Do you remember that show Sister, Sister from the 90s?

I loved that show when I was little (I think I was ten or eleven when it started airing). Mainly because I use to daydream about having a sister myself. I have one brother whom I love dearly, but having a sister (in addition to, not in leu of) would have been awesome too.

My best friends in high school were sisters and there was such a strong bond between them. Made me a little jealous. Like I was missing out or something.

Do you know what I mean? Or is this just me?

Maybe that’s why I am so drawn to the story of Little Minnow, a little shop on Etsy with a lot of heart. It’s run by two sisters, Lizzi and Mary, which of course I love. I am always on the lookout for husband and wife teams, but I don’t come across too many siblings working together, so this is pretty neat to me.

The two girls live in Austin, Texas, where they sketch all of their designs. Drawings are then transfered to the computer and then make their way over to screen printing. I know you are probably tired of hearing about my scarf hunt by now, but obviously, I’m partial to them…

Discount: 10% off your entire order when you use the code PAPER10 at checkout.

 Visit Little Minnow to see more from this sister duo.

It’s hard to tell from my post, but they do carry other items beside scarves.

This contributor post was written by Tiffany Moore and is a follow-up to her earlier post, The First Rule of Pricing.

This week, I want to talk about rule #2 when it comes to pricing for your creative business: it has to be sustainable.

I know that sustainability is a word that gets thrown around a lot these days, but the bottom line is this: if you are working towards a creative business that you can make a living from, you have to be sure that you set things up so that you can earn a living wage. You have to be able to pay yourself. Or else it’s not going to work.

It’s scary. It’s a big thing to consider, especially when you’re starting out.

The truth is that when you get started, you likely aren’t going to be earning a living wage from your creative business. Most of us have side projects or second jobs that sustain us while we get started, BUT you have to have a vision of sustainability in mind before you jump in.

Too often, as creatives, we focus on the passion, on the heart. On the craft of it all. And that all still can count for a LOT but bringing a sense of business in, even from the beginning, can often make the difference between making a living and having a hobby.

The point is for what you love to be what you do, right? Getting real about the business side of things sooner rather than later will help solidify that as a reality.

What is the best business decision you made early on? On the flip side, what is the one business decision you WISH you’d made early on? How were you able to find your sweet spot?

*image via WilloToons: Stitching it all Together

Tiffany Moore, co-founder of Teahouse Studio is an artist, life coach, change agent and magic maker. She helps creatives live their happiest, most sparkly lives (starting NOW) and thinks that everyone in the world is beautiful, including you.

I am not going to question it, but the weather has been non-stop beautiful since Friday! And it had just put me in such a great mood. This is one of the things we did over the weekend (you can see what a nice day it was too). Then we hung out at home, after a little shopping. And I put the finishing touches on the new exhibition (which just went up this morning).

One of many new shops in this totally new exhibition is Lil3birdy, which is run by artist Clare Shields. Her work is really fun and sort of captures the spirit of our weekend, so I wanted to share a few of my favorites from her Etsy shop with you to round out the day…Love the way she plays with repetition…

1. (above) owls notebook

2. insects and bugs postcards (love, love, love these)

3. patterns and birds gift tags

For more from Lil3birdy, visit Clare’s shop on Etsy.

I’ll be back bright and early tomorrow morning to share Tiffany’s part II article on pricing. The last one was super juicy (over 250 shares combined on Facebook + Twitter), so be sure to pop in tomorrow to read her second installment.

This is our closet.

Well part of it anyway (my favorite part).

It is two or three times the size of our old one in Florida, but somehow we’ve managed to fill it to the brim with clothes and shoes. And Luna likes to sleep in there too, so I think we can all agree that it’s fair to blame her for not being able to fit anything else in there. Right?

Cool, so we’re on the same page about blaming the dog. But even so, that doesn’t change the fact that we don’t have much space left for new things. Which is why I am starting to think that unisex wearables are the way to go – saves space and it’s cheaper because you and your mate can wear it. Just not at the same time. Preferably.

Now, that’s probably not going to work when it comes to shoes or most clothing, but accessories? Yeah, I can do that! And you know I am hunting for scarves since several people told me in the comments of this post that having just one scarf in Seattle is basically insane.

