How I Paid it Forward in June & July

As many of you know, I've been making a concerted effort to Pay it Forward to sustain the blogs, businesses and artists that make my life better. Every month I try to ask myself two questions:

1) Who adds value to my creative life?
2) Knowing it takes work to produce creative inspiration, how can I pay it forward to sustain them?

In the past months, I had the pleasure of working with Evie S. Evie can make even paper towels (above) look luscious, and I really appreciate her thoughtful, honest blogging. She moonlights as a graphic designer and I shyly inquired about her rates to make me a new banner. Here are a couple of early versions.

I haven't tweaked the blog's look to incorporate her final design, but she did a beautiful job and I'm excited to show it off!

Next, I was excited to have an excuse to support my Common Thread Studio coworker Harry Diaz. (You may have seen some of his work on this gift.) My aunt and cousins recently hosted a lovely "baby dinner" for us (as a baby shower alternative), and thank yous were in order. When I realized we're headed into a season of thank-you writing, I got in touch with Harry to order some of his cards.

Harry kindly put together a custom order of mostly thank you cards and a few of the other designs. I already enjoy writing thank-yous, but this is just going to make it even more of a pleasure!

If you want to join me in this adventure, you can. Pay it forward to support someone whose work you enjoy and let us know how it goes!

Pay it Forward Idea #3: Creative Services
Is there a creative gift you wish you had, but don't? Pay it forward to hire someone's creative services. In this last round, I was relieved to hire out help with my blog banner because, frankly, I lacked the motivation and talent to make a new one! A quick search on Etsy shows tons of options at a range of price points for custom blog banners.

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{First photograph by Evie S.}

Free Printable Petal Envelopes | Free Printable Friday

Guys, I can hardly believe these are free. I thought it would be a nice pairing to share these free printable petal envelopes with you after last week's roundup of envelope decorating ideas. Brought to you by the Elinee design team, these cards-and-envelopes-in-one are available for download in 4 colorways. Find them here on the Elinee blog.

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{Image via Elinee Journal}

Envelope Gift Wrapping Roundup

When you give cash (or gift card or gift certificate) as a present, it can sometimes feel a little anticlimactic to hand it over in an everyday envelope. Whether it's a special occasion, or you just want to give something that says, there's something cool inside!, here are 6 creative gift wrapping ideas for envelopes.

Stenciled window envelope at The New Domestic
Lace-adorned wedding gift at Corinna Wraps
Simpler wax sealed envelopes at House of Earnest
Tag-stamped envelopes by Creature Comforts
Doodled frames on envelopes at How About Orange
Ribbon-wrapped envelopes at House to Home (shown above)

I'm really digging all the texture on the envelopes pictured above. Which idea would you try?

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{Photograph by Kristin Perers for House to Home}

Life Update and Blog Question

Whew! Life is full. We're 35 weeks into pregnancy, about a month from our due date(!!!). I thought I would give you a little life update and ask for your input on the blog.

Family: Took two last-hurrah, before-the-baby trips, one to Seattle and the Bay Area, and another to Iowa. The pictures here are from our time at G's grandparents' lake cottage. Just a couple weeks after seeing him, we got news that G's grandpa passed away on Sunday. I'm so grateful for the time we shared with him. G is back in Iowa now for the funeral.

Pregnancy: Have a few practical things to take care of, but the big deal feels like preparing for labor. N's birth was HARD, and I need to pray through some of the fears I have. But super excited to meet Baby #2.

Church: Things are ramping up for Vacation Bible School. I've volunteered in the past, but never helped to coordinate it like this year. If you're looking for a quality VBS and you're in the Pasadena area, let me know!

Work: Looking for a temporary Studio Coordinator for Common Thread for when I'm on maternity leave Aug-Dec. Know of anyone? Also, thanks for all your great advice on blogging for a small business. I've taken it to heart on our blog and Facebook page.

Blog: I know the pace of my blogging will have to adjust once the baby comes. Bloggers, what do you do when you have limited time to blog? Readers, what do you like to see when your favorite bloggers need to take a break? A good old-fashioned pause? Reposted posts you might have missed from the archives? Guest posts? I'd really like to know.

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Free Printable Clouds Gift Wrap | Free Printable Friday

I'm sorry, this wrapping paper is just too cool. Sibylle of Funkytime created this neon printable gift wrap in two designs, and she's sharing! She writes, "All you do is print the paper, wrap your present and if you have some neon post its you can use those instead of normal tape." Whaaat, post-its for tape? This girl is awesome. Get the free printable here.

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{Image via Funkytime}

See Who's Pinning You on Pinterest

I've been mulling over some blogging tips that I'm excited to share with you. It's not my usual gift wrapping fare, but I personally get excited when my favorite bloggers let me in behind the scenes. Here we go!

Are you being pinned? Pinterest has become a super popular way to visually browse for inspiration and catalog eye-catching images online. But is anyone pinning YOUR ideas?

To check, type the following address into your browser:
http://pinterest.com/source/YourURLHere/

For example, to check on the pins from my blog, I visit:
http://pinterest.com/source/thegiftedblog.com/

(Omit the "http://" and "www" - it won't work with those preceding your web address.)

Kinda cool, right? It doesn't show me precise data for number-crunching, but at a glance I can see what I've blogged about that others have found pin-worthy. If you try this for the first time - let me know what you think! Did you learn anything new about your blog?

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