{Swimming in a Sea of Lovely}

About a year ago I decided on a brand for my crafty creations: Sea of Lovely. 

{Read about my inspiration for the name here.} 

Last week my vision came alive & Sea of Lovely labels were born.

My first label sewn into product!

supply roll-up cases: for makeup brushes, art supplies, etc.

Art credit goes to my baby sis, Jenna!!

cheers,

*lucy.

{So Much Loveliness in Orlando}

{I'm on vacation!}

SeaWorld, Florida

Clearwater Beach, FL

Yay for a week with girlfriends, 

warm weather & going to 

the happiest place on earth--

I love being a "big kid"

{Until next week...TTFN}

:)

*lucy.

Sucked into the Design Board Vortex

EXCITING DISCOVERY ALERT!

The world wide web never ceases to amaze me.  This week's design discovery is a website called Polyvore. By the way- please don't judge that I'm just know finding out about this gem.

As I am trying to develop of theme & style for my {Sea of Lovely}, sites like Polyvore are amazing tools to assemble what I like to call "style mood boards". Think of it as a collage to develop your design aesthetic & a cohesive theme. It's so fun!! I've already killed a few hours playing with the beautiful templates & experimenting with what I want {Sea of Lovely} to feel like.

And without further ado I give you my first take at defining {Sea of Lovely}:

{Sea of Lovely} 1 by marbar28 on Polyvore.com

Thirty Before 30

My 29th birthday is fast approaching so I need to get on this!

1. Get SCUBA certified

2. Establish annual "sisters trips"

3. Visit New Zealand!!

4. Enter Willis in a photo contest

5. Open an ETSY account & sell things

6. Have 100 blog followers!

7. Have a girls trip to NYC

8. Make a quilt

9. Learn to throw pottery

10. Have 2 corgis

11. Grow a garden

12. Blow glass

13. Live 5 minutes from work

14. Swim in a triathlon relay

15. Take an Italian cooking class

16. Develop branding for "Sea of Lovely"

17. Learn to make cheese

18. Somehow advance at work

19. Learn to Tweet

20. Eat more veggies
21. Eradicate plastic grocery bags
22. Create an effective organization system for my email accounts
23. Refinish a piece of antique furniture
24. Quit apologizing for myself all the time (why do we do this??!)
25. Make Willis a custom rain slicker
26. Kayak @ Neah Bay when the humpback & grey whales are migrating
27. Use up my ridiculous stash of toiletries before purchasing anymore
28. Blog @ least bi-weekly
29. See my family more often
30. GIVE ONLY HANDMADE GIFTS

I decided to make this list as I'm not good @ making resolutions nor have I really set personal enrichment goals. You know what they say- there's no time like the present :) After my big 3-0 next year I will share with you how I tackled this list one at a time!

Get busy living... or get busy dying. That's g-d right.

~Red, Shawshank Redemption                

Indie Student= yes, please.

Hi ho, hi ho, it's back to school I go...

Some of you may have seen my lil' gadget to the the right that reads "Indie Business 3.0 Student".
Let me tell you what that's all about. This fall my crafty friend Ellen told me about an online HomeEc class-- think sewing for beginners. Since a sewing machine was on my Christmas List I had to join. This class, along with a lot of self teaching & YouTube tutorials, got me sewing.
And while I haven't made a lot of things I feel confident in my basic sewing skills &
think I have the ability to assemble a strong design aesthetic.

Then a few months ago I got an email from one of the crafty goddesses who hosted HomeEc;
she was updating her "students" on another online workshop opportunity.

Que: Indie 3.0

Go here to check it out!



I'll be frank, the past two years have been rough. And besides continuing to breath I've learned that finding my creative outlet is incredibly therapeutic. It's a refuge & fulfilling, so why not make it a stronger presence in my life? After nailing down {Sea of Lovely} as a label, etsy login, gmail account & blog name I figured I might as well go for it. Seriously, what do I have to lose?

And with that I look forward to sharing my newly-found inspirations &

insights into the world of indie crafting!! 

photo cred

As the first signs of spring appear, we begin Indie Business 3.0. 

This is the season to plant a seed for your own dreams and goals.

This is the season you will nurture them to grow. 

                                                                                                        ~Jill, Lune Vintage

Taking a Poll...

T.G.I.F.

