Indian Summer

Indian Summer by epochyeti featuring hot pants shorts

Quiksilver blouse
$43 - quiksilver.com

Hot pants shorts
$56 - topshop.com

Forever21 platform shoes
$28 - forever21.com

Urban Outfitters beading jewelry
$24 - urbanoutfitters.com

Ray-Ban wayfare sunglasses
£60 - my-wardrobe.com

Diamonds
$20 - 20x200.com

Giveaway Day {Winner}

Congrats to Antique to Chic!! You are the magical, fabulous winner of Fia's Burger!!

If you are Antique to Chic please contact me at fiapdx[at]gmail.com. Yipee!! Stay tuned for a UH-mazing new giveaway soooooooon!

Etsy Love

One of my favorite things to do on Etsy is make Treasury lists. They are a fun way to put together pieces of great handmade work. Now that summer is winding down (just getting started in Portland) a lot of Fall themes have been popping up. This first treasury is one that I curated. The one below is from a fellow Portlander that I am featured in.
Please do take a look & feel free to comment on the Treasury!

Giveaway Day {Fia's Burger}

I'm so excited to introduce my first giveaway! HOORAY!
I will be giving away my infamous, "Fia's Burger". This little gem has been featured on Etsy's front page & will be a star in the show, Portlandia! It is composed of various colored pieces of Eco Fi Felt (100% recycled material from post consumer plastic bottles) and is hand sewn with love (of course).

fiapdx.etsy.com

 {DETAILS}

Prize: One Fia's Burger

Contest ends: August 4th @ 11:59 PST

The winner will be chosen at random!

How do you enter for a chance to win this bad boy?

1. Become a new follower of my blog

2. Tweet about it! Or become a Twitter follower. Please use this wording when you Tweet: @Fiapdx is having a giveaway! Visit: http://bit.ly/q2gtPe

3. Take a look at my shop: fiapdx.etsy.com & tell me your favorite thing & why!

3. Follow Fia(pdx) on Facebook

Don't forget to leave a separate comment for each & a way to contact you.

{GOOD LUCK!} 

Phew

Wowza. My blog has been beckoning for my attention for a few weeks now. As summer has officially appeared in Portland, my life has been one event after another. Not to mention that I am working around 40 hours (instead of part time as originally planned) in which I come home exhausted. In anycase, I have been buckling down creating new things & hopefully applying to some holiday craft shows.

I just discovered this excellent inspirational, motivational quote from Ira Glass. It speaks to all creative people & entrepreneurs. I love it!

This has given me inspiration to re-vamp my website, create new things for both my shops. I've been designing new buttons at Fia(pdx) Design & new print at home options. And have been brainstorming new plush products for Fia(pdx). I hope to have a freebie coming up soon & I hope to host some giveaways.
I'm also super happy excited to announce another blog called, Only in Portland, in which users submit photos/stories of their experiences in Portland. I'm definitely an advocate of keeping Portland weird. This is all in good fun of course. So, if you're a fan of Portlandia or live/work/play in Portland please check it out. I'd love to hear stories and see pictures!
Here's to summer, y'all!

Paying it Forward

On June 22, 2005 my family & I lost my papa to Pancreatic Cancer. He was a brave soul all the way through the end. The immense support of family, friends and his co-workers made our transition slightly easier and comforting. I am so grateful for all the love we received from everyone during those times. And through those who continue to love, support and care for us.
As a way of dedicating my resources to others, I have decided to come up with a new product lined entitled, "Mustaches for Benefit". These mustaches of different colors each represent an organization/charity. My first two are purple (Pancreatic Cancer) and pink (Breast Cancer). With the each sale I will donate 40% of the proceeds to said organization/charity.

Click to buy - look in "Mustaches for Benefit" section

It is my hope that with these donations it will ease the pain for those who have suffered from losing a loved one or going through cancer themselves. With each organization/charity I donate to I know that everyone's dollar is working towards a cure, a supportive network for those who are experiencing cancer and may other things. 

Please take a moment to view the listings. I would really appreciate it! Also, check back for different organizations and mustache colors. I hope to be donating money to animals, children, etc.

