HOLLY WOULD

LATEST CUSTOM WORK: GRADUATION ANNOUNCEMENT, STATIONERY, LOGOS, WEDDING

2013-05-22T09:42:00.003-05:00

It's been so exciting to have so much custom design work coming in lately! I feel so blessed to get to work with such great clients on so many fun projects. I plan to have a custom work portfolio on the Charm & Gumption website soon (if I can find some extra time!), but until then, here is some of my recent work.

Graduation Announcement Postcards for Brit McDaniel:

Personalized Parisian Stationery:

Custom Logo and Business Cards for Positive Insight Coaching:

Custom Logo & Business Cards for SoulFlowers:

Digital Magazine Ad + Banner Ad for Umba Box:

Custom Wedding Invitations with an Illustrated Map:

Do you have a custom project that you would like to work with me on? Just shoot me an email!

THE PRETTIEST DESKTOP WALLPAPER

2013-05-22T08:18:00.002-05:00

I'm currently gazing at a beautiful beach on my computer thanks to Design Love Fest's awesome free wallpaper downloads. Ahh, makes me feel so peaceful (and jealous!). Check out all of the other summery wallpapers here!

ETSY LOVE: UP IN THE AIR SOMEWHERE

2013-05-17T10:54:00.003-05:00

Today's Etsy Love post is for the shop, Up In The Air Somewhere. Shop owner, Susan Dwyer, creates unique ceramic pieces out of clay and papier mache. I love the shiny gold pieces the most, but I also love peachy pink and aqua blue colors she uses. Be sure to check out her shop!

HELP A FRIEND

2013-05-16T13:06:00.000-05:00

You've seen her on the blog in the past, but to refresh your memory, my friend Brit of Paper & Clay creates beautiful, modern ceramics that have been featured on popular blogs and carried in stores across the country. She is currently running a Kickstarter campaign to help raise money for a studio and the supplies that she needs in order to keep growing her business. It would be amazing if you could donate, even just a small amount of money - it would be a big help to her, and you can also get some free work of hers in the process! You can donate HERE. Thanks so much you guys!

THE PERFECT GRAY WALL COLOR?

2013-05-14T09:27:00.002-05:00

I got the approval from our landlord to paint the walls of our apartment (yay!) as long as it is not a dark color. I don't like dark wall colors anyway so that is A-okay with me, but now the problem is deciding on colors. I think that we decided to go with a light gray color for the bedroom, and then maybe a different color in the bathroom, and then we'll probably keep the main living space white (boring, I know but I actually like white walls).

Here's what our bedroom currently looks like, as far as bedding (it's impossible to take a picture without Chester jumping in - he's such a camera hog):

My question is, do any of you have recommendations on the perfect light gray color? I have seen a lot of pins about a Benjamin Moore color called Revere Pewter which looks good in some pictures, but in some pictures it looks kind of beige-ish which I hate. I like cool tone grays that are really true light gray and compliment white woodwork well, like these:

image source

Any of you know of any non-beige gray wall colors that you would recommend?

SPRING COLOR INSPIRATION

2013-05-13T09:17:00.004-05:00

Spring colors are my favorite, and you can probably see that from the colors I choose for the products in my shop. I love springy shades of pink, coral, blue, and gold - they just make me happy. Here's a little spring color inspiration for your Monday. Have a good one!

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

ALL ABOUT FACEBOOK APPS

2013-05-10T09:20:00.001-05:00

I recently did a post about how to make your Facebook page pretty, which has been really popular with other small business owners who are working on customizing their social media. But I had several people message, comment, and email me with more questions, mostly about Facebook Apps.

What are they? How did you get that little link to your shop and your Pinterest page? I know how to make them pretty, but how do I get one there in the first place? Well, wonder no more, because today's post is all about apps!

WHAT IS AN APP? An app is a little link on your page that leads to a different account that you have. For example, on my page, I have links to my Email Signup, Etsy shop, and Pinterest account.

HOW DO I FIND AN APP? To get an app for your page, just search for it in the Facebook search bar. In the example below, I'm searching for the Pinterest App. Make sure that you choose the option that says "App" below it (as opposed to "page") like this one:

HOW DO I PUT THE APP ON MY PAGE? Once you find the appropriate app and click it, you will be led to the following page:

Just click "Add Page Tab" and choose the page of yours where you would like to add the app. Sometimes, you will have a lot of different options when you search for an app. Just keep clicking on different ones until you get to a similar page to what I showed you above. It should not look like a regular Facebook page or profile, and there should be a way to Add the app to your page.

