gathering spriggs

A New Take on an Old Favorite: Mae

Friends, Hello. 

After an adventurous weekend and a 11 hour train/car ride I finally made it back to Nashville in the wee hours of the morning. So please excuse my delay in blogging and returning to the life I left behind last week. If only my dog and floors were as gracious and forgiving as you.

Honestly, I was hoping to craft a post sharing some of my new ideas on creative collaboration (after spending my Thanksgiving with the imaginative and thought-provoking Brigitte of Covet Chicago). Our conversations produced so much fodder for the imagination . Along with finishing The Art of Non-Conformity, my heart is rich with desire, hope, inspiration and touched by the beauty of true friendship. 

So, I will leave you to peruse a shop I discovered last week before I left... a fanciful kind of wall decal company based out of Australia. 

Mae is not your average wall decal shop. Its a new take on an old favorite. And its fabric!!! Squeal with delight!

Love to you dear friends,

all images :mae

Heather's Holiday Decor & Inspiration

Happy Monday!! So.... how was your weekend? Restful? Restoring? And those of you, post- Thanksgiving feasts, how are you doing today? Back to work? Are we ready for December? Ready to officially kick off the holiday season?

Well, allow me to indulge you a bit more with some of my favorite web finds to inspire your holiday decorating. I've been collecting these images for weeks over on Pinterest and for more check out my Holiday Inspiration and White Out Boards.

And as if it was made just for me, take a peek at stylist, Marie Nichols Christmas table decor series. (last image)

Hope you have a lovely Monday and I will be back tomorrow with updates on my long weekend and much more. 

images: simply grove, top collage: linda and harriet, free people vintage , susannah t, drift living,

recycled christmas tree: style-files

second collage: ruby upcycled designs, focal point, joliejolie designs, mantle: pinterest, luna and chloe, 

last image: marie nichols via whole lotta lovely

 

A Special Offer: Gathering Goods

On all jewelry, fine art originals, market totes and all orders over $50

Now thru Dec. 1, Find Free Shipping in BOTH Gathering Shops! 

FREE DOMESTIC SHIPPING on all items at Gathering Spriggs! 

FREE DOMESTIC SHIPPING on Jewelry, Linens, Tea Tins and all orders of $50 or more at Gathering Vintage.

(I am starting my Thanksgiving vacation today and will see you back here on Monday+ Hugs)

HAVE A HAPPY THANKSGVING! MUCH LOVE!!

Holiday Glitz Jewelry Roundup: Upcycled Vintage

 

Happy Tuesday dear friends! I am sure many of you in the US are gearing up for your Thanksgiving holiday.  Although I am not cooking the meal this year, I have been doing some baking and the house smells of pumpkin pie spices! Mmmm! Today  I am back with this week's installment of my Holiday Jewelry Roundup featuring Upcycled /Recycled Vintage. (Ahhh.. love this one!) So near and dear to my heart. I actually made some upcycled vintage brooches last year at this time and my sister wants me to make more but it takes some time and that is one commodity I am running short on these days. 

So happy jewelry shopping... its a great time of year for glitzing up your look and finding treasures for loved ones! 

Doloris Petunia- creates custom designs from your own (or grandma's) cast offs. You will see her designs available this season at Anthropologie too! 

J.Francis Designs- creates a mixture of new and vintage pieces (made new) with vintage chandelier bits and baubles!

Maganda Jewelry- "Maganda means beautiful in  Tagalog (the national language of the Philippines) and that is exactly what these treasured collages are... I love these new fall pieces.

Alona Freeman- I've been eyeing these beauties since this summer. So feminine and fresh. Modern Romance, Vintage Style to a tee!

How Do You Value Your Work?

After reading this  invaluable article on strategic pricing and the latest in Brigitte's series, Warm Soft Money, I am beginning to put some pieces of the puzzle together. The puzzle being for me, the unnerving task of assigning value to my work.  Even though I have worked as a productive entrepreneur for nearly 8 years, this one issue continues to haunt me.  Truthfully, ignoring it tends to prove not only unhealthy but slowly disabling my business. It's a catch 22. On one hand I think that I am being selfish by pricing my work and wares for much more than the cost to me, but on the other hand, I cry when I finish a job that took twice as long as expected and get payed pennies. I end up feeling devalued. 

When I read this comment from Lauren at the end of the Eco-Etsy post, I realized I am not alone:

" I have just changed the pricing strategy for my shop after realizing I was not valuing myself as an artist enough. I think often we can undervalue ourselves and worry so much about quantity we forget about the grand quality that handmade work usually holds. "

With so many artists, designers, crafters working today, its a little daunting. I am always on the lookout for ways to improve my shops, my sales, etc.. But I think this post opened my eyes to the undeniable power of believing in myself. Going forth with confidence. Knowing that I am unique and valuable therefore my work also is valuable. 

