objects of desire, indeed. Le Pen goodness.

[image via Lytha Studio]

I color code like nobody's business. addicted. not being able to color code is right on up there with not eating pasta or drinking coffee. Without, is there any meaning to it all?
*sigh*
okay, enough of the melodrama. But I love these colorful pens just as much as my black Microns that I clung to throughout design school! There are worse addictions to be had, don't you think?

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on the web | on facebook | on twitter | on pinterest  | on tumblr 

freebie friday. la brasserie font.

Illustration © Aga Silva

love this font! free download [for personal use] here at dafont.com

on the web | on facebook | on twitter | on pinterest  | on tumblr

ice. ice. baby.

all the CH goodies are packaged, inventoried & ready to drop off Saturday at Criminal Records in L5P [Atlanta] for the upcoming ICE holiday pop-up shop. Goodies from over 80-something artists will be available there from December 1-24! craziness. opening party on the 1st & the first 100 guests receive swag bags [freebies are always welcome!].

actually, if you're in the first 250 people admitted each day at the holiday spectacular show this weekend, you will most likely be getting some Cardinal House goody in your swag too.

soo glad it's almost the weekend! had to pinky-swear [well, you get the idea] that i'd stop friday night to get back to our regular schedule of pizza & movie night. happy to oblige this week. but now, what to watch?

on the web | on facebook | on twitter | on pinterest

please excuse this test.

[image via Miss B, Busy Bee]

please excuse this test. i'm attempting to be cool & pretend like i know how to effortlessly consolidate the Cardinal House blog, tumblr, and the blogger blog.
long story.
and i already gave you more info than you wanted, huh?!

--

KAT. MILLER

CARDINAL HOUSE
Reclaimed textile accessories & home goods.

on the web | on facebook | on twitter | on pinterest

this blog is moving.

guys. this blog is moving to the new site that i'm working on. not sure if i'll be doubling up with posting here too. 

you can find the new blog HERE.

i'm still working through it all to get things set up, please excuse the mess. as i jotted down on the home page:

 I feel as though I just stepped out of the shower into an audience. Please be patient while I dress this site up a bit!

THANKS EVERYONE!

I hope that you'll follow along with me!

Comments, suggestions [about keeping this one up & running, etc] are all welcome & appreciated.

 

ch-ch-changes.

Just do it, stupid.

I have journals filled with all of these great ideas. Ideas for the site, ideas for jewelry designs, ideas for the future. You get my point. And so this year, I've decided I'm finished with the complete Survival Manual for a Business-That-You-Never-Even-Started-Because-You-Never-Stopped-Planning.

A good business is ever-evolving, but if nothing is ever put into motion...well, then there's nothing to evolve.

Well that was stupid, stupid.

I've decided to build a simple site with the blog secondary. Do you realize it took nearly a year for me to figure out that I could log in & generate my own, more legit emails [you know, "X" @cardinal-house.com]. Wow. I guess that I shouldn't admit that, but my pride can take another blow this week.

Please excuse my mess while I try not to be so stupid.

Obviously, I don't always know exactly what I'm doing. Evolving for sure. I'll need to change a couple settings on the site, so this may go back to the Blogger address for a bit while I get the site & domain all smoothed out. 

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I'm not gonna lie. This is exciting to me.

[it's the simple things, I know]

i like you. you like me.

Source: emmas.blogg.se via Marcia on Pinterest

i like you. you like me. and here's to new discoveries.

as much as i enjoy rambling about my work & the studio *happy sarcasm*, i really do appreciate all the wonderful people that i've encountered since setting up shop.  

 in this series of posts:

i'll pick out a shop/site that i enjoy, pick out someone from the list of people that "heart" my etsy shop [or follower or fan...], pick out a picture from pintrest or flicker to feature up top, & pick out another impromptu style that i've never heard of before. 

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phew. & that's the only time i give that spiel.

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i like you.

wardomatic. you were my very 1st heart over 2 years ago now. [Jazz -click image for link]

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you like me.
HomeFriedBeads. you hearted me the 1st day that I set up shop. *THANKS* [Easter Bunny Rabbit Focal Bead -click image for link]

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something new.

rafya. not sure which i like better: The Pomegranate Necklace or Fly Away Necklace.

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studious reflection. pretty flowers.

Don't you just love this budding [harhar] wall of flowers?!  Yet another project I'm working hard on in the studio.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You might have noticed the lack of new items in my Etsy shop. It's not that I haven't been busy, only that I've been busy in the background. Lately, I've been doing a lot of research & soul searching. I've been putting down guidelines [for me] regarding where I want Cardinal House to go & figuring out the baby steps to implement. I am a one-woman show after all & whether I like it or not, I am definitely not superwoman.

