Showing posts with label fall. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fall. Show all posts

Create Every Day // #Yesvember

Happy Monday!

I know, not my favorite day of the week, but hey it is a new week, which means beginnings! It is hard sometimes to keep sight of the big picture, especially when overwhelm kicks in. These times are often when we have so many great things happening (which is awesome!) that it is just becomes too much for us (not awesome), but really all you need to get through it is to focus, and just get started. Here is some inspiration to kick off your week the right way and to help you stay creative.




#YESvember

Thrive Hive Live founders Jules Taggart and Sandy Sidhu have come up with an amazing way to get that one big project done before the end of the year. Better yet before the end of the month. Let's end 2013 with a bang together, come join their #YESvember community. Here you will receive support from other great women tackling a big project, step by step goal making to complete your big picture goal and great tips along the way!

My fellow creatives, come join me! My goal for the month of November is to get my jewelry out there! I am starting by dialing in my shop. I have some great photos of my work coming soon, so I want super sweet descriptions to match them. Also on the queue, my booth display for Patchwork Show Santa Ana, a catalog, bringing Mad Dream Design to a few stores in Orange County, and participating in a few gift guides.




That To Do List

Jules Taggart of Amp & Pivot has a great post on how to make a great to do list! In this post, Shelia Butler of Successful Women Talk, talks about how to make smarter to do lists that are not overwhelming and actually help you get stuff done.

"A list is nothing more than ideas on paper…ideas that mean nothing unless you act on them."
- Shelia Butler

The list above is one of my favorites for staying creative. This is not a to do list, but it is a great reminder when your creativity gets stuck or clouded.
 
Photo: Thank the Now via nosha


Being Thankful

November is all about being thankful, right? But really, we should keep the spirit of November and live it - day after day. Becca Ribbing of Thank the Now has a great site dedicated to being thankful for right NOW. This is the good stuff - taking a minute for yourself (creatives often save this one for last, I am guilty of it myself).

But how can this help with the overwhelm? 

We get so much blasted at us each day, on what we should be doing, what we should be wearing and how we should be (talk about overwhelming...) that sometimes we loose site of the fact that we don't have to be doing what everyone else is doing. You are you, and you matter! Being thankful for that is always a great way to refocus.

Tackle that list by being thankful for you, realizing that you are only human, and focus on one thing at a time. You may notice this helps you get things done more effectively and you feel more accomplished at the end of the day for it. I feel that creativity feeds off of days like these!

Here is to a successful November! 

xo,

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What's New Around Here?!

Hello November and Happy Friday!

Are you ready for some fun news? I was MIA on the blog for about a month, but I promise I have been busy! Lots of fun things getting done, and I am excited to finally share it all with you.

Photo via Spark Collaborative

You were born to Sparkle!

In September, I started SparkleBee University with the Spark Collaborative community. It is a 6 week course on your own business! Each week is a new topic to focus on with all the info you need to make your business (and you) awesome. Going through this course has been really eye opening, and you will for sure be seeing some changes going on around here in the new year. More to come on that later, but if you are starting a business or want to tidy up your business practices this is a great course, that I highly suggest. 


Mad Dream Design Fall/Winter 2013 Line: Folk Dreams.

I have also been working really hard to bring some fun new designs to the shop for the holidays! I am happy to announce I will be rolling out these designs over the month of November for my Fall/Winter line! This line includes a lot of my Spring and Summer designs, along with some great bracelets and hoops for Fall/Winter! I will have a lot of sets, which will be great for gifts this holiday season. The fun thing is that I have started to incorporate beads and stones into my designs with copper and silver wire. I have been having a blast learning how to wire wrap over the past month, so Fall/Winter will is going to be a bit more diverse. I can't wait to share with you!

Inspiration

Photo via We Are Wilderness


Inspired by the hunter-gatherer, the collector, the wanderer and adventurer - this line is all about getting outside, going somewhere and not having your jewelry slow you down. Using stones and beads I have collected to create fun pieces that are durable, yet fun. You can dress them up and dress them down, plus you are still able to keep up with your active lifestyle.

Sneak Peek

Love Hoops


Gatherer Bracelet


Fall Patchwork Show

Photo via Patchwork Show

Save the Date! Mad Dream Design is so excited to be accepted into the Santa Ana Fall Patchwork Show on December 1st. If you are local to Orange County, this is a fun day to attend. Get a chunk of your Christmas shopping done in one day by shopping handmade and shopping local.
Patchwork Show - Modern Handmade Festival

What: Santa Ana Fall Patchwork Show
When: December 1st, 2013 11am-5pm
Where: 125 N Broadway, Santa Ana 92701
(2nd & Sycamore intersection and section of 3rd St.)
Who: Mad Dream Design and a bunch of other great artists, makers and vendors all in one place
Why: Support and shop local handmade and a great way to spend you Sunday!

I will fill you in on booth information soon! This is a great chance to come see my work in person. I love my online shop because I get to reach out to people across the world, but nothing beats seeing handmade items in person.

For quick updates, new arrivals, holiday shop details and show info - sign up for my newsletter here! Or follow along on our Facebook page!

Wanderlust Wednesday
I have been having some fun travels lately, and since Folk Dreams is inspired by the adventurer and the wanderer, I will be sharing my travels every Wednesday! Stay tuned...the first one is coming up this Wednesday!

