Introduction: Inspire Me Mondays

It's Monday and I always can use a good dose of two things... caffeine and inspiration. Anyone who hopes to create anything needs a steady stream of inspiration ( and I know that I myself also require a steady stream of caffeine as well)

I have decided to start off each week in my personal life and thus here on the Lovely Lemon with that required dose of inspiration...I will call it "Inspire Me Mondays".

I need to create every week to maintain balance and what better way to start off the week than to automatically search out inspiration? In this weekly feature I will include many things .....movie scenes, fashions, dreams, goals, you name it...whatever I'm finding inspiration in.....

Here we go!!

1. First and foremost (and always) Zooey Deschanel. Her style, her bangs, her voice, and just her general grace.....when am I NOT inspired by Zooey?

Who's with me?!

2. Feathers...I'm not sure why, but feathers are my new best friend. I'm currently trying to teach myself jewelry making (peaks at that later in the week) and I figured out a way this week to create charms using feathers....they are so natural and beautiful!

3. Disney World!!! I'm not so sure this exactly qualifies as an "inspiration" per say but I am DESPERATE to go! I need a little sprinkle of Disney magic.....I guess I can more appropriately file this one into the "dreams" category huh?.......Oh well....it STAYS!

4. This man! He is so hard working and creative and I could not be more proud to be his Mrs! Our Photography Business Matthew R Photo is on the verge of becoming very successful here in our area and I am so excited to go on this crazy ride with him. He is a daily inspiration to me because of the skills he has taught himself, as well as the hard work and sense of pride and passion he puts into photography and our business. I adore him more than words can ever say!

Top three photos via weheartit.com

The fashion dillema

Lately I have been wanting to really revamp my wardrobe and my overall look. I always see beautiful fashion photos and am so inspired but I tend to play it safe with what I choose to wear. I feel like my mentatlity when I am getting dressed is the same mentatlity that I had when I was in high school....I'm in a rut!

This has inspired somewhat of a "challange" that I have come up with for myself. And I would love to share it here with you! I have seen several blogs that share features about "what I wore" or my "daily outfit" , I want to take the idea of that sort of feature but give it a bit of a twist .

So here's the challange:

1. I'm going to start having Matt take photos of my outfits every day (other than the days that all I wear out is my work uniform)

2. I'm going to post them here so that you all can help me to revamp my style. You can tell me what you think is working and what is not working (but please be kind!)

In short, I need you guys to be my Stacy Londons and Clinton Kellys

(you know ...What Not to Wear)

Basically what I want to change is my ultra casual look. I love the idea of carefree fashion, you know, simple, polished, and comfortable. I need to develop a beautiful style that translates professionally as Matt and I meet with brides (don't forget that we do wedding photography) and attend local networking events.I really want to be sure not to look too too young.

Here's some of my favorite outfit inspirations !

( The Fancy Teacup has such a cute style!)

( I adore the look of a beautiful trench coat! Photo from weheartit)

( I would love to mix in some vintage inspired pieces like beautiful dresses in vibrant colors . Photo weheartit.com)

(Rashida Jones's look in this photo is sooooo cute! I love the sort of menswear pieces! Photo weheartit.com)

(Elsie Flanningan has such a cute style perspective! This look is BEAUTIFUL! A sweet vintage, professional look!)

The Challenge begins this week! I will be documenting my outfits and I will share them here with you next week! Also....hopefully I will be getting some lovely ladies together so that I can take some better photos of my new headbands! Have a wonderful Friday !

Sneaky Peaky

Well, hello there! It's me.....the absentee blogger. I hope your days have been nothing but magical! I regret to report that my days while not heart breaking or miserable in any way have not been filled with creating much of anything. That's right I haven't crafted ALL WEEK. I also have not updated my Etsy shop ALL WEEK. I wasn't so broken up about it at first but now I really think that it's throwing me off. So today I'm cleaning up a bit around the house to remove anything that may distract from the Crafting Bonanza I plan to have tomorrow! I had been (yes HAD been )in the process of crocheting some brand new items...and I plan to get back to it!

Here's a little peak....any guesses?

I've come a long way baby

A year ago I decided to learn how to crochet...I wanted to do it just for fun, for the sake of learning something new.

I made a few scarves but I decided that I wanted to make something I could use a little more often, and since I have a fairly committed addiction to coffee

(having worked for Starbucks for more than two years probably has something to do with that;) I thought that I could make a cup sleeve a lot like the cardboard ones that we give out with beverages at Starbucks! I made the first one and I loved it ! I couldn't help making more! I LOVE the design process, I find it so relaxing. Which shades of yarn go best with which buttons? which yarn colors do I want to crochet together in stripes? Seriously it's my favorite part!

Here's a few of the very first sleeves I ever created. Boy I had no idea where this was all going!

I continued learning new techniques and combining new colors, and wouldn't you know it someone saw me using my sleeve one day and wanted to buy one!

Naturally I was thrilled that someone actually wanted to give me money for something that I had created!

Here comes the obsession.

The fact that people wanted to buy my sleeves only made me want to make more!

Before I knew it I was staying up late every night crocheting my fingers off and making plans for a craft show I put together with my lovely friend Nikki (a.k.a. Squid Dumpling) called the Indie Craft Show!

Before the Indie Craft Show I had over 140 cup sleeves but by the time we closed the doors that night I only had about 90!

Success! Who knew?

And the cherry on top is that I just opened an Etsy shop Lovely Lemonade this month after much trepidation. But I'm so glad that I did because I made not only my first, but also my second Etsy sale on Saturday! Can I get a high five?!

I feel like my designs have really come a long way....and I'm still having so much fun!

(one of my more recent cup sleeve designs, and also one of my favorites!)

Also, it seems that Spring is about to be in swing here in my neck of the woods!

I'm a Florida girl and our Winter (you know those 3 or 4 weeks when it drops down to a frigid ;) 30 degrees! ) seems to be winding down slowly.

I don't mind, part of me is really ready for Spring! In my opinion it's perfect beach time here because it's not too swealtering out yet.

Are you still enjoying Winter or are you ready for Spring?

Let's hear your favorite season!