all play {no work}

This is me.  Today.  At work.  They said I wouldn't do it.  I did.  But I couldn't sit.  :(

weekend greeting giveaway {fourteen}

Who doesn't love Parker Posey? This awesome card is from La Familia Green.

Do you know someone that thinks Parker Posey is the greatest? If you'd like to send them this card, just leave me a comment saying who you would send it to and why {by next Friday}. I'll pick my favorite comment and you'll get the card. You can find more rules here.

Last week's winner is Jenny {from the awesome LobotoME ... fun blog too}. Yay, new wall art for Sam! :) Jenny, I know where to find you ... no need to email me your mailing address. Thank you everyone for playing ... I do love to read your comments.

Happy Halloween!!

awesome ad

December's issue of domino was fabulous as always. I particularly enjoyed the article and photos of Jenna Lyons {creative director for j.crew} home. The colors are inspiring, closet worth coveting {excuse me ... it's a whole room!} ... and well, she just couldn't be any cuter.

So there's all this inspiration and color and great ideas going on throughout the mag, but what did I enjoy most? This awesome ad from Motrin ...

more new products

Just added ... I'm so excited to have madebygirl at bwp!  I've only got some Holiday offerings in the store right now, but stay tuned for everyday goods in the future.

Jennifer's designs are printed on materials that are good for the earth.  I love this quote from her website, "All my cards will be printed on recycled or post consumer paper, with the hopes of creating a positive change in others."

Check out her inspiring blog and if you're in the market for some fun prints, take a look at her etsy site.

new product availability

I am super proud to announce that emilee rose products are now available in our webstore.  She's also got a pretty cute blog you should check out.

construction update

As you can see from the photos, progress has been made {and it's also been a long time since I've posted about it}.

Construction should be done in two weeks.  Honestly, I don't think you'd guess that by walking through ... but I'm all about trust!  :)

I tried some fancy numbering on my photos:

#1 - where the girls beds will be placed ... one by each window

#2 - a view of their playroom

#3 - another view of their playroom

#4 - the fireplace in my office!!!!  {giddy? just a little}

#5 - an alcove {the color is actually fuchsia} above each girl's closet, where a personalized illustration of each of my girls will hang. {emilee rose is hard at work on them}

awesome idea

{found via cool mom picks}

This is the most awesomest idea ever!  As I may have mentioned {ahem}, I do love personalized things ... and what is more personal than a doll made from your child's art work?!?

Do I hear Christmas idea?

Want a chance to win one?  Check it out here.

creative thank you 'note'

Remember this party invitation?  Well ... this {above} is the thank you note.  My-oh-my Miss Heather, I do think you've outdone yourself {and everyone else}!  :)

This is the most awesome thank you 'deck' I've ever seen!  What I didn't catch on to at the party, was why Heather was asking all the kids what their fav recipe was, and then writing them down.  Here's an example of my daughter's favorite:

Recipe for:  Cheese

By:  Wynter

Ingredients:  cheese, bread

Oven temp:  3 degrees

Cook time:  4 minutes

Directions:  Put it on a sandwich

Heather put together all the kids recipes on separate cards.  Then put a stack of photos together, with a photo of the guest behind their particular recipe.  Brilliant!!

weekend greeting giveaway {thirteen}

This weekend greeting is a subtle beauty from a fairly new designer of ours ... Sweetbeets.  I love using these cards for simple hello, or thank you.  They're too sweet to pass up!

Can you think of someone who needs a subtle hello? If you'd like to send them this card, just leave me a comment saying who you would send it to and why {by next Friday}. I'll pick my favorite comment and you'll get the card. You can find more rules here.

Last week's winner is Nancy!  Come on ... it involved a trip to the store! :)  Nancy, please email me with your mailing address and I'll get the card out to you.  Thank you everyone for playing ... I do love to read your comments.

Happy weekend everyone!  We're forecasting snow in Milwaukee {it's too soon, it's too soon!}.

more personalized fun!

