Swell Papel is Out There

Hiya Internet!

I have had the good fortune and pleasure of being interviewed by Danielle from scribe & maker and the post is up today!

Please check out the interview here.

I will be back to posting regularly soon... promise!

Happy Place

There are many lessons that I have learned in my life.  One of them is not to bother calling the hotel you just checked out of from the airport asking for the Prada sunglasses you left in your room.  Your Prada sunglasses are gone.  Get over it and move on.

But this blog post has nothing to do with life lessons or Prada sunglasses.

I've been painting outdoors recently.  Outdoors in the bright bright light, where bugs and fuzzy plant matter land on my acrylic paints as I drink Diet Coke so watered down by melting ice cubes that it tastes like nothing.  Painting outside, although charming, comes with its challenges.  One must squint one's eyes in order to see what one is painting. One ends up being blinded by the reflection of the light off of one's painting.  And one ends up looking like an artsy Clint Eastwood armed with a paintbrush and some cadmium red in a tube.

One misses her Prada sunglasses.

Anyway, I'm completely enjoying painting outdoors.  So much so that it's become my newest happy place.

DIY - Jewelry Frame

This DIY project is so easy and it looks wonderful!  Total cost was $5 for the vintage frame.  I had all the other supplies here in my house.

I encourage you to try it out... now, I'll let the pictures tell the story:

DIY - Succulent Terrarium

I got all sorts of crafty today, mostly because I was overloaded with inspiration from some of the beautiful projects and things I've seen on Pinterest.  


My project today was making 2 terrariums with a couple of glass containers I used for my wedding's dessert table.  


I had a variety of things I could have done with those containers: filled them with limes, lemons, or oranges, turned them into hurricanes for candles, or filled them with sand and some decorative seashells.  None of these things really appealed to me (it's been done SO MANY times), but when I saw a few pins on terrariums on Pinterest, I knew that's what I wanted to do.


I followed Martha Stewart's Succulents Terrariums instructions and here are the results:

Such a simple and cheap project!

One of the new terrariums found a home by our kitchen window and next to a lovely Ashley G Woodsman wall art from Urban Outfitters.  


I also want to make a big enclosed moss terrarium later on.  I'm hooked now!

Toy Photo Shoot

Over this past weekend, it occurred to me that the boys need some new wall art for their bedroom and playrooms.  I've seen that they get so creative when they make their Lego bases, that I wanted to capture that as a keepsake of their amazing and unafraid creativity.


So, this weekend, the boys and I did this awesome project where they designed their Lego bases or scenes with their Star Wars figurines and I photographed them.  I loved the results!  They look almost like candid shots one would take of people without letting them pose. 


Here are some of the final shots, some of which will end up in pretty Riba frames hanging in the boys' rooms.  Yay!

Rust Belt Market

I love Ferndale, MI.  With it's indie and eclectic collection of shops, bakeries, grocery stores, and cafes, there's always something going on.  This past weekend was no exception.  The Rust Belt Market opened its doors for the first time, and I could not miss it!  Located in what used to be an oversized Old Navy store in the corner of Woodward and 9 Mile, the Rust Belt's Market just officially made Ferndale my favorite town in Southeast Michigan.

Think of the Rust Belt Market as the "farmers market" for cool, indie artists.  Instead of selling produce, the vendors there sell their amazing collection of handmade and vintage fare.  Kind of Etsy-ish, except less virtual and 100% real life.  Artists and shoppers have a chance to interact with one another, making this a super rich environment for the creative types to thrive in...  An oasis for people like me who are parched for a fresh source of inspiration and tangible sense of craft community.

While there, I discovered (perhaps a little late in the game), Detroit Lives! a group created by Philip Lauri to basically spread the good things about Detroit (high five!) utilizing all sorts of different media.  I absolutely loved artists who project a positive image of the city and Detroit Lives! fits the bill beautifully!

I'm so glad that this place now exists.  I've seen for 10 years now that there is a bustling craft/indie community in the area and the Rust Belt Market is another definitive sign that this community is here to stay. 

New Print - Detroit Water Tower

Today, I'm super excited to have posted a new print at the shop!  It's simply titled Detroit Water Tower and it is an 8.5 x 11 inch archival digital print with some bright colors you may remember from the Swell Papel all-time favorite, and most popular print, Mountain Range No. 1.

Here it is!

Detroit Water Tower Print

This print was inspired by a picture I took when the husband and I went to the D for Dally in the Alley.  I love love LOVE the geometric nature of water towers and the silhouettes they make.  I try taking pictures of water towers when I can but most of my collection is taken while I'm driving and with my crappy cell phone camera, so they don't make it any further than the confines of my phone's memory card.

Anyway,  I had been working on this print since last fall but I wasn't fully satisfied with it so I just left it.  And left it.  And then I got married and became a "bonus mom" and a wife, and a dog owner, and my workload spiked and I... I... I just left it.  Sitting in my little Drafts folder on my computer, this poor little print was finally pulled from the depths of my computer to fulfill its destiny as another print in the Swell Papel collection.  Yay!

In other awesome news, I was contacted by the writer of a very famous wedding inspiration blog to feature our wedding in it!  It hasn't been posted yet so I can't say much yet, but stay tuned!

Dreamy

It was a really snowy day, our wedding day.  Our wedding venue, Circa 1843, was decked out and glowing from the inside.  We had a small wedding- less than 40 people.  All of them braved the snow storm to join us on our special day.

Handmade Wedding Wreath

The ensemble did a great job and added an extra special touch

Custom papel picado hung over the ceremony area

Our desert table - Yum!

French macarons and Rockin' Cupcakes for desert

A wall of mirrors right behind the buffet

Different vintage chairs and simple antique bottles thoughtfully arranged

The venue was amazing! I loved the lanterns as well!

I'm still in love with our desert "table".  I got the cupcakes from an awesome cupcake shop called Rockin' Cupcakes.  They were amazing! And the french macarons... to die for!

Our photographer, Jen from Jen Lynne Photography, did an amazing job of capturing the coziness and warmth of the evening.  I couldn't be happier of how the pictures turned out and I cannot recommend her enough!

And of course, I couldn't end this blog post without my favorite picture (thanks so much, Jen!).

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: