Get Your Calendars!!

Are you ready to ring in 2011?? What better way to welcome the new year than with one of Green With Envy Studios 2011 Desk Calendars!!

Now offering FREE SHIPPING on all 2011 Desk Calendars!

2011 Desk Calendar-Illustrations

2011 Desk Calendar-Patterns

Happy Holidays 2010

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday!!

Things To Come

Well it looks like the holiday rush is slowing down. So this is my second holiday season and what I consider my first real holiday season. Last year I was only open for about two weeks when holiday time rolled around so I didn’t see much traffic. Now I’m sure my “rush” was a drop in the bucket for some shops out there but it really renewed my love for what I do. I love seeing what people like in my shop and what they come up with for customizing their order. I got my packaging and order filling down to a science. And being so busy after a full day at my day job made me realize what I need to do in the new year to be better organized in hopes that the good times keep rolling.

I am currently working on a few Valentine’s Day related items that I am super excited about and hope to have in the shop early January. I am also thinking about new packaging options for some of my items.

I also want to make some changes in the products that I offer. Bookplates by far are my best sellers and its funny because I didn’t even know what a bookplate was when I first opened shop. I want to definitely expand on those. On the flip side I have been looking over my shop and trying to decide where to trim the fat so to speak. Its easier to cut products that I thought were neat but never sold, and got little to no views. It’s harder to decide what to cut when looking at items that may have never sold but get tons of views and hearts. I think I might cut a few things in the hopes of re-vamping them and see how that goes.

So during the slow time before the new year you may notice some new things popping up and a few things disappearing. IF something you liked before disappears feel free to drop me a line, I am always happy to make it available for purchase again.

Oh also I will be “closing” the shop Dec. 23rd-26th. It will be open but I won’t be processing orders until the 27th. I will be spending some much needed time with my hubs and daughter, baking cookies for Santa and enjoying the holidays in our matching Xmas pjs (I know you’re jealous).

Look Who Is Back...

Wow it’s been 9 million years since I last blogged J Not sure anyone is out there…heck I wasn’t sure anyone really read this when I was blogging a lot. Well for those that may still be checking this I felt I should start up the blogging again but make some changes.

So I stopped blogging for a few reasons….but in all honesty I wasn’t liking it. I originally entered the blog world when I was preggo with my daughter. I created a blog to chronical my pregnancy and life after I gave birth. I soon became obsessed with blogs and loved reading about other women who were preggo or new mothers. When I started down this business road I became obsessed with reading other business owners blogs. I was interested in seeing how other people were managing their businesses. But soon it became too hectic and I stopped reading the family blogs. I abandoned my personal blog because I didn’t have time to do two blogs. But I have found it hard to find a rhythm with this blog and I don’t really like to blog anymore, I feel like it’s a choir. Part of the problem is figuring out what to blog about. I felt like I should be blogging about my business of course but then other blogs have all these crafty tutorials and giveaways and features and so on and so on.

I found myself trying to cram that stuff in but the reality is I don’t have time to read the blogs I used to let alone come up with crafty tutorials (or do much crafting). Plus it just wasn't true to whats really going on in my world.

So as this wonderful poster by John W. Golden says...I'm going to be myself.

I'm going to blog about my business of course but I'm going to blog about stuff that interests me and maybe some personal life sprinkled in.

Ok with that being said I will blog some more tomorrow about whats in the works for the shop for the New Year. Stay Tuned!!

Change Is In The Air

Sorry for the lack of activity...it kind of plays into what I'm posting about today. So there will be some upcoming changes to Green With Envy Studios. I have struggled for the last year to balance GWES, my day job and my family. But I really don't do a good job. I put a lot into GWES, a lot of times at the expense of my family and that is not fair. I sometimes feel like I haven't really seen the return on my investment yet and that makes it even harder. I really want to continue creating items for my customers but I'm currently trying to figure out the best way to do so without sacrificing as much of my time but still offering a good product.


I have brainstormed several ideas and I'm still not sure what I will end up doing but stay tuned for some big changes. I'm going to wait and see how the holiday seasons looks before I start making changes. But I'm thinking I will close the shop after my Dec. 12th shipping deadline and do some revamping and re-open in whatever capacity I can after that.

Thanks guys. I will try and post some but probably not a lot until I figure out what I'm doing. Thanks for understanding!

One More Freebie

No "With Envy Wednesday" today. But starting next week and every Wednesday until Christmas I will be featuring one shop on my Christmas wishlist. I will featuring products I want for myself (hmmm need to get hubs to stumble on this blog before Christmas :p) and products I think would be neat the important people in our lives. I think I'll call it Wishlist Wednesday because I have to have a catchy title right!



