Another for the list . . .

I was reading through some old posts and realized I haven't added anything to the Top 10 list lately. I'm not even sure what number I am on? 6? 7? Well, I'll check it out, but whatever number I'm on this should definitely be on the list:

RoShamBo (Paper store, overall AWESOME store!)

RoShamBo is the closest thing to The Paper Source or Kate's Paperie out here in Bozeman. Being the paper crafty person that I am it is such a cool place to visit for supplies or just for inspiration. They also carry really great gifts, bags, cards, jewelry and baby stuff. The ambience of the space is warm and inviting and I could probably spend a whole day in there :) J/K. It's an awesome store though. Check out the link in the links list to the right.

Word up.

Updates & Mimes

Hi all. It's been awhile. Things have been semi-hectic with wedding plans, etc, but it's going well. We're making our invitations ourselves and we're still in the printing process, but I think it will progress smoothly.

I have recently been commissioned for a fun new project. My sister-in-law wants me to make 20 small journals for her to give as gifts to her clients after the new year. I made a prototype this weekend and am sending it to her. It's going to be great and a nice series once they are finished. I plan to take photos of them and post them and I am thinking I may add this type of book to my "Signature" series. It's slow going for the update to the LillyJean site, but I hope that I can pay it more attention after our wedding invitations have been sent out.

Jim and I were mimes for Halloween. It was fun and an easy costume to put together last minute. I've included a pic. Chao for now.

S

Just saying "Hi"

Yo. It's been a little while. Thought I'd check in. I'm busy, busy with wedding plans and invitation designing. We're doing them all by hand ourselves so it's going to be a lot of work, but I think they'll be totally unique and awesome! I've been researching some new binding techniques for a guest book creation. I'm hoping I can make it without stressing out too bad.

We took a trip out to AZ a few weeks ago and comboed it with a wedding in WI. Good times. It was hot (100+) and sunny and great to have a week without work. I'm looking forward to our honeymoon, which is looking like it will be in Mexico. Sweet. I would love to know a little more Spanish before then, or do you think I can get by with "hola" and "quesidilla"? Not sure I spelled those right.

Well, it seems I've become very sleepy in the last few minutes. Off to slumberland I go . . .

Mountain climber

Yo. It's official. I am a mountain climber :) Jim and I did a short trip this past weekend over the Beartooth pass and into Yellowstone. I found the most awesome hat ever, and we climbed Mt. Washburn. I've included a picture of me at the top with the elevation sign so you can see for yourselves. Good times.

Last week was my first week at the FM with LillyJean. It went pretty well. I sold 2 sets of notecards and one photo album. Progress for sure. A lot of people took my business card which is always good. My goal after next weeks FM is to start working on a site redesign that allows people to place orders and pay through my site. I would also like to try going into some shops in Bozeman to see if they would be interested in selling the albums. I'm currently working on a wedding album for friends and hope to start on a baby album as well. I have also recently realized that these albums are more awesome than I initially thought :) The paper is so great because you can write on it as well, so you can make these albums into little scrap books of a special trip or day or person or whatever you want. I think that is pretty cool, that you can just write directly on the page and create these mini pieces of art within the album.

Dress shopping is this weekend. Bring on the lace! TTFN.

S

Big Fishin'

Last weekend Jim's fam was in town. It was a riot having 18 relatives here for a visit. We did a lot of eating, drinking and we went fishing one day. It was my first time fly fishing with a guide and in a boat . . . and I kicked butt! This is a picture of me with my biggest fish of the day, a 19" rainbow trout. Isn't he pretty? I also caught and 18". The one pictured was quite fiesty. He jumped out of the water 3 times and I got a real rush reeling him in. I look forward to fishing again soon.

I'm steadily working on the photo albums. I have 9 finished and a couple of journals I made a while back that I'm going to sell. Tomorrow is the big move day. I'm hoping to get most of my stuff over to Jim's. Hopefully only to have a few things to take over next week. I have so much stuff for the garage sale. I hope we sell stuff. It's going to be kind of a hassle if we don't. We'll just have to figure out what to do with stuff before we can drop it off at the salvo or sacks.

I'm sleepy. It's late. I should go to bed. Check back soon for my next Trout Master catch :)

Hectic times . . .LillyJean ONLINE!

Yo. Well, I'm trying to keep up on this blog. I sometimes forget about it though. Apologies to those who may actually be reading it. I've been super busy lately. I've been making books for the FM, packing and sorting to move and have a yard/garage sale and working on the re-design of the Comma-Q Architecture web site. So far, I'm holding it all together. Jim and I are also steadily planning our wedding. We've got a date, a church and almost a reception space, a band and a photographer. Good progress, I'd say. I'm heading up north to go dress shopping with Julie in a few weeks. I'm really excited for that :) I get to wear the prettiest dress I'll probably ever wear in my entire life! I wonder what it will look like . . .