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Here's the low-down.

1) I've been spending much more time over at Facebook.  

I like the format- that it's visual & interactive on a more personal level. Plus, now you get notifications about interactions [which I love]. That's where I'll be getting my photo gallery together to browse through current items, sold items, my studio, items sent off to stores nationwide... Right- you get my point?!

2) At this point, I will no longer be posting individual items here on the blog. If I get a collection of items, I'll post a little ditty here, but if you want up-to-date info: Facebook, Twitter, or subscribe to Cardinal House shop feed. For the blog, I intend on focusing on more studio info, inspiration & featuring other shops that I love too.

3) Giveaways. I've signed up with an application approved by Facebook to start doing some giveaways. Actually, I will probably start one running next week [hint, hint]. But I'll post about it here too. I'd love to know how many of you are on Facebook too [or completely against it!].

And instead of actual product giveaways, I am going to do a lump sum [$40-$50 to start] gift certificate/credit for my shop.

4) Sales. In general, I'm not going to be marking down items in the Etsy shop any more. Don't fret! Instead, I'll be offering generous sales for my lovely blog readers [hello, you] & fans & followers because you guys are the most awesomist people ever! I've just been slammed with custom requests based on marked down items & while everyone is understanding, I still hate to bum people out. 

5) Bringing Cardinal House goodies to a place near you. Well, there are many parts to this one & I've rambled on soo much already. Perhaps in another few posts?!

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color palette à la rosebuds.

While a was on the phone with a friend, I had this idea of displaying the rosebud earrings as if on a palette for Fabu Face Spa. Of course, I was supposed to drop everything off within 48hrs of this conversation. Lucky for me, my more logical side took over & convinced me to wait until I was all caught up before I tried out the idea. Well, that & my friend already concerned about my lack of sleep.

But isn't it a cute idea?! Okay, so obviously the earrings aren't finished. There is NO WAY I'd ship them out like that [or officially put them up for sale like that]. I'm just impatient & kinda excited & took the picture while all in progress. 

I thought this display idea would be cool on an easel & work as a package sell for wholesale customers [then I can offer replacements ;-) ]. I was thinking of making some smaller palette displays too focusing on specific colorways. 

Yeah, I've never argued with anyone about me needing a life. Or that I'm highly amused with simple things. haha!

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stay tuned.

Can we say yippee?! I just sent off a box of goodies today to The Ruffly Rose in Denver. That makes two new locations in a week! 

But now that all my orders are currently caught up & off to their new homes, I wake up to reality. It's like after you've thrown a party at your house, but you realize now that there's a huge mess to clean up? Yeah. That's me right now. Or, will be me again when I finish up this post. ;-)

And when I put my mind to it, I'm fairly anal. Like the markers below. And notice that most of the beads in the shelves above are fairly grouped by color. Oh yeah, you know my clothes are hung by color too.

No, I won't make you look at a picture of my closet too!

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P.S. - Within the next post or two, I'll share what will be happening here on the site & elsewhere with me. Just so you know. Minor [good] changes, that's all!

mega deals for you.

How glad am I that it's the weekend? VERY. 

I was so happy to drop off some of the new goodies to Fabu Face Spa this Thursday & to personally witness the reactions! I constantly receive comments about how a necklace "looks even better in person"...[raises a wine glass] here's to keeping my sanity this year & procuring more stockists!

I'm super excited about some of the styles that I've been working on lately. So much that I want to clear out some of the older-ish items. You know, give the shop a face lift. [trumpets blaring]

If you're not a fan of my Facebook page <<HERE>>,  now's the time to become one!  To start off, I'll be hosting some daily 50% off deals [on top of sale prices] & maybe a giveaway or two. And U.S. residents, that includes free shipping! [Twitter peeps...you'll see the headline through my Twitter stream too.]

Have I lost my marbles? Perhaps. But I'm okay with that, are you?!

now that IS a mega egg.

How excited did el kiddo get when he laid eyes upon these MEGA EGGS at Hob-Lob? Very is an understatement!

in progress.

Wow. It's been a crazy week. Craziness in the studio, at home, at the office...whew, am I ever glad it's Friday! 

I've been scheming behind-the-scenes towards getting some Cardinal House goodies to a location in Decatur, GA & *possibly* up to Montreal. But that's another can of international worms & we'll see, right?!

Meanwhile, in the studio I've been having loads of fun dreaming up gardens [and did make a little flower patch]. It's been stormy and positively d-r-e-a-r-y this past week in Atlanta, but I managed to goof off for a few minutes with el kiddo...

