A Happy Heart

When I started Loops & Belles, my vision for what it would be was as simple as, "I love stationery, and I want to make cards that make people laugh and feel loved."

Then, after the new year, I had the desire to expand the business and create something that would do "more." You might remember this post when I launched our 8x10 prints. You can view the full collection here.

- A picture from the proofing process - I had a very happy dining room table for about a week! - 

When I was in college, I kept a note card posted on my bathroom mirror with Philippians 4:6 written on it so that I could start and end every day with those words. Even now, five years post-college, you'll still find sticky notes around my desk with verses and quotes to keep me inspired and encouraged.

It has been so wonderful for me to see customers react to prints as they look through them at shows. The joy that I feel when they're drawn to a certain phrase that means a lot to me... well, it's pretty indescribable.

(Yes, I'm being pretty mushy and sentimental in this post.)

Well, you can guess how much my heart exploded when I saw pictures of Madison's dorm room at Clemson University.

First, there on her shelf was our "Do not be anxious about anything" print.

Then, I noticed that her mirror has handwritten notes with verses and inspirational quotes -- the very thing that inspired me to make our Loops & Belles line of prints!

I just had to ask if she'd be willing to let me share these pictures of her (adorable!) dorm room. Seriously, doesn't it make you want to go back to college?

I'm also really excited to announce that we'll be releasing a few new prints in about a month. Stay tuned for more details about our next "launch day!" 

xoxo, E

Behind the Scenes - 12 Days of Summer

Well, that's a wrap! Thank you to everyone who took advantage of our Christmas in July promotion!

In case you missed any of the fun, here's a little recap of our 12 Days of Summer... plus some pretty great "behind the scenes" and blooper pics!

Feel free to sing along. It's hard not to!

For the 12 Days of Summer, Loops & Belles gave to me: Twelve Pink Flamingos, Eleven Flags a Waving, Ten Sandy Toes, Nine Watermelon Slices, Eight Burgers Grilling, Seven Books for Reading, Six Poolside Popsicles, Five Summer Dresses, Four Cups of Froyo, Three Prickly Pineapples, Two Donut Pool Floats, and a free print with every purchase!

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's always so exciting when a project turns out the way I hoped it would! 

There were a few speed bumps along the way - mostly due to my perfectionist nature - but more than anything, there were SO. MANY. LAUGHS.

Seriously, I couldn't have done this without the treasured friends who helped with the photos and shared the promotion on social media!

Side note: Y'all - my mom. She's such a rockstar. I'm going to have to promote her from intern to paid employee here soon. She's spreading the Loops & Belles love!

I'd be remiss if I didn't share some of the awesome outtakes from the process of creating the 12 Days of Summer...

My dear friend Brandi let us bring two GIANT donut pool floats over to her mama's house one Sunday evening so that we could capture the shot for Day 2. 

Naturally, the bloopers were my absolute favorite - and with her permission, it's my joy & pleasure to share them!

In an attempt to get me to have a natural smile in the Day 5 pictures, the Mister would make jokes and throw out random prompts to keep me from over-thinking. So here we have: "Lady Liberty," "Be Surprised," (which apparently had me putting my hands in the pockets of my dress) and "Hooray! We got the shot!"

Not pictured: "Titanic," "I'll never let go Jack," and my impression of the Rockettes during the reindeer dance. #SoRandom

The Mister snapped this pic while I was mid-frustration-stabbing the legs into the flamingos. When I sent it to my mom she exclaimed, "You had to put them together?!" Oh yes. And I cut my hand in the process. Creativity can be painful folks.

Oh, and just one more funny about the flamingos -- I feel like I should mention that this was the shot that I thought would be the easiest to capture. WRONG. One flamingo's beak kept falling off (insert crying laughing emoticon here) so I had run over, reattach his beak, run back, try to focus the camera and snap before it fell onto the ground again. I don't even want to think about how many times I did this routine.

I thought it'd be funny to make one of the flamingos a Rudolph impersonator -- seeing as how we were celebrating Christmas in July -- but clearly the flamingo had other ideas. (Beakless flamingo was cropped out in order to lessen the tragedy of this photo)

And that's all folks!!

I had an absolute blast with our 12 Days of Summer fun. 

I'm putting my mailman to work and getting these special packages on their way.

(Apparently, Santa is in the Caribbean this time of year...)  

xoxo, E

12 Days of Summer

It's officially time for the Loops & Belles "Christmas in July" promotion! 

Over the next 12 days, we're taking a holiday classic and making it our own with "The 12 Days of Summer."

I'm all about having some fun - but it wouldn't be Christmas without a little surprise right?! 

Take 25% off your online order with the code: SUMMER25. PLUS we're giving away a free print with every purchase! Just tell us in the note at checkout which print you'd like to receive from our Summer Santa! 

Visit our online store to take full advantage of this promotion!

