New Location

Well, it's happened! We've moved the blog to the new location on our site! Head over for recent post and fun stuff :)

<3

weekly shop update

How have you been? Wonderful, I hope :)

Things around here have been wonderful, exhausting, exciting, busy, sometimes overwhelming (okay, overwhelming more often than I'd like to think), but wonder-ful.

 With scenes like this, how could it not be? :)
Olivia just turned 6 weeks old {where did those weeks go?} and has begun to laugh a bit. Little things like a baby's laugh can really brighten your day when you're covered in said baby's spit-up. :) And the other two are still completely smitten with her!

 But this post is supposed to be a shop update, not a baby update {but baby updates are a bit cuter and sweeter, yes?} :)
 So .... did you see on the facebook page that I've put the silhouettes back in the shop? If you were wanting one (or more!) and didn't get it before I discontinued them, contact me and we can talk about it.
As long as I'm talking about the facebook page, have you been seeing my updates in your feed? Chances are, with the changes facebook has been making, you might not ... so, if you'd like to change that {you would, right? :)}, after you "like" the page, hover over what is now the “liked” button, and select “Get in news feed.” That way you'll be able to see when I post new things like coupons{!}, flash sales{!}, or random photos of a cute little baby. :)

 screen shot of the work in progress

Next up - our brand new web site {coming soon to a computer/mobile screen near you!}!
My sister {who is really gifted when it comes to tech-y things} has been helping us put together our own web site. It should be ready to go live in another day or two, and I'll let you know when it does. It will be an integrated shop/blog, a site that has all of our web stuff on it {even Instagram pics :)}. We are working to make sure that when you head here to the blog, you are automatically re-directed to the new location, making the transition as seamless as possible. Oh my, I'm so excited!

There are some other things I was going to tell you, too ..... but I can't remember right now. Oh well, they can wait until next week. :)

<3

p.s. can you believe it's just a month until Valentine's Day? I'd better start helping the kiddos make their cards and gifts for the grandparents {things like that can take a while when they are more interested in cutting up the finished products than in the idea of giving them away}!

Merry, Merry Christmas!

What a day to celebrate! The day that God, in His infinite mercy and love, sent His only Son to earth to live among us and be our Savior, ultimately dying (and rising again) in our place. Yes, indeed a day to celebrate.


I'm taking this Christmas a bit slower than usual. In fact, most of my Christmas cards are quickly becoming New Year's cards. : ) There are so many things that I wanted to do that didn't get done, so many things I wanted to make (a bunch of them are on my Pinterest board) that didn't get made. There's always next year, though! This year I spent most of my time cuddling our three(!) babes and learning Olivia's moods and preferences. Which is just as it needed to be : )

It seems that Christmas (not to mention December) has come around again so quickly this year. I'm hoping/planning to put up an end of the year recap post - so much has happened in the last twelve months! God has blessed us beyond our dreams, and are so, so very grateful. This next year is already shaping up to be even more incredible! (one thing being a new website - amazing! We're hoping for it to be live by the second week of January - while you're waiting for the real thing you can see our landing page at www.pltmarket.com sign up for our newsletter {yet another new thing!})


My gift to you this years is a shop coupon code (CHRISTMAS2012) for 15% off of your entire order, good until January 30, 2013. I hope you enjoy it! You have each been so wonderful, and I've been privileged to be able to serve you. :)


Blessings to each of you and your families this Christmas! May you make memories to cherish and enjoy the wonders of His amazing love.


<3

weekly shop update

So, the weekly shop updates haven't quite as weekly as I had planned. :)
But then, I've been a bit busy with other things!

The other day I took advantage of a certain baby girl sleeping and made up (and listed - such a feet to get both things done on the same afternoon right now!) some snowflake and Christmas-ey things that I've had in my head for a while. :)

Here are a few photos and links to them - there's still time to place an order to enjoy them this Christmas!

The snowflake chair garland - to coordinate with the 10-foot snowflake garland

Christmas Star Cupcake toppers - the idea for these came while we were driving just before Thanksgiving and saw the neighbors' lights. One of the decorations was a star that had the word "JOY" in the middle ... and I knew I needed to make something out of it. :)

Snowflake Cake/Pie toppers (or you can use them as wands for little ones pretending to be snow fairies!)

Merry and Bright cupcake toppers

So, there you have it! 4 new items and one more week to place an order to enjoy them. :) And there's still a few more things I wanted to make for the shop this Christmas ...
Oh well! Here's to enjoying our sweet, darling baby girl and celebrating the wonder of our Savior's birth with Em and Ian.

