Art Studio Confessions: Creating a Stationery Business at Home

When I was first starting my business, I had no idea what I was doing. Most days, I still don't feel like I entirely know what I'm doing...but I do feel like I've learned a lot since 2013!

I first started making greeting cards in 2011 after I came home to California from Italy. This was the early days of Pinterest being such a reliable resource for information. This was also pre-Instagram being the end all, be all for advertising and networking. Blogging was at its peak and it was wonderful! But it was still hard to find resources and other stationery artists willing to divulge their secrets so a lot of things I learned were by trial and error, and also working with a tight budget.

And so! I wanted to share some of my favorite tools and suppliers I've discovered over the last 9 years of working and growing Sketchy Notions from my first failed market to being carried in over 100 stores between the US and Canada!

**Please note: This is NOT the end all, be all bible list of how to start/run your business! These are just some things I've learned and products and resources that I've grown to love and wish I had known about back in the early days to building Sketchy. A lot of these links are affiliate links too, which means I get a teeny bit of money for sharing. But I only share products and services that I personally love and use :) 

Coloring for a cause

Hey friends, it's been a *minute* since I last blogged. It feels like the world has blown up and is trying to heal itself with everyone at arm's length.

Not much has changed around the Sketchy bubble. The daily routine is still working on commissions, printing and packing orders and staying at home snuggling our cat Pepper as much as possible. Add in more reading and listening podcasts to stay on top of current events and educate myself on how we got here...that about sums up these past days...weeks...months. 

To try and do some good, I made some more coloring pages. This time the theme is "Black Lives Matter" because, well...they do. Color them and hang in your windows...use them as a talking point to discuss what's happening with your kiddos...blow them up and take them to marches! I'd love to see how you use them so please tag me on Instagram!

These are available for free to download on the Sketchy Notions freebie page or right here at this link. 

If you want to also donate to Campaign Zero, you can buy these three coloring pages in the Sketchy Notions shop instead. About $5+ from every purchase will be donated to Campaign Zero (the extra change is used to cover transaction and listing fees). 

Art Studio Confessions: Why I Won't Shop On Etsy Anymore

I used to love Etsy. It has been a consistent source of revenue for Sketchy Notions and a wonderful way to grow my brand and audience over the years.

But over the last few years, Etsy has forgotten their original mission of being a marketplace that supports small makers. 

While I fully understand that Etsy is a business (and now a public company that needs to keep shareholders happy), they've made many moves that feel abusive of their power and the foothold they have in the handmade industry. 

In recent years they've made multiple moves and enforced programs that cripples makers and takes a giant chunk out of our income, leading many makers to close up their Etsy shops for good.

Click below to read more about how Etsy is hurting its makers, and how you can still support handmade makers and small businesses. 

Free Coloring Pages: Thank You Essential Workers

Hey friends. It's hard to believe 4 weeks of quarantine have passed and we don't quite know when it will end.

While it sucks to have life disrupted, there's lot of folks still working to ensure that what few industries deemed essential are continuing to run as smooth as they can in this crazy time. When my friend Michelle responded to my request for coloring page themes with "a thank you one that we can hang on our front door or in our window," I knew I had to do it. 

This newest collection of free coloring pages includes three designs that you can print, color and display where ever you know an essential worker that might need a little social distanced hug right now.

To get your free "thank you" coloring pages, follow this link here or click the photo below! If you use them, I'd LOVE to see where you have them displayed! Be sure to tag me on Instagram @sketchynotions

Need more coloring? Check out the original set of coloring pages here.

Art Studio Confessions: Making it work in less than 600 square feet

One of the biggest challenges I've encountered over the years of growing my business is space.

Not the lack of sleep. Not the lack of time. Not the lack of help either...but a lack of actual physical space to make my products, store them and ship them. An added challenge over the last two years is doing this while co-habitating with a very patient (albeit messy) boyfriend.

Prior to moving to Pasadena in the late summer of 2018, I was living at home. As much as I hate to admit that (but still, thank you mom) I didn't lack for space there. I had enough room for a painting desk, an area for packing orders and cutting, shelves to store inventory and a corner of the shop to keep my market supplies. It was heaven.

So when my boyfriend and I decided to move in together in Pasadena, I had to face the new challenge of how to run my business in a shared 1 bedroom apartment that was about 800 square feet.