This is a quick post to touch base with you all. Since I've secured a name for my Etsy account I want to know what my friends & family would like to see featured in my store.

{brainstorming}

{think charming accessories for ladies & littles}

My adorable bib model

 Here's what I'm thinking for women:

• fabric wallets
• a signature wristlet
• dress-up clutch
• fabric necklaces (see Monday's post)
• makeup bags
• makeup brush roll-ups

And for the littles:

• cotton plushies featuring whales
• laminated catch-all bibs
• cotton quilted bibs
• clutch-style changing pad for mamas!

I plan to make my own pattern but this is a cute whale plushie!

So this is what I've come up with thus far & I'd love to know if you have any requests!  Feel free to comment or shoot me a message.  Keep in mind I will still be working my "regular" job so the items will need to be on a smaller scale & not terribly technical.  Have a glorious weekend :)

♥lucy

{Sea of Lovely}

It's happening... I have opened an ETSY account to sell my handmade goodies.  My shop is called "Sea of Lovely"!!  And while it's going to be a bit before there are actually items for sale I'm very pleased to have a name.  I plan to feature lovely accessories for ladies & littles :)  My baby sister is going to design a logo for me & I can't wait to give you all a preview.  Hope you're having a wonderful week.

toodles,
♥lucy

A Whale of a Tale

Today I'm not going to chat about anything crafty. Today I'm blogging for blogging's sake.

Let me share a passage from this very thought-provoking book I'm reading:
"You may dream about an animal. It is useful, upon awakening, to follow that animal in your imagination. Animals often appear in dreams to show us a path beyond ego. We see this in Alice following the the white rabbit or in Dorothy following her dog Toto. A new world opened to them when they let animals take the lead." ~David Richo

Que: Having dreams about whales. A lot.



Photo courtesy Animal Planet

So I'm left wondering what our higher power or the neuro net is trying to tell me. I have always loved marine life. There was a time when I wanted to be a marine biologist & made a whale mobile for my bedroom; however, I don't think I'm in the mood for a career change at the moment...

A.  Am I suppose to spend more time on the water?

B.  Should I somehow incorporate a whale theme into the etsy shop I want to start?

C.  Should I be taking a tropical vacation to swim or kayak with whales?

D.  All of the above.



And with that fluke I invite you to interpret my dreams & bid you adieu.



♥lucy

Lunar Lunacy

Mardi Gras was a strange, strange day. I'm not sure what the planets were/are doing but they sure threw me for a loop earlier this week... but hey, it's almost the weekend & then we get to "spring forward" on Sunday. Personally, I'm a fan of "falling back" because it = an extra hour of sleep. However, I do like the signs that spring is creepin' in.

yep, that be daffs in a Fiestaware pitcher shot with my retroCamera app

The only thing I'm quite sure about this week is that I am kicking butt on this Amy Butler Birdie Sling. Assembly has begun!! An anonymous reader suggested I do a "work-in-progress" post so here she is:


exterior panel



a closer look @ the pleating



lining! am very proud of my close pattern match with the pocket- can you see it?

My next hurdle: piecing the panels together & creating a "gusset". Stay tuned, this bad boy will be done very, very soon.

cheers!
♥lucy

to market, to market

This is probably a good time to let you (the awesome reader) know that I won't always be posting tutorials. Sometimes I am simply going to dish on fun ideas, general loveliness or feed you the resources to start your own project. And you can count on a few helpful hints on places where I got stuck :)

Ok, so with that being said...

It's February-- it's dark, it's depressing & it feels good to spice things up with color. Right now I'm taking an online HomeEc class & one of the projects is a marketbag. The crafter recommended using a pillowcase for the fabric- awesome idea! But I also wanted my bag to have a liner for extra support & to hide the raw edges. This prompted a lot of googling...the best tutorial I found is here .

These instructions are perfect until you get to step 5. As a newly self-taught sewer I settled for the easy route with corners: 

This project is quick & only involves sewing straight lines. I had this sucker whipped out in about one listen to my favorite She & Him album.

 

Now my baby sister has a festive tote to stash in her purse for trips to one of the many markets in Portlandia. And the best part is it cost $1 to make!



J workin' it with her new tote!

Now off to Goodwill you go to find cheap linens! And thank goodness the groundhog didn't see his shadow!

♥lucy