wholesale side. well, much to my surprise, i started getting inquiries from retailers, photographers, scrapbookers, all wanting my designs! fabulous. except that i wasn't ready and, really, i'm still not. for the last month or so i've been researching my brains out trying to get this up and running sooner than expected for those retailers who are interested. there may even be a chance that i'll (unexpectedly) have them on display at the national stationery show this year!
stay tuned for more details hopefully coming soon!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
18 months
the baby turned 18 months old a few weeks ago. i've been meaning to take his photos, but it just got moved further and further down on the list of things to do. i finally took time out first thing this morning before he had a chance to get crabby and it was the best idea ever! he was so much happier and well behaved than he normally is during these photo sessions. i would almost call it a pleasurable experience! happy 18 months baby!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
china
i have never been a huge china person. the patterns are typically too flowery and stuffy for me. however, there's always been one pattern that has caught my eye. luckily for me, we found this exact pattern on our thrifting trip that i mentioned last week. it's called "platinum star" and is a much more graphic pattern than most. it was produced in the 1970's and is a nice neutral color palette which i love. it was marked way down so i got an enormous 15 place settings....something like 80 pieces all together for an unbelievable price of $30! my lucky day!
the only thing i'm not sure about is: does owning a set of china mean i'm officially an adult? not sure i can handle that!
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