What's New?

Holy buckets!

It’s been ages since my last post but LOADS has been going on.

Between making jewelry and getting ready for Market Day (more on that below), vacation, and (oh yeah!) my “real” job - The last few months have been crazy hectic and it doesn’t look like the summer is slowing down.

Let’s jump right in!

June’s Market Day (my second) was great and I (again) met so many great people – shoppers and fellow vendors.

Here’s a (blurry) picture of my setup.

**What did I sell the most of?**

 These. 

(leather wrap bracelets)

 These.

(silk ribbon wrap bracelets)

 These.

(rings)

 And some of these too!

(metal bracelets)

I even picked up a few things for myself while I was there.

How pretty are these long stem fabric roses from The Purple Pincushion??

I have 5 placed on either side of our fireplace in tall white vases.

Just perfect.

And I love this hairpin from Dani Awesome.

So elegant and so simple.

Kind of has that 1950’s charm to it. 

No? Just me? Okay then :)

(I love it!)

So there you have it.

More posts coming up soon – I promise.

In the meantime, click here to like IF Only Pretty on Facebook!

All for now.

Oh yeah - next Market Day is Saturday, July 7th. :)

*~ Ina

Hello Monday

hello custom bracelet (it turned out great!).

 hello favorite new cookies.

hello new glasses.

hello quiet time at the driving range.

hello delicious dinner and dessert.

hello mailman.

hello yummy new summer smells.

goodbye cold weather.

so glad you're gone.

hello sunshine.

*~ Ina

A Market Day Success Story

One down, three more to go. :)

This last Saturday I got to take part in Market Day and it was one of the coolest things I've ever done!

That's me - dorky grin and all :) - with my display. Everything turned out so great!
 

After two months of no sleep, no social life and no time for watching mindless reality TV, May 5th finally came and it was all worth it. *well, everything but the "no sleep" part*

I was lucky enough to have my amazing husband help me set up my display in the morning and soon after the doors opened the shoppers flooded in. Since Market Day takes part in conjunction with the Des Moines Farmer's Market and the weather was great, it attracted over 2,000 shoppers!

Once my booth was set up and ready to go, all the nerves faded and it was time for the fun to start!

I got to meet some wonderful people (shoppers and vendors),  received great compliments on my jewelry and had my first sale before the event officially started at 9 a.m.!

The most popular items? The colorful rings above, leather wrap bracelets below and single fabric rosette necklaces.

My family, along with many friends and co-workers, stopped by - which made the day so much more special. I couldn't have asked for a better first Market Day experience.

So, now that I have that under my belt, what's next?

Well, the next Market Day is June 2nd and I am so excited! If you can make it out, I highly recommend it. There are so many amazing artists and vendors at the event, and it's a great way to support small local businesses. 

In the meantime, I have some more work to do - making more necklaces, bracelets, listing items on my Etsy shop (coming very soon!) and enjoying the ride. :)

All for now,

*~ Ina

Market Day here I come!

Those who know me, know that I love to create things.
Jewelry.
Cards.
Accessories.
Anything pretty goes.

I started this blogging adventure so that I could share this passion with others and soon I will get the chance to share it on yet another level.

I am going to be a vendor at Market Day this summer!

Ha! - I still can hardly believe it!

What is Market Day? Well, click here and check out their website, and in the meantime I'll fill in the gaps on how this whole wonderfully awesome thing came to be. :)


Market Day is a monthly market in Des Moines that features local art, crafts and vintage finds. It takes place on the first Saturday of every month from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. and coincides with the Farmer's Market downtown

I will be there on May 5, June 2, August 4 and September 1 to debut IF Only Pretty - my very own line of pretties!


Sometime last year a friend at work told me about Market Day and she raved about all the wonderful vendors and encouraged me to check it out. Well, last summer came and went (filled with wedding planning of course), and I didn't get to experience it for myself.