Now that we've moved to Berkeley, we've downsized even further to around 600 square feet. In a word...yikes. I'll admit, I definitely cried a little out of fear when we first moved in that I wouldn't be able to make it all fit and be able to work....let alone be able to see the floor. But over 7 months in I can happily say the floor is (mostly) clear and the boyfriend doesn't notice most days that there's a stationery business running in the living room, the kitchen and in the loft space above our bed!

How do I do this in ~600 square feet? Read more below!

Supporting Artists and Makers During Quarantine

Throughout this first week of "shelter at home" here in Berkeley, California, I've seen a growing number of artists voicing two things.

1. How much these closures are going to hurt their business, both online or their brick and mortars.
2. How much they want to help everyone else.

None of us know how long these closures and virus will be effecting our business and I feel it's more important than ever to help spread help (and social distanced hugs) to as many makers and people as possible. So I compiled a master list of a lot of the sales my friends are offering online, as well as the free activities and charities they're promoting in one spot!

Even if you can't contribute monetarily to your favorite makers, some other ways to help artists, musicians and makers are:

• Share their work! On your Instagram stories, on Facebook or just forward their shop, music or work to your friends and fam. 
• Like their posts, and comment! The algorithm is very skewed and dependent upon interactions. A quick heart and note how much you love it goes a long way. 
• Send them an email or DM! I've gotten emails from all over the world from people that have found my books and it means so much to me! Especially when I'm having a crappy day. 
• Sign up for their newsletters! This quarantine won't last forever, which means one day we'll be able to get back out to markets and shows again. Signing up for their newsletter is a great way to stay on top of future events of your favorites! Plus I know personally it's nice to see a new person sign up to my list! 
• Leave them a 5 star review! Have you purchases from them in the past? Review their items to help encourage future shoppers to buy their goods! 

Have a friend or are you offering a discount?  Comment below and I'll add you to the list! 

Artists Offering Sales, Kits and/or Donating Proceeds 

(and just plain good folks that need some love right now):

• Art Tool Kit | Maria at Expeditionary Art is having a spring cleaning sale on her pocket palettes and travel watercolor supplies! 
• Banter & Bliss Candle Co. | Sheena makes some wonderful candles (and some that have our artwork on them!)
• Jackalope Arts Fair | The gals behind one of my favorite craft markets put together a Social Distancing Care Kit with lots of goodies (including some of my coloring postcards).
• Lavande Farms | My sweet Texan-turned-Californian friends make the most wonderful lavender products! 
• Los Olivos General Store | My very first wholesale account was with this amazing shop! 
• Ohmeed | Amal from Ohmeed makes beautiful modern heirlooms and is having a sale AND donating proceeds to Feed San Diego
• The Paper + Craft Pantry | Our sweet friend Pei has some amazing stationery in her brick and mortar that she is selling online in Texas! 
• Paper Raven Co. | Erin has a discount in her shop and every order donates towards planting a tree!
• Poppy & Quail | This sweet mother/daughter duo have a sale on their coloring goodies! 
• Unblushing |  Julie Ann is such an amazing maker (and new mom) offering free shipping! 
• Worthwhile Paper | Kristen has a really wonderful encouragement and connection sale

Free Activities:

• Samantha Dion Baker | Samantha is a talented artist and author has a #drawyourdaykids challenge with prompts that will donate to Feeding America 
• Letters by Shells | Shelly is such a lovely and talented calligrapher that has tons to video tutorials, charts and resources for learning calligraphy! 
• The Paper Wilderness |  Jenna has such a fun stationery line and has some free coloring pages available! 
• I also have a bunch of free coloring pages right here! 

Italy Friends:

• Vanessa Peters | This sweet friend is an musician raising money with her Kickstarter to fund her next album recording! 
• DelBrenna Jewelry | My lovely jewelry making friend in Cortona have a sale AND are giving a sunflower charm with any purchase! 
• Famiglia Buccelletti | Our sweet friends that own the villas we use during retreats have delicious wine (and ship to the states!)
• Love Light Yoga Italy | My sweet Italy friend Katie hosts yoga retreats in Italy! 

I'm going to end this post with a cute photo of our new cat, Pepper Ferino, and a peek at one of the newest coloring pages! 

Art Studio Confessions: Surviving (and loving) craft markets

It's been a long journey from my first craft fair back in 2013. A LONG journey with many missteps, sunburns, profitless weekends and disappointing markets.

I wrote a blog post in 2016 about the changes I had made to my booths just over those 3 years. Now it's 2020 and while I'm still tweaking my booth with every market, I more or less have a system now for how I arrange my booth and prep for making every market a success. Or at the very least, enjoyable!

