Spring Garden Box

This past weekend Zach and I took on the project of building a garden box in my parent's side yard. We were kind of nervous at first and didn't really know where to go with it, but it ended up being a lot easier than expected!

We ended up making the box 3x5' and 12" deep.

We bought some cedar planks and hand them cut down and it was as simple as screwing the edges together, adding a second row and screwing them both into four 2" square spindles.

Now all we have to do is fill it with soil and starter veggie plants! We are going to wait a few weeks to make sure the temps don't get to low at night. But I can't wait to eat some fresh veggies from the garden this summer! And now we know how to build our own once we get our own place!

Scarves and Wraps - Spring/Summer 2011

I've been working alot on keeping my items up year-round and I'm so excited to share with you some new scarves from my Spring/Summer 2011 collection!

 

Drop Stitch Infinity Scarf in Lavender

 Chain Scarf in Denim

Spring Cowl in Periwinkle

Drop Stitch Infinity Scarf in Light Blue

Off to Australia!

This last weekend I got to see my buddy for the last time until her wedding in October*! Next week she is headed to Aussie to be with her bf and I am super sad but really happy for her at the same time! I got to spend some quality girl time with her while we were gone and it was so great! I even got to help her pick out a beachy wedding dress and then hang out with friends and fam to say goodbye!
Below are a couple of the cute dresses she tried on, but I'm not showing the final for fear of who may see this! :)

So pretty!

I'm going to miss this girl so much! 

*P.S. Did I mention that I get to go to Australia in October for this awesome event?!!

Love Day Crafting

My niece and I spent lots of time crafting for Valentine's Day!

Lots and lots of hearts!

  All dressed up for her party at pre-k!

Sweet Sweet Love

In January we celebrated 3 years of sweet sweet marriage and together! I love this man so much and am so blessed for every day we have spent together! Because our anniversary is so close to Valentine's Day, every year we go out to dinner for our anniversary and then on Valentine's day Zach makes us an amazing dinner!

 3 Years of Sweet Sweet Love

 Our yummy dinner made by Zach on Valentine's Day.

Buddy Weekend

My buddy Lucy came to St. Louis for a family event and got to spend a night with me! I miss this girl tons and won't get to have much time with her before she leaves for Australia to be with her boyfriend!

 

Me and the McKillip girls

Our onesies made for Lucy's soon-to-be niece!

Here We Go Again - December 2010

December
December was a fun but SUPER busy month for my little business! During the whole month of December I had my items up at The Foundrie, an amazing pop-up shop at Chesterfield Mall in St. Louis run by Shelah McClymont the creator of Destroyed by Design. The shop was so beautiful and she did such a great job that people wanted the shop all year round - and starting THIS Saturday, April 9th, the people get what they want!

My items on the table right as you enter the shop!

My big show was at the beginning of December and I have a separate post dedicated to Chicago trip. Otherwise, December was filled with lots and lots of snow and family time!

Zach and Boston running in the snowy front yard.

My sis and I on Christmas morning in our matching PJ's and hoodies with earbud strings.

 My Mom's beautiful tree.

Dreamy

When you drive to Chicago from St. Louis on I-55 you go through a long stretch of windmill farms. It's so incredible to watch these things in person.  I've seen dozens of photos of them, but seeing them in person is just mesmerizing.

Renegade Craft-Holiday 2010 Recap

My other big event of December 2010 was the Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago, IL. I really had no idea what to expect with this show. Besides the fact that it's one of the most well-known shows in the U.S. and so well publicized, I just knew that I had to prepare as many items as possible before the show. 

I changed up my booth quite a bit for this show and had fun created mannequin heads for my headbands and hats. Zach and I tried our best to practice my booth setup before we got there. The night before Renegade it snowed quite a bit. Little did I know that this would help sell all of my cowls, scarves and hats, expect for 3 on day one of the fair!

 My booth before all the items were picked over!

Birds eye view of the main level.

We had such a great time and were even able to stay for a few days longer to explore the city!

I'm super happy I got to be a part of the show and meet so many awesome people. I was told by several that I should apply for the September show as well. So I hope to see Chicago again several times this year!

