Happy Birthday 21st AL!!

Today is my fabulous friend and roommate's birthday :) Al loves her birthday more than anyone I've ever known and I really love to celebrate other people's birthdays, so we make a great pair. We started the day off with a big breakfast, strolled around Pikes, got yogurt and are going out to dinner tonight! It's so fun to be up here and get to celebrate my wonderful friend.

Love you so much Al, you are an amazing friend and such a blessing to know :)

Part of Al's birthday present was some homemade stationary...Here's some pics.

Baby Blankets

This week I'm in Seattle and my yarn/inventory is torn between here, Ventura and Glenwood... It's a bit of chaos, but I've made some time to make some new baby blankets this week. I'm obsessed with these colors;  they are so fun and unique, some feel like baby blankets and some have a "sophisticated" flare.

Here are some of the favorites...

simplejoys of the day- walking around greenlake in the sunshine!

Granby Friday Markets

This week I sent in my application for the Granby Friday Markets this summer. It's a cute little market filled with fresh fruits, vegetables and, of course, crafts! Fingers crossed I get accepted :)

Simplejoys of the day: walking through the Freemont market to gather ideas for my booth, Theo chocolate samples and new flavors (seriously, salted almond is the bomb!)

Colorado Colors

In about a week, I'm packing up (again) and heading out to the most beautiful summer location I can imagine. As a Californian who poses as a Seattelite most of the year, I'm excited to live in a new place and be a temporary Coloradan. Colorado has always had a special place in my heart- a place that is growing as my sister and brother are out there, there is a beautiful lake that makes me feel peaceful and thankful, and opportunities for me post-grad.

In attempt to fit in this summer I have added a new "line" to the collection of hats....So here we are, Broncos and Rockies colored hats!!! They come in all different sizes and are perfect for staying warm and fashionable at games :)

simplejoys of the day: getting to see the adorable little girls that I babysit and getting to spend time with my wonderful roommates

stripped of beauty and purpose

Last week Courtney and I went downtown to look around and try to find some stands to hold my stuff for the craft fairs and farmer markets. After seeing adorable jewelry holders at urban outfitters, I decided that it might be more cost efficient to visit the thrift store. I'm a huge fan of thrift stores and love finding something that has been stripped of beauty and purpose and turning it into a fun project... and that's exactly what I did.

We found two items, one that looked like it was a DVD holder (definitely has seen better days) and a wooden thing that looked like a broken paper towel holder (no joke) I bought them, got some spray paint and $6 dollars later here we are!

Simplejoys of the day: breakfast and good talks with Alli G, MOLLY MOONS ice cream (oh how I missed it),

Chalkboards!

With craft fairs and farmers markets in my future, its time for some signs. I've typed up a few things to put in frames, but I thought it might be fun to make some chalkboards. So I did!

Got some cheap frames....

Then some chalkboard paint...

And bam! 

Overall I think they turned out really well, I made some bigger ones that can display sales and such. It's all coming together!

Simplejoys of the day: seattle and sunshine. reunited with roommates and best friends.

My Favorites

The best part about this whole thing is getting to make things for people that I love. I absolutely love giving people gifts and it's even more fun when you made it! Here are some of my favorite gifts given lately :) 

 My beautiful sister and "business manager/advertising guru/delivery man" I really appreciate all her help (she's in Colorado and I'm not yet!)

 Miss peyton is absolutely adorable- she tried a hat on one day and wouldn't take it off, so I made her one to keep! She wears it with everything, in every type of weather. So cute.

Miss Alex Gennaro modeling our new clips! She loves hair clips/accessories so I made this real quick before I picked her up from the airport last week. I'm so excited to see her and celebrate her bday next week!!

Hahah Ok this isn't for real, but too good to pass up. Matt came over the other day and wanted to try on a hat. He picked up a baby one and tried to put it on. He got some good laughs out of Tay and I (and also streched it out :) 

simplejoys of the day- giving gifts :) 

Colorado and Craft Fairs.

On Wednesday I'm taking off for Seattle, followed by a little road trip out to Colorado where I'm living for the summer. Since I'm going to be in the middle of nowhere, I stocked up on yarn before I leave.
The only problem is trying to pack it all up! It's been a little chaotic trying to get my act together before Wednesday.....

I've never been more excited to be in Colorado. Looking at my calendar I think it's going to go quickly- family visiting, friends coming up, trips to glennwood, horse shows, craft fairs and farmers markets.

Out of everything I'm most excited about this view and it people I get to share it with - it doesn't get much better...

simplejoys of the day- the opportunity to live in Colorado this summer!!

New Buttons :)

I've been running low in the button area of life lately, so I went on eBay and did some searching last week. I stumbled across the best deal! I got a TON of buttons for $5, then to top it off, the seller lived in Ventura and delivered them for FREE. It doesn't get much better than that...

Here are some of my favs.

simplejoys of the day- getting to see all my favorite nieces and nephews last night, saturday morning tv, and brown nail polish. Happy Saturday! 

SALE DAY

I think it's pretty firmly established that I love a good sale. The dollar section, buy one get one free, half off- just about anything sucks me in to buying it. I've been searching for coupons to stock up on yarn for the summer and came across this....

 20% the WHOLE thing....such a good day

Yep, the whole cart is full. Things got a little outta control. 

simplejoys of the day- sales and summer plans!

stamps, stamps and more stamps....

Last month I ordered the "simplejoys" stamp online and have gladly stamped hundreds of price tags since then. Just yesterday I went on a bit of a rampage and did a about hundred at a time!

After figuring out that side of the price tag, I ran out of time and just sharpied the price, size and item numbers onto the other side of it. Once I got my big shipment sent off, I decided it was time for something a little more subtle- sharpie can be a bit abrasive :)

So I found these stamps at Micheals, then wandered into the dollar section and found some great ink pads. Who doesn't love the dollar section?! I'm pretty happy with how they are turning out....

simplejoys of the day- lunch with my mom and sister, laughing at old jokes, watching my parents get so emotionally involved with american idol that you would think my mom was dating scotty and was best friends with lauren.  

Bows and Happy Mother's Day!

Last week Ms Courtney Clayton asked me to make her a headband with a bow on it. Bows were new to me, but turns out youtube does have just about everything. I learned how and now I'm hooked! So far I've put them onto clips and headbands-next up hats! I got to send a few to the store I sell at, so we'll know soon if they are popular. Here's some pictures...

Shout out to the world's best mom! I'm so grateful for everything she is and all that she does. Such a blessing to be in town to hang out with her today! Love you mama bear

simplejoys of the day- spending time with mama.

Raymond Warren Ellison

Sorry for the "silence" on here lately, life has been a little crazier than normal. Last Friday my grandpa left life on earth and entered into eternal life with our Savior. While it was very expected, my family has been flooded with emotions ranging from devastation to joy, heartbreak to peace. On Thursday we celebrated his life on earth and his new life in Heaven- it was a beautiful time together as a family. There aren't really enough word to express my love, admiration, respect and gratefulness for my grandpa. He was truly one of a kind and the reason my family is the way it is.

Anyways... here are some pictures of him and our time together on Thursday.

coming up this week- stamps, bows, and craft fair news!