So how about one of these…

I think I am partial to the red and black one - it feels kind of lumberjack-y in a good way, but green is good too.

They’re made by Don’t Get it Twisted Crochet and they look pretty cozy to me. What about you? If you like what you see you can get 20% off your order with the coupon code “PNSJAN”. There are plenty of more girlie styles too if you don’t want to go the unisex route.

That’s going to wrap things up for the week. Hope you have an amazing weekend! Stay warm.

Good morning!

Popping in to share a little vintage + handmade shop before I give you a sneak peek of my closet later today. If you’re looking for a new vintage shop to follow for clothes, accessories, and jewelry, check out Banjo and Bone. I like the jewelry especially, which is a mix of untouched vintage items and new handmade pieces with a vintage feel.

I chose a few of my favorites, and I snuck in that pair of pants at the top left because they are awesome! Wish I could pull off an outfit like that.

Visit Banjo and Bone on Etsy to view more vintage wearables and more.

Emma Leonard’s work is a favorite of mine and her shop, Belafonte features giclee prints of her illustrations making owning her work that much easier and very affordable. Stylistically, these 2012 pieces are moving in a new direction featuring more stylized figures and restrained splashes of color. It’s always interesting watching an artist that you admire evolve over time and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next. Check out Emma’s portfolio (you will not be disappointed) and her shop.

Christina is the writer behind the design blog, Down and Out Chic. She’s a budget-friendly design huntress that’s passionate about art and the handmade movement. She adores all things striped and polka dotted and would spend most of her afternoons vintage shopping if her closet were big enough. Find her on Twitter or at D&OC.

When I started writing this post, it was all about tips for the best business cards and what to think about when you are designing your own. But then I realized the cards kind of speak for themselves. So I’ll just tell you a few stories about the amazing people I met and share a handful of the best business cards that I received at Alt…

Letterpress. (above) One of my favorite cards from all of Alt was this one above. It’s a double-sided letterpress card (husband and wife team). One side shows Mike with his website and the other shows Alma and her website. I had dinner with them the first night. I didn’t really get a chance to talk to them (there were 12 other people at that dinner), but they seemed very nice.

Perfectly minimal. Piper from One Sydney Road (bottom left of image above) is really good friends with someone else I met at Alt, Lillian (who I’ll mention later) and we had lunch together the first panel day and hung out throughout the rest of the time in Salt Lake City. Love her. She was also speaking on a panel one of the days and I heard it went really well. Go Piper!

And right next to the One Sydney Road card is Studio Sweet Studio. This card is proof that you don’t need tons of info – the only info you really have to have is your url. People will find the rest on their own after some investigating.

More Perfectly Minimal. Bow Tie and Bustle is Jenn’s event planning business and blog. I met her at the Seattle airport before jumping on the plane to SLC. Isn’t that logo sweet?

Oh, and you can see Ghostly Ferns in this image too. Meg is awesome! She has tons of projects going on (like Studio Sweet Studio) and plenty of business cards to go around.

Pushing Packaging. This one came in a sealed envelope and held not one but two cards inside (a team of two fab ladies with an event planning business). Below is what was inside the envelope. They were at dinner the first night too. And they were having a good time. Definitely the life of the party.

More cards…

Unique Materials. Heather from Joy of all Crafts is someone I met through Danni. Cute card! Each one had a piece of vintage fabric sewn to the back.

More Unique Materials.  This card from Katie of Salt + Pine is amazing and as it turns out, I almost had my cards printed on the very same wood from the very same Etsy shop. But then I chickened out (didn’t think I could get them in time). And as luck would have it, the first person I met for Alt (before even getting on the plane) had the exact cards that I had originally planned on getting (or course the design was different). This card is beautifully designed + it’s letterpress + it’s printed on balsa wood. So amazing.

I met Katie at the airport on the way to Salt Lake City (she lives just outside of Seattle). We talked for hours, sat next to each other on the plane (along with Jenn) and then met up with Brianne later that night. Slumber party!

Represent! Jenean is another woman that I met at dinner the first night. Once she passed out her cards and I saw her last name, I realized we already knew each other. We had worked together via papernstitch a while back and she is such a lovely person.