The photo above is from my last Holiday market of 2019 in San Jose and I loved this set up! Compared to the photo below of one of my first markets, my booths have come a long way.

I have a LONG list of tips I've learned over the years below and a big checklist at the very bottom of the post. If you just want the checklist, here's the link to it here but I hope you'll read on for more tips and tricks!

I also compiled an Amazon list of lots of items I've used over the years so here's a shortcut for your market prep shopping!

Free Coloring Pages: Indoor Jungle

Hey friends. I was expecting my next blog post would be part of the new series I'm working on. I have a few nearly ready to post too. But crazy times call for...coloring!

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen my schedule has opened up quite a bit. Italy retreats are postponed, trade shows canceled and craft fairs no longer happening. We've been ordered to "shelter in place" until April 7th May 3rd (*gulp*) here in Berkeley. This all means I have a LOT more free time! And I know I'm not the only one...many of my friends (and their littles) are also spending more time at home during these days.

So I wanted to spread a little colorful fun! I made 4 (update!) 5 coloring pages (hoping to make more in the coming days coming weeks too) for you and your littles to color! They're sized for regular paper (8.5" x 11") so you can print them at home on regular paper or even watercolor paper if you want to paint! Click any of the photos of right here to get access to all "Indoor Jungle" coloring pages or you can find all the freebies in one place on the Sketchy Notions website freebie page.

If you use any of these, I'd LOVE to see the colorful results! Please tag me on Instagram @sketchynotions

a free 2020 calendar for you!

Happy New Year, friends!

2019 was a wild year and 2020 is gearing up to be just as intense. Intense in a good way, I have a lot of fun stuff planned and I'm sure more is bound to come along throughout the year.

In keeping with tradition from last year, I wanted to make another free calendar for all you lovely folks! Instead of asking you to take a survey this year, I'd just love it if you signed up for the newsletter! This year I'm hoping to release a lot more freebies to newsletter subscribers, as well as share more behind the scenes stuff and tidbits with the folks following along.

And I'd love for you to join the fun!

Click here to sign up for the Sketchy Notions Newsletter and you'll get access to download your free 2020 calendar! I made two sizes for you to print this year, a big 9 x 12 (my favorite) and a regular 8.5 x 11.

Introducing Art Studio Confessions

As part of trying to post more and share some things I've learned over the past 8 years of growing my business, I wanted to start a series of blog/Instagram posts called Art Studio Confessions.

These posts will share some insights into how my business has evolved and deep dives into how I learned (or am still learning) firsthand how to run a business. These posts will also talk about the ugly stuff that most businesses don't seem to want to address on social media. Working with little space and/or funds. The steps I took that made it a business and not a hobby. Pros and cons of collaborating and business partners. Contracts. All those less fun topics that are incredibly necessary when you want to create a thriving business. I am by no means an expert in any of these areas but I still would like to share the things I've learned over these past years to hopefully help others who are just starting out or maybe just want a peek into how others do it and want to start a conversation.

I also want to share some of my sources and favorite supplies for running a stationery business out of your home. For some reason in this industry there seems to be an odd veil of silence over our sources and supplies...as if you need to validate your business/struggle by trying things out that many of us learned many steps ago are inferior. So I will also be sharing my favorite printers, paper, envelope suppliers and more to hopefully help others that are starting their own stationery lines learn from my mistakes and missteps over the years

I shared my first behind the scenes peek on Instagram at my studio which has everything AND the kitchen sink...because it's in the kitchen. It felt nice to share what I usually crop just out of the frame and be more open about where I'll be working and calling home for a while.

If you have suggestions of things you'd like me to discuss or want to share your own confessions, feel free to share with the hashtags:
#artstudioconfessions, #confessionsfromthemaker and #confessionsfromtheartist.

Modern Colored Pencil - Book #3!

Hello Modern Colored Pencil! Aka...book number 3...whoa. It's really crazy to type that out. I never really thought I'd ever have a book one, let alone be on book number three. 

This new one started back in January with another quick turn around. My editor needed all the text and illustrations by June so this spring was a frenzy of finalizing details for my Wanderful Retreats, getting stuff ready for my own travels, shipping orders to wholesale accounts and getting this book finished up. 

I gotta admit...I really love how this one turned out. I thought I loved the first two but this third one is just so pretty to flip through. I love the content and the illustrations. And since I never really worked with colored pencils before (unless you count watercolor pencils), I pretty got to learn how to use these tools while making the book which was very exciting. 

