love notes by lauryn: 09/11

Friday, September 30, 2011

flashback friday the fourth

a kind hello!

i will be short and sweet today.

a couple things:

still getting settled in with moving.

the blog is under construction, so don't mind the mess

i am a work today (this post is scheduled)

so i will do features on MONDAY! (sorry guys)

and i am guest posting over at oops i craft my pants today showing how to do this:

here's the party...no rules for today.

i need to get back to my hubby, not my blog life.

link up your OLDIES!

Thursday, September 29, 2011

october desktop

tomorrow is flashback fridays.

i don't post on the weekends.

and on monday we will already be a couple of days into october!

so guess what!!

october desktop is coming early.

here you go guys! enjoy!!

i couldn't get the other image to load, so only one size this month.

comment me if there are any problems and i will fix it for you.

just double click and choose save as!

and i just wanted to say a humungous thank you.

love notes is up to roughly 110,000 views.

that is A LOT!!

and i couldn't have done it without you. thank you thank you thank you.

remember, giveaway coming soon at 175 followers!!

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

guest posting at starsunflower studio

hola.

i'm guest posting about some of my recent designs

a fall blog header:

and a happy blog button:

{FREE FOR YOU}

over at starsunflower studio today.

go check them out!

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

blog header for la vie j'adore

hi readers.

this week is crazy, crazy, crazy. moving is intense guys!

when things get a little back to normal i'll be able to get some more thorough posts up here.

today i designed a blog header:

for tasha over at la vie j'adore.

she just started her blog, and she's going to blog about her life.

such a cute name, right?

la vie j'adore is "the life i adore" in french.

SO GREAT! i love this blog design.

it made me jealous and i totally want to redo mine now.

best part about this blogger, is she's my sister!!

if you like the button in her sidebar, i made that too

and will post about that soon.

REMEMBER!!

at 175 followers,

a choose what you want giveaway is happening

5 items.

5 giveaways.

here is a sneak peek..

one of the giveaways is a CUSTOM HEADER!!

so let's get love notes some more followers!

just a note:

flashback fridays will be open til thursday, so link up your OLDIES!

Monday, September 26, 2011

a feature...

morning!

we are finally in utah

we moved this whole weekend.

goodbye to idaho.

i'm so happy!

i can't wait to get our lives back here.

hehehe.

i'm so giddy.

i made a little digi map love.

searched "utah map" via google

and edited it on picnik.

easy peasy.

we love utah!!!

today i want to feature a friend of mine from high school.

kierstyn.

she's a darling girl. love her style.

i just found out she had this blog:

she is a stay at home mom

trying to find new crafts, sewing projects, recipes, and fashion ideas and try out and share.

and darling doll creates is where she shares her goodies!

she tries to get a post on everyday then shares where she got her clever ideas.

she also has another blog:

she makes som DARLING shower cakes.

here is on baby shower one i love.

so cute.

look for her soon :)

i'm gonna have her guest post!

happy monday lovelies.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

flashback friday's the third + the ugly sweater

the weeks have been FLYING by. how is it already friday!

welcome to flashback fridays.

a place to link up your OLDIES!!

*any post from your blog that you think is killer, but it is old. like under archives. you may have linked it to parties, but that was forever ago.

*any project you want to feature that you had done in the past but didn't ever post because it was outdated.

*arts & crafts projects/vintage outfits/retro love/sweet photos/thrift finds, any thing that is OLD.

here is my flashback.
scroll down if you want to skip this and get to the party.

you will really want to read this story. it's quite hilarious.

for this flashback, you will need a little background.

my hubby & i moved from utah to idaho in may of this year.

long story short, we are moving BACK to utah on saturday. [hooray, hooray]

we love our home. and can't wait to be back.

okay. now that you know that,

i bought this sweater at the di a little bit ago for $3.

i seriously love it.

i came home to show my hubby. all giddy inside that i found such a great sweater for such a great price.

and this is what he said:

(well, first he just laughed)

"we have been in idaho WAAY too long.

when we get back to utah, you are going to think that sweater is so ugly!"

now he didn't say those exact words, but something similar :)

then...

we were talking to my bro & sis in law on skype a couple days after.

we love them. it has been so hard for us to be away from them and again,

can't wait to be back!

i told them the story of what the hubby said.

they laughed.

"in fact," (this is me speaking)

"i am going to go get the sweater to show it to you, because it really is not bad!"

i even said "H, you will probably like it!"

(H is my sis in law)

nobody gets names online except me :)

to my surprise,

H&J busted up in laughter.

I MUST BE CRAZY!!

cause i LOVE my ugly sweater.

so i said:

"you know what, i am going to take pictures of me wearing my sweater

and you will see how GREAT it really is."

J has been pestering me to get pictures up here since i said that.

so without further ado, brother:

MY UGLY SWEATER:

what do you think now... still ugly!?

so readers... i need you to help me settle this debate!!

a dress mesh, but i don't sew.

i sewed guys!!

be proud of me.

i'm so proud of myself.

these dresses really are not that bad.

are you curious why i destroyed them?

i really never wore the black one. so i wasn't sad to let it go.

the gray one was my favorite. but it had the weirdest stains that appeared.

some all over the skirt.

and one bleach stain on the top.

i really don't know how they got there.

so here's what i did.

cut off the top of the gray dress and the bottom of the black one and sewed them together.

then i took the ruffles from the black dress and hand stitched them to the gray top to cover the bleach spot.

now...

you may know, i am not a seamstress.

but i made this work!

sorta...

