Monday Mood Board: Creative Collection December 2nd- 8th

 

Hello Again my Peeps! It's another week, a fresh new month and an exciting Holiday Season! I have my weekly Mood Board (that never seems to get published on Monday) ready to motivate me. So lets see what I have planned and what is inspiring me the most right now...and hopefully it will help to spur your creativity along as well!

1. Spark: Well for me and mine (as well as many of you out there) it’s Christmas Time!  There is just something amazing about this time of year! And nothing gets me in the mood more than a Christmas color scheme!  Red, Green, and White is my go to palette, and I use it, in some way, every single year. This year, I'm also adding chalkboard to jazz it up!

2. Projects and Progress: I am so excited about this little guy and his friends that I am stitching up! Why you ask? Well because I made him.  And I don’t mean I just stitched him... I dreamt him up, then I drew/doodled him (about 50 different ways) and finally stitched him!  This is a big deal because a decent stick figure is huge accomplishment for me! If you want your own little Reindeer Games Hoop art/Ornament check out Stik a Pin In It on Etsy. Come on, do it...you know you want to.

3.  TBR & Reviews:  I found this lovely little ebook, A Hip Handmade Holiday, on one of my favorite blogs, The Alison Show and I fell in love.  Many of these projects will show up in my holiday decor and friends and family might even get a few of them wrapped up all pretty under their trees! And make sure to check out The Alison Show...this lady rocks it!

4. Guilty Pleasure:  Doppio-  An espresso double shot. Or as I like to think of it, pure heaven.  I have been living off of these as of late, and drink WAY too many in a day. But I can quit whenever I want, I can, if I wanted to that is... but come on, who would want to?! 

5. Featured Friday: Felt is my new favorite material.  I can’t get enough of the textures and colors, and the possibilities are endless.  Recently I discovered felt balls and decided to try my hand at making them myself...I then promptly went straight to my laptop and ordered them pre made in various colors and sizes from other Etsy shops.  So make sure to read this Friday’s Featured Friday Post all about my frustrating foray into felt balls and all the wonderful things I can’t wait to make with them...at least the ones I bought from other people...ha!

So time for me to go stock up on Doppios, craft supplies and cheesy Holiday movies and get busy on my month of handmade holiday goodies!

Peace, Love and Felt Balls,

ShellyLyn Nguyen

Creative Collection: Nov. 7th-11th

Hello Beautiful Peeps!  Hoping that everyone had a lovely and productive/relaxing weekend and that you're as ready to start your week as I am! 

I am starting up a new Blog Series that I will (hopefully) be posting every Monday...except this week, this week Tuesday is the new Monday.  The "Creative Collection" blog series will essentially be my week-at-a-glance...giving you an idea of what I'm working on, what's inspiring me, what new items will be coming soon to the shop, future freebies and tutorial coming up, a small sneak peak at the "Featured Friday" blog post coming that Friday (stay tuned for more on that later this week!) and a bit of a wrap-up from last week!  I just know that you are all waiting on baited breath to know what I am going to do next...so here you go;)

1. Spark: This week's inspiration (or creative spark if you will) is coming in the form of some lovely Fall colors.  When I can't decide on colors I always fall back on my two favorites... purple or turquoise (or even better, both).  In my opinion you can't go wrong with either one, and Design Seed created this color pallet, dessert hues, that I can't wait to use in my crafts this week!  

2. Projects and Progress:  I haven't had much of an opportunity to stitch lately, and this week I'm gonna change that! I love these little leaves that my cousin Jenna designed, and I'm trying to make myself work outside my comfort zone and stitch on colored and patterned fabrics...wish me luck! And if you adore these Autumn leaves as much as I do, don't worry, they will make an appearance in Stik A Pin In It very soon!

3.  TBR & Reviews:  Most people that know me know how much I love to read (maybe even more than crafting...shhhhh, don't tell anyone!) so I always have a book or two going.  Lately my reading has included a lot of How-To's/Educational books as well as inspirational materials, but I make sure to get to the good stuff too!  At the moment the good stuff is "Catching Fire".  It's a reread for me but I want a refresher before the movie comes out! I'm also pretty lucky that my "educational" reading is pretty dang entertaining...I recommend The Handmade Market Place by Kari Chapin to anyone starting up a small, crafty business.  I have also found a new guilty pleasure (guilty because it's not all that cheap...but way worth it) with Molly Makes magazine.  Seriously folks, if you love the crafty check this one out!