Here We Go Again - October/November

I really could have so many excuses right now as to why I haven't been blogging lately, but really the truth is I've just been more committed to my Etsy shop and twitter! But now I feel like my blogging friends have been missing out so here I go, a little update of the last few months. This may be more than one post but at least I'm filling people in, right? Let's go month by month, shall we?

October
October was filled with apple picking, pumpkin patches and lots of prep for shows. Besides all that it was my first year being able to see my 5 year old niece dressed up for Halloween. In fact, since we've moved back to St. Louis, there has been a lot of firsts I've been able to experience with her! It's really something watching this little girl grow!

Fun fact: In St. Louis kids are usually requested to tell jokes before they get candy on Halloween!

November

My first booth of 2010 (this has changed QUITE a bit)

November was the beginning of my crafting season in 2010. I started with a few local shows and then was happy to participate in the Rock N' Roll Craft Show 7. This was very different from my normal shows in that all the items were displayed department store style. Everyone's items were sectioned according to the catergory that it fits in. It was lots of fun and I'll definitley plan on applying for the show again next year.  It was a great start to the holiday craft season!

Photo from 2005 from the RNR Flickr Site.

During November we were also able to make a quick trip to KC to visit some friends and their new little baby girl! They are such a sweet little family and we really miss being around them and all our friends on a weekly basis!

The Courtney's

A little update

I feel like there is always some large gaps between when I do a group of posts. I continually apologize and really wish I was better at being consistent with blogging. I am trying, I promise. I'm looking into getting an iPhone which would help with this and so many other things in my crafting life!

Life has been filled with knitting. Lots and lots of knitting. And it won't be stopping anytime soon, thank goodness, as the holiday season is just beginning! I have been applying for as many craft shows as I can handle and I'm super excited about this as I got into a couple of craft shows that I wasn't sure if I would get into. So below is a list of some of my show for this season. The first few are smaller local shows and the last are the biggies!

November:

Nov. 6, 10am-3pm: Chesterfield Elementary Holiday Boutique in Chesterfield, Mo. (info here.)

Nov. 7, 11am-4pm: Hawken House Christmas Market in Webster Groves, Mo. (info here.)
Nov. 14, 10am-4pm: STL Boutique Moms Fall Show at The Columns in St. Charles, Mo. (info here.)
And my favorite show in STL:

Nov. 26-28: Rock n Roll Craft Show at Third Degree Glass Factory in St. Louis, Mo.

www.rocknrollcraftshow.com

And this is where I will be as a vendor the weekend of Dec. 4-5! Heck yeah. I'm pretty stinkin' excited!

http://www.renegadecraft.com/holiday-chicago

I have also created a new Facebook page. Stop by here and become a fan!

Apples and Pumpkins

A few weeks ago we got a chance to go apple picking and pumpkin patching. It was lots of fun and the perfect start to fall!

My brother discovered he could tear an apple in half with his bare hands! :)

My beautiful niece is now 5. She is getting so big!

Better Late than Never!

I promised to add a few pics from our August trip to Florida, and, althrough it may be October and time has flown by TOO quickly, I wanted to share these amazing photos with you.

Alys Beach is a small development a short ways down 30A Highway from Seaside. The white stucco building make you feel like you are in the Mediterranean. I am in love with this small oasis. Too bad my pocket book is also small and would not allow for this much of a splurge!

Every area of Alys Beach is stunning. Including the entrance to the beach! Also, the coffee is the best on 30A. :)

A New Look and Shope Update!

I've been working on re-branding my etsy store and blog and other materials. I've created a new logo, taken new photos and updated the headers, ordered business cards and lots of other stuff. I'm pretty happy with the new look! How do you like it?

I've also been working on lots of new items for the shop! Below are a few that I've added over the past week. A new infinity cowl, a new color of the large posie headband, and some small knitted bows. I'm still working on quite a few more, but they will be added in the month to come.

Scenes from Seaside

We finally made it to St. Louis in time to take a quick vacation to Seaside, Florida. We went last year and loved it so much we made last minute plans to go back. We had a great time, needless-to-say, we probably won't drive back as traffic turned the 13-hour car ride into a 17-hour.

Seaside is probably the cutest little beach town you've ever seen.














Another tid-bit of info: Seaside is where they filmed the movie "The Truman Show" because it looks so perfect it's surreal. More photos to come!