I also wanted to stop and let you know I created another freebie you everyone. If you're having a party for Thanksgiving or just a simple dinner this invite is a nice simple way to provide your guests with the details.

Give Thanks Invitation

For Personal Use ONLY

Season's Greetings-2010 Holiday Collection

Oh the holiday season is here. Time to start shopping, preparing for the annual holiday photo, sending out Holiday cards and preparing for the 20 million pounds you'll gain from the yummy food (hmmm maybe that last one is just me).


I picked a few of the note card sets in the shop that I liked and paired them with my new Holiday illustrations.

2010 Holiday Collection by Green With Envy Studios

Holiday Dash Flat Note Card Set


Holiday Stacked Flat Note Card Set

Holiday Big Circle Folded Note Card Set

Holiday Silhouette Folded Note Card Set

Holiday Dash Folded Note Card Set

I also created some 2.5"x2.5" square gift tags to coordinate with the holiday card designs. I liked how they turned out. I am thinking about offering them with my regular illustrations.

Holiday Dash Gift Tags

Holiday Silhouette Gift Tags

Holiday Stacked Gift Tags

I did not create any holiday specific items for my Pattern line. I considered it but the reality is you already choose the color scheme and personalization for those note cards and gift tags so you can easily make them into a holiday theme.

This is my first real holiday season. I opened my shop right before Thanksgiving and I didn't offer any holiday related items then. So we will see how this year goes!

I will be including the new holiday illustrations to all the items in my shop in case you want to add a little holiday flare to bookplates or maybe a print.

So since I'm in the holiday spirit I will be offering 20% off your purchase of any item in my 2010 Holiday Collection or any item you order using my Holiday illustrations. Offer ends Novemeber 15, 2010.

Freebie Friday :)

I will be debuting my 2010 Holiday Collection on Monday 11/8! I am very excited and I hope you are too!!

In the meantime, it's time for FREE Printable...YIPPEE!!!

With the holidays coming up I vowed to be more organized with my shopping and since I have to send a lot of my gifts 2000 miles away I need to make sure I get everything shipped out on time too.

I created this wonderful organizer to help us all get our shopping done and keep track of ideas and requests. There is room to include the recipient's name, budget range, gift possibilities any special notes about the recipient or gift and where you are in the gift buy/giving process.

This organizer can be used for any time you need to give gifts!

Simply click below to download the the file (there is no sign-in/sign-up required to download this file)

Gift Organizer by Green With Envy Studios

For Personal Use ONLY.

Jocelyn's 2nd Birthday aka Balloonfest 2010 :)

**WARNING: Picture heavy post ahead!

My little one LOVES balloons...every time we pass a car lot or party store I hear squealing from the back seat. She is fascinated by them. This years theme was perfect for her!! I knew I wanted a cluster of balloons for her invite but I didn't really know the color scheme since she doesn't have a fav color. As mentioned before after ordering her bday shirt I decided to try and match the colors in the shirt and I really like how the invite and colors came together.

SOOOO many balloons...I think I actually used more balloons in the wreath then in the house :)

I wanted to make the food simple so we had pizza and chips/pretzels as the main food. I made the cake (not totally happy with the way it looks but it tasted yummy). I also mad cupcake in a jar as the party favor for the guests. Pretty simple and easy! Earlier I made crayons for Jossie's class party favors.

My favorite part of her birthday was her present. I wanted to get her something she would actually use and that wouldn't get ignored like all her other presents. I was originally leaning towards something art related because she loves to color. But then I was reading The Busy Budgeting Mama's blog. Natalie posted about her daughter Sophie's second birthday party (super cute definitely check it out!). Her and her mother made felt play food as part of their present. I was instantly obsessed and thought that would be a great present for Jossie. She was already feeding us air food often :) Then my hubs decided to make her a play kitchen to go along.

To say I was impressed is a total understatement. My mom made the majority of the food and my hub built the kitchen from old cabinets. My mom and sister painted it and it just turned out great!!

Last but not least...the birthday girl :) I wish I had some better pic of our little bday girl but she was cranky before her party and got a late nap and was actually still sleeping when the party started. I had to wake her up and she was still fussy and wouldn't let me do her hair or put on shoes. So she spent the party with crazy hair and no shoes but she of course she didn't care. I was also bummed I didn't get a good pic of her bday shirt (minus the spongebob sticker she had to have on it). Most of the pictures I have she is doing something and you can't see the shirt. The ones I made her pose for she was annoyed and wouldn't smile. But most importantly she had a great time! Two of my friends brought their little ones so we had 4 little girls 10 months-4 yrs and they all had a good time and loved the kitchen.

I couldn't have pulled it off without the help of my mommy, sister and hubs. I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!

