a walk in the park...

Yesterday, we took a little break to take a walk in the park. Little mini-trails in our local park are perfect for short legs that are more into finding neat things than exercise (although the fresh air and energy burn off did lead to a great naptime!)

It is amazing to see how interesting the most mundane things {to me} are to a two year old...

The whole walk was infused with strong floral perfumes...it smelled amazing
{until I got home and had to partake in some serious allergy medicine}

We found massive pine cones...seriously, some were close to a foot tall. They would make one heck of a peanut butter bird feeder!

We played I-spy through the trees.

{I-spy is the new obsession around our house lately...}

We discovered a tree that was the meal ticket for hungry wood-peckers...

We found tiny pine cones that were good for accesorizing otherwise mundane sticks

The small pine cone became the official souvenir from the trip...

The neatest part was that I relinquished all control over the direction taken on this walk...it was symbolic of how much my little guy is growing up and it made me equal sad and happy.

{We walked around this wooden bridge 5 times}

Remember my spring goals? This week has become a culmination of starting this new season of life: my first graduate class is coming to an end (lengthy paper due this weekend), we are running a 10K this weekend and a duathlon next weekend (my husband's first multi-sport race!), and my garden is coming along nicely (except for the broccoli that seems to go from too-small-to-cut to already flowered overnight!)

P.S. The above due dates and busy schedule have translated into low inventory over at Camp Cupcake, but I wanted to toot my horn a bit: we have been open 6 months today and my sales have surpassed my goals ten-fold. I look forward to getting back on track in order to move onto an even greater second half of this first year!

Saturday Sneak Peak

I have been working on new things for the store and was inspired by two things: my complete impatience for the local farmer's markets to re-open and the lovely laundry hanging pictures of Heather Bailey's Nicey Jane fabric. The home owner's association where I currently live does not allow a clothes line but we have pretty roomy screened-in porches, so my clothes line went up in there. In order to jazz it up and to hold my never-organized collection of clothes pins, I came up with this clothes pin bag in spring-y Nicey Jane prints...now I can pretend that I am hanging my linens up in a lovely meadow instead on my concrete back porch!

And, yes, these will be in the store very soon!

They will be sold right along with these fun produce bags! I will combine designer fabrics (this print is from Kate Spain's fabric line Verna-which celebrates the Vernal/Spring Equinox!) and both mesh and guaze fabrics for a sturdy bottom but breathability for your fresh fruits and veggies...

I am so excited about putting some fresh, local produce in these and checking out all the goodies at my farmer's market-just a couple of weeks now to wait!

Crafty thoughts...creating for others

Before I "had a business" (when will I feel comfortable enough saying that where I don't put quotation marks around that?) I crafted for myself and my camper. (The co-director doesn't quite appreciate manly crafty things...) Sometimes, I would participate in crafty "swaps" where I would make things for strangers and their families and someone would mail something to me. The police detective in me had to overcome some jaded distrust issues to do this, but these swaps gave me a huge amount of satisfaction! I had to get creative about what THEY would like (not just want I liked) and what would work for their family. It truly pushed me beyond my comfort level and challenged me.

Unlike my mother, I am NOT a person with a natural servant/giver's heart. I confess to strongly disliking all holidays that require gift giving. But the creative process in creating for strangers was different than creating for those that know me. It was that fun sort of stressful...you know...the one where you have the greatest reward when you are done! This week, I launched Camp Cupcake Designs and the rewards have already started coming in. I have had a couple of sales but the coolest part to me is that people want me to create for them. My napkins have proved to be one of my "hot items" and I am working on some custom orders for people.

People want me to create for them...How awesome is that?

Be sweet and sustainable!

Camp Cupcake has officially launched! I have added a few items to my store and can't wait to add more products to encourage sweet sustainable living...

Amy Butler print burp and wash cloth set

patchwork burp and wash cloth set

Heather Ross patchwork burp and wash cloth set

Adult napkin set

And our feature product: preschool picnic mats

Please follow this site or follow Camp Cupcake on Twitter for future giveaways, product announcements and free shipping offers!

Gentlemen, start your engines!

So...the first Camp Cupcake Designs products are going out today! Yeah! They are going to dear friends that will be providing feedback on products themself, packaging and pictures taken (how they represent what they got, are they good for marketing, etc.) I have set up my etsy shop (campcupcakedesigns.etsy.com) BUT there is currently no inventory listed. I have to write my return policies and take care of other business before I "launch" officially. However, Hidden Talents (a military spouse run craft consignment store whose profits go to charity!) is about to have their annual craft show and I would like to get some Camp Cupcake gear into the show...so I am first concentrating on finishing the required 15 items for them.

I washed and ironed over 10 yards of awesome fabric today so I am hitting the ground running!