The Little Missus

Welcome back everybody!


I'm getting started to re-open Swell Papel on Monday morning... crossing my fingers.  I'm so excited! 


I'll be posting about the wedding soon.  I just have to say this: IT WAS AMAZING!  Small, intimate, rustic, and delicious to the eyes!  The ceremony was sweet and touching, with some of our family and friends surrounding us with their love and their warmth, a handsome groom, two little boys who couldn't be any happier to get a "bonus mom", and a bride beaming with love at the realization of her biggest dream.

Happy Wednesday and please stay tuned!

Catch Up

I can almost smell the thick-textured salty air.  The frilly beverages served inside a pineapple or a coconut are almost within reach, along with little cocktail umbrellas that I'll surely stick in my hair.  CAW! CAW! CAW! What's that? Why, it's the sound of seagulls in the not so far away future!


In less than two weeks I'll become a Mrs! And The Fiance (formerly The Boyfriend, soon to be renamed The Husband, or "The Hubs" if I'm in a particularly chipper mood) and I will be headed out as husband and wife to a remote beach in the Mayan Riviera.  Quite the change from the 17°F weather we've been having in our little corner of the world.


I've been MIA from the blog for a while now, I know, but I will be back to the blog, taking photos, and my beloved Swell Papel shop full force once I get settled in to my new life, new house, and new family.


I miss making new prints.  I can't wait to start that up again!  I miss the creative bit of designing something and putting it out there.  I have been able to do a lot of creative things for my wedding, though.  Nothing too major, but just little creative touches like this:

A little ring nest I made for our wedding bands (I put in my engagement ring as an example for this picture).  


Oh! I also have to tell you about my wonderful source of wedding inspiration.  It's called Ruffled, an extremely well-curated wedding blog which has helped me so much these past months to design my own version of a vintage/diy wedding.  Amanda, Ruffled's editor and owner, does a beautiful job of selecting beautiful and romantic vintage-inspired weddings.  The ideas that I've found by combing the blog have been invaluable.  Check it out if you can, whether you are planning a wedding or not.


That's all for now!  I'm not sure if I'll be able to post or not before the wedding, but I'll check in right after our honeymoon, hopefully with some pictures, some cool stories, and a smashing tan!


TTFN!

Breakfast of Brides

I had an early start today because it's the day I picked up my marriage license!  It's less than a month to go until The Fiance and I are joined together in marital bliss and we whisk ourselves off to a sunny and beachy all-inclusive resort somewhere in NotMichigan...  


Well, I got the whole marriage license thing taken care of at about 8:15am and I thought to myself, "What bridal errand can I run at this early time in the morning?"


Naturally, the answer was: CUPCAKES!


[I am hoping to have some delicious cupcakes served at my wedding for dessert alongside some yummy melt-in-your-mouth-if-you-are-so-lucky-to-taste-them french macarons]


Anyway, I parked in front of the first bakery I saw and said "Good morning, I have a wedding coming up and I'd like to serve cupcakes for dessert."  And guess what? BAM! The bakery owner hands me a paper with cupcake pricing and- not one- but TWO cupcakes as samples!


People, this could become a really bad habit.

It's Beginning to Get Nautical

It's a sprint within a marathon.


...Planning a wedding so close to the holidays.


I've been simultaneously working on wedding preparations, holiday travel plans, buying and wrapping mountains of Christmas presents, and um... what was that other thing I do?  Oh yeah!  My full-time "real" job as "Catch-All Manager".  That's what I call myself, anyway, because whatever other people's job description doesn't fit, my boss gives to me.


I've also been watching Deadliest Catch via Netflix streaming, and even though I now know waaaay more about crab fishing than I ever cared to, I identify with those deckhands hauling their butts for long stretches of hard labor trying to catch Opilio or Alaskan King crabs.  Ok, perhaps what I have been doing is not as exhausting or dangerous as what these guys do, but at a lighter and super-superficial level, this kind of insanity is sort of in the same genus.


I need to be making sure that I'm always doing something, otherwise things can get piled up pretty quickly on the deck.  On top of that, I'm coming down with a cold (man down!).  Like the crab fishermen, I need to catch as many check marks on my To Do list than they need crabs.  All the while looking out for rogue waves of unpredictable work stuff that is thrown my way (mayday! mayday!), not by the Bering Sea, but by my current place of employment.





I'm enjoying every minute of it though.  


May your Bering Sea be calm and generous today and may your crab pods be full of... whatever it is you're fishing for today.


Ahoy!

Ahoy! Fine Art Print by Swell Papel $18 USD

Whirlwind

Happy Late Thanksgiving!  I guess the right way of saying that now that Thanksgiving has passed is "Happy Thanksgiven".  Har har haaaarrrr!

The Fiance, The Boys, and I put up some Christmas decorations up yesterday.  We had a fire going in the fireplace, new ornaments, handmade Christmas stockings, and Christmas tunes courtesy of Pandora.  I am so grateful to have times like that with my future family and in my future home.

I received my wedding invitations over the weekend, which I purchased from Benign Objects, a fellow Esty seller.  I love them and they totally go with the rustic/romantic theme I'm going for.  They are divine!  And Rachel, the artist behind Benign Objects, was so wonderful and easy to work with!

Anyway, there's a little bit over 2 months to go and I still need to tie down a lot of the details for the wedding!  So much to do in so little time!  Gotta run!

The Perfect Place

We finally have a date for the wedding, it's less than 3 months away!  It's going to be really really cold here in Michigan where we'll get married, but there will be lots of love to warm us up.

I'm in all-out bride mode... it's absolutely awesome!  We're going with a rustic/DIY theme and found the PERFECT location EVER.  I use all caps because it's THAT GOOD!  It combines my secret love for vintage items and coffee!  Here are some pictures I recently took of the place:

The owner and I seemed to have found each other at just the right time for I was looking for a small, quaint, wedding venue, and she was considering adding weddings to the list of events she wanted to host there. It was perfect timing, and meant to be.  Our wedding will be the first one had there, and it will be soooo beautiful. I can't wait!

New Work - Powerline Tower

A new print is available at the shop!


This print was created because of my love for all things geometric.  I based the image on a photograph that I took while I was a stop light next to these metal giants.  


Forget the windmills! I think Don Quixote would be battling the heck with these guys if he saw them! 

Powerline Tower Print $18 USD by Swell Papel

Back from the City of Mountains

I went back to visit friends and family in my hometown in Mexico last week.  There was tons of fun to be had between visiting my friends, and having good quality time with my folks too.  The summery weather was a nice change from Michigan's crisp cool.  I arrived wearing my Uggs and a heavy sweater (hot!) and ended up wearing open-toed shoes and summer dresses.  Ahh! So nice!


I love the city, though.  It's surrounded by Sierra Madre mountains which sparkle with the early morning sun.  It's truly an amazing sight.

And now I'm back in FLAT (yet charming in other ways) Michigan... Back to wearing my cozy sweaters and warm fuzzy boots.  I'm filling some print orders that I received while I was gone and planning the unveiling of a new print for this week.  Hurray!


Looking at these wonderful mountains, I kind of feel like printing my own "In the Mountains" print (available at the shop, of course!) and hanging it somewhere in my apartment so I can see it all day.

In the Mountains Print $18 USD by Swell Papel

Spooky Street

The Fiance and I took the boys on Saturday to this wonderful street which they completely deck out for Halloween.  We had such a great time and the boys loved it! 


Here are some of our favorite house decorations:

Life is Swell

I've neglected the blog a little bit, haven't I?  I do have a good excuse, though.  

Over last weekend, The Boyfriend and I got engaged!  We are so unbelievably happy and blessed!  

Anyway, between then and now, I've slowly metamorphosized (is that even a word?) into "bride-to-be".  And in the whole happy process, I've managed to accidentally teach the word "Bridezilla" to The Fiance (formerly known as The Boyfriend), something that I've already began to kick myself for.  ;)

Please excuse me if posting is a little light in the coming months.  I will check in regularly, though, so stay tuned! 

Happy Wednesday!

Swell Papel Update - Photography

I just opened a new section at the shop for photographs!  I have two listings, each for two 5" x 7" photographs.

Fig Photo Set $18 USD

Lighthouse Photo Set $18 USD

Check out the new section here!

Swell Papel and the Etsy "Holy Grail"

Woah!


Swell Papel was featured on the front page of Etsy earlier this morning! 


Excuse me while I bounce from the excitement.


There.


Ahem!  Well, here is a screenshot:

And it's all thanks to Becca, from bake!  Please visit her shop here, and her treasury aptly named "It might be grey outside but not here..." here.


Thanks Becca!

New Work- Little Boxes

Little Boxes No. 1  /  Little Boxes No. 2

A couple of little prints named after one of my favorite songs "Little Boxes" are now available at my Swell Papel Shop. 

For these prints, I decided to go to a different format to make a bigger statement.  I use 13" x 19" paper and image size is about 11" x 14", so that it can be framed in a standard sized frame OR in a 13" x 19"(not-so-standard) frame without needing to matt it.