HOW DO I GET THE APPS THAT YOU HAVE ON YOUR PAGE? The apps that I have on my page are the Pinterest Page App (shown above), the Mailchimp App (must have a Mailchimp account to get this one), and the Easy Social Shop App. If you see an app that another page has and you would like it for your page, just click the app and usually you will see the name of the app listed somewhere. This is shown at the bottom of my shop app, for example:

HOW DO I GET RID OF THE APP'S DEFAULT IMAGE, AND MAKE THE APPS CUSTOMIZED, LIKE YOURS? You can find the answer to this question in my previous post about Facebook pages!

I hope that was helpful! You can find more information on the Facebook help pages, and leave a comment below if you have any other questions!

NEW APARTMENT LAYOUT

2013-05-07T14:15:00.000-05:00

*I apologize for the dark photos! It's impossible to take nice pictures of our apartment because of the large plants outside of the window!

BEFORE:

Before the rearrangement, the entire room was a living space. Our couch was scooted way back away from the TV/media area and my desk and other office stuff was squeezed in the side of the room. We also had no dining area.

AFTER:

We basically cut the room into fourths. An Expedit shelf turned on its side divides the room in half, and my office space was moved to the back of the couch. We moved the other Expedit to the bedroom (not shown), where I set up a little shipping station. We also sold the letterpress (tear) because it just wasn't very profitable for me and it was really limited in terms of what I could make with it because of its size. So that freed up some room as well. Whereas before, the living space took up the entire length and width of the room, now it takes up just a corner of it!

That made room for a dining area, so we're no longer eating off of the armrests of our couch (Hallelujah!).

I love the coziness of the little living area now!

We still have some finishing touches to do to the apartment, like hang up some art, add curtains and throw pillows, and hang more wall shelves, like the ones next to the pegboard shown below (which are such a lifesaver in a small kitchen!).

What do you think of the new layout? :) Read more about our spring cleaning project here!

NEW STAMPS IN THE SHOP

2013-04-29T11:00:00.002-05:00

I hope everyone had a great weekend! I added 4 new stamps to the shop today that would be great for everyday stationery making and gifts. Check them out below!

Treat Yo Self

Great for party favors or gifts.

(& yes, I ate the cookies as a post-photoshoot snack)

Hello Darling

Would be cute for making your own stationery or stamping on top of a letter.

Hey There!

This one would work great as an everyday stamp for envelopes or other snail mail.

XOXO

Such a sweet way to sign off on a letter or add a fun touch to a love note.

Which stamp is your favorite?

PORTER FLEA, HERE WE COME!

2013-04-26T13:03:00.002-05:00

I was so excited to get the news yesterday that I was accepted to be a vendor at this summer's Porter Flea here in Nashville. The Porter Flea is a big craft show of carefully curated modern, handmade vendors. I have been anxious to be a part of it for a couple of years now. It seems like such a great opportunity to get my business' name out there and to meet tons of other small business owners in Nashville. This weekend, I'll be planning some ideas for my set up and deciding on quantities to produce for the show with Wes, who has already agreed to help work my booth. :) If you live in Nashville, I'd love to see you there!

This weekend we are also going to (finally) finish up our Spring Cleaning Project and take photos, so I'll have that to show you next week.

Happy Friday, and have a great weekend! xo

COLOR CRUSH: CITRON

2013-04-25T09:44:00.002-05:00

I don't know if it's because the spring weather has been so bright and sunny or if I've just been in a neon mood, but I've been drawn to this electric shade of green lately. It's fun but can still be sophisticated if you pair it with nude colors (like the shoes below). What do you think, would you step out in this bright green hue?

NEW SPRING NOTEPADS IN THE SHOP

2013-04-23T14:09:00.002-05:00

Hey guys! So, I know I've been the worst blogger ever lately. Last week was a rough one for everyone and it was really hard for me to try and write a fun post about design or fashion or something when that whole mess was going on. I apologize for not having any updates for you. In addition to that I've been busy adding new stuff to the shop, and today I wanted to show you 2 new spring notepads that I just added.

Also, I had the hardest time getting my notepad prices down but I finally was able to get them down to $12 so if you've had your eye on a notepad but didn't want to spend the dough, now is your chance!