What are your plans for celebrating with your loved ones?


<3

weekly shop update

So, I've been trying to blog a bit more regularly here (have you noticed ;D?) and part of that has been keeping you updated on shop happenings once a week (-ish). :) So ..... this week there are a few things to cover!

The first is ........ next Monday (as in, a week from today) is Cyber Monday! (can you believe it's here already?!) And I'm having a bit of a sale for you! I'm going to try to make it a bit more fun than just having a standard sale though - there will be a time sensitive coupon code. And it will only be on my Facebook page. (but I'll alert you on Twitter and here, too, just in case you miss this)

From 7am 'till noon EST you'll have a chance to use the code to get 30% off of your order (maybe the best sale I've ever had!) and from noon until midnight you can get free shipping. Pretty great!

And the second bit of news is ....

... there is a new item in the shop! Or actually, a new package of items :)

We're now offering the 12 Months of Decorative Joy - a collection of gorgeous garland for each month of the year! I'm now offering the 12 months of gorgeous garlands collection! This is a set of 12 different garlands, each 10 feet long (for a whopping total of 120 feet!), that are in a variety of themes to span your year of decorating and celebrations.

You will receive one of each of:
- Snowflake Garland ( http://www.etsy.com/listing/91745386/snowflake-garland-10-feet-long)
- Romantic Red with a Single White Heart Garland (like this but in a 10 foot length: http://www.etsy.com/listing/85495701/romantic-paper-hearts-garland-red-with-a)
- St. Patrick's Day Garland (like this but in a 10-foot length: http://www.etsy.com/listing/93773728/st-patricks-day-garland-clover-shamrocks)
- Rabbits and Vintage Flowers Garland (like this but in a 10-foot length: http://www.etsy.com/listing/94843948/rabbits-and-vintage-flowers-bunny)
- Paper Lace Garland ( http://www.etsy.com/listing/69693850/paper-lace-garland-10-feet-long)
- Patriotic Stars Garland (like this but a 10-foot length: http://www.etsy.com/listing/75402152/stars-garland-red-white-and-blue)
- White Fabric Scallop Garland (like this but in a 10-foot length: http://www.etsy.com/listing/76165008/white-fabric-scallop-garland-8)
- Yellow Fabric Scallop Garland (like this but in a 10-foot length: http://www.etsy.com/listing/106121494/yellow-scallop-garland-12-lemon-fabric)
- Thanksgiving Paper Circles Garland (like this but in a 10-foot length: http://www.etsy.com/listing/112261762/thanksgiving-paper-circles-garland)
- Pumpkin Paper Doily Garland (like this but in a 10-foot length: http://www.etsy.com/listing/81643305/pumpkin-paper-doily-garland
- Christmas Paper Circles Garlands (like this but in a 10-foot length: http://www.etsy.com/listing/64038578/paper-circles-garland-red-crimson-white)
- Twinkle Stars Garland (like this but in a 10-foot length: http://www.etsy.com/listing/99419170/twinkle-stars-garland-glitter-stars-and)

Combined, they will provide you with a piece of garland or bunting for just about every occasion during the year!

And one of the best things about this set? Buying this collection gives a savings of almost 20% over buying the garlands individually (I know, wow!).

There you have it - two announcements. And how I wish that "Baby is here!" was topping the list :D All in His timing though....

Hope you are enjoying a wonderful Monday at the beginning of your Thanksgiving week! Anyone have super scrumptious plans? I'd love to hear about them!


<3

new items in the shop :)

Happy Monday everyone!

To kick off the week I've got some new things in the shop to show you .... more bags!
This time I had a bunch of fun styling some baby boy and girl themed ones. :)

It was fun to pull together all the baby things I've got in the shop right now - banners, "BABY" cupcake toppers and "IT'S A BOY/IT'S A GIRL" ones, too!

But all those extras weren't the focus of these photos, nope! The reason for these were the new pink and blue sets of bags - aren't they just so sweet?!

I hope you love them just as much as I do :D

have a wonderful Monday, and a wonderful week, too!


xo

looky looky!

 light and bright heart handled bags

We've got something new in the shop!

 rich and wintery heart handled bags

 party brights heart handled bags

 These little bags (5" tall from the top of the handle to the base, 2" deep and 3 3/4" wide) are just the right size for giving small gifts, sending home party favors, serving treats and displaying party goods. I'd love to package up a bunch of cupcakes in them, wouldn't you?