Etsy Love

It's that time of year for weddings! It's lovely seeing all events surrounding weddings. I love seeing wedding parties on the water front in Portland. Here's my little dedication to those weddings & the traditions they hold.

Etsy Love

I received some Etsy love today!! Megon from Yonder choose my "I Heart Beer" magnets as a feature for Father's Day! Please take a moment to stop by the blog, comment & follow them!

Thanks, Megon!

 

Yonder

Oh Happy Day Goes To Paris

There is an AMAZING giveaway happening right now at Oh Happy Day. It's probably one of the best contests I have ever seen! It's a trip to Paris in an amazing hotel, Mama Shelter. I truely want everyone to have an opportunity to win this amazing prize!! So go enter RIGHT NOW. Contest ends in 8 days!

My How Time Flies

 It never fails to amaze how quickly time slips out of my hands. Despite endless planning, scheduling, setting priorities straight...it's always *POOF* gone! It's funny how life constantly throws off your well oiled machine.
So, I decided to look up some tips for staying organized and time management. This image pretty much says it all!

This is probably the most important piece of advice for me: "Commit to eliminating from your schedule all the activities that didn't make it into the "important" stacks. If you have time after doing your important and urgent things, use it on important but not urgent activities. No matter how pressing something may seem to be, if it's not important, just don't do it". I often get lost in other things while I am supposed to be focusing on the important! I lose track of time by browsing on Etsy, flipping through TV channels, photographing another item that does not need to be photographed. It's so easy for me to see something "shiny" and go straight for that. Essentially I am doing this:

• Postponed promoting new book to raise money for research on Down syndrome.
  
• Canceled client meeting to bake my daughter's birthday cake.
  
• Blew off e-mail to chat on the phone with dear friend.
  
• Blew off e-mail to volunteer at local methadone clinic.
  
• Blew off e-mail to exercise.
  
• Blew off e-mail to bathe.
  
• Blew off e-mail to sleep.
  
• Blew off e-mail to sense a theme developing here.

A seemingly simple task to prioritize was/is not happening for me. Blowing off sewing to take a picture of something else, is not good. This leads to me even forgetting about my sewing project. HUGE NO NO. So, taking the tips I receive, I am supposed to "...follow your life's guidance, you may have to reassign some seemingly important things to "unimportant." If you believe that pleasing your horrible boss or having a spotless house is a higher priority than playing with your children or sleeping off the flu, be prepared for a long and strenuous battle against destiny."
 I am eager to see if I can stick to a plan. I'm eager to see if I will write down my priorities. I'm eager to see if I can post those priorities before divulging into something else...First things, first...Finishing this blog post & backing away from the laptop.
If you'd like to see more tips and read the article from Martha Beck, it's right here!

Memorial Day

Memorial Day

There's no doubt that we know or have known of someone serving in the military. My heart goes out to the families that have someone over seas. May positive thoughts reign through the oceans to your loved one! 

We are lucky to be apart of this country. Everyday I'm thankful that I have the resources to be able to craft, eat, sleep and live comfortably. Not many, even in the US, have the means to do that. I am lucky to have a never ending support system. 

So, here's to those who fought for our "freedom"!

Recipes found here

 There is a beautiful collection of crafts on Martha Stewart for Memorial Day & Fourth of July. Here's a few pics...

Sloth Saturday

A Sloth is one of those creatures that I think are magical, whimsical and almost make believe. So, I thought I'd share some of my finds around the interwebs.

Enjoy!

Catbird Creatures

Berkley Illustration

Peaches Products

Isabell's Umbrella

Mary Mary Handmade

Last but not least! A super cute video!

Music Love Affair

This is a playlist made by me! It's a few of my favorite bands that I like to craft to (especially). Enjoy!

Around the "Office"

When I moved to Portland (OR), I was SO happy to be in a two bedroom apartment. I knew exactly what the second bedroom was going to be for! I loved the idea of having a space just for my crafts & office..And well, a place to do my homework. Here's a few pictures of how I adjusted my second room to house my crafts. I also converted a part of my living room for printing and packaging.

View from the entry way of the second bedroom.

The guest bed is on the right.

Silver eraser board from Target It usually has a list of all the most important things to do & other dates. My craft show banner is made by LittlePut Books, which I absolutely LOVE!