1. I went to Europe! The trip finally arrived and my husband and I jetted off to rainy London and heavenly Paris for 10 days. The trip was fantastic! There were definitely some bad days (seriously, does the sun ever shine in London?), but there were more good days and we had so much fun. It’s kind-of sad to be home. I’m hoping to do a more thorough recap eventually, but not until I can catch up a little. Here’s a picture from each location.

Buckingham Palace, London

Arc de Triomphe, Paris

2. I’ve been so so sick. I know it sounds whiny, but I can’t even tell you how miserable I’ve been. Before we left for vacation I went to the doctor because I had a bad cold. I was diagnosed with bronchitis and given some antibiotics. I took them and felt pretty good on the trip. I had a little bit of a cough, but nothing miserable. Then, I came home. About 2 days after I got home I started coughing non-stop. Even now, 8 days post-vacation, I have a fever, a runny nose, congestion and just overall miserableness. Here’s hoping it goes away soon!

3. I might be a tad buried. I think I mentioned before that I had no idea what I was getting into moving this business to a full-time job for me. Fortunately, things have been more successful than I could have ever imagined. Which means that the month of May, in the middle of wedding season, is madness. Add in the fact that I’ve been sick, and you can only imagine what its like over here.

4. I’ve been loving up on my puppy. Words can’t describe how much I missed my silly pup…but I thought about her every day that I was gone. Which means now that I’m back, I have to give her double the love and attention. See how sweet she is?

Those are the only excuses I’ll give for now. The point is, I hope things are back to normal around here VERY soon.
Until next time,
Robin

Here are the samples…

 Sample #1 (outside)

 Sample #1 (inside)

 Sample #2

 Sample #2 (all pieces)

 Sample #3

 Sample #3 (all pieces)

 Sample #4

 Sample #4 (all pieces)

 Sample #5

Claire has already chosen her final invitation and I’m working on assembling them right now. Can you guess which one she picked?

Until next time,
Robin

Here are her samples…

Sample #1

Sample #2

Sample #2 (all pieces)

Sample #3

Sample #3 (all pieces)

Sample #4

Sample #4 (all pieces)

Sample #5

Until next time,
Robin

Enough rambling, here are some pictures…

The Invitations

We played a Price is Right game as well – these are pictures of the table set-up with the different labels for each item.

And speaking of games, I made these fun envelopes to hold the paper games. When finished they also had holes poked into the flap with pencils threaded through (I found the idea on pinterest of course), but I don’t have a final picture.

And of course, there was food. We got all the recipes on pinterest and decided to make individual portions of everything.

I think overall things went pretty well. My sisters and I are thinking we should make a business out of throwing showers.

Until next time,
Robin

Here are the samples…

Sample #1 (outside)

Sample #1 (inside)

Sample #2 (outside)

Sample #2 (inside)

 Sample #3 (outside)

 Sample #3 (inside)

Sample #4 (outside)

 Sample #4 (inside)

 Sample #5 (outside)

 Sample #5 (inside)

Until next time,
Robin

Here are their samples…

Sample #1 (outside)

Sample #1 (inside)

Sample #2 (outside)

 Sample #2 (inside)

Sample #3 (outside)

Sample #3 (inside)

Sample #4 (outside)

Sample #4 (inside)

Sample #5 (outside)

Sample #5 (inside)

I actually just wrapped up these final invitations so hopefully someday I’ll get around to posting finals.

Until next time,
Robin

First, we are officially leaving for Europe in 5 weeks! It kind-of still sounds far away, but I’m sure the time will fly by, as it always does. We are slowly planning what we want to do and how we are going to best use our days in each city. I am so excited! I’ve even been brushing up on my French through Live Mocha so I’ll be plenty prepared to order food and ask for directions. Also, my new passport arrived in the mail a week or so ago (I had to get a new one because my name changed since the last time I traveled abroad) and I picked up all of our travel documents (maps, metro passes, train tickets, etc.) from our travel agent as well. Now I ‘m just counting down the days!