They can be made in any color or pattern and in any quantity. And, soon, I'll have a hand-stamped version available to coordinate with the stamped cupcake toppers.

In the next few days and weeks I'll be posting photos of ways that they can be customized, too! There are so many ideas running around in my head .... these will be so much fun! : )

a bit of shopkeeping

You probably know by now that we are expecting a baby girl to arrive in about, oh 3 or 4 weeks. :) (so excited!)

With that in mind, I realized that I'm going to need to take some time away from the shop! I've got some help lined up for while I'm away (such a relief for me to have that checked off of my to do list!), but have decided to temporarily discontinue the silhouettes. I'm hoping to offer them again the first 2 weeks of December (that depends on how adjustment with the new little one is going, though), and then discontinue them until the new year.

Sooooo, if you want one for a Christmas gift (for yourself or someone else), now is the time to order!

You'll have from now until October 31.


<3

p.s. You might like to know - the silhouette prices will be increasing slightly starting the first of the year (so it's an added incentive to order as soon as you can!)

pretties from the bloggy world

Have you seen my "featured on" page recently? I've just updated it with a few of the lovely blogs that have featured some of my items or events that used items from the shop (seriously gorgeous events!).

Here's a sampling:
Style Me Pretty has had a few different posts with things from the shop:

photo source

A gorgeous wedding that they featured last October where the bride requested some extra large hearts garlands in book pages to warm up the back wall of the church.

 photo source

A wedding in Ireland where the couple used  some of the Romantic Vintage Heart garlands in the backdrop for their cake table. So sweet!

A New York Valentine wedding. The event planner did a custom request for chair garlands, and they became so popular that I have since added them to the shop!

photo source

And an Australian engagement session where the couple used the Romantic Vintage Hearts garland as one of their props - their photos were stunning!

photo source

The baby blog On To Baby featured one of the sweetest baby showers I've seen, and it just so happened that the girl who threw it, Mona of Birds and Honey, had asked me to make her some custom "It's a Boy!" cupcake toppers for it (another item that has become so popular that I've added them to the shop!). They were just darling and really complemented the rest of the shower decor.

Anyway, those are just a few! Aren't they gorgeous? Every time I see photos of where people have used my products I am amazed at how sweet they turn out and how they fit into different settings so well. If you have photos of an event where you've used some of my creations, I'd love to see them! And if I'm able to use them here on the blog or on facebook, I'll send you a coupon for your next order!

Grandparent's Day is coming!

In the U.S. it is on September 9  - just around the corner! For my readers in other countries I am curious, do you have a Grandparent's Day where you live?

Some of the most popular gift items in the shop are the 5 x7 and 8 x10 silhouettes. Mommies and aunties ordered them in droves last fall in preparation for Christmas!

This year though, we are expecting our Little One to arrive in early November, so I have decided to temporarily discontinue the silhouettes during November (so that I can focus on Baby!) and possibly December as well.
What's this mean for you? If you want one (or a few), order early! And what better time to order than as a gift for Grandparent's Day, hmm? : )

Here is a link that will easily get you to the silhouette section in my shop: silhouettes and if you have any questions or ideas, feel free to email me through Etsy, leave a comment here or email me at path.less.traveled.market@gmail.com.

And have a lovely day!

Etsy Kids

I got such a happy surprise last night - the parent and child silhouette is on the Etsy Kids Father's Day feature!
It was quite fun to click over and see John and Emma Grace there with the other darling items, and totally made my night.

What about you? What has been your happy surprise recently?

shop (and family!) news

drum-roll .... thank you.

You can now use your own credit card to purchase items from the shop! Yippee! This means that you no longer have to use Paypal if you don't want to.


and now for the family news ....

 yep. (If you've been following me on Pinterest, you might have guessed.)

We are expecting # 3 to arrive the second week of November! We were a bit surprised, but are totally thrilled! Although it can be a little difficult to be excited about it when I'm worn out with exhaustion before the kids are even ready for their naps. : ) So far I'm feeling pretty well most of the time, which is such a blessing!

There are so many projects for this baby that I'd love to do and we are trying to decide if we'll find out if it's a boy or a girl. If we don't, I think I might do a bunch of knitting and sewing for him/her in gray. And white!