Her cards had tiny holes punched in them all the way around. Fun and colorful – just like her.

More Representin’. Love the signature on Miya’s card. And the gold. This is actually the back of the card, but it’s my favorite part. Miya is one of the founding partners at You + Me.

Freebies. Unstitched is Lillian’s blog, who I met thanks to Danni. And she is absolutely adorable. Her card came in a glassine envelope with a wooden bookmark, which I love, but forgot to take a picture of that part. Woops.

More Freebies. And finally we get to Danni (above and below)! Danni’s blog is Oh Hello Friend. I hung out with her quite a bit in SLC (though it seemed like not enough). Of course, her business cards are awesome. Perfectly packaged with extra goodies – a little dala horse paper clip and an inspirational decal, along with her card. So lovely! Just like her.

Final Advice: In terms of business cards, I’ll tell you one thing…

The final design that you choose can help you make a great first impression. BUT if you don’t stick around and talk to a person long enough for them to remember you, your amazing business cards aren’t going to make a lick of difference.

You want people to remember YOU – your amazing personality, kick ass shoes, and beautiful smile. Not just your card, right?

The more they remember (and like) about you, the more likely they’ll be to do business with you in the future.

Since I have paint on mind already today, after that spray painted cut flowers diy from Enna Anne, I thought I’d end the day with some really sweet watercolors from Andrea Shear.

Most of the watercolors I see revolve around landscapes in one way or another, which isn’t necessarily something that I gravitate towards myself. So I am always impressed when I see an artist who is using the medium in an interesting way (I’ve tried my hand at watercolors several times + it is a tricky material to use)…

And Andrea is definitely one of those artists.

I love the restraint in her new work. Very minimal, but at the same time, it tells the whole story.

That’s it for today! See you in the morning. Bright and early with some business card inspiration.

This guest post was written by photographer + makeup artist Jeanne & and designer Lenna of Enna Anne.

But before I let these lovely ladies break down this diy…I just wanted to mention that this one is near and dear to me for a couple of reasons. Of course the project is amazing, but more importantly than that, it features 2 adorable people from my family (Amanda + Tim). PLUS it was shot by Jeanne Ciasullo, who was the photographer at Jeff and I’s wedding. AND I almost forgot, another friend of ours makes his way into a few of these photos too. Kind of special, huh?

Anyway, I’ll let Jeanne and Lenna get right down to it…

Supplies: 1. Vintage button down collared shirts and vintage scarfs 2. Design Master Spray Paint (Found ours at Michaels) Colors Holiday Red and Raspberry 3. Rubber Bands & Miniature Clear elastic hair bands 4. Straight pens (which can also be spray painted) 5. Assorted Flowers (We love picking up fresh flowers from our local supermarkets but we always go picking from our local area too. Yards, parks & roadsides are some of our favorite spots. You’d be surprised what you can find in super market parking lots! Picking a little bit of the nature around us makes the bouquets look effortless, not perfect. We love that. Just make sure you are not picking on private property!) *We highly recommend using gloves when spray painting. Its a step we often forget because we’re so excited to start the process.

Here’s how you make it: 1. Let your flowers soak for one or two nights in water and flower food so that the flowers are happy and hydrated and the blooms open up.

2. Select a variety of flowers and lightly mist the buds with the spray paint. Slowly build on the color so you do not accidentally over saturate your flowers. A little of the natural flower color showing through is ok, in fact we prefer it!

3. Alternate paint colors to get a variety of results. Experiment with the colors. The paint colors on different colored flowers yield unique results. Have fun! Place wet flowers back in water and let dry.

4. Shirt collar boutonniere & Bouquet. We loved the idea of using a man’s button down shirt as a wrap for both the boutonniere and bouquet because it seemed like a great way to make it more masculine (even though it was pink and red heaven). To do the same, cut the collar off of the button down shirt. Save that for the groom’s boutonnieres. For the bridal bouquet cut the button down shirt down the middle leaving the buttons in the center of the fabric. Cut the remaining fabric into strips. We wanted her bouquet to look like a shirt when it was wrapped.

5. Making the boutonniere. Bundle a group of painted flowers together. We like to use interestingly shaped greenery and small wildflowers. Once arranged secure with a small clear elastic rubber band.