Make sure you're following us on Instagram and Facebook to see what we have up our sleeve for the 12 Days of Summer!

xoxo, E

Ft. Worth Redo

I don't know about you, but I love the opportunity for a redo.

When I was little, I would work on "specialty jumps" off the diving board and my mom would give me notes to improve - things like "point your toes," "straighten your knees," etc. I loved when the pool wasn't busy and I had endless chances to try over and over again to get it right.

When I didn't do as well as I liked on a timed test in school, I loved the chance for a retake.

When 3M brand came out with the removable wall hanger, well it was like a dream come true! I had chance after chance after chance (if needed) to rehang pictures in different arrangements - or more likely, to move a picture up a 1/4" inch to make it level with the picture next to it. (I'm a fan of the gallery wall)

I love a good redo.

So, when Memorial Day weekend rolled around, it seemed like the perfect time to do a Ft. Worth redo.

You might remember the Ft. Worth adventure back in January that didn't quite turn out as planned.

Well, this go round, the weather forecast was rain, and lots of it... However, I was armed with a positive attitude and a "who cares?!" mentality, so off we went to Ft. Worth!

Our first stop was going to be the Water Gardens. We didn't have a single drop of rain until the moment I-35 splits for Dallas/Ft. Worth. We rolled our eyes at the irony and laughed a bit, but decided to press on. After all, "maybe it'll be a quick rain and pass."

Then... it started pouring.

Onward we drove. As we neared the exit where we had to decide Water Gardens or "forget it and let's get ice cream," the rain eased up and we decided to attempt the garden visit.

And boy, I am glad we did!

I was admittedly terrified to walk down the slick steps to the bottom of the 38ft. deep "active pool." It didn't help that there wasn't a railing along the steps for me to hold onto, that I had on sandals, and that every child under the age of 13 was running up and down these (death) stairs like it was no big deal.

Don't mind me kids... just a 27-year-old who's petrified this may be her demise.

Once I made it to the bottom, I pretended like my legs weren't still shaking, and I was able to appreciate just how beautiful the attraction was.

Also, it begs to be said that going up the stairs was far less terrifying than going down.

We wandered over to the meditation pool, which was much more my speed. It was surrounded by tall trees and was perfectly still - right in the middle of downtown Ft. Worth!!

As we were leaving the Water Gardens, it started to rain again. Perfect timing! It was time to head to Melt and get some ice cream.

Social media is great, isn't it? It opens your eyes to adventures and places you never would have known about otherwise.

Melt is a business that I've been following on Instagram since they opened in Ft. Worth, and I've been dying to try it. Tell me their Instagram feed isn't one of the prettiest things you've ever seen!

And there's nothing better than cold ice cream on a hot, humid day when your once straight hair is starting to curl up. (Where did all the bobby pins that I keep in my purse disappear to?!)

Once we finished our ice cream, we jaunted over to Dallas so that I could visit the Read Between the Lines shop. As a #paperperson, I couldn't be that close to a new paper boutique and not visit!

It was even better than I'd imagined. I want this nook in my next house. And if the next house could be loft style with a gorgeous exposed brick wall, I wouldn't complain.

We won't talk about the torrential downpour that awaited us 60 minutes south of OKC - and the flash flooding that occurred later that evening. Nope. We'll just talk about the amazing Ft. Worth "redo" where there was no horrible traffic, no horse parades, no hangry moments... just so much the fun!

xoxo, E

Rock the Boat, Baby

I have found that with every show I do for Loops & Belles, I learn so many things about myself.

For example, I can let fear get the best of me...

Rock the Boat was my first outdoor event for L&B and I was anxious about the weather. (Which, let's be honest, is a common concern in Oklahoma.)

I was worried that it might rain. I was worried that it'd be unbearably hot. I was worried that the wind would knock over my lightweight products throughout the 6-hour event. 

I. Was. Worried.

But, as per usual, my mom encouraged me to do the event anyway and simply said, "We'll figure it out!"

The forecast called for sunny skies, 90 degree temps, and 10mph winds. Ok... we can do this.

Thank goodness Momma was here to be my booth buddy again! She came up with a system right out of the gate that would keep my prints and cards securely in their place. Poof, there went my anxiety!!

I was so happy to see sweet Moxie - and her mama - when they stopped by the booth for a bit! Mox also spent some time wowing us with her reading skills. The girl's got game!

Another show is in the books! And we have perfected the quick and efficient setup/tear down. It was so fun to be a part of Rock the Boat in Bricktown.

(It was also really fun to see the event play out from a different role. Bonus fact: this was an event that I'd planned the last 2 years at my old job. So, it was fun to see some of my old co-workers as well!!)

I'm excited to spend the next few weeks working on some new designs for Loops & Belles. If only I could find a pool to dip my toes in to spur the creativity... wink wink. 

Oh! Make sure you're following the Loops & Belles social media accounts to see all the fun I have planned for our "Christmas in July" promotion!! Instagram, Facebook, Twitter

xoxo, E