So I must ask, how do you value your work? Have you come to a comfortable understanding of your value as a creative individual? Please share... I am eager to hear more ideas!!

craft room images: heartfish and casapinka

A Delectable Day

Today I hosted a baby shower for my dear friend Eve and her upcoming second child. It was a private gathering of a few friends from art school. It was a wonderful reunion of old friends, warm hearts and delectable food. The event was hosted at a quaint Southern restaurant at the Belle Meade plantation. I had a chicken salad with a side of Fried Green Tomatoes. Yum! Then for dessert I served these fabulous (if I may say so myself) cupcakes, Pumpkin with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting. The color theme was aqua , yellow and green even though Eve is expecting a little girl. We are all outside the box thinkers so it worked. Just wanted to share in this delightful day with you. 

 ** that's me with Eve and her first born daughter, Hannah~!

How is your weekend coming along??  Have you started preparing your Thanksgiving meals yet?

 

images: heather spriggs thompson and lee ann hawkins

Lovely Sponsor Spotlight

Alas, is the end of November creeping up so quickly? Wow. You know what that means.... (well it means alot, but especially that holiday card sending season is right around the corner).  No worries, no panic or anxiety... Storkie.com to the rescue!

With over 20 years experience, crazy fast shipping, excellent customer service and free digital proofing, Storkie.com is your one stop shop! Plus they have an amazing array of customizable photo cards, or even traditional cards. You pick. The process is simple. The prices affordable and the quality deluxe! Talk about customizing .... you can even customize illustrated cards to look just like you and your family!! Wow! 

And for invitation needs they offer beautiful wedding invites, baby shower, and custom designs for those holiday parties.

So I know what I will be doing this weekend. Planning ahead. Picking out my cards (since I forgot to send any last year... oops!).  How about you?? Any plans?

images: storkie.com

 

Beauty That is You!

Thank you all dear friends for sharing with me yesterday. Honestly, I am overcome with gratitude and admiration for your presence. Thank you for stopping by daily with open hearts, honesty and great wisdom participating in my portion of the world. As you might have noticed I am taking my blog in a slightly different direction that includes building a more intentional community with you here... providing a place for honest connections in our struggles and joys pursuing and crafting a creative life. In fact, as I work on the new GS site I have been brainstorming a new tag line. Here are some thoughts. What do you think? I am getting stuck in this and need some fresh perspective:

Gathering Spriggs: crafting creative community

Gathering Spriggs: a modern romantic creating conscious connections

Gathering Spriggs: create, collect, connect

For it is YOU dear readers that give me impetus to keep moving forward... I love your creative contributions here and in the Gathering Spriggs Flickr group where I gleaned these lovely images. Please join so you can share your visual responses or inspirations as well.  

Your beauty inspires me! Thank you! I am thankful for you today!

++ Also, here is a great article on the benefits of Flickr and Pinterest in blogland and creating on online business.

images: elysa fields, cassia, sweet berry me, anna dykema via paper n stitch, twiggs

Inspired to Intimidated?

Do you find yourself transitioning out of inspiration and into intimidation when you read blogs, magazines or just spend time perusing the web? Its such a fine line from one to the other and I raise my hand high on this one... "Yes!" I have struggled with this for many years. In fact, I have to be very selective with what I read. For me, there are certain people that I long to emulate. Sometimes I go so far as to wonder if they are living the life I was supposed to live but somehow I tripped up miserably in the process.  "Maybe they never had anything bad happen to them", I fantasize. Or , I know, one of my favorites: "Maybe I am just lazy".

When I began verbalizing these thoughts to my friends or loved ones, I learned that I was not alone. I wasn't just a giant failure! And then the thought occurred to me that if this is how we were feeling, then its possible that my heros have bad days too. Days where they feel like they aren't measuring up. Maybe they feel a ton of pressure to be fabulous every moment. And maybe we only see one facet of their lives. (making assumptions about the rest). Since we are all human.

So if you had any disillusions about me, I am here to say that I am a work in progress. I am not where I want to be, but taking small steps everyday to get there. Its hard (work). Not only the risk in moving forward but also keeping the enemy voices at bay. Refusing to believe the lies that tell us we aren't going to measure up. 

This is a wonderful and magical time of year, the web is aglow and abuzz with so many creative ideas,  with new magazines launching overnight, new blogs being born, new products being produced.  So how do you take them in as objects of desire (of hope) to use for inspiration rather than intimidation?

images: sanctuary blog, mary ruffle tumblr

Holiday Glitz and Glamour: Jewelry Roundup

Its that time of year for donning our best attire and christening our winter jackets with all that glitters! So here is Part 1 in a little round up I am starting for the coming weeks featuring some of my favorite glitzy adornments.  What are your favorite accessories for the holidays? Please let me know your favorites or if you make or sell accessories and I can feature your treasures next week! 

Bee Vintage Redux

Gathering Vintage

Frieda Sophie Jewelry Design

Miss Babacilu