Family book portrait! If you want a peek at some of the supplies I used to make the book, you can shop all my recommended colored pencil supplies right here on Amazon. And if you snag a copy on Amazon or at Barnes & Noble, I'd love it if you could leave a kind review too! 

Hello blog...long time no blog...

I've been pretty quiet on here yet again for an extended period of time. I didn't mean to, I honestly meant to try and use this space more during this year. But it's been a busy year. Really busy.

Within the last year or so I...

• Moved to Pasadena, and then up to Berkeley 2.5 months ago
• Wrote a third book. More on that tomorrow...
• Grew my wholesale account stock list by A LOT
• Hosted my 4th year of Italy retreats solo (finally) and under a new name, Wanderful Retreats
• Filled my 8th sketchbook while traveling Europe (Berlin, Amsterdam, London and Italy) and Africa (Kenya, Zambia) with my bf
• Attended my first market out of state
• Traveled to teach workshops out of state

I've also got big plans for the coming year too! I already have my 2020 dates for another round of Wanderful Retreats. I've signed up for another stationery trade show, this time in San Francisco. I'm going to finally pull the trigger and make some Skill Share videos. And I've got plans to write/illustrate a 4th book solo!

So yeah, it's been busy. I've been pretty overwhelmed at times too which I haven't shared much of because I got busy and forgot about this blog and I've honestly become pretty disenchanted with Instagram. Yes, I love the friends I've made on there. But I LOATHE the gd algorithm. Those first couple years after the great Instagram follow of 2015 were great but to be honest I got a LOT of spam accounts following me. And if you know the Instagram algorithm (who really does though) the more inactive accounts you have following you that aren't actively engaging with your posts, then the less the app will deem your posts worthy of showing up in the feeds of those that legitimately follow you.

As a result I've been sharing less and less online, but sharing more in person at markets and via DMs and emails I get from people. I get a lot of questions about supplies, running my business, writing books, traveling, making stationery, making art and more. And I love answering these questions and I want to answer more. 

So my goal for the next year is to start sharing more and being more honest about this whole self employed business thing. How I got started and how it's evolved over the years. How to handle the highs and miserable lows of a business partnership. How to run a business in less than 800 square feet in an apartment you share with a significant other. How I shop and source supplies. And how to sketch and paint and all sorts of fun artsy stuff. 

I hope you'll follow along. If you have anything in particular you'd like to know about my work, leave a comment so I can hopefully answer your question in a future post! 

a free 2019 calendar for you!

I posted this on Instagram but can't link to it properly on Pinterest so here's just a quicky post! I made a quick survey at the beginning of January to gauge interest in what products YOU want from Sketchy Notions.

Seeing as most of you that read this blog are the OG Sketchy fans, I wanted to make sure you didn't miss the chance to get the calendar either.

Just click this link here to take a quick survey and you'll get to download this darling succulent watercolor calendar!

the National Stationery Show 2018

One of the big accomplishments of 2018 for me was debuting Sketchy Notions at the National Stationery Show in NEW YORK CITY! For those of you not directly tied to the paper world, the National Stationery Show or NSS is a HUGE trade show for all things paper. Retailers come from all over the world to shop for their stores for the following year from their old favorites and also from new folks...like me! Big brands send people to source artists and designs to license from too.

When researching, I had a hard time finding information from fellow card makers about their experience at NSS so I wanted to do a bit of a breakdown of my time in NY and how I pulled it off!

FYI - this is a really long post so no hard feelings if you just want to scroll and look at the pictures ;)

Wanderful Retreats - the next Italy adventure!

I think it's pretty common knowledge at this point that I'm addicted to Italy. So addicted that I try to find ways to get back to Italy every year. This past summer after we wrapped our 3rd year of art retreats (and added Lucca to the itinerary!) I got to show my family around Italy for the first time! This was the first time my mom and littlest sister had ever been to Italy and the first time for me and my Italian step-dad to show them all of our favorite corners of this gorgeous and chaotic country.

As much as I love Italy and sketching across it, I may love sharing Italy with others even more. All these restaurants and historical facts, quiet churches and picturesque alleys, perfect vantage points for photos and sketches. I've gathered a lot of them over the years and I really LOVE sharing these tips with other people and getting them just as addicted to Italy as I am.

While we may have wrapped up the last summer of Bellissima Art Retreats, this certainly won't be my last summer of showing folks around Italy.

Next summer will be my 10th anniversary of first traveling to Italy, and it will be my first that lead a group across Tuscany (back to my hometown) with my new business - Wanderful Retreats!