Enjoy!

xo,

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Loving Lately // Fall

With the first week of fall coming to a close, I thought I would share why I love this time of year. Late summer early fall has been my favorite for a very long time, but I have started to extend that favorite from late summer to early winter over the past few years. There are a few downsides, but the upsides totally out weigh them in the end. Here are my favorites: 

Fall in California by Abby Lanes

1. Boots

2. Leaves

3. Colors:

Brown, tan, and orange with a hint of red.

4. Camping trips:

Our spring and summer is mostly spent paddling, so our fall and winter is when we like to camp - yeah it is cold, but everything is green and there are not a ton of people out, so we often find places that we get all to ourselves.

5. Getting cozy:

Whether that means a fire in the fireplace (or fire pit), a fuzzy sweater, or a down comforter and flannel sheets, it is the best time of year start getting comfy.

Photo source

6. The mornings:

Fall mornings in California are simply the best. I love late summer nights the most, but fall mornings run a close second. I always walk a ton in the fall, because it is a bit cooler, the air is crisp and everything in our neighborhood looks so charming (this reminds me - time to start my walking schedule again).

7. Pumpkin

8. The start to a new season of all my favorite TV shows (yes, they are bad...but sooo good).

9. Back to School:

Although I am no longer in school (I kind of wish I was sometimes), I just remember this time of year being so exciting and I love that! The start of a new school year, new things to learn and new school supplies - in art school, new supplies were the best, expensive, but so much fun!

But more importantly for me, this time of year is still all about learning new things. With paddling at a close, I have more time to explore, delve into big projects, create, and learn how to better myself and my business. These are all things I thoroughly enjoy when I have the time. When I don't have the time, they often start to stress me out, which is the exact opposite of what it is all about - so I really like taking this time of year for self reflection. It is a habit I have grown to love dearly over the past three years.

10. Out with the old, in with the new:
I know most people do Spring cleaning, but not me. I am more of a fall/winter cleaner. Along with self reflection and more time indoors (getting cozy), I start to feel the itch of a much needed purge. I go through our closets and reorganize, or get rid of things we no longer use. I rearrange a few things, overhaul in the cleaning department and decorate the house. I love it!

Photo c/o Roxy: Fall 2013 Collection

Downsides?
For me it is the time change in November and the allergies.

The time change bums me out for a few weeks. I could care less about gaining that hour, I just hate loosing those wonderful nights...I am not much of a morning person, so my nights are precious to me. And loosing those summer/fall sunsets is always the worst.

I have horrible allergies when I am not good about taking the proper precautions. Fall is always the worst, with the changing of the season and the pollen in the air. Running (which I do a lot more of in the fall and winter months) doesn't help, and neither do the cats (oh how I love them), but I am not giving those things up because of my allergies. I have a pretty good system down these days (I can't believe I lived with them for so long that way before), but sometimes they still get me and those days are hard, I have to say.

Enough about those downsides though, what do you love about fall? What are you celebrating this week? I know I am not the only one that loves this time of year the most!

xo,

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Los Padres National Forest



Over the weekend Jimi and I embarked on a little adventure into the woods.


 This is what happened!

We explored multiple camping spots, did some offroading, did some hiking, had some fun trying to keep a fire going in the rain, and found some amazing new places only a few hours from home.

I was inspired by the Traveling Triplets' Kylie and her explorations of the Los Padres National Forest, to take this trip, and see what it was all about.  You can check Kylie out at Traveling Triplets and on her own blog, Fly Bird.  She has a ton of fun footage of her adventures in the woods with her hubby!

I was pleasantly surprised that this is the perfect weekend trip for us.  There are three national forests that surround LA County, Los Padres, Angeles, and San Bernadino National Forests. On a rainy weekend like this one was you can really get out there, where you are the only for miles, and get away from it all.  This is a great time of year to go since camping is not as popular in the winter months, and the national forests are full of huge pine trees...add in the fog and it makes for some great winter loveliness.  We all got to experience the ending of fall...the colors are amazing right now in California!


The Adventure Pass will get you in for only 5 dollars a day, or 30 dollars for the year.  There are plenty of campsites to stay in (for free!) and explore...we spent most of our time down in Reyes Creek, where the trees are shedding all their leaves and a nice creek runs right through the campground that makes it very peaceful.

The Los Padres National Forest is known as the most rugged forest in all of California, making it a place where you need to know what you are getting yourself into, so always go prepared...a map is a must, since you do not always have cell reception.

If you are in California, check out your local sports or gear store for maps and the Adventure Pass!

Our goal for 2013...camp at least once a month in one of the four forests covered under the Adventure Pass and stay in each forest at least once.  I am sure we will have our favorites, but we are excited to explore them all!


You can follow along with our adventures on my Instagram ...hashtag: #campvibes. 


Enjoy!

Enamelware Lovin'

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Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween. 

This is my favorite time of year - starting with Fall and going all the way through till New Year's Day.  It is exciting, crazy busy, fun and so much family/friend time!

This year I decided to go as Rosie the Riveter.  She is one of my favorite historical icons and with the election only a few days away...I thought it was pretty fitting for this year.  Here are some of my "We Can Do It!" poses. 



My company goes all out with a costume contest, lunch and the Twilight Zone.  Being apart of R&D I get to see the best costumes around! We had a great turn out this year making the competition stiff.  Here is some of the competition...

Jack from Nightmare Before Christmas
Lance Armstrong
Shark Attack
As for Halloween night, our friend's birthday lands on Halloween, so that is where we always see to find ourselves - celebrating.  We get a little dressed up, do a little food, a little candy and just get to hang out with each other since what feels like forever!  Always makes for a fun night.

Zombie in the closet!!
 Happy November!









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