LATEST CUSTOM WORK: GRADUATION ANNOUNCEMENT, STATIONERY, LOGOS, WEDDING

It's been so exciting to have so much custom design work coming in lately! I feel so blessed to get to work with such great clients on so many fun projects. I plan to have a custom work portfolio on the Charm & Gumption website soon (if I can find some extra time!), but until then, here is some of my recent work.

Graduation Announcement Postcards for Brit McDaniel:

Personalized Parisian Stationery:

Custom Logo and Business Cards for Positive Insight Coaching:

Custom Logo & Business Cards for SoulFlowers:

Digital Magazine Ad + Banner Ad for Umba Box:

Custom Wedding Invitations with an Illustrated Map:

Do you have a custom project that you would like to work with me on? Just shoot me an email!

THE PRETTIEST DESKTOP WALLPAPER

I'm currently gazing at a beautiful beach on my computer thanks to Design Love Fest's awesome free wallpaper downloads. Ahh, makes me feel so peaceful (and jealous!). Check out all of the other summery wallpapers here!

ETSY LOVE: UP IN THE AIR SOMEWHERE

Today's Etsy Love post is for the shop, Up In The Air Somewhere. Shop owner, Susan Dwyer, creates unique ceramic pieces out of clay and papier mache. I love the shiny gold pieces the most, but I also love peachy pink and aqua blue colors she uses. Be sure to check out her shop!

HELP A FRIEND

You've seen her on the blog in the past, but to refresh your memory, my friend Brit of Paper & Clay creates beautiful, modern ceramics that have been featured on popular blogs and carried in stores across the country. She is currently running a Kickstarter campaign to help raise money for a studio and the supplies that she needs in order to keep growing her business. It would be amazing if you could donate, even just a small amount of money - it would be a big help to her, and you can also get some free work of hers in the process! You can donate HERE. Thanks so much you guys!

THE PERFECT GRAY WALL COLOR?

I got the approval from our landlord to paint the walls of our apartment (yay!) as long as it is not a dark color. I don't like dark wall colors anyway so that is A-okay with me, but now the problem is deciding on colors. I think that we decided to go with a light gray color for the bedroom, and then maybe a different color in the bathroom, and then we'll probably keep the main living space white (boring, I know but I actually like white walls).

Here's what our bedroom currently looks like, as far as bedding (it's impossible to take a picture without Chester jumping in - he's such a camera hog):

My question is, do any of you have recommendations on the perfect light gray color? I have seen a lot of pins about a Benjamin Moore color called Revere Pewter which looks good in some pictures, but in some pictures it looks kind of beige-ish which I hate. I like cool tone grays that are really true light gray and compliment white woodwork well, like these:

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Any of you know of any non-beige gray wall colors that you would recommend?

SPRING COLOR INSPIRATION

Spring colors are my favorite, and you can probably see that from the colors I choose for the products in my shop. I love springy shades of pink, coral, blue, and gold - they just make me happy. Here's a little spring color inspiration for your Monday. Have a good one!

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ALL ABOUT FACEBOOK APPS

I recently did a post about how to make your Facebook page pretty, which has been really popular with other small business owners who are working on customizing their social media. But I had several people message, comment, and email me with more questions, mostly about Facebook Apps.

What are they? How did you get that little link to your shop and your Pinterest page? I know how to make them pretty, but how do I get one there in the first place? Well, wonder no more, because today's post is all about apps!

WHAT IS AN APP? An app is a little link on your page that leads to a different account that you have. For example, on my page, I have links to my Email Signup, Etsy shop, and Pinterest account.

HOW DO I FIND AN APP? To get an app for your page, just search for it in the Facebook search bar. In the example below, I'm searching for the Pinterest App. Make sure that you choose the option that says "App" below it (as opposed to "page") like this one:

HOW DO I PUT THE APP ON MY PAGE? Once you find the appropriate app and click it, you will be led to the following page:

Just click "Add Page Tab" and choose the page of yours where you would like to add the app. Sometimes, you will have a lot of different options when you search for an app. Just keep clicking on different ones until you get to a similar page to what I showed you above. It should not look like a regular Facebook page or profile, and there should be a way to Add the app to your page.

HOW DO I GET THE APPS THAT YOU HAVE ON YOUR PAGE? The apps that I have on my page are the Pinterest Page App (shown above), the Mailchimp App (must have a Mailchimp account to get this one), and the Easy Social Shop App. If you see an app that another page has and you would like it for your page, just click the app and usually you will see the name of the app listed somewhere. This is shown at the bottom of my shop app, for example:

HOW DO I GET RID OF THE APP'S DEFAULT IMAGE, AND MAKE THE APPS CUSTOMIZED, LIKE YOURS? You can find the answer to this question in my previous post about Facebook pages!

I hope that was helpful! You can find more information on the Facebook help pages, and leave a comment below if you have any other questions!

NEW APARTMENT LAYOUT

*I apologize for the dark photos! It's impossible to take nice pictures of our apartment because of the large plants outside of the window!

BEFORE:

Before the rearrangement, the entire room was a living space. Our couch was scooted way back away from the TV/media area and my desk and other office stuff was squeezed in the side of the room. We also had no dining area.

 AFTER:

We basically cut the room into fourths. An Expedit shelf turned on its side divides the room in half, and my office space was moved to the back of the couch. We moved the other Expedit to the bedroom (not shown), where I set up a little shipping station. We also sold the letterpress (tear) because it just wasn't very profitable for me and it was really limited in terms of what I could make with it because of its size. So that freed up some room as well. Whereas before, the living space took up the entire length and width of the room, now it takes up just a corner of it!

That made room for a dining area, so we're no longer eating off of the armrests of our couch (Hallelujah!). 

I love the coziness of the little living area now!

We still have some finishing touches to do to the apartment, like hang up some art, add curtains and throw pillows, and hang more wall shelves, like the ones next to the pegboard shown below (which are such a lifesaver in a small kitchen!).

What do you think of the new layout? :) Read more about our spring cleaning project here!

NEW STAMPS IN THE SHOP

I hope everyone had a great weekend! I added 4 new stamps to the shop today that would be great for everyday stationery making and gifts. Check them out below!

Treat Yo Self 

Great for party favors or gifts.

(& yes, I ate the cookies as a post-photoshoot snack)

Hello Darling

Would be cute for making your own stationery or stamping on top of a letter. 

Hey There!

This one would work great as an everyday stamp for envelopes or other snail mail.

XOXO

Such a sweet way to sign off on a letter or add a fun touch to a love note.

Which stamp is your favorite?

PORTER FLEA, HERE WE COME!

I was so excited to get the news yesterday that I was accepted to be a vendor at this summer's Porter Flea here in Nashville. The Porter Flea is a big craft show of carefully curated modern, handmade vendors. I have been anxious to be a part of it for a couple of years now. It seems like such a great opportunity to get my business' name out there and to meet tons of other small business owners in Nashville. This weekend, I'll be planning some ideas for my set up and deciding on quantities to produce for the show with Wes, who has already agreed to help work my booth. :) If you live in Nashville, I'd love to see you there!

This weekend we are also going to (finally) finish up our Spring Cleaning Project and take photos, so I'll have that to show you next week.

Happy Friday, and have a great weekend! xo