Mini Vacation at my Parent's House

Hello Everyone!

I am currently house sitting for my Parents and their two miniature Schnauzers whom are fondly called "the girls".

I actually love staying at my parents for a bit.  First of all their bed is FANTASTIC!  Second, I am currently on a horrible gluten free diet and I am craving bagels.  Since my mother loves me she bought me lots of tasty gluten free treats that make it even easier to stay here!  Third, having some time just for myself, not worrying about chores at home, what Mer and I are going to eat for dinner, or do I need to clean the toilet, makes me feel super...you guessed it, inspired!

Don't get me wrong, I love taking care of my family and now getting to call Meridyth my wife seems to make it even more official.  However, tying into my post yesterday it is nice to have fresh ideas and feel excited to create.

Now pictures of "the girls"!

These dogs love to bark which can drive you crazy but they are so loving and wonderful and I love them to pieces.

Until tomorrow....

Lots of love,

Jess

Best Friends...

Hello Gorgeous People Out There!

I am going to sleep tonight with a big smile on my face because I spent the night with my best friend.

I actually have two best friends.  Both are two amazing women who keep me grounded and know me inside and out.

The lovely lady I saw tonight is Lisa and more than a best friend she is like a sister.  Our mother's met each other when they were pregnant with us and I was born in April and Lisa was born in May.  Our mother's are actually best friends too!

We went through pre-school, elementary, middle, high school, and even college together!  We liked the same boys (when I liked boys!), went on family vacations, were in the school plays, and always slept next to each other at summer camp.

She makes me laugh so hard I almost couldn't drive the car tonight.

There is no pressure to call or have certain etiquette.  She is family and I was so happy to see her tonight.

Do any of you have a best friend like that?

Every girl needs one or two or three!

Lisa and I at summer camp before senior year of high school

Lots of Love,

Jess

Pinterest, We Heart It, and Falling asleep

Hey Everyone!

I am tired today...really....really.....really....tired.

So I just thought I would share a secret with you. 

Before I go to bed every night and I have already put my beautiful mac laptop away, I get my phone to set my alarm for work the next day and then sneakily go to We Heart It.

I am definitely a Pinterest girl.  I love making my boards and I get excited when I see new images to pin and when people I don't know pin my pins.

Yet, every night I go to We Heart It, click on the word Love or Beautiful to bring up images related to that and then scroll through some pages.  There are less words and clutter than on Pinterest and I can just look and not think. 

I usually end up falling asleep with a happy heart because the images make me smile.

You should try it. 

Falling asleep to beautiful images is lovely.

Cupcakes and Cashmere Blog

Tomorrow...

Love,

Jess

Illustrator Ellen Van Engelen and her sketchbook

I know it's not time yet for an artist showcase, but I needed/wanted/NEEDED to share an illustrator that I came across.

Her name is Ellen Van Engelen and she is an illustrator who grew up in Belgium and lives in Antwerp.  She has worked for numerous huge magazines like The New Yorker, The Guardian, New York Times Magazine, GQ Russia....so yeah, she is definitely a big deal, but I just came across her art yesterday and it is AWESOME!

I particularly love her sketchbook, so that is some of the work I am going to show.  When I look at the work I think it feels spontaneous, emotive, interesting, and it truly captures the feeling of the people she is drawing.

Aren't these sketches amazing!  I kind of have a thing for looking at other artist sketchbooks.  Being allowed into another artists spontaneous world makes me feel like I'm sneaking a look at my sisters diary or listening to adult conversations when I was a kid.

I feel like I'm doing something wrong but at the same time something sooo right.  Does that make sense?

Be sure to check out more of her work on her website....I think I could stare at her drawings all day!

Until tomorrow,

Love,

Jess

Valentine's Day and photos of Love

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope everyone is enjoying this day of love!

I received a wonderfully sweet card from my honey and a box of chocolates from my soon to be mother-in-law, which I plan on digging into tonight!

Mer and I shared a pizza and I had a glass of wine.

Now I am going to watch Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy and then get into bed by eight!

I figured in honor of Valentine's Day I would share photos/art/and quotes to celebrate LOVE!

Engagement Photo from Jenny GG

 Isn't their love just palpable?  I feel like it flows out of the photo.

Photo by Jessica Loren Photography (otherwise known as me!)

Adore this Mother/Daughter love before the wedding

Found on Attack of the Cute

Mommy/Baby Sea Lion Love.  Doesn't this momma look so happy?!

Amazing family photos from Kelly Smith Photography

Love this pose!

Photo found on Flickr from Michelle Gow

Two of my favorite things.  Cats and Coffee!!  Isn't this a great photograph?

Finally, I will leave you with some quotes...

Origin unknown

Happy Valentine's Day Lovelies!

Until tomorrow,

Jess

New Unicorn card on LoveUPaperly, Adele, and a cool craft tutorial

Hello my friends!

