A Life Update: January 2012 Edition

I did promise more personal updates, so here is my second attempt. I’ve gone back and forth on writing this post, but decided to go ahead with it. I’m sure Jason (my dear husband) will feel uncomfortable with me sharing this much personal information, but this is the honest truth about what has consumed our life in the past month.

1. I had a miscarriage. I don’t want to dwell on it, and I’m not looking for a pity party. The truth is I just can’t seem to shake it or think of anything else. It’s so consuming, and I’m struggling with moving on, and working on my business. The worst is that when I meet with clients, I need to be SO happy for them, and I want to be, but I just can’t seem to be happy overall and its really taking its toll.

2. Jason and I booked a trip to Europe! This really is giving me something to look forward to and be happy about. We have wanted to go forever (I’ve been to Italy once, and Jason has traveled all around Europe with his family) together, and finally this seemed like the right time. It may be our last chance before we have kids. The only negative on this is leaving our sweet puppy behind. Honestly, she’s one of the family, and it breaks my heart every time. To make things a little easier, I’m meeting with one of the stylists at my salon who also does in-home pet/house sitting. I trust her, and she loves dogs, so I think I’ll feel better about this than taking Zoey to a kennel. Just for fun, here’s a sweet picture of my baby girl.

3. Jason’s job is wreaking havoc on my mood! I knew my husband taking this promotion would change things, but I had no idea. He honestly works until 9 p.m. almost every night, and when he is home (weekends and some evenings) he is working the entire time. It’s so stressful. I’m told this is only going to last until mid-February and I am counting down the days. Don’t get me wrong, my husband drives me crazy, just like every other married person I know, but not having him here to talk to has been a huge strain. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder…if that’s true, we’re going to be madly in love again by the end of next month.

I think that’s a pretty thorough update for now. In the next few months we’ll be getting the house ready to sell, so I’m sure I’ll have more to update in the future.

Until next time,

Robin

Southwest Michigan Bridal Show

So, two weeks ago I attended my second bridal show as an exhibitor. This time I decided to be a little fancier and bought an amazing centerpiece from Seivert’s Floral and created a tablescape to also showcase menu cards, name cards, table numbers, etc. Here are a few pictures (taken with the Hipstamatic app on my iPhone) …

Overall, I would say it was a successful show and I’m looking forward to working with all of the awesome brides that I met!

Until next time,

Robin

Jen & Jeff’s Samples

Last week I finished up the five samples that are currently on the way to Jen & Jeff. This couple is so much fun! They are getting married in Scotland, and having a reception here in the U.S. about a month later. And to make things even more difficult for their wedding planning, they are currently living in two different states. I’m so glad I got a chance to meet with them while they were in town.

Keep in mind that I just bought a new camera from my friend Luke of Luke Larsson Photography, and I’m just learning how to use it. So bear with me, please!

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

Lots To Do

I’m committed to continuing to blog, so even though I don’t have much to say, I’m saying it anyway.

I have 2 main projects going on right now and about a million other things that are on my to-do list but keep getting pushed back. The first is a Bridal show! It’s only my second one, and you can check out the information here. It’s this coming Sunday, and I still have a lot to do to prepare. I have boards to get ready (update with new invitations), table linens to buy, name cards and table numbers to print, flyers to make, and the list goes on and on. My lovely husband did finish one project for me this weekend, however. He painted and framed this beautiful sign of my logo to hang in the booth.

The other exciting this is that I’m currently making samples. And I have another bride meeting on Wednesday. I’m finishing up designing the last of the five samples today, and hoping that my paper really does make an appearance tonight so that I can put everything together and get them in the mail. Once the paper finally shows, I’ll snap some pictures. Until then, the colors are kelly green, charcoal and cream – I’m sure you can imagine how awesome they’re going to be.

Until next time,

Robin

New Year, New Ideas

A lot has changed in the last year and a half since I really started this business. In addition to that, 2011 brought a lot of changes for me and my family, and because of all of that I’ve decided to make some changes on this website, and mostly the blog portion.

I’m not a writer. I’ve always wanted to be better, but its not going to happen, so everyone needs to bear with me. However, I understand that reading blog posts just showing every piece of wedding stationery that I’ve ever done, isn’t exciting to anyone, so my plan is to change the format of this blog. I hope to write a little more about me, more about what is going on in my life, some things that I find interesting and cool in the stationery world, and of course — things that I’m working on for my business.

To start, I thought I would give a little peek into my life in the past and currently. First, a little background on how I got to where I am today. From 1999-2003 (wow, I’m getting old) I studied art at Michigan State University. I mostly went to school for photography, but at the last minute decided to take a few graphic design classes, just in case the photography thing didn’t pan out. I never did find a job in photography, but got my first job designing newspaper ads for a local, weekly paper. I won’t get into the details of all of my jobs, but I did move from that job to a job designing fun products (think paper plates! napkins! gift bags!), then back to the newspaper as a production manager, then to a publishing company (publishing trade magazines) as an art director, then to a marketing position at another newspaper. The last position sadly came to an end just at the end of December. Due to some gigantic reorganization, I currently find myself unemployed. Fortunately for me, I started this handy business over a year ago, and I’m now using all the time I’ve suddenly acquired to really focus and grow the business.

In addition to the changes with my job, my husband has been promoted, but transferred to a new location in a city about 55 miles away. This has been an interesting transition. Sometimes, he stays in that city during the week, and sometimes he comes home. Either way, it makes for long days alone, and sometimes long nights as well. We’re still adjusting. We are also considering selling our house, and moving 55 miles north to the new city, but we’re waiting a few months until the weather clears to really get things ready. As a planner, and someone with mild anxiety, all of these really stress me out. Here’s hoping we get it figured out and that 2012 is a successful year, in more ways than one.

Now that you’re updated on my life…for those of you who don’t know me, I’m including a photo of my little family.

I know its nerdy, but here is my husband Jason, the (second) love of my life — our dog Zoey, and me.

Until next time,

Robin