Perfect for a picnic.

Don't these dresses from APC make you want to pack up your things and go for a picnic? I'd say yes, bring on the watermelon.

Letterpress Tags + Cards

My undergrad degree is in graphic design and although I no longer practice, I've got some great friends from school I can call on for projects as they come up! When I was trying to decide on stationery for my clothing line, I thought of my talented friend Lauren, to help me letterpress a few of the goods. She put together some clothing tags and notecards for me using a lovely orange ink on lettra.

 

Mary Janes + 2 Jumpers

Making clothes for pint-size little ones is pretty awesome. Two main reasons why...It doesn't take very much fabric and it doesn't take very much time. As you might have guessed, I've found myself with a new hobby.

These mary-janes are probably the tiniest thing I've ever sewn but so cute in this striped denim with wooden buttons!

Hound S/S 2012

Jen is at it again with a bright and lovely SS 2012 collection! Isn't it yummy? I love the styling, makes me want to dance around and eat watermelon.

Photos: Julia Stotz and Brian Guido

A beauty post from a non-beauty expert!

I'm not very in to beauty products. I'll just admit it. I'd like to be but every time I visit Sephora, I end up getting overwhelmed and pick up the same cheap concealer I've worn for years. Or if I do make myself go for something new, I hardly end up using it once I get home. So when I feel like I've found something that works for me, I want to share it with the world!

In my stocking this past Christmas I recelved this shampoo and conditioner by Burt's Bees. Nice packaging, right? I thought it would be cuter sitting displayed on a shelf in my bathroom. But I recently found myself ready for a shower and completely out of shampoo. (I should say before I get any further, I've got normal hair that I need to wash everyday or I turn into a grease ball. It's uncolored, untreated, a dirty blonde color and naturally shows off any sign of not being washed the moment I wake up in the morning -- but not in a good way. I tried the all-natural no shampoo movement to ween off washing daily but that was too difficult to stick with.) So back to the shower....I went for the Burt's Bees. I end up using a lot because I have slightly thick hair and have to really lather it in to the crown of my head or it won't get clean. 

No biggie right? Just a different shampoo. But I started noticing something, in the mornings, my hair wasn't looking very dirty, it actually still looked cleaned. I should repeat, this has never been the case for me, even if I washed my hair at night. 

So I've stuck with it and am proud to say I'm an every-other-day hair washer which is something I have never, ever been before and it is so liberating. I've even noticed on the third day things are still not quite so bad but I typically go for the wash anyway. And I've also been using their Belly Butter on my growing tummy even though I have no clue if it will help or not, couldn't hurt though.

That's all really! Nothing mind blowing in the beauty department, just a little something I needed to share!

Yummy + Simple

Two things caught my eye this week online and they both included sugar. Is there anything more perfect than a multi-layer, simply iced cake? I'm going to need to bookmark these and add them to my "to-bake" list.

Hazelnut and Strawberry Celebration Cake from Seven Spoons... 

Vanilla Cake, Lemon Filling with Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream via For me, For you...

And you may remember this bad boy, a classic white with buttercream that I whipped up last year. I need to try my hand at more than two layers...

Building Garden Beds

We're officially knee deep in our first garden...ever! We have land and space to plant what we'd like so the hub has been hard at work building garden beds in our backyard. I'll admit, I've been a spectator during this journey, but I am definitely super proud of the work he has put into it. And yes, that little house in the photo below will soon be the home of two egg laying hens. It's getting serious.

I'm working pretty hard on staying pale and growing a belly.

Instagram Goodness

Quick snippets of my life lately...

...a growing belly, outdoor bluegrass festivals, starting to plan a nursery, visiting with little nephews, sewing dresses, and spending time outdoors...