SHOP HERE!

I will have lots more updates, personal and shop related, throughout the rest of the week. I hope you're having a good one! xo

DOVE REAL BEAUTY SKETCHES

2013-04-16T13:10:00.003-05:00

This video by Dove is so beautiful, and has such a good message behind it. It's been spreading across the Internet today, but in case you haven't seen it yet...

BLOGGER BOUTIQUE GIVEAWAY

2013-04-12T09:44:00.000-05:00

Hey guys! Happy Friday! I just wanted to let you know that Julie from Blogger Boutique, who worked with me on my new site, is offering a custom header giveaway if you are interested. Those of you with blogs, if you've been wanting to give your site a mini-makeover, this would be a great start - it's a $100 value. Check out her blog for details on how to enter. Good luck!

HOW TO MAKE YOUR FACEBOOK PAGE PRETTY

2013-04-10T06:11:00.000-05:00

Hey guys! I gave the Charm & Gumption Facebook Page a little makeover this morning, and I realized that a lot of you bloggers / small biz owners may wonder how to make these changes to your page (because I didn't know how to do this either at first). Here is a step-by-step guide.

1. COVER IMAGE, SIZE 851px x 315px
This is the first thing that people see when they come to your business page, so you want to choose something that will show what your business is about at a glance. I chose to showcase my most popular products, and I added my Etsy Shop URL and some colorful stripes.
*according to Facebook guidelines, you can only have 20% overlay text (not including text on products) so be mindful of that as well.

2. APPS, SIZE 111px x 74px
Customizing your apps to match the rest of your page is a small detail that makes such a big difference! Make them pop with color and fun fonts, or choose unique wording so that your apps to grab your reader's attention.

1. Go to the Apps section of your page and click the down facing arrow on the right. This will display all of your apps (photo 1, below).
2. Click the pencil at the top right of the app you are changing. Then click "Edit Settings" (photo 2).
3. Click "Change" (photo 3).
4. Click "Edit" next to your current image, and upload your new image.

*The image will not work if it is the wrong size (even if it is just scaled up).
*Once the image is uploaded, nothing will happen. Just refresh your page and see the new pretty results!

3. MAKE YOUR POSTS FIT THE PAGE, 404 x 404 & 843 x 403
A commonly forgotten about trick (I'm guilty of skipping this sometimes), but your page will look so much more nice and seamless if your images fit the Facebook dimensions. So, remember to crop the image to fit the space.

I hope this was helpful! If you have any questions, just leave them below. Also, I'd love for you to leave the links to your new, pretty page! xo

UPDATE: For more information about Apps, check out my follow up post!

DESIGNING A GALLERY WALL

2013-04-09T11:00:00.001-05:00

As part of my spring cleaning project, I'm working on hanging more art and making our apartment feel more homey. With our new layout, which I'll show photos of soon, there are a couple of really bare walls that are just screaming "Make me a gallery wall!". I studied some of my favorite gallery walls (totally normal way to spend your time), and realized that they usually have a mix of different types of art (not all abstract/typography/etc). Here is a mix of art that I found, mostly on Etsy, that I think would make a really pretty gallery wall:

TIPS FOR CALMING A HYPER DOG

2013-04-08T14:27:00.003-05:00

I'll be honest: when we got Chester a little over 3 years ago, we probably didn't do enough research. Wes and I both grew up with small dogs which are totally different from large dogs, and as time has gone by, Chester has developed some annoying habits. For example, he barks his head off at everyone we pass outside (not the best way to make neighbor friends), he has these hyper spells just about every night, and if I'm on the phone and he wants attention, he will start chewing something (we've gone through like 5 comforters).

After doing a little digging around on The Dog Whisperer website (do you watch that show? Cesar is amazing!), I realized that Chester's annoying habits are all things that are caused by anxiety. This shouldn't be surprising because Chester has always been an anxious, nervous little guy. When he was a puppy, he wouldn't walk down the hall, go outside, or walk between parked cars. I guess as he's gotten older, his anxiety has shown itself in different ways.

So for the past week, I've been making some changes with him that seem to be helping (things that we should have done from the beginning, but you live, you learn!). I thought I would share in case any of you are having similar problems:

1. Daily Exercise I know that this one is so obvious, but when the weather is cold, it's hard to get outside to exercise. But wow, what a difference it makes! I've been taking him on morning walks for 1/2 hour - 45 minutes and he is too sleepy the rest of the day to even care to bark or chew anything. It's amazing.

