Twiggie Makes by Candace Grahl

My mother in law was in town this weekend to help out with the monkies while hubby was away. This meant a little more free time to myself and I got to tackle not only my inbox but also my feed reader (which I knocked out completely on Sunday, went back to check on it today and am yet again waaaaaaay behind. Blergh.) But while sifting through literally hundreds of updated feeds I found some little gems along the way that made my back straighten and my eyes perk up just a little bit more. So here ya go: Top Ten Pretty-To-Me Links.

1) Vintage Paper Parade I just love this etsy shop. Super simple but super cute stationery - I can not narrow down which is my favorite, love it all! (and Pepper Design Blog is doing a giveaway so head on over to score some adorable and f-r-e-e goods)

2) Red & Teal Wedding While perusing the archives of one of my favorite photography blogs, I found this little gem and it blew me away. I would love to say I have the cahoonah’s to do such a bright color scheme for my wedding but isn’t it gorgeous?! And the cake, did you see the cake? OhMyGoshIJustLoveIt. LOVE. IT. *swoon* *drool* *sigh*

3) Best Easter Baskets Easter is one of my favorite holidays but sometimes the “cutesyness” of it overwhelms me. However, I am always a sucker for a beautifully designed and executed Easter basket. My favorite? The dyed Easter basket. So incredibly simple but so lovely.

4) Beautiful Cherry Blossom Cookies Aren’t these cookies amazing?? I don’t think I could bring myself to eat one! Wait, who are we kidding - of course I could. But I would take tons of pictures first.

5) DIY Ruffles and Lace Tank Top Sewing can be such a fussy process, one that irritates and bores me but I think I will blow the dust off of my sewing machine to make one of these - pink puffy *heart* this.

6) Only the best cake ever Today. (cuz we all know I will change my mind when I find another one tomorrow) but still, so stunning (Brandi, I think you should have this cake for Bug’s 2nd birthday party. Just a thought *wink*).

7) Macaron pops Love me some macarons. Love me some lolli’s. Love me some Bakerella.

8) Shauna Younge I am a huge Amy Atlas fan and love seeing what her genius-mind comes up with but I found another pro in the dessert bar field and I can’t get enough of her stuff either! Her “LOVE” dessert table knocked my socks off - so sweet and I am totally digging the silhouette’s.

9) Pentunia Pickle Bottom Cosmopolitan Carryall I mean, the name is just fabulous on it’s own (Petunia…so lovely). But then the description makes my eyelids flutter “Sapphire blue and Ocean Mist vintage inspired floral European cut velvet with coordinating sapphire blue wool tweed and sapphire blue water resistant lining” What does it all mean? I don’t care. All I know is she takes my breath away.

10) Simple yet Adorable Cuppie Today kicked my butt, especially between the hours of 3pm to 7pm, so to stumble upon this little gem really brought a sense of peace and tranquility to my mind. Is it weird that food does that? No? Good. A little yummy topped with sweetness on a backdrop of happiness. I know it’s weird but I’m 10% auditory, 90% visual so it just happens that way. But man, isn’t it a beauty.

I have re-stocked my shop for the last and final time. While my doors may not officially close, I doubt I will have any more opportunities in the future to stock it again. I am no longer doing commission orders so if you see something you like you better get it cuz once it’s gone, it’s gone (especially these girls caps that are perfect for fall). Thank you so much for your support, whether you bought something from me two years ago or just a few months ago. I appreciate it so much!

Heh-looooooooo my peoples! How the heck are you?? I just want to say that I have missed you all SO MUCH! It was nice taking a much-needed break and coming back to a beautiful new site (thanks to these guys) and I am so happy you’re here! If I could see you in person I would force a very strong and awkward bear hug on you.

Let’s play some quick catch-up first but I don’t want to dwell on that too much because I am loving living in the present! Okay *deep breath* Went to So You Think You Can Dance tour, met them backstage, got to hug Joshua (!!!), had a wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas, realized I was struggling with Post-Partum Depression (again), Max started crawling, cleaned, de-cluttered and organized the entire house (it took a whole week but man did it feel gooooooood) Conner turned three years old (*sniff*), depression lifted (God is so good!), lost twenty pounds (fifteen more to go), signed on as a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator (no worries I will not accost you, I’m purely a hobby demo), updated my etsy shop, STARTED BLOGGING AGAIN and here we are! I really do wish to hear from each you, esp. those who followed me from Laughing Daisies.

Much to blog about, but I need to say something first and this is more for my benefit than anyone else’s. A line in the sand of my mentality, if you will. I love blogging. I love connecting with people, inspiring and being inspired by others, but the pressure to blog just for the sake of doing so will not be found here. I hung that up and left it over at Laughing Daisies and do not want it here. Here there is freedom to come and go as I please. So if I disappear for a bit it’s only because I’m living my life and enjoying every moment and will be back to tell you all about it as soon as I can.

Now my first order of business it to empty out my newly stocked etsy shop and I’m hoping you guys can help me with that. These hats are probably one of my favorite things I’ve made so far. It makes my ovaries cry so hard and ache for a girl because how adorable!! I am also doing commission orders as well, so if you’re looking for something a little more personalized, email me, let me know you’re interested and we’ll work out all the details.

This is my friend Jen’s little girl, Anna. She’s so cute and was a great model!

And these guys are new too. After making them for the hats, I made a few and made them into brooches and I *heart* them so much. I am torn between the berry and the soft teal.

And the clutches. The old, trusty clutches. Just when I think I am too bored with them to make more, I finish one and I’m totally in love with them again. These, however, might be the final ones for a long time, so if you just lurve them so much, snatch one up because I seriously think I am done with them for awhile.

And that’s all I got for today. It has been awhile so I’m going to pace myself but can I just say again how good it feels to be back at this? Love it! How are we feeling about the site? The picture of my stellar hair on the sidebar is goofy so I don’t know how long that will stay there, but for now it will suffice since it’s the most recent one of me. Links are also on their way, they just didn’t make the time-cut for the launch. But seriously, enough about me, how have YOU been?