Must. Buy. Shoes. (and Bags... and Jewels)

I am refraining from making purchases for myself, but I do have a birthday coming up next month.  Here are a few beauties that have caught my eye.

Source: zalando.nl via Abbie on Pinterest

Source: korkease.com via Abbie on Pinterest

Source: ilovemiaki.com via Abbie on Pinterest

Source: freepeople.com via Abbie on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Abbie on Pinterest

Do you notice a trend?  Greens and neutrals.  What a surprise!  I'll be posting more birthday wishes over the next month and a half, if only to "window" shop my way to my birthday.  Enjoy!

Vendor Spotlight: The Wheatfield

I am excited to shine the spotlight on Etsy seller The Wheatfield today. I recently purchased three of Katie Daisy's prints for our little guy's nursery, and I couldn't be happier with her work... or the price! Seriously, she should be charging more for her pieces. I was blown away by the detail in the three pieces we purchased:





We decided to get prints of the states where the grandparents live, so our little boy will know exactly where they are calling from. Katie is currently working on other states to add to her product list, so shoot her a message on Etsy if you're looking for something you don't see. I have already nagged her about Arkansas, so if you want Arkansas, too, let her know! :) She is constantly adding some sold pieces back into the shop, so check out those as well.

Also, I can't go without mentioning that she has a listing that gives half of the sale proceeds to the NWF oil spill cleanup in the Gulf. That's huge. So, swing by her shop, get something pretty, and help a great cause.

Ring-a-Ding-Ding

I've always been a big "ring" girl. I have quite a few of them. When I got engaged, I realized really quickly that most of my rings only fit my left hand. Hmmm... time to scout out some new rings. Join me in the fun... click the image for the link.

Etsy Spotlight: Lauren Lowe Design

I stumbled upon this Denver-based Etsy seller, and I couldn't help posting Lauren Lowe Design's invitations. If you're looking for an eco-friendly stationer, you've come to the right place! Going green doesn't have to be plain. Here are a few of my favorites.




Check out her shop for more designs.

If I Had a Million Dollars...

(If I had a million dollars)... well, I'd buy you a green dress (but not a real green dress, that's cruel). For some reason, I've had this Barenaked Ladies song in my head for weeks. I'm thinking it's from all of the window shopping I've been doing lately. (I like to call it "abandoning my cart" because I stuff my cart on the internets just to see how much the bill would be.) Every time I see something I like, this song starts streaming through.

Just a few of the items that have caught my eye on Etsy lately:

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I could go on forever, but I don't have a million dollars.

Saving Myself From Insanity

As I've mentioned before, we are not using a florist for our wedding. We ordered our flowers through an online wholesaler, Fifty Flowers. 300 flowers will arrive the Wednesday prior to the wedding because they need more time to open than the others. The remaining flowers will arrive on Thursday. When I started to think about everything I needed to make, I realized I needed to assign some of the designing to someone else. I just couldn't drive myself bonkers over it. I went on a search... where else, but Etsy, of course! I kept favoriting one seller's pieces, so I figured it was a sign.

I contacted Erica Cavanaugh to design our boutonnieres. She asked me to send her inspiration pictures to give her an idea of the "feel" of our wedding. Of course, I had no problem finding pictures to send her.



I told her that our colors are kelly green and pale blue and that we were striving for a "natural" look with lots of birch and white flowers. I asked for dusty miller-like leaves and silver brunia if she could track it down. Within 48 hours, she'd already created a mock-up of a groomsman bout, and I loved it. She couldn't find either of the items I'd asked for, but she made it work with another silver/gray leaf and wood balls instead. I wasn't really digging a bow in front, so she used a mother-of-pearl button turned around backwards. It just happened to look very "natural" and worked perfectly. I had her make 7 of them: 4 for groomsmen, 2 for my usher/brothers, and one for Jeremy's uncle/godfather.
She whipped those up in no time flat and then asked how I wanted the fathers' bouts to look different. I explained to her that I didn't want my two dads to have identical bouts, but I didn't want either to stand out. How hard is that?! Apparently, it's not too much of a feat for Erica! I loved what she came up with for the dads. They are each slightly different from each other.
I had a hard time determining how to make J's different. I finally came up with the idea of not using green ribbon (as blue is really his favorite, and green is mine). I asked her if she could pick up gingham ribbon. She wasn't sure if it'd work at first, but I think it came out wonderfully.
I can't wait for them to arrive. AND-- I'm SO excited to not have to do them myself.
One more thing off the to-do list.

Wedding Wednesday: Cake Stand

I have been obsessed with finding the perfect cake "stand" for our wedding. Our theme is fairly rustic. At Jen's wedding, the cake was perched upon a great piece of wood, and I loved it. The baker she used had several different wood options, but she retired shortly after Jen's wedding. I tried to contact her to either rent or buy one of her wood cake stands, but she had disconnected her home phone and unlisted her new number. Apparently, she really did not want to be contacted! After scouring the internet, I was beginning to think I would have to give up the dream. Then, my rehearsal dinner invite search went so well using Etsy's Alchemy feature that I was determined to see if I could find my "dream" cake stand there, as well.

Here is a pic of Jen's cake:
Here are two pics I submitted as a visual for the Alchemy bidders:
I only got a few bidders, but I did find one that was willing to take on the job at a very reasonable cost. He has just cut the piece, but it will take quite some time to air-dry and then kiln-dry... with a finished product coming to me in June. I am beyond thrilled. He was extremely informative and explained the proper way to process the wood, etc. He also asked me not to pay until the process was further down the road, so I could be ensured the finished product was what I was looking for. I was impressed with his honesty. Wouldn't it be nice if more people were like that? Now... for a preview of my pre-cooked cake stand!

If you're interested in something similar, feel free to contact Mike. Tell him Abbie sent you!