Santa Barbara Weekend

It was a wonderful weekend

celebrating one of my best friends and her upcoming wedding!

We all went down to Santa Barbara 

and even though it poured down rain, 

it was still as beautiful as ever and it didn't stop us from having a fun weekend.
.....

It's always so great to see friends from college and to reconnect!

It always feels like no time has been lost.

.....

We had the chance to go back to Westmont...

 I've always known what a beautiful campus it is

 but the architecture stood out to me this time...

.....

If you are ever in Santa Barbara stop by Isabella Gourmet Foods...

The sweetest little food shop carrying specialty items and my cards! 

.....

Until next time Santa Barbara!

Redefining Your Role

Meeting others for the first time and sharing my work,

a lot of questions always arise.

Oh, so you're an artist? 

You're a photographer?

When I have heard these questions, I almost feel like laughing and saying, "hah yeah right!"

When I think of artists I think of paint pallets and big canvases

spending hours, days, months, perfecting one piece.

someone who has studied art and is complex and philosophical.

.....

And photographers are people who have most likely gone to school for photography and could photograph great pictures in all types of lighting and all different conditions.

.....

 I think the biggest issue of accepting a new role is fear

fear of taking on a new challenge

and if you are going to call yourself something

you better have proof to back it up.

Once you call yourself something the critics come out and opinions begin to form

whether you say you're an artist, photographer, mother, teacher, wife...the list goes on.

.....

But I don't think that should stop anyone from switching roles or taking on a new role

 because that is part of life. 

Our roles naturally change, and interests do as well. 

I was reading through an e-book on marketing your products and the gal had a 

great quote that has stuck with me.

"Believe in yourself, believe in your work, and keep going."

It's so simple yet so true. 

And I think if you believe in what you're doing and more importantly yourself,

 then by all means take the step to redefine your role.

.....

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Card Favorites

Since right now, Lindsay P Designs cards are consuming my thoughts {and my days!}

I thought I would share some of my favorite and buyers favorite cards!

.....

Vintage Bicycle

By far the top seller and a favorite amongst others!

The Fly Fisherman

I am excited that this card has received such positive feedback! 

It was the first time I ever incorporated a scenery and a person.

Who is the model you ask? That would be my father! 

The Vintage Pink Cake

The perfect card for so many occasions...

The Vintage Pink Rose

A lot more bright and vibrant than a lot of the others...

A staple card to say "hello" "I love you" "Thinking of you"....

.....

I am in the process of working on a few more

 designs for Spring and beyond!

But I  had to share one that I am absolutely loving

 and pretty excited about...

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Balance

{Image Source}

From the time we are little we try to balance...

Learning to balance play time with school projects...

Hanging out with friends, sports activities, and more school work...

And of course the balance after getting a boyfriend.

.....

After Brian and I met and started dating,

 I remember trying to figure out and devise the perfect plan 

to balance the time I spent with him verses the time I spent with my friends.

I realized it's hard to make both parties happy

and someone is bound to get less time.

.....

Not wanting to jeopardize any relationships,

we try to do it all.

But sometimes we plain and simple can't.

I went into to this weekend with the mind set of 

"I have SO much to do. I can't waste anytime doing anything else."

 I was trying to balance working on orders, enjoying the weekend,

 and spending quality time with Brian.

.....

But I realized the last thing I should be doing is trying to balance.

Time spent with my husband shouldn't come close to 

being equal to time spent on my business.

I realized it's not so much about balance these days but priorities

and getting them in the right order.

Sometimes things won't be equal or balanced and that is okay...

as long as the correct side is getting more of your time.

.....

SF Market Recap

The San Francisco Gift Show is over!

For the last month and a half it's been consuming my mind...

to do lists a mile long...

and so many things to get ready, make and prepare for...

.....

It has been nice to have a couple days to wind down a bit

and get organized before I begin sending out orders.

.....

It was such a wonderful experience!

I am pleased with the success I had and am 

thrilled to have my products in more beautiful stores!

.....

It took a lot of work to set up our booth and bring everything down to the city...

But it all came together seamlessly

 {thank goodness for Brian and my mom!}

.....

It's always such a special time for my mom and I am so grateful for her 

optimism and complete belief in me and my business.

.....

After the first day we were completely stuck in the Chinese New Year Parade...

 and wondered if we would ever make it back to our hotel

{luckily we did an hour later which normally would take 10 minutes}

A fun memory {after the fact} to have!

 .....

After four days of living in this booth, my mom and I were ready to go home...

What's funny is that now I actually am missing it...

missing sitting on our stools saying hello to people walking by...

getting ready to nonchalantly slide off my stool if someone stared at my products for more than a second.

Or awkwardly and quickly taking a bite of something after looking down the aisle to make sure no buyers were approaching...

I am on to thinking about the next gift show and which one I will do...

hopefully this Summer.

.....

Here are some pictures of my booth...

pretty similar to my booth in Seattle with a few minor changes!

{ excuse the mediocre lighting!} 

My sweet nephew and neice sent me these beautiful tulips to the hotel to wish me good luck!

Hard to believe a 2 year old and 6 month old are that creative :) 

I LOVE  this crate table. 

3 crates drilled together with a wood top we painted cream.

We designed it so that we had the open crate in front to place items in.

On the back side {not pictured} I found a filing basket 

from world market and screwed that to the back. 

It's perfect to hold all order forms, new orders etc.

 .....

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Early Valentine's Post

Tomorrow my wonderful mom is flying down and Friday we head down to San Francisco 

to set up for the gift show that begins Saturday.

Since Friday is Valentine's Day and I'll be on my way to set up 

{and probably doing the nervous stretch, the nervous yawn, 

and my stomach will be filled with butterflies}... 

I decided to do my Valentines post today!

I know a lot who think of Valentine's day as somewhat of a forced holiday 

and not always a pleasant one.

And I have felt that way at times.

But to me it's an excuse to buy pretty flowers, eat a chocolate covered strawberry here and there,

and reflect on all the love you have for others and all the love you receive...

even when it's hard to see.

Not just a significant other, but your family, friends, neighbors, 

children, your dog and most importantly God's love.

I hope each of you enjoys this day of love!

.....

My Blog Revamp

Over the past few weeks I have struggled with,

'what to blog about.'

.....

There are so many different styles and ways people blog 

that I found myself completely overwhelmed.

I strive to get a larger audience in all social media aspects and was

constantly thinking of how that can be achieved.

.....

Do I need to be more catchy and cool?

Talk strictly about Lindsay P Designs or talk more about my personal life?

Keep it 'surfacey' or make it deep?

Post one single, ground breaking idea, color combination, new style or photo?

Give awesome advice or inspiration?

.....

The more I thought about it though the more frustrating it became

 and I felt that if I tried to tackle just one of those themes it would become totally forced.

.....

The other night while talking to my sister she asked why I hadn't blogged in a couple days.

I laughed and told her I actually had but didn't post the link on Facebook 

because I thought it was 'nerdy.'

I was able to check 'blog' off my list without getting 

too many readers reading the post I didn't think was worthy enough.

.....

After thinking a lot about this, here is what I've come up with...

I am just going to be me and blog about what inspires me and what is most important to me.

{which is what I said in my very first post}

My faith, my family, my business, my struggles, my achievements.

And hopefully what inspires me to get through each day can inspire you as well.

.....