I’ve been busy printing away custom orders lately and I’d thought I’d share a couple with you. The first are a set of thank you cards in rich navy and white. I was so thrilled when she wanted those colors because I had the perfect ribbon to package them in. And the second is a set of custom designed wedding announcements. I love how they turned out that I may use the style this holiday season.

The beauty of twitter brought me to today’s lovely lady, Karley of She Sews Lovely. I met Karley via Adele and just loved the idea of eco coffee sleeves. These stylish and functional pieces are simply stunning. So let’s meet this sweet Canadian.

Tell us a little about yourself.
Hello! I’m Karley and I’m the owner of she sews lovely. I’m currently living in Montreal, Quebec, Canada with my fiance Aaron & our dachshund dog, Beta. Before moving here I lived in Southern Ontario, Halifax Nova Scotia and Umea Sweden. I love travelling and exploring new places. I also apparently love to go to school! I have a journalism degree and am now completing an education degree. I’m getting married next spring so I’m excited to start my ‘grown-up’ life!
Photo courtesy of Aaron

How and why did you create She Sews Lovely?
she sews lovely started as a fun hobby. I’ve loved to sew and create things for as long as I can remember. We always had a sewing machine at our house when I was growing up so I would help my mom with little projects here and there. In high school I started making bags and accessories and even clothing! When I heard about Etsy I thought I would give it a try and open up a shop. I think it’s a great way to work and make a bit of money while in school because you can work around your school schedule.

Where did the name originate from?
I am the absolute worst at naming things! Weird, since I’m a big English language freak. But I really just cannot come up with clever, cool names. My fiance Aaron is the one who came up with she sews lovely. He’s actually the one who has come up with most of my product names, too! What would I do without him…. Ha!

What is a typical work day for you?
Every day for me is completely different. I like it that way. But every morning starts about the same. Aaron works very early in the morning so after he leaves I get up, do my rounds on the internet and check if I got any sales overnight. I have a shower and take Beta out to the park. When we get back I have coffee & breakfast. From here on, my days can go a bunch of different ways. If I have class or a meeting, I head downtown to the university. If I don’t, I might have schoolwork that needs to be done from home. My favourite days are non-school days when I can hang out in my office, make new eco coffee sleeves, package up orders and network on the internet.

How do you keep distractions at bay?
My biggest distraction is the internet. The internet can get the best of me no matter what I should be working on. It’s hard when I’m working on Etsy stuff because I need to be on the internet for that. But I can get caught up chatting on Twitter or posting on my blog for hours! To get away from it I’ll take Beta out for a walk or to the park. Sometimes I even turn my computer off if it’s too distracting.

What are your best selling pieces/designs?
My best-selling eco coffee sleeves are definitely anything with a hedgehog on it. People just love hedgehogs!! (So do I.) I’ve had about four different hedgehog materials in the past and all of them have been best-sellers.

Who/what are your inspiration?
I get inspired by all of the beautiful blogs out there. I love looking at what people are creating! My favourite blog to go to for inspiration is the Craftzine blog. They post all kinds of different projects, sometimes with a how-to or video tutorial. I have a whole list of “inspiration” links on my blog.

Do you have any business advice that worked well for you that you’d care to share?
I don’t really consider myself too much of a business woman. I make products that I like and use, and if someone else finds them pretty and useful too – awesome!! So I guess my advice would be to make something you are proud of and something that you personally use. If you can’t use it or wear it, why would somebody else? Also, networking is really great. When you work by yourself at home it can get lonely. Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and the Etsy forums can be great places to meet people, get ideas, learn things, and also get customers! I’ve had sales from friends on Twitter and the Etsy forums.

What are your favorite hobbies?
I love to read. I’m a huge book nerd. I also love to bake. I am not a great chef but baking desserts is definitely my specialty. I love to travel and we try to go somewhere new every year.

What’s currently on Karley’s wish list?
This is probably going to sound weird but I have been looking for this collection of DVDs called “Trois Couleurs”. They’re directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski, who is my fave. I finally got the Decalogue box set for my birthday this year and now I really want to find this collection. I’ve been searching everywhere!

Name your top 3 website/blogs.
Indie North – A great resource & community for Canadian small businesses.
The Black Apple – Like many crafters, I’m kind of obsessed with Emily Martin of The Black Apple. I check her blog daily for updates.
Instant Kamera – My fiance’s photography website! He designed it himself and I’m really proud of him! He put a lot of hard work into it.

