An In.spired Series ~ Shannon of The Scribble Pad

in.spired 

Of extraordinary quality, as if arising from some external creative impulse. (of a person) Exhibiting such a creative impulse in the activity specified: "an inspired gardener".

The blogging community is full of so many incredible women. Women who are far more creative than I. And have amazing stories to share. 

This is one of them.

Welcome Shannon!

Hi, I am Shannon from The Scribble Pad. I am a mother, a blogger, and a stationer with an etsy shop! It all started when I was a little girl, just like Ava. Here is a picture of me around the time when I first fell in love with arts and crafts:

circa early 80s

As the oldest of four children and I think my mom was thrilled when she realized I would sit quietly for hours if I had some scrap paper and colored pencils. Quickly, my collection amassed. Crayons, coloring books, paints, rubber stamps, and fancy markers, you name, it I had it. New supplies were all I ever asked for from anyone. From Santa for Christmas, from aunts and uncles for birthdays, I even asked the Easter bunny for stamps and ink pads one year!

clearly excited!

I loved water colors and charcoals and oils. Mostly, I loved to doodle. 

Art was my favorite subject, and continued to be all the way through high school. I found joy when I was creating. And although I considered going to art school, I never really thought I was very good. So I packed up my art supplies and put them away when I went off to college.

In 2002 I met a guy and in 2006 he asked me to marry him. A wedding to plan, the blogging world was still fairly new, and pinterest had not yet even been imagined. Irregardless, the idea of my own wedding fueled my creativity once again. I leveraged my years of doodling and decided to lean on the calligraphy I had learned as a little girl and tackle my wedding invitations.

Addressing my own wedding invitations in my very own calligraphy brought me so much joy, that I quickly began doing wedding calligraphy on the side.

Jump forward a few more years having completed the calligraphy for countless weddings and quickly moving to custom invitation design for bridal showers, baby showers, and birthdays. I am now a mom getting less sleep and less time to focus on calligraphy, but the longing to dig my hands in and get creative is strong. After many encouraging chats with friends, I finally launched my etsy shop in November 2011.

I dusted off my old rubber stamps, and acquired some new ones to begin making stationery for all of life's occasions. I am having a blast. So much fun that I want to share it with all of you. So today, I would like to give away a set of love notes just in time for Valentine's day!

One winner will receive a set of six 3x3 red and cream stock paper featuring an assortment of hand stamped, hand embossed hearts and love birds. These are perfect for your sweetheart on valentines day, your anniversary, notes for kids lunch boxes, or for simply expressing gratitude for a great friend.

To enter:
::You must be a follower of Ava Grace's Closet via GFC::
+ Leave a comment saying who in your life needs a little love note from you.


Extra entries:
+ Favorite The Scribble Pad on Etsy 
+ Follow The Scribble Pad Blog 
+ Like The Scribble Pad on Facebook 
+ Like Ava Grace's Closet on Facebook 
+ Follow Ava Grace's Closet Bloglovin' 
+ Tweet about the giveaway, here is a sample: @AvaGracesCloset is giving away sweet love notes from @TheScribblePad today :: http://bit.ly/nSOL4c 

And because you are bound to see something you love in her etsy shop, Shannon has sweetly provided a coupon code for 30% all hand-stamped items :: use code LoveAvaGrace

A huge thanks to Susan for hosting me here today. She is an incredible encouragement as a mother and friend. And I am thrilled she gave me a chance to share my business with you! Can't wait to see who wins!!

Thanks so much for being here Shannon and sharing your love for all things creative! 
You are an inspiration.
I want to win. *pout*

**enter through Sunday, February 5th at midnight. winner will be chosen by random.org and announced on Monday**
Good Luck.

Let them eat Cake

Following last week's post regarding my plans for Isabella's event, my dear bloggy friend Celia from Falling off a High Heeled Life shared with me her own favorite local spot to get the perfect french macaron.
Ironically, I drove by this exact bakery just last week on my way downtown for a friend's birthday dinner and it's name totally caught my eye.
I regret not stopping in for a peek and have been drooling over their website ever since.


Cake Opera designed and created Nicole Richie's wedding cake. It was ridiculous.
As are all of their creations :: seriously, too pretty to eat.

Inspiration : Pirates

Inspiration :18th Century

Inspiration : Antique Milk Glass

Confection Towers

The cakes start at $300+ to upwards of $6000. {gasp}
I'll let Nicole eat cake. 
I might stop in for a macaron. Or two.

*all above images courtesy of Cake Opera's web page*

Brutal Truth is A Beautiful Thing

You can find my Brutal Truth interview on Hanna's beautiful and inspirational blog today.

I have been reading since the beginning of the series and was thrilled when Hanna asked me to participate.

Happy Friday everyone!

What I Wore : Biker Chick

Leather.
A touch of fur.
Snake print and cat eyes.