And I have to decide what I'll be doing about a maternity leave from the shop. It's still far away (well, 28 (+) weeks away), but it's coming up! I certainly don't want to leave you wonderful friends and customers in the lurch through Christmas, but know I'd hate every moment I was away from the new bundle of sweetness. So, lots of thoughts! I'll let you know once plans for it are solidified. : )

Love to you all!

just a little update

because, well, I've been pretty bad about that lately. : )

- Kind of fun: two items from the shop got featured in an Etsy weddings email last Wednesday! (I snagged the above screen shot from it - if you click on it, you can see the entire email)

- Even more fun: I keep getting busier and busier! which means more money for projects that have been needing to get done around the house (yay!) but also means that I've been having to juggle my time and priorities to get everything done (and blogging has definitely become lower on the list - so sorry)

- Even more fun than that: because of the increase in sales in the last few months, I was just able to donate $300 to Samaritan's Purse - amazing, isn't it?! (did you know that I donate 10%? no? well, I do : ), so that means that by buying goodies for yourself you are actually sending money to help those in extreme need - a huge win all around!)

Anyway, just wanted to pop by and tell you that. Now I'm off to sew a few more garlands before the kiddos wake up. If I don't stop by sooner (and I really do plan to, but, well, you are all keeping me rather busy mailing out orders), happy Valentine's Day!

xoxoxo

gift certificates!

The shop has gift certificates now! I've added 3 different versions: $20, $50, and $100. They're a perfect way to give a gift that you know they'll love - because they were able to choose it themselves. : )

a little update - and a coupon!

Hi there!

Just wanted to pop in and let you all know that I have a coupon code that you can use in the shop for 15% off of your order - just enter "THANKSGIVING2011" at checkout. : ) It's valid until Thursday (sorry I forgot to tell you all until now - oops!) and you can share it with anyone!

Also, I'm working on a logo for the shop and some business cards too. It's still a work in progress, but I think I'm getting close to the idea I have in my head. : ) It'll be so fun to have them finished!


p.s.  there's some exciting shop news coming up - stay tuned.

Sweet Hearts

I just added a new item to the shop - Heart Cupcake Toppers!

They are so sweet, and would be darling to use for birthdays, wedding baby showers, a special tea with friends .... or just to dress up your morning muffin. : )

I have plans to add ones made from music paper, red ones and maybe more - I'll keep you posted!

Thank you so much for following along with me here on the blog. I haven't been the most regular of bloggers - leaving you hanging for weeks on end sometimes - but I do deeply appreciate all of you who click over and read occasionally. : )

Also, the shop has had almost 300 orders (I can barely believe it! God has been so good.) and to thank the person who places the 300th, they are going to get free shipping on their order! (the shipping fees will be refunded once the transaction has cleared)
Please feel free to share the news with your friends! :)

kind of fun :)

can you see my garland up in the middle?

The Vintage Music Hearts Garland was featured in a treasury called "Daddy's little birthday girl" this morning, and that treasury has been on the front page of Etsy's treasury section all day! Kind of fun. : )

something new?

-image source-

I just love the brides who order from thePathLessTraveled.
Not only is it fun to fill their orders for their coming weddings, but many of them have wonderful ideas of things that they'd like to see if I can make for them - often giving me ideas of new things to add to the shop (remember this post?)!

One such bride asked if I could make her some fabric streamers - of course I can! She sent along the photo shown above to give me an idea of what she had in mind: soft colors, maybe some lace too.
It sounds so lovely, so fluttery and romantic.

So what do you think? Add something like them to the shop? Would you enjoy using fabric streamers?
I'm king of thinking of using some instead of or with the classic crepe paper ones at Ian's first birthday. I could then roll them up and save them to use over and over - or maybe hang them across his bedroom ceiling. :)

my creative space today: wedding orders

Right now I'm up to my elbows in wedding orders like this:

and this:

and I'm loving it.
Filling all these orders for Spring weddings (plus being wife and mommy) is keeping me crazy busy right now, but I'm loving it. :)


you can see more creative spaces over at kootoyoo :)

help me love Japan

Romantic Hearts Garland - white with a single red heart

Have you been watching the updates on t.v. and online about Japan? Every time they show images of the devastation my heart goes out to the Japanese, wanting to do something more tangible than pray (even though I know that prayer does help).

So, I decided to donate all the proceeds (that's right, 100%)  from my new garland - Romantic Hearts, white with a single red heart - to one of my favorite faith-based disaster relief organizations: Samaritan's Purse. They have a wonderful track record of not only providing relief and care to those most in need, but they also share Christ and His love with them.

If you'd like to donate directly through the website of Samaritan's Purse you can find all the info you'll need right here.


And, on a happier note, if you are itching to do some Spring-y projects you can find a ton of creative ideas over on these blogs. I'll be linking this at some of them. :)