Where has the time gone?!?

Life has been flying by!! that's for sure!!


This Sunday will mark one year that I've been married to my best friend! I can't believe how fast it has gone by!

Two weekends ago, I made a trip to Orlando to see Harry Potter World!!! (I know that's not the name, but that's what I call it!) Mike's sister, Deni, gave his mom and I tickets to the theme park. We are BIG Harry Potter dorks, so that was an awesome gift! Although it rained the whole day, we were able to ride many of the rides and have lots of fun!

Since August, Mike and I have attended several weddings, football games, put up decorations for Fall and Halloween, and have kept very busy! My Etsy shop has been keeping me busy! It's crazy to think Christmas is only (approx.) 9 weeks away!

The biggest news so far is that I've decided to open my own business. Last night I registered the business name and today, placed an ad in a local paper to announce the new business!

My new business is 'Southern Charm - Decoration and Prop Rentals'. I will offer decorations mainly for weddings, but not limited to just that. Items for family pictures and parties are just the tip of the iceberg!

Items to rent will include chandeliers, rustic decorations, mason jars, wooden benches, lanterns etc. If you can think of it, I can do it! Most of the items will have the rustic feel to them. Perhaps items from yard sales and the flea market that I will spruce up. Here is a link to my pinterest board where I've been collecting ideas: http://pinterest.com/ashley1001/one-day/

I still have a few more licenses to get, finalize a logo, and I need to add to my collection (that's the fun part!). I'm working on my website which needs to be tweaked before it's ready for public veiwing! All of the inventory will be photographed and put on the website so browsing through the items will be painless.

Lots of excitement coming soon!!!

Getting Busy!

During this long, Holiday weekend, I had planned on making new items to fill my Etsy Shop... It's funny how things work out! Over the past few days, I've been busier than normal with request for custom pieces!!

So far, I have 5 orders to fill (some with more than one item!) and I have a 6th custom piece request that I'm working on. I guess filling my shop with new items will have to wait until the sold orders are made!!

Recently, I've been thinking about advertising my shop, but I wanted to get a new logo/appearance. I worked with VampireCraftin thru Etsy all day yesterday, and look what we came up with:

A new logo!

Another update involves a wonderful photographer out of Canada - Gina's Portraits! She has purchased 3 different items from me, and I'm throwing in a 4th sign to work a trade!! Her next wedding is September 25th, and she is going to share her pictures with me that include my signs and banners! I can't wait to start advertising with them!! The signs will show much better with there is an actual bride and groom holding them!! I can't wait to see the pictures!!

Things are getting crazy!

So it's been a while since I've blogged.. I know. I think my last three posts say the same thing!

Right now, I feel that I need to gather myself, and I find it best to write it out... which would explain this post!

Harley Boy Designs has had some good craziness happen recently. Several orders came in which included 7 cake toppers and 800 paper straws with flags! All the supplies should be here today (via Fed Ex and The Postal Service), so you know that I'll be doing this weekend...

I've added more items to the shop, which makes me happy - but I know I still need more. This weekend, If I get some free time, I have new signs that I'm gonna try to take pictures of and add to the shop. My goal is to have enough inventory so that I can start advertising on wedding blogs/web sites. Right now, I need more items to make the advertising worth while.

I just finished filling in my calendar, and wow - the next three months are gonna be crazy too! Craziness includes 2 (possible 3) out of town trips, a friend visiting 2 weekends, three football games to attend, lots of football games to 'tailgate' at home for, and three weddings to attend - all while filling my Etsy shop and filling orders, and.... Our 1 Year Anniversary!! I can't believe it's been almost a year already!!

My calendar is full! Also - I had a previous bride who ordered from me mention she may be needing 200 coasters for a wedding reception!

If only I didn't need sleep and had to work - I could conquer the world! (maybe!)

Success!!

Do you remember a while back when I talked about making our dead plant beds into something worth a hoot???

Here's the picture RIGHT after my labor of love:


Looked good, but nothing to brag to your neighbors about!

Well look at it now:


Thanks to the Hubby for watering the flower bed at least every other day!!! I really do give him all the credit - I would have forgotten to water it a week later!!!

What a weekend!

Do you ever have a weekend where nothing is planned - and yet it goes well?!?

That's the weekend I had!

Friday, at the last minute, I was invited to check out a land with a friend for hunting and to possibly lease it for the next year. I, of course, said yes! Different than my usual plans!

The property was so large that we walked the first half of the land, then got back into car and drove to the second half. While walking around the second half, we noticed a car... who were these people?? It's ok that we're out here - right?!??

Turns out they were also checking out the land for hunting. We stayed and chatted for a while. They then invited us to their hunting camp. We jumped back into our truck and followed them down a long, dirt road. The camp was much further down the road then we were expecting, and along the way, they jumped out and shot a snake.... At this point, we were really wondering about the these people! Everything turned out well, and we had fun hanging out with 'new friends'!

Here are a few photos of the day:


Saturday, I worked on my Etsy shop. I made a banner out of burlap:


I also posted pictures of my birdcage veil that I made:

I'm not 100% happy with this picture of the veil.... I may change up the background a bit... we'll see!

I also made a bow tie which I will be adding to my Etsy shop:


Right now, this bow tie is one size - not adjustable. I really want to figure out how to make it adjustable before listing it for sale.... so for now, this is just a sneak peek!

Sunday was a lazy day... caught up on tv shows, made cookies, hung out with some friends.

Overall - a wonderful weekend!!

I have recently added wedding invitations to my Etsy Shop!

I'm really excited about adding another Harley Boy Designs product! I have many more designs coming ~ Stay tuned!

As well as wedding invitations, I have thought about adding save the dates and baby announcements! We'll see how well they take off!!

In addition to adding more inventory, I've also added a facebook page! This way, people can stay up to date with new additions to the shop, and a way to stay in touch with those who are interested (and friends who are being very supportive!)

Speaking of supportive friends ~ Two friends on facebook were generous enough to spread the word of Harley Boy Designs to their friends. Several people 'liked' Harley Boy Designs!! Slowly spreading the word!!

It's been a while

So I feel that I haven't posted a blog in quite some time!

Bad Blogger!

OK - so what's new with me....Two weekends ago, Mike and I went to the coast to go fishing. Although we were only able to bring home one fish, we had plenty of action on the water!

Here's me reeling in a shark:


(I love the way the water and the sky run together in this picture! above)

Here's the shark:


It was a three foot bonnet head shark.

We also caught several trout (all were too small to keep), pin fish, catfish, and Spanish mackerel. The Spanish Mackerel is currently sitting in the freezer!

Overall, a great day!

This past weekend, Mike got the opportunity to ref the 'half time flag football game' at FSU's spring time Garnet and Gold game!


During the coin toss:


The next day, Mike and I worked in the yard. Turning dead flower beds into beautiful flower beds (we'll see how long they last!)


This spot wasn't always a flower bed - in fact, a few months ago, there was a HUGE pine tree here! The tree has since come down, and the area was put to good use.

Besides all of the flower, we laid down grass plugs here, and flats of grass on the other side of the driveway (I'm sure you can imagine what grass looks like!)


In between work and playing on the weekends, I've made items for my Etsy shop - in fact, I've been working with several brides for custom pieces! Very excited about that.

What's next??
Letterpress wedding invitations
11 bags (similar to beach bags) for a friend
Another custom sign
and much more!