About two months ago, she brought it up in conversation again, and I ventured to their website to see what it's all about. I was intrigued to find out that to participate vendors apply and are either accepted, rejected or wait-listed for the event. 


What are the chances that applications were due the following week?! And what are the chances that I was also working on setting up my Etsy shop at the same time?? 


So I did it!
I applied and waited patiently.
I figured, they would either laugh at the pictures of my pieces I submitted with my application and reject me, or at the very least I'd get wait-listed. 

Deep down (very, very deep down) I kind of had an inkling I had a good shot at it.

Then finally, I received this email:

Woohoo!! 
Even better than I imagined. 
I was accepted and got first dibs (along with a few other lucky vendors who were invited to join) on what days I wanted to participate.


So here we are.
Only a few weeks away, I have been working non-stop and loving every second of it! How could I not?!

I finally get to do do what I love! :)

So come check me out at the Kirkwood Building (300 Southwest 5th Street in Des Moines) on May 5th.


I'll be there with bells on!


*~ Ina

Spring is Here!

As I get ready to wrap up the March Photo A Day Challenge, here is just a quick recap of what's new around here.

Our trees are in full bloom! So pretty - I wish the blooms would last all summer.

Our hostas are on their way. In just a few weeks, these babies will be larger than life!

Just a little something I whipped up for a friend. It was a gift for her son's 2nd birthday. 

(Sorry for the crummy shot.)

We've been on a health kick lately and I couldn't have done it without these awesome carrot cake protein bars. 
Super healthy! Super yummy!

I had some birthdays and other special occasions come up in March - here are a few of the cards I made. 

This yellow one was for my mom.

This blue and pink one I love. 

A few other creations I've completed recently.

Speaking of jewelry, I have a big and exciting announcement coming up very very soon. HUGE.

"Follow me" above and stay tuned!

*~ Ina

March Photo A Day Challenge

That's it.
I've decided.
I'm doing it.
March Photo A Day challenge.
If you're not familiar with it, check out how Julie does it at Joy's Hope. 
Love her blog. 
Love her stories.
Now here's how to play along:

• Starting March 1st take a photo each day with inspiration from the list below. For example, 1. is "green," so snap a photo of your favorite plant. Or of your favorite salad. Or of your friend that you carpool with. The interpretation of the word is completely up to you. That's the fun part!
• After you have taken you photo you can share it on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or even Pinterest.
• Quick note: you can do this with any camera you have of course. But since I am absolutely addicted to my iPhone, I will be using the Instagram app.

Here is the full list for March:

And here is what I've got so far:

Green - THE most delicious steamed veggies (dipped in ranch of course).

The letter C - One word: chips! 

(Should I be concerned that my first two photos are of food??)

Three - These Maybelline Color Tattoo cream eye shadows are absolutely beautiful.

I have them in Bold Gold, Bad to the Bronze and Tough Taupe.

So pretty and versatile! Can be worn alone or as a base.

Favorite woman - my mom! Who else?!

:)

Pretty good start I think. 

I'm looking forward to having these little snippets of each day to look back on. 

And just remember.

Join me?

*~ Ina

Heart Bunting Tutorial

As promised and just in time for Valentine's Day, here's a quick tutorial for this bunting I made.

All you need:

• A book you can rip pages out of
• Scrapbook paper (I used five different kinds that I found at Archiver's - the more girly, the better!)
• Glue stick
• String to hang the flags on (hemp or twine)
• Scissors
• Double sided tape

Here's a closeup of the paper I used:

All you do:

Rip the paper out of your book and trim it so it measures 5.5 in. tall by 4 in. wide. I used my Fiskars Paper Trimmer for this step and it was a breeze.

