Vacation Recap: Wyoming, Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park!

I can’t believe it’s September! Fall blew (literally—we had a huge wind and rain storm) into Seattle over the weekend and I can’t disguise my disappointment. We had over 40 days of 80 degree weather this summer and it was glorious. It seems nerdy that I know this, but everyone is talking about it because it broke a record! Summers are usually much milder (read: cooler), so this was a wonderful and fully welcomed anomaly.

Upper Falls, Yellowstone National Park — The “Grand Canyon” of Yellowstone

To keep with the summer spirit, I want to share some pics of my recent vacation to Wyoming! I went on a road trip to Jackson, Wyoming, and camped in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. Even though I’m a Wyoming native and I’ve visited all of those places many times, I felt like I appreciated it a lot more this time around. Maybe it’s because I’ve been gone for a long time, or my two-hour daily commute in the city is slowly killing me, or else I just really needed a break after a busy summer of blogging and fauxdori-making (the shop’s open, btw! Click HERE to check it out). I highly recommend adding this spot to your bucket list—it’s absolutely gorgeous, life is slow and meandery, and there’s no cell service or Wi-Fi in many areas, so you can totally unplug. YESSSSS.

Aug272015Nov 2 2015

Gold Standard Workshop Etsy Shop Launch – The Shop is Open!

It’s official! The Gold Standard Workshop Etsy shop launch is here! We’re open for business! You’ll find paper and planner goodies in the shop–pretty pens, notepads with crazy thick paper, and fabric travelers notebooks, called fauxdoris. We’ll be updating items regularly and adding washi tape, greeting cards, and gift wrap soon!

This shop has been years in the making! My hope is that all the items in the shop will inspire and encourage you take a few minutes each day and do something you enjoy. Relax and draw, list, make goals, dream, all of it! You deserve time to yourself and to be kind to yourself! Be the best, most fierce, productive, and lovely you that you can be!

The handmade journal/planners, called fauxdoris, can be so many things! The unique feature about the design is that the fabric covers hold removable/interchangeable notebook inserts. What does this mean? It means it could be a planner for blog. Or a journal for your mystery novel ideas. Or an art journal for watercolors, paints, and doodling. Or a bullet journal! Or a journal all about lists! Or a mix of all of these things. The best part is that it will be uniquely you.

Shop bonus

For a limited time, receive a free notebook insert when you buy a fauxdori! And if you’d like to receive a discount on your first purchase, sign up for our newsletter! You’ll receive exclusive shop updates, DIY projects, a free printable every month (that only subscribers receive), and a birthday gift! Sign up for the monthly newsletter HERE!

See you over in the shop!

Aug252015Sep 14 2015

DIY Business Cards

A few months ago I attended a blogger’s conference here in Seattle. It was an interesting experience. We’ll be talking about these types of conferences and how to figure out which ones are right for you this fall. I think it’s important to share our experiences about these types of events so you can form your own opinion and make solid decisions.

Anyway! Because I had just a few days to prep for the conference, I created my own business cards. As you might now, I adore paper. I’m a paper addict. And I strongly believe in using the highest quality paper you can afford for your marketing materials, for gift wrap, for greeting cards, for everything really. It makes a huge difference! This is no different for business cards. For this project, I knew I wanted my cards extra thick. The downside was that ordering those cards professionally printed is expensive! I’ve ordered biz cards from Minted in the past and loved them, but the price point was too high and I would have had to pay a lot for expedited shipping. So I went to a local printer to look at the choices; they begrudgingly offered double thick cards. Since they weren’t too excited about it, I concluded that I should just make them myself. So I did!

My DIY business cards are actually three layers of paper, or triple thick. And I love them. They feel really sturdy and substantive in your hand. I used beautiful cotton paper from Paper Source, my inkjet printer, and scrapbook paper to make my cards. I should warn you, these cards do take some time to make. A lot of my projects in the workshop are simple and quick–this one takes some planning and a bit of patience.

Aug212015Mar 31 2017

Free Printable: Be Vast and Brilliant

Hi, friends! I’m excited to be back in the workshop after my vacation! I took a road trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and it was amazing. The lack of WiFi (and cell service!) was an absolute blessing. I’ll be sharing more about the trip soon!

Guess what? It’s Free Printable Friday!! I’m happy to introduce another free printable from the workshop as part of our summer series. This one was inspired by my camping vacation.

One of the coolest things about camping in the middle of nowhere is that you have an unbelievable sky full of stars. I mean millions of stars. Stars you had no idea existed. Layers and layers and layers. As a crazy bonus, we had the luck of seeing the annual Perseid meteor showers and saw loads of shooting stars! It was unreal.

Aug72015Aug 19 2015

GSW Vacation!

Happy Friday!

I’m popping in to say that the workshop is taking a short respite and I’m heading on a week-long road trip to Wyoming!! I’ll be visiting family and also going camping in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. Even though I’m from Wyoming, exploring the parks never gets old. And really, they’re the best parts of the state. If you go to Wyoming, you have to go there. I’ll be posting pics over on Instagram if you’d like to stop by!

We’ll be opening the workshop up the week of August 17 and we have some fun fashion and paper DIYs planned, along with a few more free printables from the summer series. And the Etsy shop is coming along nicely, too!

Happy trails to you, my friend, until we meet again,