Five Faves

1. I'm ADDICTED to the HGTV series, Fixer Upper!
We don't have cable, and don't really have time to watch TV regularly, so we are thrilled to have two full seasons to watch.
... now all we need is a house...

2. We were very busy in the month of June.  Surprisingly busy.
Thankfully, some of that busy required us to spend some quality time with family and friends—including our landlord!  She rented a cottage for a few weeks and invited us to come and spend some time with her there.  We had a great time, and as a bonus Hubbard was able to fish his little heart out!

3. June has been a very active month for my little store! So thrilled!
I expected the official start of wedding season to slow my business down (nobody's buying invitations when their wedding is within the week/month), but my personalized gifts/anniversary items have been flying off the shelves!  Lots of fun with custom portraits and calligraphy hearts—and of course, some day of designs as well.

4.  This past weekend has provided a few more opportunities for us to relax at home.  I've been very busy with orders and cleaning, but there's a difference between doing it from home rather than trying to keep up as you are traveling.
It has just been a breath.of.fresh.air.

5. If you haven't joined my newsletter, then be sure to do so—I'm excited to be hosting a discount code for my Etsy store in the next month, as well as release the new July desktop calendar soon!

Five Favorites: May

1)  I was featured on The Lovely Knot this week!  Very excited to have a chance to share my work alongside so many other talented individuals in the wedding field.  This little "blushing" dream is becoming more real each day

2)  I was able to spend some extra time with my siblings and parents this month!  I tagged along on part of their Florida trip and had a blast.  Sometimes you don't realize how much of a break you needed until you're in the middle of it.

3)  I recently joined a group of business owners and it has really motivated and encouraged me!  The hardest part about being self employed is that it can be so hard to get help from other business owners because of... well... competition.
But now I can help others and get the help I need (if you're a small business owner, let me know and I'll get you into the group!)

4)  Along with the business, school has gone really well this month.  April was a different story, and I was seriously wondering if I would make it.  But between some extra love from my students and the light at the end of the tunnel, another year of teaching will soon be in the books.

5)  I am currently on my way to cheer on my husband's high school track team at States!  Very excited to have so many athletes qualify for such an honor!

Be back soon ;)



All Items are (c) Katrina Crouch. Do not use without permission    

Five Faves

1) I am in the process of re-branding my Etsy shop to better fit my new wedding stationery.  While things are still in the works, I am very excited by what this little dream could turn into! (official name change in a couple of weeks—I'm just bad at keeping my own secrets)
Follow along on Instagram @Blushed.Designs

2) I've been floating around the Creative Market quite a bit this week—great collection of resources for designers!

3)  Heirloom Mag celebrated their grand opening this week and I can honestly say that I am already hooked.  I mean, just LOOK at all that pretty!

4) Snapchat
The hubs and I are on a phone plan where we pay for each minute/text.  So texting frequently / photos has been out for a while.  Snap chat was a real struggle to figure out (am I that old already??), but now that we're in the groove, we're having a lot of fun with it!

5)  I have always suffered from intimidation/fear of the first page.
Seriously, in the hundreds of sketchbooks that I have owned, I don't think a single one has anything on the first page except a timid name and date (if that).  This weekend, I decided to conquer that fear (or try, at least), and this is the result :)



All Items are (c) Katrina Crouch. Do not use without permission    

5 Favorites

1. Flowers.
I've been feeling the botanical lately... not that I have many around me to inspire this sudden interest, but the extreme (and extended) cold really makes me long for my favorites: Peonies!

2. Prismacolor
I didn't notice much of a difference when I switched to Prismacolor colored pencils about 6 years ago, but when I borrow a crayola from one of my students to give an example?? There is really no comparison! #ICanNeverGoBack

3. PaperFashion is working on an updating the Cinderella gown!

4. Camp Patton.
I killed way, WAY too much time on this blog (found via Kate).  Her dry humor has me in stitches with almost every post, but my favorite series is probably "Simon Says".  TEARS of laughter.

5. Have you seen this design package?
Really great collection of products.  I did cave and purchase it, but now that I did I am super excited to dive in and play (ahem) work with it.

All Items are (c) Katrina Crouch. Do not use without permission

Five Favorites

1. One of my students gave me a Ninja Turtle mask valentine! I wore it all over the school!
I felt so cool.

2. Hubbard was out for the weekend so I spent time with my parents, cleaning out the treasures junk I had piled up in the basement.  Two trash bags and two "give away" piles later, I'm down to just frames and a small box of misc treasures (these are for real treasures, not junk. For real).  I feel so accomplished!

3.  While I don't like to teach "holiday" art projects (typically corny, "crafty" and repetitive), I loved seeing my students just about burst with excitement at the idea of doing a small Valentine's Day project.

4. I illustrated a book cover!  Have you seen it?

5. I'm finally to the point where I don't feel like death after every work out!  SO GLAD.  Thinking about setting this up as my next reward if I press on through the next 2 months (or this if I start feeling really confident).

All Items are (c) Katrina Crouch. Do not use without permission

Five Favorites

1) My new February calendar is up and running and I love it.  I don't always love the calendars that I make up, but sometimes I really hit something that I like and this month's design has covered all of my devices—iPad, phone and even social media!

2) Thumb holes!
Honestly, how did we get along before there were thumb holes? I remember clinging to the edge of my sweaters when running/practicing in an attempt to keep my hands warm.  Now, sweaters and jackets keep up with you on their own

3) Snowdays
My husband is a teacher, so there will probably never be a day when I regret a good snowday!  Despite my dislike for the cold, I do like snow.  And the soft blanket that it drapes over the chaos of everyday life? Yes please

4) Snail Mail from friends.  Other mail items aren't usually as exciting (unless it's pay day ;) )
I've been making stationery for myself for a few years now (above is one of my favorite designs) and enjoyed making a few designs to share.  If you're interested, feel free to contact me about custom stationery orders!

5) TJMaxx.com—I've been hunting for the perfect purse for a while, and I think I might have found it!!  TJMaxx now has a small selection of their merchandise online and I was able to score free shipping (sign up for newsletter)!

All Items are (c) Katrina Crouch. Do not use without permission

FabHER Friday: Learning New Things

Welcome to "FabHER Fridays"! A wonderful opportunity for the lovely ladies of the blogosphere to share a post and make some friends while gaining additional exposure for their blogs. This linkup is open to everyone—from fashion to art (like me!), health to lifestyle, fitness to beauty.  All are welcome!

The past few weeks have been a little bit crazy.  I've been busy with some great client work, but unfortunately I don't have a lot that I can share at this point.  Soon.  Cool things are coming soon :)
But for now, I hope that you enjoy this little "Flash Back Friday".  This was one of my first graphic design assignments.  This poster was designed specificity grocer called "Ambassador" that supplies cultural foods and spices from all over the world.
I wanted to incorporate different patterns and botanical elements into this piece, but I was still extremely green with the design programs (1st year on the "job") and struggled.  Now, when it see it, I am filled with a little bit of relief and handed a slice of humble pie.  I'm glad that I have greatly improved, but it's not a bad thing to remember how far I had to come!  I find this so encouraging as I take on new adventures!  Every mathematician began with addition and subtraction, and it's okay to start at the beginning too :)

An InLinkz Link-up

All Items are (c) Katrina Crouch. Do not use without permission