2. Be "The Pack Leader" If you watch The Dog Whisperer, you know what I'm talking about, but dogs behave in a pack mentality. If you always let them walk in front of you or pull you around where they want to go on the leash, they will think that they are the leader of the pack. You might think that this would just cause a cocky attitude or something, but it actually makes them stressed out because they think that they have to be in charge of the family. Make them do something (like "sit") before you serve their food or take them out, and don't let them walk ahead of you. Which leads me to...

3. Leash Training This has been the most challenging thing for me because Chester has a lot of energy, and he's always been a leash puller. I keep his leash super short (wrapped around my hand a few times), and give him a sharp tug if he starts to veer off away from me. He's learning to stay by my side and I notice an improvement every day!

Also, I was confused about what to do about potty time: shouldn't they lead you where they want to go? Apparently the answer is no! According to Cesar, you should specify a certain area where they can go before you go on the walk (like a yard if you have one) and have a key phrase - ours is "go potty". Then on the walk you know that they don't have to go and they don't need to stop and pee on everything they pass. "Marking their territory" is another sign of anxiety. They do this as a compulsion (who knew?).

4. Practice + Patience + Consistency Changes aren't going to happen over night, but stick with it! And don't get lazy after a few days. Keep your training consistent every day or the dog will get confused.

Do any of you have a large dog with a lot of energy? What has worked for you in calming them down?

PANYL FOR IKEA FURNITURE

2013-04-02T14:29:00.002-05:00

After setting up my new desk, I felt like it needed a little color. So I did a little searching and I came across the Panyl website. They have affordable, colorful finishes for Ikea products, which I love because Ikea furniture is great, but can sometimes be a little boring, right? I got this Panyl in robin's egg (my favorite color) for the new desk and I love how it turned out! Plus, it was super easy to adhere to my desk drawers.

source: Panyl

Check out the Panyl site for all of their cool products, including woodgrains and patterns!

SPRING CLEANING PROJECT: DIY KITCHEN PEGBOARD

2013-03-27T16:18:00.003-05:00

I absolutely love pegboards in kitchens (like Julia Child had). As part of our spring cleaning project, we're taking advantage of our wall space, and the first way that we did that was to add a pegboard to one of our kitchen walls.

We purchased white pegboard and a pack of various pegboard hooks from Home Depot. I've seen so many kitchen pegboards in bright colors, which I love, but since we're working in a small space, we felt like leaving it white would help it to blend into the walls and keep things feeling open.

Wes took a couple of boards that we had from a past project and screwed them into the wall first, so that the pegboard wouldn't be directly against the wall, and there would be room for the hooks. Then we screwed the pegboard into those boards and it was done!

To arrange everything on the pegboard, we just hung the largest pots and pans first, and then added in the smaller items around.

I can tell that this is going to be a big space saver in our tiny kitchen! What do you think of it? :)

GRADUATION ANNOUNCEMENTS IN THE SHOP

2013-03-26T12:01:00.001-05:00

I recently added 10 graduation announcements and matching thank you cards to Etsy (in a separate shop from my normal shop). If you know anyone who will be graduating this year, I would so appreciate you passing them along! :)

by Charm & Gumption

NEW IKEA MICKE DESK!

2013-03-25T09:43:00.003-05:00

As part of our spring cleaning project, we are rearranging our little one bedroom apartment to make it work better for us. The first thing we did was took down our floating desk and bought a smaller, space saving desk: the Micke, from Ikea. Wes had his doubts that I would be able to put it together by myself while he was at work on Friday, but I got out my handy tool box and electric drill and built that bad boy (thank you very much!).

I love this desk because it has a super sleek design, it's white (I love white furniture), and it has a really nice cable compartment at the bottom to keep all the computer cords and such hidden and out of the way. Also, it's a small thing, but I love that it has drawers! Our previous desk didn't, and it was easy to get the tabletop really cluttery after a while.

I'm excited to show you guys the other things we've been working on. I plan to have posts on space saving tips & tricks because we've learned a lot over just the past few days of working on it. Have a great Monday!