I needed, yes, NEEDED to show you the new card I put on LoveUPaperly yesterday.  I love everything I make and put in my shop, otherwise I wouldn't try to sell them to you!  That is a big rule for me, if I wouldn't think it was cool or want to buy it why should I ask other people too?

Sometimes I am unsure as I am making things, and then sometimes it seems as if the heavenly crafting gods come together and what I see in my head is what comes out as the image.

This happened when I was carving the new linoleum unicorn stamp that went into making this card!

This card is available on my shop for $2.25.  Believe is letter-pressed in navy blue and original linoleum unicorn stamp is prominent in silver.

Another cool thing I wanted to share with you is an awesome craft tutorial I found by Laurie Cinotto on her Flickr account.

I have always wanted to make fortune cookies as favors and I have been throwing the idea around of making them for our wedding.  The other link I found for making them was on Martha Stewart and by the time I read through the directions and the supplies I would need I was really discouraged.  Sorry Martha!

However, Laurie's directions in photos are clear, simple, and awesome.

Check out more of her photos and tutorials on her Flickr site.  Very cool!

Last but certainly not least is that Adele (my singer girl crush at the moment) won BIG at the Grammy's last night!  I was beyond excited and I just think she is so cool. 

Here are the five reasons why I adore Adele:
1.  She doesn't try to be anyone she is not
2.  She has no gimmicks or flashy dancers when she sings. All that girl has to do is sing!
3.  She is actually horribly shy and usually throws up before preformances
4.  After her album 19 she worked in the back of a record store to keep up on the latest music
5.  I love how she curses with her cockney/British accent.  If I sounded like that I would curse a lot!

Photo by Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

Isn't she the cutest?!

Until tomorrow,

Love,

Jess

Lovely Sunday Photograph

Enjoy this gorgeous photo found on a website curated by Murray Mitchel.

I wish this could be me today...

Until tomorrow,

Love,

Jess

Paper flower and some favorite pins

Hi Lovelies!

It was a beautiful day today!  I slept last night for 12 hours which makes me almost act like a normal human being!

I have actually been in a bit of a funk lately thanks in part due to a new medication that my doctor prescribed.  For anyone else taking meds and trying to get used to them I FEEL FOR YOU!

I wanted to share with you an awesome tutorial that I found on how to make a giant paper rose on the blog  Mon carnet.  I love the blog and the tutorial and I think it might work for smaller flowers too.

Wouldn't you want someone to give you one of these?  Valentine's Day is just around the corner!

I also went on a pin frenzy last night!  Sometimes I just find cool things all over the internet and I don't want to loose them!

I thought this card was amazing and he sells more in his shop!

I also came across an artist that I really like.  Rick Stultz.  Definitely worth a look at his site.  I love this image of a rhinoceros.

 Until tomorrow,

Love,

Jess

Two new cards, Insomnia, and Mer's wedding inspiration board...

Hello out there!

Sorry for the radio silence yesterday! 

I have been having such a hard time sleeping (not sure if it is insomnia or the neck pain) that around 8 last night when I thought about blogging I couldn't get up! 

I was FINALLY comfortable in bed, with the icepack just right, my curly hair not bothering me, and my smushy pillows lumps in just the right place!  There was no way I was going to move to even go to the bathroom! 

I did get up in the middle of the night for an ice pack replacement but I finally slept pretty well!

How has everyone else's week been?

The really exciting thing about today was that I worked on two new cards yesterday that I put up this morning on LoveUPaperly. 

One is a set of three Thank You note-cards and the other card say's Hugs & Kisses.  Particularly good for Valentine's Day which is right around the corner!

The other images I wanted to show you was from an inspiration board I made for Meridyth for our wedding.

Remember I made one for myself from this blog post?  Well, I made one for her as well which I consider to be "classy".  Let me know what you think!

If one of these images is yours or you know the person who owns it please tell me and I would be happy to cite it!

I Love, Love, Love the ruffled cake on the bottom.  Gorgeous!

So, I think we are getting pizza and salad tonight which I could not be more excited for!

Until tomorrow,

Love,

Jess

The Bigger Picture and some cool stuff....

Hi all!

How did everyone's Thursday go?  I feel like this week absolutely flew by for some reason.

Again today I am soooo tired.  Some thoughts on that:
First, neck surgery sucks. 
Second, hurting from trying to hold up my head also sucks. 
Third, I didn't realize how large and heavy my head was until I had neck surgery. 
Fourth, when I see patients at work they might be the ones with the problems, but the look on their faces when they see a tech with a BIG FAT NECK BRACE, is priceless! 
Fifth, is does not take much to make me smile and have a good day.

Seriously, I work for a cardiology practice and patients looked at me all day and asked if I was o.k.  Or maybe their look of horror was they thought work was why I was wearing the neck brace.  Regardless, I wish I had a camera to capture the looks!

On the same thought my third mom told me something the other week when I was having a breakdown.  Yes I have three moms and one day if you are lucky I will tell you about them!

