Saturday, July 30, 2011

shop update

There are two new items in the shop this morning: Twiggy Dessert Picks and Lynette's Paper Feather Hair Comb.


These dessert picks come as a set of six: 2 flag picks with button charms, 3 small flag picks, and 1 custom banner. This set would be great for engagement shoots or the dessert table at the wedding. You could use them in pies, cupcakes, or use a few on top of the cake.



This hair piece is very delicate. The paper feathers are made from the page cutouts for Philip's lamps. Dried baby's breath lays across the feathers with two small flowers on one end. There are small pearl beads inside each flower.

All of my paper pieces in the shop are now coated in a matte protective finish so that they are durable against any kind of moisture or liquid. Because if you're as clumsy as I am, you'd rather be safe than sorry.

Friday, July 29, 2011

shop update // new necklace


There's a new necklace in the shop: Jade's Key Necklace. It's made with a vintage key, white + mustard colored beads, and an antiqued brass chain. Philip has an old jar of keys above his desk. I forgot about it until today. I decided to steal some for more jewelry :)

cleaning break.


This is what my cleaning break looks like today: a snack (yep, a whole sandwich is a snack for me), arrested devleopment, and making a necklace. I hope you are enjoying your Friday! Any fun weekend plans?

call me the crazy cat lady.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9


I've noticed that people are either crazy about cats or hate them. Personally, I love them. With the chance of sounding crazy, here are a few things I love about my kitty, Francine: her soft fur, her cute nose, her teeny tiny teeth, her cute little meow when she wakes up, her OCD tendencies, and I like the way she smells (yes, I know that one's really weird).

So, there, that's my secret: I'm a crazy cat lady. That's ok because I have plenty of friends who are crazy about cats too. Maybe we'll start a club.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

smart phones: good or bad?


You should read the quick post where I found this picture. It's pretty ironic.

To our generation, this picture is so normal. How many times have you seen a group of people sitting in the same room or at the same table all on their phone? Sometimes they're talking to each other, sometimes they're not. When they are, they usually aren't making eye contact, they're looking down at the screen. We all do it. In social settings, we have our phones at hand at all times. There are many reasons why. In fact, can you relate to any of the following?

I pretend I'm on it to avoid the petitioners every single time I go to Trader Joe's. I can show my husband what I found on Pinterest instantly instead of trying to describe it to him. I don't have to feel so silly when I'm sitting by myself and waiting for whoever I'm meeting. My phone helps me feel not so awkward when a conversation all of a sudden went silent. Of course, I need to know instantly when theres a new text, e-mail, notification, convo, or tweet. Yeah, I'm spontaneous in a foreign city (as long as the 3G network is at my fingertips) What happens when you can't think of that actor in that movie you were just talking about? (IMDB saves the day again.)

As someone who is already painfully shy, I'm finding this crutch creating me into an even more awkward socializer. I hate (and I mean hate) making phone calls. If it's a professional phone call- woah. Immediately, I get very anxious, shaky and sweaty. (Yep, gross.) I even get so nervous that I have to write down what I want to say ahead of time or I'll completely forget. I know that this is really crazy sounding and pretty extreme, but for me, it's the truth. You may not hate phone calls as much as me, but how often do you check your phone during the day? What's the first thing you do when you find yourself alone at a table or as you step into an elevator with a stranger? You usually check it again, even when you know it hasn't made a peep about new e-mails or texts, right? It's usually the last thing I do before going to sleep and the first thing I do when I wake up.

I just wonder how different our interactions would be if we didn't have this device of avoidance and instant satisfaction. I've read about studies that say this generation has a hard time relaxing or staying focused because we check our on phones too much. That totally makes sense to me. I can't even tell you how many times I checked my e-mail and twitter feed while I was writing this.

How do you think you would deal with not having our phone for a day? What if you stayed away from the internet all together?

PS: Here's an article CNN posted about smartphone users and their "checking habits".

what i wore // working at home

Yesterday I woke up really early (like 5:30 early), dropped Philip off at the beach, took Patrick on a walk, ran errands, and did a lot of working from home. I was pretty tired all day and just wanted to be comfy. This is what I wore.

top: hand-me-down from my sister
leggings: Forever21
necklace: Meghan's Fringe Necklace from my shop
oxfords: Target

Remember the other day when I said we don't have money to shop? Well, funny thing- I bought these flats yesterday. I've been wanting a pair of oxfords for a long time now (a very long time). I missed the train when Target was selling them the first time around and all of the other pairs I've found since then are too expensive. Yesterday I was wandering around Target and guess what they had back on their shelves? Yep, these little beauties. Philip knew how long I've wanted these shoes. I was very grateful when he said I could get them ♥

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

custom cake topper.