Leather Jacket - Made in Italy | Blouse - Mendocino | Jeans - Marciano | Boots - Michael Kors
Bracelet - Stella Dot

 And that's what I'm wearing on Wednesday.

Photo Challenge :: Feet

Truth be told, I'm not really a big fan of feet.

Unless they're of the teeny, tiny, baby variety.

Then it's love.

Barefoot and swingin' this past summer.
Delicious.

An evening in Paris

We've been planning a big party around here.
Isabella's Confirmation is next month ~ for non-Catholics, this is a ceremony held to "confirm" her Catholic faith.
A fairly simple ceremony followed by a more elaborate event to celebrate said ceremony.

Somewhere along the way I bought some lovely fleur de lis printed napkins.

And have since become somewhat obsessed with all things french.

Meaning I have pinned to death every shabby chic french antique thing going.

And made more than a few etsy sellers across the U.S. cra.zay

All in the name of Paris. 
And a good party.

Here is a sneak peek at some of my inspiration :: 

Macarons

handstamped gift tags

perfect.pink.peonies

french scripted votives

pretty.in.pink macarons in pretty favor boxes

glassine bags

merci clips

 Can't get enough?

Visit these french-inspired etsy stores un, deux et trois.

Happy Monday!

*all images courtesy of pinterest*

I want what SHE wore

Not that I plan on attending a Golden Globes ceremony anytime soon but if I were to, I would want to wear :: 
{one can dream}

Emma Stone's Lanvin gown.

with

Nicole Richie's ponytail and perfect bangs.

And Angelina's make-up.

Although she does look a tad like a vampire. 

In a good way.

On the other side of the spectrum, I also loved Jessica's dress by Gucci.

So feminine and intricate.

It would make an equally stunning wedding gown in white, non?

As would Charlize's stunning Dior Couture gown. Ridiculously beautiful.

Who was your fave of the night?

What That Baby Wore : Everything old is New again

Ava wore this dress for lunch on New Year's Day.
My brother-in-law thought it looked not unlike a dress from long ago.
I agree.
Even though it's current, it has a certain vintage vibe to it.

Someone's getting her back teeth.
And was featured on The Baby Blackbird's Mini Street Style last week.
Brandy writes a lovely kid's style blog. And is a fellow Canadian.
Love. And love.

On Ava:
Dress - Baby Gap

The worst night ever. Almost.

When Ava was just a few days old and I was in the worst state of my post-partum craziness, we had to take a little trip to the E.R.

I was nursing. And each evening, I would take my sweet baby girl to my room and nurse her in my bed as she lay beside me. I always had a little white receiving blanket under her. 

This night was no different.

She nursed in the glow of just a nightlight. 

I watched her and watched the little pool of red form under her mouth.

And then, she spit up. 

Blood. A lot of it.

Pure.red.blood.

I called out to my husband.

Held the baby. Screaming like a wild woman now sitting in the rocking chair in her bedroom.

I was screaming something along the lines of "she's going to die". Repeatedly I think.

Post-partum at it's finest and not one of my prouder moments.

My poor Julian was crying right alongside me. Maybe louder.

We called my father who rushed over so we could take the baby to the hospital.

Sitting there, I remember being paranoid about germs because she was just so tiny.

They quickly took us in.

Having a 4 day old will do that.

Once inside, a young doctor greeted us. The baby was sleeping peacefully.

I was sitting on a chair staring at her.

He read the chart. Glanced at me.

And asked if if he could have a look at my breastfeeding mama breasts.

"How painful has nursing her been for you?" he asked.

I replied "pretty painful". Like clench your teeth.cry a little.scream sometimes.dread feeding times painful.

Especially when she was latching on.

He smiled. Smiled!

"Where do you think the blood came from dummy?" he asked.

"Ummmm, from me?" I asked. Although of course, I knew. 

A saner.not post-partum.didn't have another baby after 8 years me would have pieced this together. 

And not panicked.

But then, there would be no reason to begin calling Ava Renesmee.

Our little vampire.

In case you're wondering, I attended a breast feeding clinic the very next day where a lovely nurse showed me how to correctly latch little Renesmee.

And in a few days, the pain was all but gone.

A few weeks after that, so was my craziness. Sort of.

Photo Challenge :: White

This week's photo challenge at the The Papermama's is white.

I love a babe in white.

My very favorite.

Our Ava on the eve of her baptism day.

Sweet angel.

These Days

Little miss won't keep her socks on.

Kicks off her boots in the middle of the grocery store.

And has started using a new high-pitched scream when she doesn't get her way. It's very pleasant.

She says "stop it" when I tickle her too much. But she doesn't really mean it.

I will find her standing in the very corner of her crib when she awakes from a nap.

Clutching her Bobo and holding her empty bottle saying "num num".

 Codeword : Milk. 
Her very favorite thing these days.

So much so, my husband thinks we should just go ahead and buy that cow.

It's right...there...if I can just...

on Ava:

floral blouse - Old Navy

leggings - Joe FRESH