Anyhow, just stopping in to say "hi." I'll post picks again soon. Probably from the FM. I'll try to remember to have Jim take some of my booth. . . .

OH! That totally reminds me, I have set up a satellite site for LillyJean through my site. It is www.saralynndesign.com/lillyjean. Just some samples up there now, but I'm hoping I can build it so that I can accept orders in the future, so keep coming back to visit to see progress.

Engaged and stuff!

Jim and I got engaged! We are so excited! Looks like a February wedding, in Michigan. Of course, the details are in the works. We have also officially decided to stay out here in Bozeman for awhile. That really isn't new news, but thought I would share anyway. . . .

This past weekend we went to the rodeo-dee in Sheridan, WY with our friend Laura. She grew up there and her parents were so kind to let us stay with them at their house. We had sooo much fun, but it was soooooo hot. I think it was 105 when we went in to the rodeo. Totally sweating, but totally loving it :) Jim was decked out and totally looked like a real cowboy. I wore a snazzy out fit myself, but don't think I looked that authentic. Jim had on Wranglers. Following the awesome rodeo the town has a "street dance" which is just like a street festival with a couple of bands playing and booze and this thing called "butt darts." I'm going to leave it to your imagination to figure that one out and maybe one day I'll unveil the mystery. It is very entertaining :) We had such a great time and Laura and her parents were so generous. They cooked for us and bought us the tickets to the rodeo. It was a pretty special time. We might just have to go every year :) . . . .

I have almost received all of my supplies for my books. It is now safe for me to post a photo of one of my most recent creations since both couples I made albums for are married. The one included with this post is the same format that I will be recreating for selling at the FM. Bring on the book making :)

Farmers Market here I come!

Exciting news to share! I have reserved two weeks at the Farmers Market in September to try my hand at selling my photo albums. I got some really good spots reserved too. Now the process begins of creating enough inventory . . . oh the fun! I just finished a few albums for wedding gifts with a new cover technique that I think is my best yet. I will upload photos AFTER they are marrried just in case they pop in here I wouldn't want to ruin the suprise :)

I'll keep you posted on progress. I will also be adding a link within my site for my photo albums. It will be an offshoot of www.saralynndesign.com for now. TTFN!

It's been a little while . . .

Hello. I know, it's been a little while. I guess life got busy. I apologize again for the look of this blog. It's on my list, along with many other things.

I read recently that blog entries should be about things you are passionate about. I like to think my blog is about seeing a side of me that most of the people coming to my site wouldn't normally see; writing about what I enjoy outside of design. So, I guess I'm "passionate" about the baby ducks at the duck pond on MSU's campus. They have to be some of the cutest creatures on the earth and so I'm sharing a picture of them here so that you all can see their cuteness in action.

On another note, I just finished another photo album. I think it could be my best one yet. I'm still experiementing with formats and binding techniques and I think the one I used for this album could be a keeper. I'll post a picture as soon as I take them. I still have a few final touches to put on it before it is totally complete. I'm thinking of doing an extended design project based off this photo album as an experiment, and then it will be off as a gift for friends getting married next month. It's fun to make books (I suppose I've probably said that before). Anyhow . . .

Enjoy baby ducks!

First bike ride of the season

Today I took my first bike ride of the Spring. It was such a beautiful day here today. It had to be close to 70 degrees. Sunny, partly cloudy, but the nice poofy clouds that make for good photographs. I rode up to campus and had lunch with Jim. We walked to this pizza place and sat outside. It was great.

I'm working on making a new book. It's a journal. I hope it turns out like I want it to. I really love bookmaking. I know the more I do it the better I'll get at it. I've included a photo of a photo album I made a few months ago. I'm still experimenting with binding techniques and which ones I prefer.

Today is only Friday! So fantastic! I've still got 2 days left in my weekend! Hope they are as nice as today.

New homepage

I've updated my homepage. I love the photo that is on there. It is so very Springy! Soon the baby ducks will be hatching! I can't wait. They have to be some of the cutest creatures EVER! I plan to take pictures so hopefully I'll be able to post them here.

Another apology for the look of this blog. I hope to work on it some tomorrow. I have the day off from work. Sweet. I don't even know how many people are viewing this thing. Probably not that many. Eh, no matter. Happy Spring!