6. Utilizing the shirt collar from step 4, wrap the shirt tightly around the boutonniere and secure with short floral pins.

7. Making the Bouquet. Bundle a group of painted flowers together. We like mixing big blooms with wild flowers and berries. Keep adding flowers until you get your desired bouquet size. Secure with rubber bands

8. Now that the bouquet is arranged we like to step back and see if the color works. If it doesn’t we lightly mist the areas in the bouquet (with gloves!) that need some extra attention/love.

9. Use the shirt fabric from step 4 and place the front buttons of the shirt down the center of the bouquet. It’s easier with an extra set of hands. As one person holds the flowers the other person can tightly wrap the bouquet. Trim the excess fabric and secure with floral pins. Use the fabric strips and wrap the bouquet like a ballet slipper and tie off at the top in a knot and trim.

Using spray paint on flowers was a great way for us to achieve the saturated look that we wanted. We couldn’t find exactly what we were looking for, we wanted over the top color so the flowers would pop in person and in photos. Spray paint was our solution! Whenever we approach a project we always try to think about how we can make it special or unique. We believe that the small unexpected touches make all the difference.

Thanks so much for sharing this tutorial ladies! You are an inspiring duo. 

For more photos from this V-Day inspired wedding shoot (there are so many more to take a look at), visit this photo set on Enna Anne now. And if you don’t have a wedding in your future, you can easily translate this project into a tabletop centerpiece for any room of your house.

About the Jeanne and Lenna. ENNA|ANNE is a budding design, photography & makeup company that caters to the west coast of Florida and more. Business partners and childhood friends, Lenna and Jeanne formed the company after years of honing their talents in their respective fields, Lenna in graphic design and Jeanne in photography and makeup. These two ladies combine forces to create amazing projects through collaboration and their strong vision, bringing a fresh perspective for their clients to benefit from.

As much as a kind of hate to admit it, I am definitely not a cook – and what I mean by that is I totally stink at cooking.

I have tried and tried to get the hang of it, but it seems I just don’t have the knack (which explains  why anytime Jeff makes something it officially tastes ten times better than when I make the very same thing).

But I am not going to let that stop me from having a good meal – I love food WAY too much to let that happen. So we eat a lot of super simple meals (I am pretty certain I’ve seen a monkey make more advanced meals than this), paired with eating out + we rely on Whole Foods to make a lot of yummy stuff for us too.

Long story short – I don’t let things I can’t do get in the way of what I love. I just find a different path to making it work.

“I don’t let things I can’t do get in the way of what I love. I just find a different path to making it work.”

Of course with food its a little easier because restaurants and cafes cater to people who either don’t cook or just don’t feel like cooking, but this same principal can be applied to virtually anything you can think of.

The key is to know what your strengths are and what they aren’t.

I’ll use myself as an example.

I know what I am good at, and for the most part, I focus my energy on those skills. Of course, there are plenty of things I am not good at as well…like sewing. I love diy projects, but I am all thumbs when it comes to a needle and thread. So if I have an idea for something I want sewn, I just ask someone else if they can make it for me (my mom’s pretty good behind a sewing machine anyway).

Or taxes….that’s a big one! I don’t like taxes and I certainly don’t fully understand the nooks and crannies of making sure I get every single deduction known to man, so I hired someone else to do that for me. By the way, if you struggle with taxes too, I have a post going up early next week that will help you.

But before I go listing off even more examples, I’ll just cut to the chase and make my point.  You do not have to be the doer-of-all-things. There are plenty of people out there ready and willing to share their talents with the world. Use your strengths the best way you can and find other people who can help you do the rest.

That’s the key to success these days, and it doesn’t even sound terribly hard, does it?

I would like to end this post today with a shop that combines two things that I utterly suck at (cooking + sewing) into playful, sewn fabric housewares for your dinner table and beyond.

The shop is called Too Cute Custom Crafts, and it is today’s reminder that my weaknesses are another woman’s strengths AND vice versa. So let’s work together to make great things happen.

Take action: How will you utilize your strengths moving forward + find people to help you with the weak zones?

Leave your response in the comments below.