I sent this custom topper out earlier this week. Look at those little love birds ♥ If you have any questions or custom requests, please e-mail me: chansen.213@gmail.com

christmas in july.


This past weekend Diane and I hosted our ridiculously early Christmas party. Normally we have one in October or November when it starts to get a little cold. This year, we just couldn't wait.

We decorated cookies, played some sort of beer pong, took family portraits, and watched Elf. It was amazing to celebrate Christmas with so many people. Our friends are fun :)

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

shop update.

I have 2 new pieces in the shop: Meghan's Fringe Necklace + Martha's Garter Set.


I love this necklace. In fact, I think that I've worn it for the past 3 days ♥


I recently made this pretty garter set for a bride. I wish I had made myself one for my wedding. The Martha Garter is my favorite in the shop.

what i wore confessions.


I'm not a huge fan of doing these "what I wore" posts. I have a lifetime of reasons and insecurities to explain why (as I'm sure most women do), but I'll save that for another post. Personally, I enjoy reading outfit posts from other bloggers that I can relate to and hope that mine can be as well. Philip and I don't have money to just shop whenever we want and when we do, it's usually at Forever 21, Target,Buffalo Exchange or various thrift stores. Besides that blue dress I bought a few weekends back, I think the last time that I bought clothing was when I worked for Starbucks. Even then, it was usually one item every now and then with my tip money from the week before. For a while, I wasn't really happy with my closet and just wanted to start a new one. That is a completely unrealistic idea, so I decided to just be more creative with what I do own. Hopefully posting these pictures more often will inspire me to stick with that decision to not complain about my closet.

Monday, July 25, 2011

made with love.

I'm working on orders and packaging today. I have a to do list in my head that's about a million miles long, so I don't have much to share today. We had a really fun weekend. There was a Christmas in July party, a few hours at the beach, spending lots of time with the family (including little Jack and Mary Jane), and nice night at Bottlecraft with friends.

I'll be back tomorrow with some pictures from or Christmas in July party (and maybe an outfit post). Check out Tiffany's blog post from yesterday. She was very sweet to post about my shop. ♥

Saturday, July 23, 2011

my dream patio.

Isn't it gorgeous?! I fell in love with everything about this patio the instant that I saw it. The color pallet, the chairs, cushions, materials, everything. The best part about it: Jaime did it all herself or found very affordable pieces for this project. She lists the sources here.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

shop update: new bridal necklaces.

I have two lovely new bridal necklaces in the shop for you: Olivia and Chloe. These ladies are pretty fancy.


I've recently discovered my love for jewelry making. I'm excited to gather more supplies for this new love of mine. It will share more when I do ♥

table displays + new friends

Very early on Tuesday morning, I packed up my displays and products and headed out to Villa de Flores in Rancho Santa Fe. It's such a pretty drive especially in the early morning when it's cool and quiet. I didn't hit any traffic on the freeway-always a plus to waking up so early.

Erin of Hall Events invited me and four other Etsy artists to join a gathering for the Association of Bridal Consultants. It was so sweet of her to invite all of us, because it was such a great opportunity to meet other people who are in the wedding industry (and have lots of experience!) All of our tables were under these beautiful wooden arbors that were covered in grapevines and surrounded by gorgeous landscape.

My sweet friend, Azy, woke up before the sun to come out there and help me set up my table. I get really bad anxiety when I go to events like this and I don't know anyone. Knowing she would be there while I found my way around, met new people, and set everything up was a huge confidence booster for me- thanks Azy! :)


This was only my second time having a table display of my work. The first time was here. I was very happy with how my it turned out. It felt more sophisticated this time around- or at least, I think so.

Overall, the event went well. I had a little more practice talking with people in a professional manner, thinking on my feet (when I'm nervous, Im horrible at that), learned a lot from the speakers during lunch, and got to meet a of lot people. Speaking of, I had the pleasure of meeting this lovely lady (our tables were right next to each other). We have very similar taste and interests. Therefor, we became instant friends- don't you just love when that happens? (I'll be sharing more pictures of the event tomorrow along with her pretty display.)