 

I don't like taking pictures & am still fighting [me] about posting more personal info...let's put it this way, I don't even post personal photos on Facebook. But. Baby steps, right? My plan is to start taking pictures of pieces actually being worn too. I think it does add that extra je ne sais quoi to visualizing the product. Eventually, I'd like to work up my own look books [sans moi!].

Anyway. So el kiddo helped me out with a test drive...not too shabby for a kid, huh?! I went in & cropped later [and more edits, yes], but I gave him big high-fives. Next practice session will be out somewhere to introduce taking more candid pic's. Did I mention I can't stand posing for pictures?! Period, even if I'm not the "model". I'll stop ranting now :)

So another idea I've been brainstorming this week is this wall art concept. Obviously, these guys aren't finished. I've done some research & know that I want the frames finished too. *Yay* no, I haven't seen this idea exactly...but there are growing number of hoop presentations & many of the hoops are left unfinished. Now, when they're older frames [or pre-sanded, worn look], I'm okay with them left unfinished. But with new frames like these, I wouldn't want to just ship these out like that. I'm a pain, what can I say. So, the frames will be painted or stained [clear or not], depending on the overall aesthetic.

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So, what do you guys think?!

ps- El kiddo & I were carrying on a conversation while he snapped away. We're chatting it up when this bird starts dive-bombing a tree nearby. Haha, some of those photos were deleted, permanently. Baby steps ;)

food fix. easiest breakfast ever. but non-carbies, beware!

So to me, if I'm being honest, the easiest breakfast ever is coffee. Just coffee. I'm trying *promise* to sneak in a quick bowl of cereal or something during the weekday mornings. El kiddo eats breakfast at school -I am not cruel ;)

Okay, so my next easiest breakfast ever. My boss brought into work some sunflower seed bread from Fresh Market & it was pretty great. Next time I went to the grocery, I scoped out the bakery & found this dried fruit [cranberries, raisins] & seed [sunflower, flax] take-&-bake loaf. For less than $2, it couldn't hurt to try.

El kiddo loves it too and he's very picky about his crusty breads. I love this because I can graze on a slice or two earlier in the weekend morning with my coffee, then el kiddo & I can have a typical "meatier" breakfast or move on to lunch a bit later.

Anyways, the details. The dried fruit & seed loaf shown above is from Kroger. The take-&-bake loaves only require about 20-ish minutes in the oven as all the kneading & rising business has been taken care of, which suits me just fine! Slapped with olive oil style butter & drizzled with honey. Kroger also has this olive loaf take-&-bake that's great too! 

Usually, I'd pick up specialty breads from Fresh Market or Harry's [a local branch of Whole Foods], but I've been lazy lately and haven't felt like driving out to either. So I'm glad that the generic grocer has picked up an option too. Enjoy!

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fleur necklace no 14. black, brown.

fleur necklace no 14. 

black, brown. 

$29 [includes free US shipping]

Black faceted beads are vintage, passed down from grandma's biz.

Textiles are reclaimed from designer fabric sample books.

Find out more HERE>>>.

Shop more lovely necklaces HERE>>>

fleur no 15. green, cream flower necklace.

fleur necklace no 15. 

green, cream. 

$29 [includes free US shipping]

Cream pearls are vintage, passed down from grandma.

Textiles are reclaimed from designer fabric sample books.

Find out more HERE>>>.

Shop more lovely necklaces HERE>>>

nivia necklace no 01.

nivia necklace no 01. 

olive. 

$30 [includes free US shipping]

Olive beads are vintage, passed down from grandma.

Find out more HERE>>>.


Shop more lovely necklaces HERE>>>

 

rosa necklace no 55. olive, red.

rosa necklace no 55. 

olive, red. 

$33 [includes free US shipping]

 

Olive beads are vintage, passed down from grandma.

Textiles reclaimed from old sample books.

Find out more HERE>>>.


Shop more lovely necklaces HERE>>>

 

 

 

garters, art panels & coin purses. oh, my!

Design A.D.D, so what's new? But that's not what's stalling my new products. Well, not exactly. The project that I'm working on has had me sidetracked in the bridal sections of craft stores the past couple of days. I keep thinking how fabu that ivory flower up there would look in the center of a garter. Don't you think?!

Anyways. That's a peek into the [obviously] unfinished prototypes for a bridal project. I just bought the true sky-blue chiffon [background] to make the actual flowers in if approved. 

I feel like I'm partaking in a Cinderella story with this one! And aren't the dresses great?! The bridal gown will be in a pale ivory.

Okay. Off I go to get some other things done. None of which will be the garters, art panels, coin purses or guitar and camera strap designs that keep taunting me. One day, right? Right. ;)

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