giveaways galore.. part two

i really love supporting other handmade business. as the blog continues to grow, so do my sponsors. i'm excited to bring a lot of great giveaways to you throughout the holiday season.

did you think i was done with giveaways today? well.. i've got one more to share- dani from me and my new life is giving away a $25 dollar shop credit. i love her knit headbands, jewelry and diaper wipe cases.

check out some of her beautiful creations

to enter stop by dani's blog and become a new follower. then come back to this post and comment below. for an additional entry "like" me and my new life on facebook. the winner will be announced on november 7th, good luck!!

giveaways galore

the winner of the adventures of newlyweds' giveaway is...

ruthie, please contact me for details :-)

i have another great giveaway up my sleeve for all of my lovely new and old followers. nelou from little green bird is graciously offering one lucky reader their choice of a beautiful calendar or 8x10 print.

i'm eyeing up this new calendar for 2012..

to enter stop by little green bird's blog and become a follower, then come back and comment on this post. for an additional entry, head on over to her facebook page and "like" little green bird". winner will be announced november 7th. you must be both a lovely poppy and my little green bird follower to qualify. good luck!!

p.s. want to win a lovely poppy camera strap slipcover??.. head on over to her blog tomorrow to find out more!!

instafriday

fridays remind me how fast the week goes. i'm linking up with jeannett and sharing my instagram pictures for the week.

my birthday isn't for another month, but i love getting birthday mail. how awesome is this coupon from anthro?

b and i took a mini trip to a cute suburb last weekend. we were in town for a work party and had a little bit of extra time to roam around. 

we grabbed a quick bite to eat and timed it perfectly. by the time we left all of the tables were filled up.

we went to a cafe that serves crepes, both of us were crepe virgins.

after one bite, i realized what i had been missing all of my life. SOO, SO good.. apple blossom crepe with homemade ice cream, i'll take 6 more please.

b got me tickets for cirque du soleil for our anniversary.

our seats were awesome and the show was so good! 

a little more about the lovely poppy

i'm so happy today to be posting a little intro about the lovely poppy.
the lovely poppy has been around since may of this year and i've already learned an incredible amount and have connected with some pretty amazing bloggers/indie business owners.

currently my husband and i live in milwaukee, wisconsin, with our puppy (treated like a child) bailey.

Source: thelovelypoppy.blogspot.com via Nicole on Pinterest

Source: thelovelypoppy.blogspot.com via Nicole on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Nicole on Pinterest

during the day i work for a local non-profit, managing an early intervention program for children with autism. i absolutely love what i do and helping children with disabilities is a huge passion of mine. i recently blogged about a football camp that i put together with a local high school.

Source: jsonline.com via Nicole on Pinterest

at night and on the weekends i run the lovely poppy. i decided to open up a shop because of my obsession with dressing bailey in a new collar every week and my love for shopping for fabric. the shop now focuses on accessories, such as necklaces, headbands, blossom pins, camera strap slipcovers, key fobs, pacifier clips, and a few new products are released each month. i enjoy being able to create things for others and have them feel confident wearing it.

Source: etsy.com via Nicole on Pinterest

i've recently started focusing more on blogging and connecting with other bloggers. i love waking up in morning and reading posts- which continue to inspire me and help come up with new ideas to grow the lovely poppy. i'm currently hosting a giveaway to increase followers and have had an overwhelmingly awesome amount of new followers.

i've shared a few quick and easy tutorials...

Source: thelovelypoppy.blogspot.com via Nicole on Pinterest

Source: thelovelypoppy.blogspot.com via Nicole on Pinterest

and love linking up for what i wore wednesdays and instafridays.

thank you so much for stopping by, let me know if you follow me, so i can make sure to follow you back. xoxo nicole

favorite recipes

i'm always up for trying new recipes, however i always default back to my favorites. with the holidays right around the corner, i'm sharing some of my few recipes from pinterest.

Source: nancycreative.wordpress.com via Nicole on Pinterest

Source: None via Nicole on Pinterest

Source: None via Nicole on Pinterest

Source: traceysculinaryadventures.blogspot.com via Nicole on Pinterest

Source: domessticated.com via Molly on Pinterest

Source: None via Nicole on Pinterest

[apple] love.

we're pretty big apple fans in my household, and when i mean "we" i mean me and only me. i've wound up with quite the apple collection since college. i've always looked up to steve jobs, even before his death. the following advice is written by carmine gallo and it's perfect for anyone in the handmade business world.

1. Do what you love. Jobs once said, "People with passion can change the world for the better." Asked about the advice he would offer would-be entrepreneurs, he said, "I'd get a job as a busboy or something until I figured out what I was really passionate about." That's how much it meant to him. Passion is everything.


2. Put a dent in the universe. Jobs believed in the power of vision. He once asked then-Pepsi President, John Sculley, "Do you want to spend your life selling sugar water or do you want to change the world?" Don't lose sight of the big vision.


3. Make connections. Jobs once said creativity is connecting things. He meant that people with a broad set of life experiences can often see things that others miss. He took calligraphy classes that didn't have any practical use in his life -- until he built the Macintosh. Jobs traveled to India and Asia. He studied design and hospitality. Don't live in a bubble. Connect ideas from different fields.

4. Say no to 1,000 things. Jobs was as proud of what Apple chose not to do as he was of what Apple did. When he returned in Apple in 1997, he took a company with 350 products and reduced them to 10 products in a two-year period. Why? So he could put the "A-Team" on each product. What are you saying "no" to?   

5. Create insanely different experiences. Jobs also sought innovation in the customer-service experience. When he first came up with the concept for the Apple Stores, he said they would be different because instead of just moving boxes, the stores would enrich lives. Everything about the experience you have when you walk into an Apple store is intended to enrich your life and to create an emotional connection between you and the Apple brand. What are you doing to enrich the lives of your customers?

6. Master the message. You can have the greatest idea in the world, but if you can't communicate your ideas, it doesn't matter. Jobs was the world's greatest corporate storyteller. Instead of simply delivering a presentation like most people do, he informed, he educated, he inspired and he entertained, all in one presentation.

7. Sell dreams, not products. Jobs captured our imagination because he really understood his customer. He knew that tablets would not capture our imaginations if they were too complicated. The result? One button on the front of an iPad. It's so simple, a 2-year-old can use it. Your customers don't care about your product. They care about themselves, their hopes, their ambitions. Jobs taught us that if you help your customers reach their dreams, you'll win them over.

Source: cs.columbia.edu via Nicole on Pinterest

fabric scrap garland tutorial

with the holidays approaching quickly (eeeek!) i wanted to make something bright, yet festive for my studio. i'm always trying to come up with new and unique ways to utilize the thousands of little scraps laying around. 

for this project all you need is scrap fabric and some christmas lights. 

 the scraps i used were around 8x2, however you could really use anything, as long as it's at least 6 inches long so that you are able to tie a good knot.

 the lights i picked up were under 3 dollars at target. i'd suggest staying with the clear lights, so that it's brighter and brings out the color in the different fabrics.

 1) start out by tying the fabric in a knot around the cord. make sure none of the fabric is touching the actual light.

 i made sure that the back of the knot always had the fabric facing up, because i think it looks nicer.

 2) keep tying more knots

3) you are done, easiest and cutest project ever, right??  

 i currently have it hanging on the door to the studio

 however, i think it would look pretty cool outside or in a room that usually has the lights off. even on a christmas tree!!

i really want to say happy holidays, just because i love saying it.. but i'll hold off for now. if you decide to recreate this i'd love to see how it turns out.