High 5 for Friday!

Woooooaaaah...where did the week go? Happy Labor Day weekend everyone! Here's my High 5 for Friday:

World Tour Stories.com - a sailing blog written by a European couple who have simplified their lives by taking to the sea. I love to read about their adventures, especially this week as Labor Day is here & the summer seems to be coming to a close. And then there is the whole I'm-a-sailor-and-want-to-sail-away part. Total lifestyle envy. One day...

Welcome to our new office! Velocity Made Good (or VMG for short) is the company my husband & I recently started. We have moved from our living room to a temporary office space in DUMBO. We love it.

My bike - for the first time since I bought this awesome machine, I have a place & reason to ride regularly. Mr. B & I can bike together to the office...

...through Brooklyn Bridge Park. Not a shabby commute - this is from last night on the way home at the Kayak launch. My legs are aching in a good kind of way.

Last but not least - my handlettering project. Amanda at Wit & Whistle started a group Pinterest board for interested parties to practice & post their hand drawn type. Above is my week one. In preparation for my week two, I treated myself to a mechanical pencil, graph pad & new pilot pen. {squeal!!!}

Happy Weekend everyone! What's on your agenda? I have some wedding menus to finish up tonight. Remember these doily menus? I have another order to complete & ship to the UK! Yeah! Then off to the beach...

More Mug Magic

{from Simply Jess}

My girlfriend {and blog reader!!}, Aynsley, sent me this great mug idea today. See picture above...Chalkboard Mugs! Another fun way to make your morning...or afternoon...more interesting. I like the chalk marker...regular chalk sounds messy. I can imagine the mess you'd make of your message and/or your hand. It's the same with the dry erase markers, though I suppose. Gotta use the handle!

A quick internet search came up with a few places to buy them...like Amazon or Etsy. And of course, you could make one. I love the way both Wit & Whistle & The DIY Club have both used the chalkboard paint. Not your average paint job.

{I need more colors! Dry erase markers at Amazon}

For now I'm sticking to dry erase markers, but maybe for the holidays I'll expand to chalkboard paint. Chalkboard mugs would make great gifts with my homemade hot chocolate! Somehow I just know that the second I start painting anything with chalkboard paint, I'm going to cover everything in it.

Snowflakes in August

Last weekend we had a fun Christmas promotion at the Dekalb Market. Christmas in August!! To help decorate the shop, I made paper snowflakes. It was a labor of love, but the results were awesome!

Start with a square piece of paper...I used 8x8 inches. Fold according to instructions. Found here or here. Grab some sharp scissors & have some fun! My results:

The before & after : my triangle all cut up & read for unfolding. Drumroll...Amazing!

Again, my before & after. Those points were tough to make. Very easy to cut through the folds in the wrong place.

I love the spikes! I will definitely try some of this again.

Both tutorials that I mentioned were great, showing before & afters as I've done above. I found that to be a good inspiration & it gave me a little bit of an idea as to the shapes I would was making.  Mostly, though it was a surprise to see what I'd created. Also, they give some great ideas on both sites for designs, this one more for the beginner & this one more for someone handy with scissors.

For displaying them, we taped them up in the windows, but I seem to remember using paper clips as a kid to hang them on the tree. 

I think I'll make more when the holidays actually arrive!

High 5 for Friday!

I'm all about apps this week...

{from top left, clockwise}

1. Etsy app - how I love to browse with thee...

2. on the right is Google Chrome. It's literally changed my life this week.

3. Under that is the Square app. I check in on my sales from anywhere I have a cell signal.

4. Instagram - do you need a reason to love it? It's just awesome.

5. Last but not least - my twitter app. 

Press!

{check out my profile on Eleanor's blog}

My friend at the Dekalb Market, Alison, has a great bike shop for ladies. Her accessories, baskets & the like are all well chosen & express her amazing taste. Last week, she profiled me on her blog!

Read it here.

Super excited to be included! Thanks, Alison!

High 5 for Friday

I've posted 2 Fridays in a row! Wahoo!! Here we go, in no particular order...

My partner, my husband. Thanks for being my person.

My brother. Thanks for the chat today, dude. {fist bump!}

I've got cooking plans this weekend & I am PUMPED!!

Numbers 4 & 5 are kind of the same. I'm sorry to be unoriginal and say our boat again, but I'm gonna. Right now I've got white girl problems - work, work, work - which is a total blessing, but it makes these weekend boat trips that much better.

Ho Hum Beach. Yes, Bellport, you make my High 5 for Friday this week. It's quiet. It's gorgeous. It looks like it fell out of a Norman Rockwell painting. So glad to be spending the weekend here.

Have a great weekend! 

If you are interested in participating in High 5 for Friday, learn about it & join the link party @ From My Grey Desk, here.

New Products! Kinda...

Things move pretty quickly around the Batty household. As much as I'd like to claim that I strategically post about new products, that I am so organized and on top of marketing them & myself, the truth is...I'm scrambling.

So, here I am MONTHS after posting these on my Etsy shop, letting the public know about new products in my shop. Sometimes this is the way the cookie crumbles.

Voila! You're Cool & Smooches...

Originially designed for Valentine's Day, I decided why pigeon hole them? People need to send cards to say they care 365 days a year. They've been very popular at the Dekalb Market! {beaming!!}

Swing by An Etsy Artist Assembly @ the Dekalb Market if you're in downtown Brooklyn or check them out on my Etsy shop.