Did you know you can personalize stamps too?  The site also offers a free download to Mac users, which allows you to customize border colors and give a bit more control to the final design.

Along with creating stamps for my personal correspondence, I've given them as gifts and always use them to personalize my children's invites and thank you notes.

it's a cookie swap party

Member the awesome designer I touted in this morning's post? This. is the awesome project she was working on.

We feature different design tips on our website and Nellie's latest creation is a Cookie Swap party. Everyone here was ooogling over this party invite and idea ... we wouldn't leave her alone. I love everything about it!

Thank you Nellie ...

winter wedding favors

I love {in a strictly professional way of course} my graphic designer and her intern {Nellie & Katie, respectively}.

Brides.com contacted us for some winter wedding favor ideas they could feature.  We didn't have any in the store, so Katie started whipping some up {while Nellie was working hard on a project I will share later today}.  Nellie joined in when the other project was complete.

I love these favor ideas!  And I love how these creative minds work ... seems they can pull creative ideas out of their booties {can I say that?} and put something awesome together.  If it were me, I'd still be sitting at the drawing board.

Or ... I would've given the project to Nellie.  :)

personalized kleenex

Did you know you can personalize a box of Kleenex?  I am so giddy right now!  I love, love, love all things personalized ... love!

The first time I made personalized tissue boxes was last year ... made lots for gifts and lots for myself.

So when I recently received our new family photos, the first two things I did was order my new personalized purse {which I'll post about when I receive it}, and new Kleenex boxes.

Shouldn't everyone have personalized Kleenex?

Thank you Christine for taking a Kleenex-box-worthy photo!  :)

trick or treat

My kids love Halloween.  They love spiders, snakes, insects ... so a few ghosts, skeletons and evil looking birds are nothing!

I thought it'd be fun to show you how our house is decorated for the holiday.  Thanks to Pottery Barn Kids for offering up some great decorations!

i'm feelin' creative!

We at bwp, received this ...

saw this ...

and made this ...

Do you love the Snow & Graham wrap we used?  And look very carefully, you'll see a little mug 'tag.'  In looking at the photo, the bag may appear larger than it really is.  It measures about 5ish inches tall, by 4ish wide ... and it's absolutely cute as a button!

I'm lovin' all these designs too!  My creative juices are flowin' ...

blessing from the nienie auction

You all remember the Nielson story? I had mentioned that I bid on a couple of items on other blogs.

One was personalized stationery from Susann at Simplesong and I just received the second from Bethany, who also writes a fun blog.

From Bethany, I bid on a personalized quilt. I sent her about 20 old baby items {actually, a couple current ones were in there too} and she put together this amazing quilt. Could it be any more awesome?

I cried when she sent me a teaser photo. Each square holds a special memory or moment. There are a couple items from my 13 year old {she wore as a baby}. They were my favorites, so I saved them and all 3 other girls wore them. Then there's the hospital gown baby Hunter wore when she had her ear tube surgery. Some personalized t-shirts they got from daycare with their photos. Monogrammed sweaters, hooded towels, a pair of training 'undiEwears' {as my 'baby' calls them}. Big sigh ...

And what I love the most is the attention to detail. Bethany kept buttons & snaps visible, and cut out just the right detail of the clothing piece. Thank you, thank you, thank you Bethany.

The best part is that we were able to participate and help out the Nielson family in their time of need.

Just a reminder you can stay updated on the Nielson's here.

this is sophie

My daughter loves Sophie.  So does our puppy {but that's another post ...}.

I spotted Sophie over here and thought I'd give her a little shout out too.  A couple of months ago, I was in our local children's boutique {Freckle Face} looking for some cute baby gifts, when the lovely Deanna clued me in that Sophie's where it's at.

I took her advice and picked up a couple for baby gifts ... but not without grabbing an extra for my two year old 'baby' ... like she needs a teether, right?

And as I'm writing this, I remembered that Sophie made a recent appearance in our yearly photoshoot.  {exhibit's below}

{photo courtesy of christine plamann}

Ya see how the puppy is eyeing up Sophie?