Thank you Karley for showing us more about you and your business!
shop :: blog :: twitter

I have crossed over into the world of digital SLR. I am beyond thrilled and grateful for my husband and parents for this, and among other, outstanding birthday presents.

And the winner of the big 3-0 drawing is Wende. Send me an email to info@perideaudesigns.com with the 3 items you’d like from my shop and your mailing address. Congratulations!!

Thank you everyone for sharing your favorite birthdays. One of my top favorite birthdays, besides this one, was when my husband threw a surprise birthday party for me. It’s difficult to keep surprises from me since I’m a little nosey but he did a great job. I was so shocked that when I got there all I could say was “You guys are silly!”

Thanks for all of the birthday wishes! I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their weekend.

On Saturday I will be leaving behind the 20′s and embarking on a new decade full of life, love, friends, and family. I know most people dread entering their 30′s but I’m embracing it, almost like starting over again. Starting fresh. And I’m just so excited I want to share it with you. So from now until 11:59pm EST on Saturday the 29th, leave a comment telling us about your best birthday experience. And I’ll randomly choose a winner to win any three (3) items currently in my shop. So let’s reminisce about the past and celebrate the future.

Today I bring you the designer and entrepeneur Alissa Harvey of Mew Paper Arts. I’ve always been a fan of her work and blog and how she effortlessly incorporates themes into her designs without overdoing it. Her wedding invitations in particular are her top sellers and where she thrives. So let’s meet Alissa and see how she does it all.

Tell us a little about yourself.
Hi, Hey. I’m Alissa. I live and work out of my home studio in Danbury, CT which I share with my husband Darryl and our handsome cat Cooper. Besides being a stationery designer, which seems to be my sole identity since becoming self-employed, I also like practicing yoga, riding my sassy blue scooter around town, reading, and spontaneously bursting into song—usually a made-up song about Cooper. I cook a lot too, and love eating at new restaurants. One of my favorite indulgences of the moment are $1 hot fudge sundaes from McDonald’s—I always go to the drive-thru though so no one sees me. There is a certain amount of shame associated with this habit, you see. Oh, and I’m 29.

How and why did you create Mew Paper Arts?
When I started an Etsy shop called Mew Paper Arts I was working full time in a corporate real estate office doing some mindless work in a cubicle that isn’t even interesting enough to explain to you. Most days, I dreaded going into work—but around the holidays in 2007 I started peddling my handmade, personalized notecards to my coworkers and it turned into a hit. A short while after joining Etsy I had my own site created, and my work started to lean more towards custom wedding invitations. By January 2008 my side-business was booming, and my work ethic at my office had withered to nothing. With the encouragement of my husband, I decided to take the leap into full-time operations. A year and a half later I’ve more than doubled my business and haven’t looked back!

Where did the name originate from?
Oh, the name! This subject always comes up! Well, I think my love affair with my cat is obvious—based on the afore mentioned songwriting skills I’ve patiently honed! As you know when you pick an Etsy shop, you need a user name. Without putting nearly enough thought into (which I now regret) I picked Mew Paper Arts as an homage to Cooper. Well, once you pick it, you can’t change it—and by the time I realized that the name was sort of silly and gets mispronounced all the time, I had already developed a recognizable presence and brand based on the name and logo. So alas, the name sticks.

What is a typical work day for you?
During high wedding season things can get a little hairy here at Mew—I always wake up at 7 and check my e-mail immediately. It’s a bit of an obsession—my eyes are barely open and I’m typing away! I spend the first 40 minutes to one hour of my day dawdling around the interwebs—Twittering, blogging, and reading blogs. Production then takes up the majority of my day—printing, trimming, assembling, packing and shipping. I recently hired a part time assistant to help me with these duties and it’s been a life saver. She’s an aspiring designer herself so she totally “gets” everything and I can comfortably leave her alone to do the tasks without checking over her shoulder every five minutes. I really work hard during the day and I try my best to quit at a reasonable time. I’m not interested in working til midnight or all day on weekends. Yes, this business is my passion—but I am passionate about life too so I need to keep the balance. I think a lot of people assume that being a crafty business owner means working 25 hours per day—I have those days, sure. But now I’ve got a system going that allows me to do what I love, and live a happy life outside of work.

