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

1.  Probably the most exciting is the fact that I have completed a large portion of my Etsy re-brand!  Blushed Designs is now on facebook, pinterest, instagram and twitter—and will eventually take over the majority of my website (though the blog will remain rather diverse, no worries there ;) )
Very excited to be adding some other event papers (can you say graduation parties??) to the shop as well in the near future.
Check it out!!!

2. The Zoo
Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to tag along with my hubby and sis-in-law during their class trips to the zoo (they're both teachers).  We had a blast photographing the animals and hanging out.  Not a bad Monday

3.  Custom Portraits
I've had a few fun bridal drawings on my hands lately, but I am super excited to be able to illustrate one of my very favorite couples within the next week or so!

4.  KidSnippets
Admittably, it took me a while to get into these videos, but now they are definitely a go to.  They're also safe to show my students if I find something particularly hilarious—today, we watched "Art Class" and it was a hit ;)

5.  I listened in to this webinar led by Heidi while I was making dinner the other night (yummy + easy = love), and I found it very helpful and encouraging!  She hit on quite a few things that I was thinking over myself and I am excited to implement some of the tips and tricks that I was able to pick up.  If you're a business owner/blog for profit, I highly recommend checking it out :)



  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    

Five Faves

1) Svetlana of the Chic-Type blog, featured my March calendar in her collection this year! I am so excited to be included among so many great artists

2) I am offering some of the wedding stationery that I have created for my favorite brides (along with a few new ones) in my Etsy shop now.  So, if you know any budget-brides who like classy design without the work, send them on over ;)

photo credit: Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades

3) I was able to catch some photos of my work in action this week! More on this design collection soon :)

4) The weather warmed up a little bit here this weekend and there is SO MUCH RELIEF! Especially as Hubby-Todd began the spring Track season (he's the head coach).

5) Productive Mondays.
These things don't' happen every week! And now that I'm running my own business, I am even more thankful for a productive start to my week


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