FREE PRINTABLE SINGLE LADIES VALENTINE'S DAY PARTY INVITATION

Even though I'm happily married, I've just never felt like it was fair that only couples get to celebrate Valentine's Day. I mean, it's a day to celebrate love, and you can have love for lots of people besides just your significant other, am I right? Anyway, with that in mind, I designed this invitation for a girl's night Valentine's party over on the Charm & Gumption blog.

You can download the free invitation here!

RECENT CUSTOM DESIGN WORK

It's been a while since I shared any custom design work with you guys. Here are some of the projects I've worked on over the past few months.

Wolverton Hill

Paper & Clay

 Steve Wern Signs

Paper & Clay and Annabella Charles Photography

Need something designed? Email me! I'd love to work with you.

STATIONERY GIVEAWAY!

So here's the thing: when I switched my printing from in-house to outsource for my new shop, I realized that some of my products would have to be taken out of the shop because they wouldn't be consistent. Because of that, I have a lot of 4bar stationery sets just sitting around my apartment. So, I thought how about a giveaway!? Intrigued? Here's what you could win:

10 stationery sets, valued at $100

That is enough to last you a loonnngg time (or you could give them as gifts)

Each are packaged in a clear sleeve and include matching envelopes.

They come in all different patterns and colors, and will be a great addition to your personal collection.

How to enter: 

(there are lots of options!)

1. LIKE my new shop on Facebook.

2. Once you're there, like or share the post about the giveaway on the page:

3. Pin your favorite item from the shop and leave the link to your pin in the comments section below.

4. Tweet a link to your favorite item from the shop (be sure to include @charmgumption).

*You can enter as many times as you would like!

*Giveaway ends next Friday, the 25th at 12:00AM

Good luck!

update: This giveaway is now closed, and the winner has been contacted. Thank you to all who participated!

CURRENTLY CRAVING: AN OFFICE OF MY OWN

I love to daydream about my future office. Some day when we get a house, I plan on creating a functional, inspiring space where I can spread my supplies out and get really organized. Currently, all of the stuff for my shop (boxes, paper cutters, product, letterpress, tools, supplies, computer, etc.) are all squished in the corner of our living room. It's not horrible - I'm able to work while spending time with the hubbs and I can keep tabs on Chester (that rascal) during the day. It's not really that I'm wanting more privacy, I would just like to have enough physical space for each item to have a place. Right now, I don't feel like I'm as efficient as I could be because I'm always having to dig and shuffle around when I need to ship something out/photograph products/etc.

Like I said, I don't hate it but a little stretching room would be oh-so-nice. If I had to create my ultimate dream office it would be something like....

YESSS. Dream Office would have a desk for my computer & printer PLUS a table for product shoots, crafting, and shipping. It would have a wall of storage because I'm a clutterphobe. Big ol' paper drawers would be nice for storing my inventory and keeping everything covered up. And I think we can all agree that we're happiest in rooms with a lot of light (which is something that I do actually have now with the wall of windows in front of my desk).

What qualities would your dream office have?

Image sources (clockwise): 1  |  2  |  3  |  4

A HEALTHY NEW HABIT

As I've said before, I'm not big on resolutions, but sometimes new things just start at the beginning of the new year, whether you "resolve" for them to or not. Wes and I have started a new morning habit of drinking warm lemon water in the morning after reading about its amazing health benefits and how it improves your metabolism:

Warm water aids digestion, lemon juice contains vitamin C, a potent antioxidant that helps calm liver inflammation and protect sagainst free radical damage.

Personally, I would like to get to the point where I don't crave (see "need, or it won't be pretty") caffeine first thing in the morning. I've never been a huge fan of lemon ice water with dinner, but something about heating it up and drinking it first thing in the morning is energizing and refreshing. I squeeze 1/2 a lemon (Wes and I split one) in a coffee cup of warm water.

What do you think about this health tip? Would you consider (eventually) replacing your morning cup of joe with a healthier option like this?

CHARM AND GUMPTION SHOP

Happy New Year! I hope you had a blast last night. I'm excited to tell you that the Charm & Gumption shop is finally open! I would love for you to check it out and let me know what you think. Also, my lovely readers get 10% off of anything in the shop this month - just use the code newyear10