How do you keep distractions at bay?
I’ve been asked this question in interviews before and I feel like I might have a different answer every time, depending on the day. When I’m really busy distractions don’t stand a chance—I get really focused and just plow through. But in a lull it’s a lot tougher to stay focused. So instead I try to turn things that might distract me (like new catalogues, magazines, websites and blogs) into things to inspire me. And when that’s not working I just roll with it—plenty of days this summer I just don’t feel like working. I hop on the scooter and go for a cruise, treat myself to a cappuccino, or browse the farmer’s market. Distraction doesn’t always have to be a bad thing!

What are your best selling pieces/designs?
Since many of my wedding invitations are printed using recycled materials I’ve seen a big increase in interest in those products. The trend I’ve been seeing with my clients lately are smaller, more intimate affairs, vs. big traditional ballroom styles. The designs that have an organic, rustic and homegrown feel are big sellers this year. Such as my Bamboo Forest suite and Falling Leaves. Both of these feature my original illustrations.

Who/what are your inspiration?
I come alive in the summertime, and feel my most creative when it’s warm and clear and I can play outside. Sometimes I don’t even know I’m being inspired—it sort of finds me!

Do you have any business advice that worked well for you that you’d care to share?
I would just remind anyone who wants to start a craft/design based business to stay really focused and look before you leap. It can be really tempting to just go for it—and I DO advocated just going for it! But not without a solid foundation. I had no interest in being a starving artist working off of my dining room table, so I wasn’t going to do this until I had my finances in order, a space I was comfortable working in and at least an inkling of a marketing plan!

What are your favorite hobbies?
I mentioned eating, right? And scootering? Lately I’ve been listening to Italian language instruction on my iPod while I do embroidery out of Jenny Hart’s new Sublime Stitching Book. I go to the library a lot. Oh and I am teaching myself how to read tarot cards. That’s a lot of fun! I kind of feel like a senior citizen at a really awesome day camp most days!

What’s currently on Alissa’s wish list?
That’s easy—a vacation. Darryl and I got married last year and went on our honeymoon at the super posh Regent Palms Hotel in Turks & Caicos. I had never been anyplace tropical in my life and when the plane descended over the island I looked at him with tears in my eyes in total disbelief that there are places like this on earth. Now, I’m a little spoiled and really like to travel in high style. I’m really, really, really wishing for another special trip like that in the near future.

Name your top 3 website/blogs.
I sort of habitually check Flickr, Facebook, Twitter and Etsy these days, but I wouldn’t say they are my favorites. Especially Twitter—I always feel like I’m the nerd vying for the cool kid’s attention over there! I’ve got a lot of favorite blogs but since you only asked for three I’ll go with some neutral ones so I don’t single any one out!

Yahoo Babel Fish—bet you didn’t see that one coming? But with my newfound interest in improving my Italian it comes in quite handy!
Food Network—you just type in what you’re in the mood for and 30 million ideas pop up! I love it!
vrbo.com—Since I’m always daydreaming about going on vacation, I like to visit this site to find my dream location on the beach somewhere!

And here’s a link to a video that featured Alissa on an interview with CBS, in which she did an awesome job! Thanks so much Alissa for sharing a little more about you and I can’t wait for our date.

Learn more about Alissa
website :: shop :: blog :: flickr :: twitter

Congratulations Shauna for winning (1) 12×12 gallery wrapped canvas. Please visit Dee’s website and choose which print you would like and email me your choice and mailing address to info@perideaudesigns.com.

I’m really excited about this Monday’s feature as it’s for a sweet woman by the name of Dee who is the creative mastermind behind Red Letter Words. Dee creates wonderful wall art with designs ranging from weddings/anniversaries to nurseries. When I first spotted her work over on knack I knew I had to have one. Immediately I purchased one of her popular sellers which fits perfectly in our downstairs hallway. See for yourself here. OK enough of my ramblings, let’s meet Dee.

Pssst…read all the way to the end for a nice surprise.

