Will they like it??

It's one thing when your [insert obligated person here] tells you that they love the stuff you make.  My husband, my mom, my friends, my kids, etc.!  It's another when it comes from a stranger.  


I have been so happy/relieved/elated by the feedback I've gotten from my Etsy customers.  A few of them even talked about me and I wanted to shamelessly brag tell you about it: 


Christy at MCH Photography just featured my shop last week.

Go check it out.  She is lovely...and took some great pics (way better than my shop pics...mental note: update my pics!).
   

Jessica at Little Pumpkin Grace purchased three wristlets for teacher gifts for the start of school.
  

She even dressed them up in cute packaging...which inspired me to step up my packaging as well!
  

I don't know what it is about seeing something I made in another environment (i.e. not my sewing room)!  Love it!

Ladies, I *truly* appreciate the shout-outs.  It warms my heart.  Thank you. 

Long live the Horsemen!

I am jealous of my husband and his college buddies.  They manage to take a trip together *every* year since we graduated.  

My girlfriends and I can barely scrape together a trip to save our lives. Pathetic.  (But I love and miss all of you to pieces.)

That's right, girls (Jenni, Me, Amber, Melissa)...see that date in the lower right?  2005!  Seriously?  Come on!  Oh, and excuse our 'dewiness'...it was June and no air conditioning there!

This year, the guys are meeting in the great state of Texas.  Dallas, to be exact.  One friend lives there and his wife is expecting twins (miss you MCB!) and he didn't want to be too far from home, so they are takin' the party to him.  Don't worry, his wife and their son are visiting her parents for the while.  

Circa spring 2000.  I claim the one in the lower right corner.  The gashes on his leg?  Previous night he was run over by a golf cart...don't ask.

The guys (who were nicknamed the Horsemen back in college (why?  I have no idea)) will be sporting these shirts made especially for them.  

They were super simple to design on the Silhouette software.  I chose a 'western-y' font called Coffee Tin from 1,001 free fonts. 

Remember:  Always mirror-image your design when using heat transfer vinyl.  Learned it the hard (wasteful) way.  Boo.

I use Siser Easy Weed heat transfer vinyl.  It is easy to work with and I've had great results.
  

Tip:  Use a seam ripper to weed your design (i.e. remove the vinyl you don't want).

I'd heard it was great for layering, so I gave it a try.  The symbol is called the Honor G. It's the athletic symbol for the college we all went to.
  

As legend has it, several became Horsemen, but there were just five original Horsemen.  And this year's trip turned out to be just those five.  So I thought it was fitting to add, "The Original Five".

By the way, they do have plans to visit the biggest honky tonk bar while they are there.  I can't wait to hear how that went.  


Horsemen, hope y'all love the shirts!  

Linkin' up here and at the others on my Linky Party Page!

Have I mentioned that I love my Silhouette?

I am in love.  With my Silhouette.  It is consistently ah-may-zing me with each new project.  I recently made cards on it.  Where has it been all my life?  I digress.

The first card was a birthday card for a gift that was ordered through my etsy shop.  The customer asked that it be shipped directly to the birthday girl and I included this card:

  

To create the card, I used two different files that came with my Silhouette.  I used the card with a scallop edge from one file and the happy birthday from another file.  Easy.

Now that I had some confidence in my card making...(ha!)...I decided to create a thank you card to include with a different order.  This one was designed around my shop's logo.  

It's just circles.  The bottom row of circles has my shop logo peeking through.  The top two rows say 'thank you', as if you needed me to spell it out.  Although my husband had trouble figuring out what it said...is it hard to read?  I liked how the "k" wraps around so the rows stay consistent and mimics the four circles in the logo.  What do you think?

And because I didn't want the inside writing to show through, I dug through my scrap pile and found a charcoal gray piece of sheer fabric, cut it to size, glued it to a piece of white card stock, then glued to whole thing to the back of the front flap.  In the pic below, you can see the shimmer of the sheer fabric. 

I swear, it looked better in person!  I hope the recipient thinks so, too!  

melissa's beach wedding tote bags and a look back in time!

A few weeks ago, my college sweetheart and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary.  A decade!  Two full time jobs, one professional degree, two kids, two mini-vans, and a mortgage later...life could not get any better!  I am the luckiest girl alive!  

Last summer at our 10 year college reunion.  How things change in 10 short years!

What, you say?  You thought this post was about beachy wedding tote bags?  Sorry, I digress.  Seriously, my wedding and 10 years of 'unity candle' is relevant, I swear.  

gosh, we look so young and well-rested.   :)  

me and my maid of honor, Melissa!

Exactly two weeks after our wedding, one of my best friends married her college sweetheart, in the same town, in the same beautiful campus chapel that we got married in.  

Melissa and her groom Shawn.  Yes, that's a kilt.

Melissa.  I've mentioned her before.  She is the designer behind Melissa K. Hoy Jewelry Designs.  Also the artist behind the logo for my little business, zero7one9 designs.  Melissa, her husband, and their 3 sweet children had a ceremony two weeks ago in Cancun to renew their vows and celebrate their marriage (can you say, jealous?  i can).  

I couldn't be there with them, but a little piece of me was (actually 8 pieces): 

Melissa filled the inside and the two front pockets with gifts and gave them to family that made the trip to share the event with them. 

I used Anna's (Noodlehead) Summer Madras Tote tutorial and absolutely love how they turned out.  

pay no mind to the collection of light sabers drying on a towel after being left out in the rain!  real life.

Love you, Melissa.  For letting me make these and for loving them (as much as I do).  


In case you were wondering: 

• the pink polka dot fabric is Premier Prints Oxygen Dots in Candy Pink (from Fabric.com)
• the interior paisley is Riley Blake Sweet Nothings Paisley Cream (from Fabric.com)
• the exterior diagonal stripe is from JoAnn Fabrics' Keepsake line: Gerbera Bias Stripe 

linking up here and at others listed on my Linky Party page.