SPRING CLEANING / LIVING SIMPLY / STAYING PUT

2013-03-21T10:42:00.001-05:00

So, the house that we were 99% sure we were going to get didn't work out. There were some technicalities in the lease that we weren't comfortable with (like, if a neighbor complains about Chester they would remove him...?) and the landlord was unwilling to change them so we said nevermind! It was such a bummer because we were so excited about the house and hadn't found a place with everything that we wanted in months.

After all of our searching, which has actually been pretty exhausting, I think we've decided to just stay in our current place. The rent is low, we're in a great location, and it is really nice style-wise: wood floors, granite countertops, neutral walls, etc. (PS you'd be shocked at some of the places we saw that were more expensive and absolutely hideous!) Rather than moving and paying more in rent, we are going to try to find solutions to the things that we were wanting to accomplish with a different place.

I was really inspired by this post yesterday about a couple (above) who lives in a 500 square ft apartment (ours is 800) and they have 2 kids! I mean, if they can make it work, surely we can too. So we decided to make some changes. We're calling it "spring cleaning" but it's really more of a big spring project. Here's what we're doing:

1. Throw it Out We are going to get rid of stuff that we don't use. I think I am pretty good at this actually, due to my clutter hate, but we still have a few large things in our apartment that we don't use and are just taking up valuable space.

image source

2. New Layout Last night Wes came up with a plan that I never would have thought of to rearrange our apartment so that it feels like we have more rooms than we actually have. The plan would also allow for a dining table, which is muy importante (right now we eat on the armrests of our couch).

image source

3. Bring in Space Saving Solutions We're going to invest in / make a bunch of space saving things, like shelves for the walls, which are currently not utilized like they should be. Spending money on things that will make our apartment work for us will still be so much cheaper than increasing our rent would have been.

image source

4. Have Pride in our Space It's easy to think of a rental as temporary, and I know that I've had that mentality with our apartment from the very beginning. But we don't know how long we're going to live here, and whether it's 6 months or 5 years, it's our home and I'm going to focus on making it really cute and homey now rather than saying "some day when we have a house..."

image source

I've been reading a lot of this and this lately for ideas, and I started a little inspiration board for the project too, if you'd like to follow! I hope to have some great before and after pics for you guys in the coming months! xo

HAPPY SPRING!

2013-03-20T09:22:00.000-05:00

It's the first day of spring! I can't even tell you how excited I am. Spring is my favorite season, and I don't know about you, but I'm just tired of being cold! Plus, now I don't have to feel embarrassed about posting spring inspiration haha. I wanted to let you guys know that the spring greeting cards in my shop are 20% off for one week only, with the code HAPPYSPRING13.

You can get these cute little bunnies...

...or a Christian Easter card:

Happy spring, and happy shopping! xo

NEW IN THE SHOP: INSPIRING SENTIMENTS

2013-03-19T10:50:00.001-05:00

Do any of you have a friend who always sends you a sweet note in the mail when you need it? I do! And her cards and notes always make me smile. I don't know what it is, but there's something about getting a handwritten note in the mail that you can hold in your hands that really does lift my mood a little more than a tweet or a text message does (not that I don't enjoy those as well!). I want to become that person in my friends' lives - don't you?

That was the thought behind the new product in my shop, Inspiring Sentiments. It's a set of 10 postcards with a different uplifting, colorful quote on the front of each one and space on the back to write a quick note. You don't need an envelope - just pick the right card for the occasion, write something sweet on the back, and pop it in the mail. Some appropriate reasons to send one: a breakup, a big job interview, college exams, a career change, opening a business, going through something scary, etc. What do you think - Would receiving one of these cards in the mail make you smile? :)

Check out all the designs, and get a set for yourself here!

BIRTHDAY WEEKEND WITH THE FAM!

2013-03-18T11:57:00.002-05:00

This weekend, my family visited us for my birthday, and because my sister and her boyfriend were on spring break at school. The weather couldn't have been more perfect - 75 and sunny all weekend - and we had such a great time! We ate at some of our favorite restaurants, went to a few parks, and spent a ton of time outside. My dad kept checking the weather to see what they were missing back in Ohio (cold & clouds) so I think they were happy to be in sunny Tennessee! We also happened to come across an animal rescue set up at a local park, and I think they were all tempted to take some puppies back to Ohio with them. My pants are definitely a little tighter today from all the barbecue, biscuits and burgers, but it was totally worth it. I was so sad to see them leave on Saturday night! Chester was showered with attention while they were here so he seemed pretty depressed when they left too. Here are some pictures from the weekend!