Lilac Saloon

Sioux Falls, SD

I have to be honest, I have never given much thought to the state of South Dakota.  Before moving to Iowa, I might even be able to admit that I could barely remember it existed or where it was specifically located on an unlabeled map.  Once we moved to Estherville, we realized that we would be closer than we thought to states that we had never been to before.  Minnesota is only a 10 minute drive from our house, and South Dakota is just a 2 hour drive.  South Dakota!  Oh, the mystery!

We finally made a quick roadtrip there, just so we could say we'd been there.  To play it safe (since we had no idea what to "do" there) we went to the most touristy thing we could.  Sioux Falls.  It's absolutely gorgeous!  And although I felt that it would have been even more impactful had it been left more "untouched" instead of perfectly groomed and sidewalked and tourist-friendly, still, it was a sight to behold.

Other states I'd really love to see:

Montana, Oregon, Wyoming, Colorado, Maine, Hawaii

Countries I'd really love to see:

Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Poland, Germany, Spain, Greece, Morocco, Japan, Taiwan

Essential Tools

I was thinking about the amount I rely on certain tools to help me run my business, and how little credit that they recieve!  I mean, of course my precious Macbook pulls a lot of weight, as does my darling camera.  But then there are the small and underappreciated tools that I use constantly, every day.  I thought I'd share with you, some of my favorite tools that help me do what I do!  They aren't all fancy, but they're heavily used and definitely loved.

1.) Embroidery Hoops
I buy some in bulk, but I also find lots of nice vintage ones to add into my stash as well.

2.) Pinking Shears
I have had these since school!!  We had to buy them for our first sewing class, I believe, and I still have them and still use them.  Quite an investment.

3.) Rubber Stamps & Ink Pad
I use rubber stamps & ink to brand my packaging.  That stamp is from the amazing + cute Etsy shop, eat pray create!

4.) DMC Embroidery Floss
I only use DMC floss.  It's the best.

5.) Needlebook
Made by me!  I like to keep my needles, tiny scissors and my current thread colors tucked in here while I'm working.

6.) Pigma Micron Ink Pen & Disappearing Ink Marker
I use these to draw onto the fabric before stitching my embroideries.  I also love the Micron pen for writing thank you notes.  It's like a superfine marker and looks so great on paper.  We used these pens in Fashion Illustration class in Italy!

7.) Fiskars Easy Action Fabric Scissors
The spring action in these scissors is great, but sometimes makes my hand super sore when I'm cutting fringe!  I'll end up with big strong hands from all that cutting.

8.) Tonic Studios Needlework Scissors
I love these for cutting thread and especially for cutting the tiny hearts for felt heart confetti!  My mom loved these so much that I bought her a pair, too.

9.) Fiskars Rotary Cutter
This, when it has a new blade, cuts felt like a champ.

10.) Fabri-Tac Adhesive 
Keeps felt in place when I need it to stay put!  And it's way better than glue.

11.) Pretty Tape 
I've been using these to pretty up my packaging since day one! 

5 Minute Walk

Something that I really like to do, once in a while, is to take a 5 minute walk in one direction away from my house with my camera in my hand.  Five minutes is a pretty quick walk, but when you've got your camera up to your eye, it's amazing how many different beautiful things you see.  You can even take the same walk more than once and sometimes discover new things, because you're looking.  I've walked this same path before, but found new beauty because of my intention to do so!  I saw all of this on a 5 minute evening stroll.  Try to look for beauty in unexpected places today!

Photos were taken with an iPhone 3G and edited with the Camera Bag App.

Creative Workspace

Because of the fact that I live where I work and work where I live, I have the advantage of having (almost) full control over my workplace environment.  I chose the wall color, the arrangement of the room, the functional and decorative elements, the music (or lack thereof, if I want silence!), the materials I use and the equipment I use.  Of course, this means I have to provide all of that for myself.  I don't have a fancy comfy chair or climate control or a janitor.  But I'm happy to trade those things in for the ability to create my own cozy and creative workspace.  Even if you don't work from home, I still believe that it's important to have a place in your home you can retreat to that is inspiring and beautiful to you.  

My creative workspace is where I blog, stitch, cut, iron, draw, fold, sand, glue, trim, photograph, organize, tape, print, wrap, stamp, package, communicate, read, learn, experiment, grow and try each and every day.  I thought I would share with you, a peek into my workspace!

All The Way From Michigan

Last month, our friends Sarah & Charlie drove all the way from Michigan to Iowa to see us!  That is a pretty serious drive, and they did it, for us!  I felt so loved!  We had a really nice long weekend with them and I'm finally getting around to sharing the photos with you guys.  We went to Vick's Corner Antique Show, layed around the house playing music/napping/competitively making sushi on our iPhones and walked around for a mini tour of Estherville.  And ate lots of good food together.  Like Salt & Pepper Pistachios.  OMG those are good!! 

Thanks for coming all the way to Estherville to visit us, Sarah & Charlie!  We love you soooo much!
 

Beautiful Vows in Africa

I was absolutely inspired by these vows!  Lorie told me that her and her husband Jon were married in Africa under a gorgeous Acacia tree. She shared a photo of the ceremony with me and I knew we just had to include the tree in the embroidery.  It gave me CHILLS.  

Their gorgeous wedding photos were taken by Root Photography.  You can see more photos of Lorie & Jon's wedding here:  Lorie & Jon Wedding 1 / Lorie & Jon Wedding 2

Lorie's vows are so sweet and injected with her own personality, which I always love.  She even has a little smiley :) in there!  I looove it!  Oh and did I already mention THAT TREE?  Yeah, I might have.  But I can't help saying it over and over, I love that tree.

 

I asked Lorie to share the story behind her vows and it is absolutely inspiring!  

Jon and I have shared a mutual love for Africa since we started dating eight years ago. We met as interns at Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom, where we were drivers at Kilimanjaro Safaris.  We both knew that we wanted to do the real thing one day!  Once we found out that South Africa won the bid for the 2010 World Cup (Jon is huge soccer fan having played throughout high school and college), we were determined to make this trip happen.  Neither of us wanted a big wedding, so we thought Africa would also be the perfect place for us to wed.

We definitely faced challenges planning our wedding in a developing nation that we had never visited, but we lucked out with The Manor at Ngorongoro. I was a bit nervous, because the lodge had never hosted a wedding. We let the manager know that we wanted to get married outside under a big tree. Within a week, she emailed us photos of different nearby trees, and we picked the giant acacia. Later, she told us that acacias symbolize purity and endurance and are known as the tree of life! The meaning made it even more special to us, especially knowing that we were the first couple to get married there.

One side effect of creating these hand stitched pieces of art that represent a couple and their lifelong promise of commitment to each other - is that I truly start to become emotionally invested in them!  I have never met them, but I begin to care about them and their story and their love.  In a really small way, I feel like I'm a tiny part of their story.  A little stitch.  Lorie & Jon - thank you for trusting in me to create something so meaningful for the two of you to cherish forever!  May you live happily ever after!