I'll be heading back to the first town that sealed my love for this country and leading a small group to some of my favorite towns, restaurants, gelato shops, churches, alleys and more. There will be sketching, cooking, wine tasting, exploring, sunflower field hopping and art-filled adventures! I'm a little excited if you couldn't tell.

If you want to know more about the retreats, pop over to the new website! Or if you just want a fix of pretty Italy photos, you can follow us on Instagram too! More than anything, I'd love it if you could share this fun news with your mom, aunts, cousins, best friends and sisters. Or just come yourself! Especially if your resolution is to travel more, why not come travel with me through Italy to learn to sketch and see all my favorite spots!

Your Year in Art - book #2!

Hi all!

Another post...within a matter of weeks...it's a miracle! But in all seriousness, I do feel badly neglecting this little corner of the interwebs. This blog was the only "Sketchy" thing I had for a long time. Back before I ever owned the domain, had an Etsy shop with that moniker or made this a business. The Sketchy Notions blog is the oldest bit of Sketchy I have.

And now, there's a new addition to the Sketchy fam...my 2nd BOOK! I already shared about my 1st real published book, Modern Drawing, which published in June. Earlier this year in January (the day before my 30th birthday), I got an email from my publisher, Quarto, asking if I'd be interested in writing another book! The answer of course (after lots of running around the house squealing) was a resounding HELL YES.

This also meant I would have to write book number 2 while preparing to attend the National Stationery Show in New York City for my first time...and preparing for the 3rd summer of Italy retreats...AND, at the last minute, fly down to San Diego to film my workshop collaboration with The Crafter's Box! May and June were insane to say the least.

BUT! With all the late nights and panicked deadline days, I got it all turned in. A week or so ago, I got my first physical copy of my 2nd book and it's adorable.

Your Year in Art is a book designed to help you overcome blank page anxiety and artists' block! There's a prompt for every week of the year to keep you creating and making all year long! It's so colorful and fun inside and I'm in LOVE with how it turned out!

I've been sharing more peeks inside the book over on Instagram lately but I also wanted to share some of the pre-order details over here too. Pre-orders of the book are crucial for the first week of a book launch. All pre-orders count towards the 1st week totals which then helps the book show up more prominently in searches on Amazon, which can then lead to more orders! More orders = happy publisher = even happier Chelsea!

You can find the book on Amazon and at Barnes & Noble now! If you pre-order, be sure to send me your receipt and I'll send you the 2019 Coloring Calendar download! You'll also be entered into giveaways of signed books, original art and some art packs! YAY!

Take a peek at the book below and I'd love it if you considered ordering up a copy of Your Year in Art. It would make a great gift this Holiday season!

Etsy Swap 2018!

Yet again, long time no blog. There's so many things to catch you all up on and I will have to get to that another day!

Today, I'm excited to share some goodies I was sent by the lovely Amy from A Loved Life! I've been following Amy for a few years now and actually participated in her last Etsy Swap a few years ago too!

Amy organized the swap AND she ended up being paired with me! I was paired with the sweet Ruthanne Crews so hopefully she liked her goodies too!

On to the fun part! Amy sent me such thoughtful goodies, everything from cat stickers from one of my favorite shops Cactus Club, to a gorgeous porcelain grapefruit bowl from Heirloom Studio. I will of course be eating my grapefruits out of my grapefruit bowl just for the sake of doing it.

There was also a lovely assortment of teach and a bath fizz bar, which I'm sure will come in handy as the Holiday season kicks into high gear! Thank you so much Amy! You can see more of the goodies people mailed each other for the 2018 Etsy Swap over on Amy's blog.

There's so much more to update you and I'll do my best to get another post over here soon. Another book that's releasing soon, a whole new collection of paper goods, a new art retreat company...A LOT!

If you want to get an idea of what's going on immediately, pop on over to the Sketchy Notions Instagram and my personal Instagram to get a peek. 

my first REAL BOOK!

Hi all (if there's still anyone out there that follows this little blog). It's been a while...quite a while!

Things have been busy to say the least. And things are only going to get busier. If you don't follow me on Instagram, (which, honestly, is the only thing I post on these days) then you've missed a lot.

Besides our second round of Bellissima Art Retreats, the highlight of 2017 was writing my FIRST BOOK! A real book...not a print a few copies or a one-of-a-kind book...a real to be published and in bookstores/on Amazon BOOK! 

See that cover to the right? THAT'S MY BOOK! It's still pretty surreal seeing it and knowing that it will be in actual stores and online in less than 3 months. WOW!