{photo courtesy of christine plamann}

Note in this photo ... Sophie was causing a bit of distraction to Hunter, so we needed to give Sophie a little nap.

Anyhoo ... Deanna was totally right ... if you're looking for baby gift {or possibly trying to extend the timeline of your own 'baby'} ... Sophie's where it's at!

weekend greeting giveaway {twelve}

This weekend greeting is from one of my favorite designers ... Linda & Harriett.

Do you know someone who is the best? If you'd like to send them this card, just leave me a comment saying who you would send it to and why {by next Friday}. I'll pick my favorite comment and you'll get the card. You can find more rules here.

Last week's winner is a tough one for me! 89 year old woman vs. friendship? I think I'm going to have to go with cheering up the elderly. I hope I'm still celebrating when I'm 89! Amymarie, please email me your mailing address and I'll send you the card and candybar.

Happy weekend everyone!

new products & blog

I found a new blog to love.  emilee rose also happens to make some pretty cool paper delights {which will be in the store soon}.

Should I also mention that Emily is pretty cool herself?  How do I know?  She's a manager at bwp and keeps things flowin' smoothly for me.

Enjoy!  And I'll let you know when we have her stuff in the store.

neighborhood fun

Our neighborhood, the Historic Third Ward {in Milwaukee} is hosting a trick-or-treat event on Halloween.

Broadway Paper is handing out candy to the little ones and will offer at 10% discount to any adults in costume. Fun?

Find more information here.

remembering our babies

Today, October 15th, is the National Day of Remembrance for pregnancy and infant loss. I've suffered four miscarriages. 3 of them were only days after finding out I was pregnant. The fourth was at 10ish weeks. It was a girl. Would've been my fourth baby girl. All were while trying for our fourth child.

I needed a D&C on July 29, 2004. And what I find miraculous, is Hunter {my fourth that is on earth with me} was conceived on July 29, 2005. I think God is great!

It's amazing to me once you've suffered a loss like this, how many people you find out have suffered the same. I love Angie Smith's blog ... started when she realized the baby she was carrying, Audrey Caroline, may not be born alive. I encourage you to read her story.

Angie posted last night with a reminder of today's significance. She encouraged readers to post a comment with their own story. Whether miscarriage, stillborn, SIDS, or the loss of a child ... we all share in the emotion of loss. As of right now there are 1174 comments {that number was 1600something when I started writing this post}. It is incredible to me when reading these stories {kleenex recommended!} how many of us share in this loss. But also the strength and courage we've mustered to accept it as God's will and move on.

Tonight you're encouraged to light a candle at 7:00pm ... all over the world, no matter your time zone. Keep it burning for at least one hour and there will be a continuous 'Wave of Light' over the entire world. Join me, won't you?

And since I'm writing about pregnancies ... I should mention, there seems to be something in the bwp water, as we've got 3 preggos afoot! Well, one is an honorary bwp'er ... but still!

The ultrasound photo I've posted belongs to Lisa {our office manager} whose precious bundle is resting safely in it's waterbed. Can't wait to meet him {did I just say him?}! :)

loop

Our selection of Loop stationery is ready for the taking in our webstore. 

And because we're jam packed with holiday selections, I'm currently not buying everyday designs.  Therefore just a small selection of Loop's wonderful offerings ... for now.

weekend greeting giveaway {eleven}

Bring on the pumpkins! It's Halloween time ...

This card is from Uncooked. Are you familiar? They are hilarious ... when we're at the show {nss}, we are pretty much literally laying on the floor laughing at these cards.

So ... let the commenting begin. Just leave me a comment saying who you would send this card to and why {by next Friday}. I'll pick my favorite and you get the card. You can find more rules here.

And in honor of trick-or-treat, this week I'll send this candy bar from Bloomsberry along with the card. I love this packaging!

And for last week's winner ... Micaela. Thank you so much for commenting. What a great support to your daughter's childcare provider. I'm sure she'll be very moved by it. Send me an email with your mailing address and I'll send you out the card.