4. Guilty Pleasure:  And speaking of guilty pleasures... who among you have played the hilariously horrible game of pure inappropriateness, Cards Against Humanity?  Some of you are raising your hands proudly, some have no idea what I'm talking about, and some of you are hiding in shame.  I had a good friend suggest this to me a few months ago...so I ordered it and it came in the mail today!  Can't wait to break this out at the next adult game night!

5. Featured Friday:  I never knew I could love a cut up cardboard box and scraps of fabric so much, but I do, I love it, I love it so much.  I love it so very much that it's going to be the center of my very first Featured Friday blog post on, well, Friday.  I know you are all super jelly you don't have your own box and fabric magic, so I will be nice and share with you how my amazing husband, Mr. N, (whom I love almost as much as box and fabric...almost) made this simple contraption that changed my life...okay I'm being a drama queen, but it did make it easier.

 I have to say that last week was NOT an excellent week for me.   I was feeling very overwhelmed and a little under the weather... I kind of just wanted to curl up and hide from the world. Instead I got an unexpected visit from my mum (it doesn't matter how old you are, when you are feeling less than, we always want our mummies) and I went from moping to getting sh** done!   Now I feel refreshed and eager to start crossing off my to-do list...time to take over the world, or at least my small corner of it!

Later Peeps,
ShellyLyn Nguyen

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! Hope you Monster Mash like no one is watching and that all the candy is full size! 

Boo to you from our crew here at Stik A Pin In It and LynNguyen Boutiques,

ShellyLyn Nguyen

Hello!

Okay so I am finally getting around to doing this whole blog thing.  Apparently this is a necessary evil when you are building a small online craft business, and I will do it, but I can't promise I will be any good at it!  I am much more comfortable with a pair of scissors and a glue gun then I am with a keyboard and an audience.  I guess I shall console myself with the fact that I have a very small audience at this point (even if that defeats the point;)  Okay, enough complaining, lets get to the basics!!!

Who: ME! Oh not everyone know's who me is? Okay well...Hello There!  I'm ShellyLyn Nguyen (it was about a month before my wedding that I said my full name out loud and had a total Julia Goulia moment...watch Wedding Singer, you'll get it).  I'm a lot of things, a mom, a wife, a substitute teacher hoping to get her Elementary Education degree, an avid crafter, lover of all things cross stitch and embroidery.  And recently an Etsy shop owner...which comes with it's own list of job titles..eg. Constant Blogger!  Hopefully this blog will help you to get to know me better and for me to reach out and meet some new faces as well as share and connect with peeps who have been here from the start!  I will also be introducing you to a few people over time that have helped me to get things off the ground...I think you will love them as much as I do!

What: What is this all about you might ask.  Since I made the plunge from hobby to business (or that’s the plan anyways!) I am creating a blog to go along with BOTH of my new Etsy Shops. You should definitely check them out, Lyn Nguyen Boutique at the moment is selling Hair Bows, some seasonal items, a few printables and in the future will have LOTS new seasonal stuff, various accessories as well as home decor and the thing I am most excited about is our Party Supplies and Decorations!!!  Stik a Pin In It is all about Needlework!  You are going to find, embroidery patterns, as well as pin cushions (hence the name stik a pin in it!).  And stay tuned for several new patterns, including seasonal ones, new pin cushions and other sewing accessories!  I will also be adding some DIY tutorials, free printables, and party planning post to the blog that hopefully you guys will really enjoy!

Where: Here on the Blogosphere of course! Well that and both Etsy stores...and we can’t forget about all the social media outlets! I have a LynNguyen Pinterest Board as well as a FaceBook Page and an Instagram where you can see my latest and greatest!

When:  Ummm, Now? Yes definitely now.  So lets do this dang thing!

Why: It was time.  For years I have heard people say you should do this for a living...especially about the party planning and decorating.  Since I do NOT want to be a party planner this is the next best thing!  Plus my husband (who will now be lovingly referred to as Mr. N) who is wicked talented and super creative, encouraged me to get on it. He has been working with me and helping me to present things oh so much prettier than I ever could have on my own. We seriously make a good team;)

How:  This is the part I'm still learning.  The How.  How do you go from DIY's and party planning to running a small business and writing a blog, as well as making all your inventory?   I'm still learning about all that.  And that, my friends, is the journey I'm hoping you will take with me.

For now that is the gist of things.   I have several new blog post planned about the How and the Why that I am very excited to get up and going!  We also have some tutorials and DIY's for the upcoming seasons and Holidays, free printables, and a couple of giveaways coming your way.

Thanks for stopping by my blog, visit often and I hope you find some goodies you like in my Etsy stores!!!

I’m Out,

ShellyLyn

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