****

Special thanks to:

1)Kristina of Modern Frills, Jossie loved the bday shirt, sorry I didn't get any good pics without Spongebob on the shirt. But everyone complimented your work!

2)Natalie of The Busy Budgeting Mama (and Pretty Paperie) for the the felt food idea and great listing of tutorials

3)HowDoesShe? for wreath tutorial

Special Delivery...A Happy Halloween!!

With Envy Wednesday-Happy Halloween!

I know, I know its Thursday not Wednesday! But I was sick the past two days and I had this all ready but I didn't set it up to auto-post. So I'm doing it today. Halloween is Sunday so I thought I would show you some fun inspiration for a fun party! Munchkin's birthday is 6 days before Halloween so I know somewhere down the line we will end up having a Halloween themed birthday party too :) I'm sure a lot of these items are seasonal so check them out and also the rest of the items in these talented Etsian's shops...you will be amazed and inspired and maybe make a purchase or two!

a) Custom Halloween Party Invitation - Costume Party Kids by pixelperfectboutique

b) 12 Halloween Coasters (Letterpress) (2009) by vermilionstarpress

c) Lil Lady Boutique Lil Miss Kitty Baby Tutu Costume by lilladyboutique (sold but check out the other neat items in her shop!)

d) Halloween Wreath by Abbystiques

e) Happy Halloween...10 Pom Set by ADashOfColor

f) Halloween Cookies Ghosts Bats Spiderwebs by rollinindough

Unexpected Bday Present (No I'm Not Preggo Mom)

Have I mentioned that I LOVE getting packages in the mail?? Well it was perfect timing yesterday...I asked the hubs to check the mail (we don't do it every day because the box is up the street so its not like we have a mailbox in front of our house). He came back with this lovely package. I was so excited....it was perfect because it was like a bday present for Munchkin even though I didn't intend it to be one. I featured Twillypop in a past "With Envy Wednesday". I happened upon Sara's shop when it was featured on the front page of Etsy and I fell in love. Sara's necklaces are so creative and would work with a t-shirt and jeans or something fancy. She also has a shop for girls necklaces, Twillypopgirl. Truth be told I would wear any of those necklaces too :)

Love the packaging...sooo cute!

The weekend before last Sara was trying to get to 40 sales in Twillypopgirl. She offered her Jackie necklace free with your Twillypopgirl order. My fingers couldn't move fast enough, I couldn't pass up such a good deal!

Munchkin took an instant liking to her Trinity "neckie"...and my shoes :)

Awwww a much better picture....love this girl and her "neckie"

There are no pics of her wearing Jackie because I had it on most of the night then when I got a chance I had to hide them both to avoid a bedtime meltdown and her losing one or both. I'm hoping to get some cute pics of her wearing her necklace when she gets her pics taken on Weds. or at her birthday party on Saturday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

she just got her school pictures done so she was posing :)

I can't believe my little Munchkin is 2 already!!! You're too young to read this but I love you and you are the reason I do what I do :)

You're Invited

I've started the count down to Munchkin's birthday/birthday party. The "theme" is balloons because she LOVES them.

I had the original design before I ordered her party shirt from Modern Frills. Originally I was going to do a rainbow color scheme but after getting her shirt I pulled the colors from the shirt as I think they are a good mix.

Now I just have to get everything else ready and hopefully Munchkin won't be in time out for her party (we got incident report #3 today plus a call from school basically saying they don't know what to do with her...ugh)

How I Feel...

photo by Earmark Keep Calm Parody No. 2

This sums up my feelings as I prepare for the half-marathon, Munchkin's birthday, her birthday party, Halloween and my family's visit. Plus trying to get work done before I take a week off. AHHHH!!

With Envy Wednesday-Flower Power

click image for optimal viewing

Yesterday on my Facebook Fanpage I posted a link to a tutorial on making fabric flowers. I have been seeing them everywhere and they are just so darn cute. I was actually first inspired by this dress I found at Target.

I was looking for a dress for Munchkin to wear for her 2 year pictures. I like how the dress is simple with a pop of fun.

So this week I am featuring some fab Etsian and their cute and style items with a fabric flower flare (say that one 3 times fast!)

Don't forget stop by their shop or any of their social media sites and say "hey!"

a)Handmade organza satin sew on flower appliques by JujaCrafts

b)Button it Up Yarn Wreath Yellow Roses Front Door wreath by AnnaHailey

c)Bohemian Poppies Fabric Bins by sewingmomma

d)Peachy Pink Victorian Trio On A Pale Pink Shimmery Stretch Headband by PrettyBabyBowtique

e)Five Flower Cluster Pin (green apple) by NoPlainTs

f)Bridal Party Set - 4 Clutch Purses with Flower Brooch by allisajacobs

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!!