Happy weekend everyone!

yummiest of all

Do you have a go-to catalog/website for that certain something?  When it comes to unique children's clothes, or baby gifts, mine is Chasing Fireflies.

I fell even harder when I received the latest Halloween catalog.  Not your typical costumes in here ... just look at these ... are they not adorable?

Makes me not only want to order that delicious bumblebee costume ... but the little bundle inside too!  :)

delphine press calendars

Too beautiful to pass up ...

Exhibit A: a lovely desk calendar {of which I am the proud new owner}

Exhibit B: an equally lovely wall calendar

breast cancer awareness

I wanted share the ecard we sent out yesterday ... there are ads for awareness everywhere I turn this month, and I love it!

I'd like to encourage you to 'shop for a cure' ... if not at bwp, then anywhere that will make a difference.

my october calendar pages

I love this month's Linda & Harriett calendar.  It's perfect for October and Halloween.  We've gone crazy in our house this month decorating for Halloween.  My girls love bats, spiders, webs ... pretty much all things creepy crawly and "spoooooky" as the baby says.

I think the Snow & Graham calendar page is pretty cool too!

indulge me ...

This is my four year old singing Burnin' Up by the Jonas Brothers.  I realize I'm speaking as a mother here, but it was too precious to keep to myself!

a little something extra

I received these glasses with a reorder from one of our designers {I'm almost positive it was Mina Lee}.  The kids had a blast with them!

I love when we get little extras with our reorders ... thank you!

who wants a baby deer?

{photo courtesy of daily mail}

This is Rupert. He was delivered via cesarean section when his mommy was hit by a car. I love him.

weekend greeting giveaway {ten}

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, I've chose this inspiring letterpress card from Elum.  I've had many people in my life affected by breast cancer ... either themselves, or someone they know.  We need to do all we can to support the efforts to find advancements against this horrible disease ...

Know someone you'd like to send this card to?  Just leave me a comment saying who you would send it to and why {by next Friday}.  I'll pick my favorite comment, and you get the card.  Find more rules here.

As for last week's winner ... big booty judy, come on down!  :)  Shannon, I loved your comment!  Please email me your mailing address and I'll send you out the card.

Thanks everyone!

don't vote

{found via jessica claire}

This is pretty awesome ...

warehouse sale

For those of you that may not know, the bwp warehouse sale is quite the fete in Milwaukee. It started when we were in our old location, which really was basically a warehouse. We'd have the sale upstairs in our office space on the third floor, which was a large open space.

I'm suddenly thinking back to the ancient hydraulic elevator we used to bring products back and forth, for receiving/pricing and then back down to the sales floor. Ahh, memories ...

Anyway, we had people waiting in lines! to get into the sale ... crazy! And since moving into the new space over five years ago, we decided to continue with the warehouse sale.

Unfortunately, our sale space is extremely limited now, and I'm afraid the sales have lost a bit of popularity. Which is a crying shame {did I just write crying shame?}, because there are some pretty good deals to be had! I mean, don't get me wrong ... we still have our diehards ... we just don't have people waiting for us to open the doors anymore.

To put some excitement back in the sale, we've tried something new {and fun}, everyone that comes in gets to pick out a candy peppermint to see if they get an extra discount {60 or 70%} off the already 50% discounted price.

So ... moral of the story? If you're in the area next weekend, stop by for some early holiday shopping. Not in the area? During the sale days, we'll be offering an extra 15% off items in our webshop.

decision made!

We are getting very close to being done with our new addition.  {YAY!} ... problem was, I. could. not. decide on a color scheme for my new office.  But I am now happy to say ... decision made!

Last week, I picked out a sofa that will add the key color element {blue}, and then pillows and decor for accent {green & grey, as noted above}.

When I got home I was so excited, that I wanted to relay my color choices to the gals at bwp, so went online to COLOURlovers ... {have you seen this site?!} to whip up a swatch to send my friends at the store.

And then, in honor of my {huge} decision, Emily put together our very own bwp inspiration board.  Thank you Miss Emily!!