Next, fold the top of the page over .5 inches. This is where the flags will hang off the twine. Also, make a mark 1 in. from the bottom of the page in the center (see my blue star below), like this:

Use your scissors to make two diagonal cuts from the bottom corners of the pages, meeting at the mark you made earlier. When done, it should look like this:

For this next step, use a scrap piece of paper and draw a heart. I had to do this a few times to get it just right, but it's not very difficult. My problem usually is that the two halves of any heart I drew never looked the same. So, I resorted to drawing only one side, folding the paper in half, and cutting out along the line I drew to create a perfectly symmetrical heart. There is no right or wrong shape. I just played with it until I found one that I liked and that I felt fit nicely on the book pages I cut out.

Once my heart template was done, I used it to trace hearts on the back of the scrapbook paper and carefully cut them all out. I didn't really count how many I had, but I just made sure I had equal number of hearts in each paper pattern.

Next up, I glued the hearts to the center of the flags - I made about 20 flags total. It didn't take as long as I thought it would to cut all the pieces out and assemble everything together, BUT if you need something to take your mind off the task at hand, I suggest any of the movies mentioned here. :)

Once all of the flags were done, I placed a piece of double sided tape in the inside crease of the fold (on top of the page). I placed the twine along the crease and closed the fold, so the flags were glued to the twine.

I glued my flags side by side on the twine and hunt it up on my mantle.

So simple and such an easy way to dress up the house.  This would also be really pretty as decoration for a birthday party or bridal/baby shower.

All for now!

*~ Ina

Love is in the Air

The big day is next week. 
Are you ready?


I like to get in the Valentine's Day mood by watching some of my favorites: 

• You've Got Mail - Love Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks together again. Also, this movie always makes me want to open my own children's books store in New York City. F-O-X.
• How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days - I think my sister and I (may have seen this a few too many times) can recite the entire movie by heart. "You let our love fern die!"
• One Fine Day - Two words: simply adorable. (Two more words: George Clooney.)

And if all of that wasn't girly enough, this year I resorted to decorating our fireplace mantle in pretty pinks and reds. My wonderful husband even let me leave up these pretties for our Superbowl Party. :)

I believe his direct quote was: "It's awfully girly, don't you think?"

First, here's a quick look.

Now let's dig a little deeper.

I found the window at an antique store in town last year and am always looking for different ways to display it around the house. It's one of my favorite finds because it adds so much character and is versatile too. 

The paper wreath hanging on the window was a Christmas gift from one of my friends. She (very patiently) used book pages and pretty scrapbook paper to put it together. It's so delicate and pretty - this was just the perfect spot for it.

To the left of the window is a large foam-board print of my favorite wedding picture. This simple black and white photo brings me back to that wonderful day, so naturally I used a few more wedding touches throughout this display.

Around the print I clustered together a blue glass bud vase from IKEA, an antique red lantern, a candle holder from Crate and Barrel filled with a silver bead necklace (does it get any cheaper than that??), and a ceramic red vase.

To the right of the window I have a blue Ball canning jar with a little red ribbon tied around it for color and another Crate and Barrel candle holder with yet another silver beaded necklace. Disclaimer: I did not earn these necklaces - they are from my mother-in-law. Don't ask! :) And that bright red peeking out from behind the glass jar? It's one my favorite Christmas candle holders. It's red, so why not use it?

I found the blue frame at TJ Maxx months ago and have been itching to use it, but couldn't quite figure out where to put it or what to put in it. I love its size and shape, and the look of the scuffed paint. It fits a 5 x 7 picture, but I decided to display our wedding invite instead.

Next to the frame is another red vase and a canvas print my sister made for us for Christmas.

Here's another closer look.

I have the photo displayed on a plate holder so that I could angle it in the direction I want. This wedding day picture was taken in the vineyard and I love how it turned out. Did I mention, my sister DIY'ed it?? It turned out awesome! (I love the blackened edges.)

So there you have it. 

And here's another shot of the finished project.

I had a blast putting this together, and I love that I was able to find and use things I already had around the house. Improvising was key and coming up with different ways to use pieces really paid off.

Hope you enjoyed it.

Oh, whoops! Did I forget to mention a little something? :)

Tutorial coming up in the next post!

All for now,

*~Ina