This very smart woman in my life told me that currently I have no control.  I can't control my body, I can't control the number of hours I am able to work, I can't control that I can't go to the gym, and I can't control that Meridyth and I are not making lots of money.  That is when she said the word Faith.  Have faith.

Funny enough just hearing her say it calmed me.  So ladies and gentlemen that is what I have been trying to do this past week....HAVE FAITH.

Please e-mail me if you know original artist/owner of image

I am not sure if this photo "means" faith, but isn't it awesome?

O.k., now some great products or items I am drooling over.  Like any person when I am feeling sad, what do I do?  Look at items online that I want/love/think are cool, etc...

Dinosaur planter from etsy shop CoastalMoss.  So cool! Rawwwwwerrrr!

Hedge Hog cheese grater!  Found on DesignBoom.  Who wouldn't want to grate cheese with this?!

Japan, Nagano Hotel, Tunnel of Lights.  This looks magical!

Now I will leave you with this last thought from an awesome shop on etsy called Gayana

I'm off to be happy AND eat icecream!

Until tomorrow,

Love,

Jess

Awesome bloggers, New card, a foggy brain, and gay marriage...

I have to admit something to you.  I just woke up from a muscle relaxer induced sleep.

Maybe that is why I am feeling so foggy!

So instead of writing something super insightful and awesome I am going to post some links of other super awesome bloggers and show you my new card that I put up on LoveUPaperly!

Reminds me of falling in love in Venice and hearts!

Have you guys ever visited the site A Practical Wedding?  I am actually a little jealous by how amazing it is so you should click on the link.  Meg Keene runs the site and wrote a very insightful piece on working for herself for a year.  This paragraph really resonated for me.

"You can't succeed without being willing to fail with full force. You can't figure out how far you can go, until you push yourself so far that you risk completely falling on your face. And seriously? This never stops sucking, don't kid yourself."

Read more: http://apracticalwedding.com/2012/01/working-for-yourself-one-year/#ixzz1jBoy38zo

Another blog that I read the other day was Gala Darling (she is so freakin cute), seriously Really Cute.  She posted a link on Christian Siriano (the project runway winner of Season 4).  The link was his partner Brad Walsh basically defending him against other people's insults, but the love in the writing for his partner is so palpable.  Love it!

Original photo from the Dallas Voice

Plus Christian Siriano always say's "Fierce", I wanted him to win when I watched him on Project Runway.

On a completely different note, as I am typing this my fiance (by now you probably know she is a girl and yes I am gay), is having an argument with her conservative family over e-mail.

The basic question is, how can they be excited that we are having a wedding (not legal in Maryland) in May but not believe in gay rights or gay marriage?!

It makes me really upset to hear them say how much they love Meridyth and support her and love me too, we have been together 6 1/2 years, but they don't see the contradiction when they think it is o.k. for the Catholic Church to pull away funding from adopotion in D.C. because gay marriage is legal!!

This is a completely different post all in itself and writing while upset is not a good idea!

Therefore I am going to leave you with John Lennon...

Original image holder unknown

Valentine's Day Card and Good News

I just posted my first Valentine's Day card in my shop!  Is it alright that I am kind of in love with this new card?  I might give one to my own honey for Valentine's Day!

It is a gay friendly card, this one specifically for two women, but I am going to make one for men and men/women couples as well.

The imprint of the letterpress is deep and I am digging the sillouettes!

On different news, Meridyth and I went to the surgeon today.  It was a looong drive to the hospital where he works in D.C., a looong wait, and a looong drive home.  However, there is good news!  I am healing well and he said I was actually right where I was supposed to be in terms of swelling and pain.

The doctor also said, that he never told me that I should be back to working full time by eight weeks.  My mom and I both told him, but he said it's normal to be out of work for awhile, which made me feel less mopey and better!

I hope everyone is having a good Tuesday!

until tomorrow,

love,

Jess

Christmas Eve, British Photogs, and a look at my studio

Merry Christmas Eve lovlies!

I am about to head out with Mer to eat some good food and see some family, but I thought I would write this blog really quick while she was putting on her makeup!

First, these are some bookmarks I was working on to give out as presents to coworkers

I had not yet covered them with acrylic sealer (makes it shiny) and they are missing the ribbons on the top, but you get the basic idea.  They were a big hit!

Also, I have been looking at a lot of British wedding sites like RocknRollBride, and OMG I'm Getting Married and the photographers that sponsor their sites are fantastic!  I could look at some of their sites for hours so at some point I am going to make a list of fabulous ones because man they are talented!

Finally, here is a look at where I have been spending a lot of my time.

This is my little corner of the world where my imagination can run wild.  As you can see it is just a table and lots and lots of art materials.

You can see though my little tiny press that I love, some stencils, white cards, and white dry grout I use to make chalk board paint!

I am working so hard on ideas for loveupaperly.  My whole idea of what I wanted the shop to be is changing but things are not ready to be seen yet.

Maybe in a week or so!

So I hope everyone has a great holiday!  Drink and be Merry and safe, and love to you and your family.

Jess