[[no laughing.]]

i am showing you how bad i am at sewing.

despite my beginner-ness,

i figured out an answer to it all..

a belt.

and now it looks great :)

do you like the necklace? my bestie made it for me a while back.

love you ky!

♥

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

handmade fabric & clothespin boutonnieres

my fourth grade bestie

my hubby's bestie

got married in august.

they had a beautiful rustic wedding.

the colors were navy blue & sage green.

it was really a fabulous set up.

she decided to do homemade boutonnieres (seriously i have no idea how to spell that word)

so together we picked out some fabric and made rosettes and hot glued them to vintage clothespins with added embellishments: lace, buttons, jute, ribbon, and beaded loops.

how'd we do?

they turned out waay good.

she got compliments on them all night.

.....

i also made these guys' announcements:

{love} is too cute :)
you can check out the other side + other announcements i've made here.

and for these lovelies, we had a pinboard set up on pinterest check it out.

love you C & K :)

don't forget....a choose what you want giveaway is coming up when i hit 175 followers!!

happy wednesday!

♥ lauryn

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

how to draw halloween characters

i realize it is only september.

but seriously. halloween is my FAVORITE holiday.

i have got to soak it up as LOOONG as i can.

if you didn't know already, i love working with little kids.

i can't wait to be able to teach kindergarten one day.

i do not have any kids of my own yet, but when i do,

i want them to feel they can be a part of my crafting too!!

so today i made a how to draw halloween characters page.

witch:

frankie:

and the vampire bat:

these are free for your use....anywhere you want!!

but here's the deal.

i would LOVE to see what little kiddies created using these drawings.

if you use these how to draw templates,

please take or scan in a picture of the child's drawing and we will have a

show and tell with the kid's pictures here at love notes!!

email me with the pictures you have @

laurynashli1@gmail.com

seriously,

how FUN would it be to have a show off party for our KIDS!!

tell your friends guys.. this is going to be great :)

if you would like, here is a document with all three on one page:

Monday, September 19, 2011

this is halloween + an upcoming giveaway

just put a new item in the etsy shop:

halloween is my FAVORITE holiday.

i am sooo excited for all the halloween stuff floating around!

also excited to get this baby printed and framed for my house!

go to this link if you are interested :)

now i was thinking...

it's about time for a GIVEAWAY, right?
i know this is a little far fetched...but when i reach 175 followers
i will announce a giveaway.... with options!

i will have 5 giveaway items
and 5 giveaway posts....at each giveaway,
the winner will choose which item they want!
and the remaining items will be left for the giveaways...
if that doesn't make sense,
don't worry.
i will better explain when we're all ready for the giveaway.
175 followers!!

Saturday, September 17, 2011

fall jeans LOVE

This post brought to you by Express. All opinions are 100% mine.

i love jeans.

especially in the fall.

i love the new shapes that are showing up this season.

of course i'm a huge fan of skinny's. i'll be honest. they are the vast majority of my pants drawer.

but i am love love loving the high waisted wide legs.

pretty yes?

and i am so happy colored jeans are coming back in.

they were a short fad for awhile and went out before i could even wear mine enough!

i can't wait to get my hands on some more.

which means it's time for shopping!

i was so excited to get this offer from Express jeans via social spark

(if you haven't heard of social spark yet, check it out!)

anyhow..

express asked me to post about some of their killer women's jeans.

what girl does not want to talk about, read about, oogle and drool at CLOTHES,

love.

here are some of my ABSOLUTE favs:

and the wide leg, like i mentioned earlier.

and talk about some fantastic color! i would die to have some red jeans. AWESOME!

i would love to wear these ensembles:

and to make this whole swooning over fashion thing even BETTER!!! express is giving away a pair of their fabulous jeans. enter the giveaway on facebook by clicking this link:

Express giveaway

now it's your turn!

comment on this post and tell me which express jeans you are lovin' and the reason you love them.

isn't fall fashion the best!

Friday, September 16, 2011

flashback friday's the sequel

hey everybody!

it's time for another flashback friday!
i know i know.
this post is up VERY late...i was sick last night and still sick this morning.
ugh. so sorry.
better late than never??
on to my flashback, scroll down to share yours!

remember this bunting? from my first craft fair?
(in the corner)

today i'm letting you in on a secret:
all i used in this was duct tape, yarn, & paper doilies.
easy right!
(sorry about the dark pictures. again...sick.)

i have it hanging above the craft room window:

thanks for all of you who linked up last week.

the two most viewed links were:

my first quilt from scout's stitches

paper bag uses from vintage gwen

and my favorite entry:

my vintage paper dolls from artsy vava

feel free to grab a featured button,
you deserve it!

now go ahead and show me what you got!

here's what you can link up:

(these are just some ideas, really,link up whatever you want that comes to mind when you hear the word "flashback")

*any post from your blog that you think is killer, but it is old. like under archives. you may have linked it to parties, but that was forever ago.

*any project you want to feature that you had done in the past but didn't ever post because it was outdated.

*arts & crafts projects/vintage outfits/retro love/sweet photos, any thing that is OLD.

we are going to try it with no thumbnails today.

if this really bugs ya, let me know!

i just want to make sure that purchasing thumbnail link parties is worth our time here.

the more link ups, the better the party, so SPREAD THE WORD!!

thanks guys

Thursday, September 15, 2011

inspired by color {red+teal}

i have been loving this color combo lately

red + teal

exhibit a: september's desktop

i love this color combo.

i used it to get dressed today:

(secret: even if you don't read this whole post, you have GOT to check out the fab pictures of teal and red. there are so many. and they are dang awesome. i swear they are not all me. hehe.)