And now, a video with The Shins' version of "Little Boxes":

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Ahoy!

I feel like it's been a long time since I've posted.  Luckily, I've been very productive and have managed to post a new print on the shop!  It's called "Ahoy!" and I had a ton of fun making it.

Here are some of my inspiration pictures:

            

And in honor of this print, here is a clip from one of my favorite all-time movies, What About Bob? starring Bill Murray (genius, as far as I'm concerned) and Richard Dreyfus.  To give you a little bit of background before you view this clip, Bill Murray is Bob, a man with multiple psychological issues who decides to crash his psychiatrist's (played by Richard Dreyfuss) family vacation against his wishes.  In this scene, Bob is invited by the psychiatrist's daughter to come sailing with her and her friends.

Just looking at this clip cracks me up! Anybody who knows me well will tell you that I can quote this movie, almost in it's entirety, without even thinking about it.  It's one of the many talents of mine categorized under "Mildly Amusing and Useless".  It sits right next to knowing Disney's Aladdin by memory, and being able to raise my right eyebrow without raising the left one. 

(NOT) Too Legit to Quilt

I really want a sewing machine.


There are many affordable models available everywhere and I would really love to pick one up and attempt to make a quilt.  Problem is, I don't have any room in my apartment to store a sewing machine.  As it is, my camera and laptop bags have found a sad little spot in a corner of my dining room, out there, in the open.  And my monster printer lives atop my dining room table, which nowadays looks more like a printer stand because of the proportions of the MONSTER printer. It's sad, really... all those things want is a little closet or real storage space to call their own.


My closets are full from floor to ceiling, my kitchen and bathroom cabinets already house a variety of random things including, but not limited to: a tiny cube cooler, 2 Easter egg coloring kits, paint brushes, picnic blankets, Transformers wrapping paper, etc.


I cannot get a sewing machine if there's no room for it.  But all I wanna do is make a quilt!


I'm thinking I need to engage my brain in creative problem solving right now.  Cuz I'm (NOT) too legit to quilt.

Swell Papel on Tall Dark Roast

Have you heard the good news?  I have a new article up on Tall Dark Roast!   The newest one features a slew of Etsy artists who have captured my eye with their striking yellow goodies.


Click here to check it out!


Don't forget to leave a comment and to follow Tall Dark Roast and Swell Papel on Twitter!

Om

Last night was my first yoga class over at a local yoga studio.  My only experience with yoga was a few classes at a noisy gym but I got a great offer via Groupon that I just couldn't miss: 5 lessons for $25!  I had been curious about yoga since I've been reading The Art of Happiness and I thought yoga would help me "connect" some of the things I've read in the book with real practice.  And it did.


I got to the yoga studio early - really early - because I was worried that I wouldn't know where I had to leave my shoes while I was in class (weird, I know).  So I arrived 30 minutes earlier (ok, I'm lying... I got there 55 minutes before class) thinking I would have enough time to figure out where the shoes go and not look like a complete dork.


It took me like 2 minutes to figure out where we were supposed to put our shoes so I spent the rest of the time reading a yoga magazine and watching the people come and go from the studio.  The time finally came for the class- Short Form Ashtanga which is basically a specific series of poses followed in a specific order.  The class was amazing!  There was a lot of emphasis on breathing and being mindful of our bodies.  After we finished the series of poses, the instructor guided us through meditation, which I found to be very relaxing and therapeutic. I left there energized and content.  I can't wait to go back next week.  

In other news, I received a note from Katie at b u d this morning telling me that she had included one of my prints in her lovely blog which features dreamy collections of items she finds on Etsy.  Her website is really well curated and super inspiring, so please follow the links to her shop and blog. 

Swell Papel Update - Indie Fixx Galleria Lookbook

Open publication - Free publishing - More jewelry

Swell Papel Update - Treasury Love

Swell Papel prints have been chosen to appear on a number of Treasuries on Etsy.  Here are a few of my favorites:

Speed of Light by b u d

Lovely Roots by MaaP Studio

you know I love geometry by nomilk today

Imagine a Map by Big Brown House

Less than 10

Autumn Geometrics

Redecorate the home in warm seasonal colors

New Shops! Vol 4

Take a Look at These

National Honey Month

Being part of the Etsy community has been so rewarding and I am really grateful for the opportunities to have my prints show up in these wonderful treasuries.

Vampire Weekend

Maybe I'm late to the whole Vampire Weekend thing, I'm not sure, but I am loving their music on this beautiful sunny morning.