Filling Station

Last night was a great night. We went to Norris Hot Springs (http://www.norrishotsprings.com) then grilled some very tasty burgers for dinner and then went out to the Filling Station to see some live music. We got there about half way through the set of a band named "Small Sails." (http://www.smallsails.com) I enjoyed them alot. All intsrumental with movies projected behind them of mostly nature, sky, flowers and such. They have a very peaceful quality to them, but also very energetic. It was a good night.

I was also thinking of another addition to my Top 10 list. I'm thinking it may morph into just a list of fantastic things about Bozeman though because I don't know that I'll want to stop once I hit 10. I guess for now I'm still only on #5, which would be:

5. The Touchers (http://www.thetouchers.com)

A fantastic punk-rock "Pixie-esque" Violent Fems-ish band from Bozeman. I am most excited about this entry because seeing them live gave me hope for the music scene out here. I just had to get to know some people here in town to find out who is worth seeing. These guys definitely are. And so, they make the list.

Another Top 10

I thought of another to add to the top 10 list:

4. The "Flirtini" at Boodles, preferrably prepared by Babbett.

It is by far my favorite cocktail since moving out here. Although it should be noted that it should not be abused :) For those who are curious it has Absolut Citron, pineapple juice, a splash of cranberry and it's topped off with champagne. Delish :)

The list continues. . .

Skiing

Yesterday I went skiing with Julie and Clayton up at Big Sky. It was fantastic. A bit crazy for awhile though because it was snowing so bad we couldn't hardly see where we were going and we were laughing our asses off as we tried to get down the mountain. Big Sky is pretty spectacular. The Lone Peak is a very majestic site. You get the idea pretty well from their website: http://www.bigskyresort.com/

It was a great day. Boy was I tired when I got home though. I'm not used to so much activity and at higher elevations it really takes it out of you. I don't know if I'll get anymore skiiing in this season, so it was great to get to go yesterday. Spring is on it's way!

Updating blog look

Hi all. I am working on updating the look of my blog to match my site. Please bear with me as I'm new to this stuff and it may take me a little while to get it just right. As of now, you can still pretty much read everything. Thanks for your patience!

S

Inspiration

It was so warm here today. Well, I guess relative to winter temps. I think it was around 50 or so. And sunny. It's inspiring. My mind was swimming with all kinds of ideas today. Springtime always makes me want to start "creating" more. Sewing, making, building things. I hope the inspiration continues.

I still haven't bought any new music yet, but I did see a really cool band back on my birthday. They are local to Bozeman and are called "The Touchers." Pretty rockin' good time. I think they tour a bit, so if they are ever near you, I highly recommend stopping in.

Looks like the snow will be gone soon. I only got out 3 times this year to ski. Once at Big Sky and twice at Bridger Bowl. It's kind of sad. But, the mountain is only open until 4pm, which saves only weekends for us working girls. Maybe by next year I'll have some more flexibility.

May be going to see "V for Vendetta" tonight. Review to follow . . .

Spring is coming . . .

I believe that tomorrow marks the "official" first day of spring. Sweet. I can't wait for the green to start showing up again. Granted, snow-capped mountains are pretty spectacular, but would be even better with lush green trees below. I'd like to be able to set this blog up to include pictures. I'm going to check that out today/night and see if I can make it happen. I'm still working on my re-design, so by the time it is up and people are actually viewing these entries they'll probably be old and totally boring. Oh well.

I got an iTunes card for my birthday and am trying to decide what to buy. I feel so overwhelmed with all the new music out there these days. Oh, yeah, I should buy Cat Power. I've been meaning to and have been putting it off. That should use about 1/3 of the card. What else? Don't freak out, but I was considering a soundtrack from the TV show "One Tree Hill." Yes, I watch occassionally, but the "Friends with Benefit" CD that the character Payton puts together on the show looks pretty kick-ass. At least for a TV show soundtrack. We'll see . . .

First day

This is my first blog entry. I've never had a blog before, but thought it would be a fun addition to my site. The real reason I thought it would be a necessity is to begin my Bozeman TOP 10. Last night we went to the Eagle's Club. It was fantastic and I instantly knew I had to add it to my TOP 10 favorite things about Bozeman list. So far, it's a short list:

1. Duck pond on MSU campus.
2. Numerous outdoor ice skating rinks at parks around town.
3. Eagle's Club

So, now the real search is on. I'll be assessing the archives for places/things that may be list worthy that I have forgotten since first moving out here.

Today I also hope to begin updating my website-AGAIN! for the third or fourth or fifth time. I have doubts it will ever be exactly as I want it, but I will persist to make it better.

Visit often.
S