The Crafting Bonanza and Other Updates

A lot has happened in the last few weeks since I've posted! It's crazy how quickly time flies. One of my best friends from college got married this weekend to a super nice guy at this beautiful venue near Orlando. Now they're honeymooning at Disneyland and not gonna lie, B and I are a little jealous about that part.

Pavilion on the Lake in Tavares, Florida, where my friend got married. It was beautiful! Image via venues.puffnstuff.com

I've been busy working on lots of orders and projects! I really need to get better at learning to balance my crafting/production time and my blogging time.

I LOVE paper flowers and I know I want to do them for my wedding, so when my bride Stacey asked me to experiment with making giant paper roses, I figured it was as good a time as any to jump in to that. I love how my first one came out and I love the medium! I used the Green Wedding Shoes tutorial and the Martha Stewart flower template.

My first attempt at a paper rose! Via my Instagram.

It really has been a crafting marathon bonanza at my house these past few weeks. In addition to paper flowers, I made boutonnières for a groom in Canada. I love how they turned out!

Alternative Wedding Bouquets

As I've mentioned before, I'm pretty new to Instagram and I love it. Besides being fun because of all the pretty pictures, it's a great way to meet new people and find new things. I've long been obsessed with paper flowers and I'm planning on using them for my wedding. Through Instagram, I've found several paper florists (is that what they're called? is that a thing?) that I was previously unaware of. I also found another cool alternative to fresh flowers that even though I probably won't do, I'm super in awe of them. And well, I make alternative bouquets too, so I'll talk about myself a little (haha).

Like I said, I've been loving on paper flowers for awhile now, but I just recently found a few really good makers of them on IG. Probably my favorite is Margie Keates from The Lovely Ave. I've been Instagram stalking her for the last few weeks and she does some great work. I'd love to have some of her flowers at my wedding (if I haven't been too creepy of a stalker and she'll talk to me, that is).

From The Lovely Ave @thelovelyave on Instagram.

From @thelovelyave on Instagram.

Super pretty, huh? And check out her beautiful new website!

The other super talented maker of alternative bouquets that I've been in awe of lately, is Meghan LaCroix. She makes the most gorgeous, fresh-looking bouquets that I would never believe are actually dried and preserved.

From @MeghanLaCroix on Instagram

I'm on Instagram now!

I'm (finally) on Instagram!

I wanted to take my time to do it right as a business and I'm so glad I did. Right when I needed it, my friend Karissa Barber started a new group, Rising Tide Entrepreneurs, so that we, as independent business owners, can help each other out.... a rising tide raises all boats. Anywho... our first meeting centered around the use of Instagram for business, just what was on my mind right then!

I'm so excited to be using this new-to-me social media platform to expand my brand and connect with like-minded folks. So far, it reminds me a lot of Pinterest, which is/was my favorite.