So...the full story...around last May, I was contacted by the sweet folks over at Quarto Publishing asking if I'd like to write a book on modern drawing techniques. It was right when I was getting ready to leave for Italy so I was a little pre-occupied and ended up emailing them in between retreats to get more information and ultimately say YES. 

What followed was a whirlwind 4 months of drawing, writing, editing, submitting, revising and losing a fair amount of sleep. Modern Drawing is more than just a book on drawing...there's my tips and tricks, how to turn an ink drawing into a painting, adding color, sketching on the road and with drawing challenges. Plants, animals, people, buildings...I swear, there's SO MUCH drawing instruction in this one book! 

I'm happy to share that after those few crazy months by book, Modern Drawing, is coming out on June 5th! You can pre-order it on Amazon, Amazon UK and Barnes & Noble now! It's pretty crazy that I can freakin' type in MY NAME on Amazon and MY BOOK comes up. Yeah...a little crazy. 

And...since crazy seems to be the reoccurring theme of my year, I'm actually in the midst of writing a 2nd book right now! Back in January, the day before my 30th birthday, I got yet another email from the lovely Quarto folks asking if I would write another book...Your Year of Art! This book will be completely different. It's a book to help combat artist's block and blank page anxiety so it's filled with 52 prompts, one for each week of the year, to keep you creating and drawing all year long. It's so crazy to be back in this process again already, in the midst of getting ready for my first year attending the National Stationery Show in May. 

Yeah...it's a little crazy around the art bubble these days. I'm still doing my best to keep up posting on Instagram so that's the best way to stay on top of news with the books. I will try to post over here more often in the land of no algorithms (I'm looking at you, Instagram...). 

bits & pieces...over the past few months...

Ciao everyone! 

So...I must admit, it's been quite awhile since I last posted on this here blog. Spring was a bit of  a frenzy between getting the Spring Collection launched, trying out some new markets, finishing up the school year, Spring wedding MANIA, another year of I Madonnari AND getting prepped for our 2nd year of Bellissima Art Retreats in Italy! 

To say things were hectic is an understatement. 

But, now I'm back in the bubble and rested after some down time cruising through Italy with some friends and family at the end of our 2nd retreat. 

I've got some secret projects I'm currently working on (more on that as soon as I'm able to share) and new Holiday designs are in the works too! I'm slowly collecting photos from some recent weddings as well and hopefully I'll get my newest sketchbook Sesto photographed soon. Until then, here's a quick catch up on some highlights you might have missed (if you follow along on Instagram, you've already seen most of this!).

I spent my last few days in Italy this summer sketching across Rome! Hot and sweaty and oh so much fun! 

I also was able to make a quick trip somewhere new -- VERONA!

My last wedding right before I left. This guestbook was a floral beast!

My 2017 I Madonnari piece of Burano, Italy! I'll share more about this monster soon. 

Chalk by Chels has been staying VERY busy lately!

VERY busy! These are from another friend's wedding back in May. 

I tried out the Jackalope market in Pasadena this spring too, and brought the little sis-tern along to help! 

Mural paining with a local elementary school with Arts Outreach! 

This was a dream wedding -- GEODE SLICE PLACE CARDS!! 

Some logo work for a new tasting room in Los Olivos! 

Winter Celtic "Sláinte" Photoshoot

A few weeks ago, one of my favorite local photographers, Rebecca Rivera, and one of my favorite coordinators, Maria from Wunderland Co., decided to get together and create another beautiful photoshoot. Last year, they collaborated on the stunning Cinco de Mayo "Tequila and Tapas" themed shoot, so this one was bound to be just as gorgeous. 

The results were incredible, I'm still in awe of how it all came together. For this round, I was able to make a guestbook (which is over in the Etsy shop!), mirror chalk signs, favor tags and some floral cameo mirrors. The little floral cameos were my favorite detail of everything I got to make! I'll probably keep them painted until I have to repurpose them for another wedding!

They shot the whole thing up at Knapp's Castle up above Santa Barbara, which is a magical location! Everything just came together so perfectly. AH! Here are the other lovely ladies that were involved with bringing this whole day together:

Photography: Rebecca Rivera Weddings
Curation/Styling & Design: Wunderland Co. 
Vintage Rentals: B. Living
Cake: Sass Catering
Florals: Terra Bella Event Florals
Hair/Make-Up: Julie Christy Hair & Make-Up
Wedding Dress: Dreamers and Lovers