Second, this business has been busy! This is really excited news for me because I was terrified after getting laid off from my job in December that I would totally fail at this business venture. I just thought it would be so hard getting new clients and keeping busy. Well, let me tell you that I haven’t had a free second to track down new clients…somehow through amazing people and word of mouth, they just keep rolling in! And for that, I am so thankful. I know that right now I’m in the heart of wedding season and this madness won’t last forever, but I’m enjoying every second of it while its here.

Third, those of you that live in Michigan know what I’m talking about…but we have had AHH-MAZING weather the past few weeks! Highs in the high 70s or low 80s, sunshine nearly every day…it has been wonderful. Now, trust me when I say that I am positive we will pay for this in some way — snow in June, a terrible 2012-13 winter, something…but while this gorgeous weather is here…I’m enjoying it. Zoey and I have been taking long walks every day, my husband and I spent some time power washing our garage, and just sitting on the patio at local restaurants. I love this time of year (even though it usually comes about 2 months from now)!

Fourth, maybe you noticed my mention of power washing the garage. We are thisclose to having our house ready to list so that we can move closer to my husband’s job. It’s sad, but at the same time I’m really looking forward to getting to see him more often. This whole commuting situation has really taken a toll on us and I’ll be glad when its done. So far, in readying our house for listing, we have refinished our bay window in the dining room, had our stairwell scraped and repainted, and fixed an outer windowsill that had fallen off on the kitchen window. We still have to finish the garage (it needs to be repainted), fix a small piece of bead board that is missing in my office and then de-clutter the house. I think the de-cluttering might be the toughest part — I’m not at all looking forward to packing all my stuff up and putting it in storage until we move.

And that’s all I got for now.

Until next time,

Robin

Here are her samples…

Sample #1 (outside)

 Sample #1 (inside)

Sample #2 (outside)

Sample #2 (inside)

Sample #3 (outside)

Sample #3 (inside)

Sample #4 (outside)

Sample #4 (inside)

Sample #5 (outside)

Sample #5 (inside)

Kara has chosen a final invite with a few changes so eventually when I get caught up, I might post the final draft.

Until next time,

Robin

Here are her samples…

Sample #1 (outside)

Sample #1 (inside)

Sample #2 (outside)

Sample #2 (inside)

Sample #3 (outside)

Sample #3 (inside)

Sample #4 (close-up)

Sample #4

Sample #4 (close-up)

Sample #5

Sample #5 (all pieces)

Until next time,

Robin

Curly Girl Design

From the moment I first laid eyes on Leigh’s designs I fell in love. The type, the collage, everything is beautiful. But mostly, I love the words. My favorite card ever says, “They could not remember a time — Until now, that forever didn’t seem long enough.” How sweet is that?!

Old Tom Foolery

I think what I love most about this company is that their cards are beautiful but hilarious. They’re simple, clean and fun. Plus, I’m pretty sure they single-handedly brought the mustache back.

Smock Paper

There’s no denying that Smock Paper is amazing. Their work is absolutely beautiful and letterpress is of course, fabulous. Plus, they make gorgeous cards to give to someone when they lose a pet. What could be sweeter than that?

Knock Knock

This company is awesome. I’m sure you’ve seen their stuff everywhere, and if not, you’re totally missing out. These WTF sticky notes are exactly what you need in the office, and this Pack This pad comes in handy when planning for a big trip. And the best part is that all their products look great on your desk (or refrigerator).

Tiselle

Unfortunately you can’t really order from her website, so you can only kind-of get an idea of her amazing work. Tiselle is letterpress, and her cards are gorgeous. She also creates funny and sweet cards.

There are so many more amazing stationers out there, so clearly this list is not nearly long enough, but hopefully it gives you all some ideas if you’re looking for fun stationery for yourself or for gifts.

Until next time,

Robin