Tell us 5 interesting things about yourself.
If you and I were in a dance-off, you would win. I have lost my sewing machine. I haven’t seen it since 2003 when I was sewing a wise man costume for my son Christian’s pre-school class. I decorate my house mostly in red for Christmas so that I can leave the decorations up until Valentine’s Day. I have lots of time-saving tips like this. I love to cook and bake and my entire family watches the food network together. I like surprises. But only when I have been given enough hints about said surprise so that I can plan appropriately. I totally feel like I cheated on this question because I just cut and pasted from my Facebook 25 Random Things About Me list I made this winter:)

How and why did you create Red Letter Words?
Red Letter Words was created out of a desire to have God’s word in my home and not being able to find anything in the store that fit my style. One day my oldest daughter brought home an art project where she wrote the things she was into (which was the color orange and caffeine). She was so proud that she made it and the words on it meant something to her. I thought yes – art should be personal and meaningful.

Where did the name originate from?
There are bible editions where the words spoken by Jesus are printed in red type. Redletterwords is about having the un-changing truth of the Word as art in your home.

What is a typical work day for you?
There is nothing typical about my days:) My family keeps me busy – I have a great husband, 4 awesome kids and a new puppy so I design stuff when I can at night or when everyone else is already busy.

How do you keep distractions at bay?
I find that if I am getting distracted, I stop doing what I was trying to do and go do something else. Then after awhile, I come back to it and finish up.

What are your best selling pieces/designs?
The Two are Better than One and We Love because He first loved us – lots of people like to give these as wedding gifts. Any of the travel prints, especially New York City and London but everyone has fond memories of someplace so lots of different cities are really popular. Also Hannah’s prayer which reads I prayed for this child and the Lord granted me what I asked of Him- lots of ladies love this print for their babies rooms especially if they had a difficult pregnancy.

Who/what are your inspiration?
My husband and kids inspire me, God inspires me, traveling inspires me, new restaurants, paint colors, scarves and shoes inspire me. Really there is inspiration everywhere. Sometimes I overload with inspiration – my notebooks are full of things I want to try or prints I want to design.

Do you have any business advice that worked well for you that you’d care to share?
Habbakuk 2:2 says to write the vision down on tablets and make it plain to see so that those who read it can run with it. I started redletterwords.etsy.com in August of 2008, in September I sold my first print shortly after that I started writing down the vision of what I wanted to accomplish that month.

Every month the vision at the top of my list is to have people be reminded how very much God loves them and cares for them and that He has a good plan for them. And every month I get emails from women saying how much a certain print affected them.

What are your favorite hobbies?
drinking coffee with my husband, cooking for and hanging out with family and friends, playing card games and Clue with my kids, scrapbooking, bible studies, swimming across the lake, photography, decorating, hiking – although I should say walking because I really only like a nice paved trail that isn’t too steep where there is virutally no chance of running into a snake or mountain lion.

What’s currently on Dee’s wish list?
My family is happy and healthy and growing in wisdom and favor everyday. Honestly I have everything that I could ever need.

Name your top website/blogs.
www.colorincprolab.com
www.thepioneerwoman.com
www.aliedwards.typepad.com
www.etsy.com

Dee has been gracious enough to offer one of her 12×12 gallery wrapped prints to one lucky winner. Rules are simple:
1. Visit her website and choose which 12×12 print you would get if you won.
2. Come back here and leave a comment by Thursday, August 20th 11:59pm EDT.
3. To double your chances tweet about this giveaway and come back and leave another comment
4. Winner will be announced on the blog Friday August 21st.

Thank you so much Dee for letting us know more about and for the awesome giveaway!
website :: shop

Earlier this week I received some photos of how a customer used the custom favor tags I made along with a sweet thank you note. It’s so rewarding seeing how something you designed completes a look and a vision. Below you’ll see photos from a birthday party for dear Henry.

PJ just launched her new blog designated to showcasing stationery and other goodies. Definitely one you want to bookmark or put in your Google reader to keep up to date with all of the trends. I had the pleasure of meeting PJ on my one-day whirlwind tour of the National Stationery Show and she is such a sweetheart. And to boot she is featuring little ol’ me on her blog today complete with a giveaway. Hop on over there and enter. Contest ends Thursday, August 13th.
Is it really the middle of August already?!

And sweet Vana owner and designer of Le Papier Studio feature me on her blog. When I began thinking about my business I looked to her for inspiration and advice. And without hesitation she obliged. Thank you Vana for everything and for the feature. I’m just so giddy to be on your blog!

Thank you ladies, you really made my Monday!