New t-shirt designs











Today, I headed over to my friend Gretchen's house with some new t-shirt designs that she graciously helped me photograph.  Taking product pictures is not always the easiest thing to do; is the lighting good, what do I do with my arms, does my face look weird, is my shirt pulled the wrong way?  These are all things that make photographing yourself in your products a little difficult.  Luckily, if you have your best friend with you to help, she can not only point out these things, but also make the process so much more enjoyable.  Thank you Gretchen for spending the afternoon with me and playing photographer! ;)

This week I am sending in some applications and product photos to local shops and indie craft shows in hopes that they like my items and want to include me in their event/store.  Lets hope some of these photos catch their eye and make them want to see more of my products in person!


*Thanks to JustLovelyThings for the DIY post on creating photo backdrops!

Sweet Tooth Saturday

West Side Market

chocolate covered jalapeno 

marshmallow dipped in chocolate, rolled in peanuts, drizzled with caramel and chocolate

We have a hard time passing up baklava


my Mr.



Today has been a coffee and sweets kind of day for the husband and I.  To say I have a sweet tooth might be a bit of an understatement.  I have grown up loving anything with chocolate or sugar; and even better if it's paired with ice cream.

Today we went to the West Side Market, purchased a few treats and visited a couple local coffee shops while in downtown Cleveland.  It's days like this that make me love the weekends so much.  

Relaxing with the husband.
Local shops.
Good coffee.
Specialty deserts.

Do you have a sweet tooth?  I might have to start a monthly Sweet Tooth Saturday post to share my sweet finds and favorite recipes with you all :)


DIY: Distressed Colored Book Pages

Do you ever get an idea for a new project, and before you know it, you realize five new projects you could create with the same supplies?!  Well, that happened to me this week.  

What are my supplies?!  Old book pages and ink pads.  

My husband has quite the collection of books, including some really old ones that have been passed down to him.  Luckily, he has a couple duplicates that I was able to use for this project.  If you do not have old books, visit the local thrift store and pick one up for 50 cents! {or less}

Here is a step by step to creating these colorful pages:



Supplies:
old book
chalk ink pad {I purchased this brand}
scrap paper to cover your work space



Step 1:
Take the binding off the book.  This will make it easier to tear out all of the pages.  If you open the book up all the way, a little gap will be created and make it easy to rip the pages off the cover and binding.


Rip out all of the pages...


Step 2:
Decide what colors you would like to use for your pages.  It's better to start with something light until you get used to the application, and then you can add more color or move on to something darker.  I used only chalk ink pads because they have a very light matte look to them and you can build color easily.


You can purchase an applicator to click into the colorbox cat eye ink pads, or you can hold them in your hand to apply the ink.



Step 3:
Lightly stamp the pages in different directions, building color by reapplying in the areas you want.



The ink dries very quickly and your pages will be ready for crafting!



Beautifully colored book pages.  

I can't wait to photograph some tutorials this weekend!  Check back next week to find out what I create  with them :)

Sneak Peeks




Photos taken with instagram app.  Come follow along!


The past couple weeks I have been working on new products for my Etsy shop and I can't tell you how excited I am!  I have made the switch to American Apparel shirts that are 100% natural organic cotton and made in the USA.  This is a direction I have been wanting to take for a while now and am thrilled to offer amazing quality shirts that are environmentally friendly as well.  I have also simplified my fabric collection to my favorite designer fabrics and am planning some blog tutorials for my old scrap fabrics!

I have a lot more designs and ideas to complete before I will give my shop a new reopening, but until then, here is a fun little sneak peek of some new products coming soon to Little Blue Feather!

Five Favorites: Etsy Treasuries

Recently I have been included in some pretty amazing treasuries I wanted to share with you all! In case you are unfamiliar with Etsy treasuries, it's a collection of 16 Etsy listings that relate to a specific theme chosen by the curator.

A treasury can be created by any Etsy memeber and it can be very time consuming searching for the perfect items. I have created two treasuries in the past and I remember spending at least an hour on each one. They are carefully thought out and if your treasury is unique and well organized, it can appear on the front page (eek!) of Etsy for all of the shoppers to see that day! That's a big deal for the curator and the shops featured in the treasury! So, if you have an Etsy shop and someone includes your handmade or vintage item in their treasury, be sure to thank them for choosing you!



Here are five of my favorite treasuries I was featured in recently:
















Antique Shopping


Coffee grinders





A few weeks ago when I was in my hometown visiting family, my dad and I made some time to do one of our favorite things together; antique shopping.

My dad and I have always had similar interests and can really appreciate a good vintage find.  Fortunately, close to my hometown is a little village called Waynesville, Ohio and is referred to as "The antique capital of the midwest".  Downtown Waynesville is full of cute little shops, history, cafes and unique gifts.  Usually my dad and I are not looking for anything specific when we are antique shopping, but instead looking for something we have never seen before.  

With the help of my dad, I have started a small vintage camera collection.  None of the cameras work properly today, but I love seeing the evolution of the camera to my current DSLR.  It really fascinates me how far they have come!  This past trip I saw some new cameras I would love to add to my collection in the future!




Do you collect vintage items?  If so, what do you collect?!


Decorating for Valentine's Day

{l.o.v.e}

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When Justin and I were dating, he decorated my room with over 100 post-it notes telling me all the things he loved most about me while I was at school.  Some of the notes mentioned personality traits, my silliness, physical features and the time we spent together.  

I have kept them for all this time and decided today to get them out of their box and read them again five years later, with fresh eyes and as his wife.  

As I started taping my favorites on our walls to decorate for Valentine's Day, I asked myself if he would say the same things about me today.  Am I still doing all of these things that he fell in love with?!  I would hope that the answer is yes, and more

While looking through all the post-its, I separated the blank ones and decided to write on them all the things I love about Justin.  I really do believe that it's all the little everyday things in a relationship that can make it so wonderful.  I tell Mr. Sharkey all the time how much I love him, but today I am going to write down exactly what I love about him.  I hope that in another 5 years we can read them again and say that we still love all these things about each other and that these are still things we do today.

Although I think we should show our love for one another everyday, today is a reason to go a little overboard!  I can't wait for Justin to get home and see our love notes to each other hanging above our table.

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The Perfect Gift is the book Justin had me read right before he proposed,
along with my first Valentine's Day card to him and my favorite love quote book.


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Tell your significant other all the things you love about them!
Pick up some fun post-its at your local craft store or Target and grab a pen or marker. Think about all the little things, daily routines, goofy moments, personality traits, physical features and their style that makes you love them so much.  It's a great way to show someone you love them in an inexpensive way that they can reread for years to come.

{Happy Valentine's Day}