knitcole

Anniversary Week Day Six: Driving up the Coast of California

Mr. Coleman and I decided to drive up Pacific Coast Highway to Monterey partly so that we could see the beautiful California coastline along the way. After we left Hearst Castle we went just a couple of miles up the road to see the elephant seals. There is a large reserve in Ano Nuevo where a large colony of elephant seals live. We stopped to see them laying about in the sun and take a couple of photos. 

After we left the elephant seals we continued up the coast to Monterey. I advise you to do a couple of things if you decide to take this trek.

1. Have plenty of snacks available. There aren't very many, if any, places to stop along the way.
2. Take a smaller car. We had our Dodge Ram and it was a bit sketchy because the road is pretty small.
3. Stop and take lots of photos! It's gorgeous and you will definitely want to remember it.
4. Be prepared for a very long haul. It's a long trip, even if it is worth it.

Our drive was really lovely and it was the beginning of a great trip, although we decided to drive home the short way. We went to some amazing places in Monterey and I will make sure to share those with you soon so that if you are ever up that way you will know of some great places to stop.

Nicole

Uniqueness

It's no secret that I am in the process of trying to get Knitcole into the marketplace as a successful small business and in my quest to be a better business woman I read a lot about small businesses and craft businesses in particular. I'm also still working my way through my Indie Business e-class, (which is very beneficial and eye opening and I would highly recommend it,) and there are several blog columns I like to look to for insight and inspiration. One of these is Design Sponge's Biz Ladies feature.

The latest Biz Ladies post was on 7 Myths that Make Earning Ugly. It was Myth #7 that really got me.

MYTH 7: Cheap sells.

It’s time to stop competing on price and start banking on passion. No one except megabox retailers can compete on price. The type of businesses that compete on price can’t compete on anything else.

And trust me, if you’re reading this, you have something else to compete on.

Your unique insight. Your unique process. Your unique purpose. Your unique design. Your ability to differentiate yourself (and demand more for your work, not less) is only limited by your imagination. So let it run wild.

Besides the wonderful truth in the statement that "no one except megabox retailers can compete on price," I was really inspired by the reminder that everything about me is unique. It may not be exceptional but everything I do is uniquely mine.

Three of us could make the same product but my insight, process, purpose and design is unique to me. This is the reason that I make my own patterns or only make things that I would really like. There is something about growing ideas in your head and making them happen whether it's with paint, yarn or fabric that is the most fulfilling thing.

Always remembering that my products will never be the cheapest but rather something that is an expression of me with my heart and soul poured into it is so important. I can't forget that. What a great reminder on a Saturday morning when I have 15 aprons cut out and ready to be sewn!

Nicole

Anniversary Week Day Five: Hearst Castle

Four our anniversary Mr. Coleman arranged a trip up the California coast for us. I was so excited to get away for a couple of days. Our ultimate destination was Monterey but we stopped in San Simeon along the way to go to Hearst Castle.

I have driven up the coast of California a couple of times and I've always wanted to stop at Hearst Castle but I've never quite made it. We bought our tickets ahead of time at home and hoped traffic would allow us make it by our 1:00 reservation. We got there with plenty of time to spare and excitedly boarded the bus up to the castle.

The castle is pretty amazing. It's really hard to believe how absolutely huge and ornate the whole place is. We took the grand rooms tour which takes you to the main rooms of the castle and it was just unreal. Fireplaces the size of whole rooms! This guy really did spend a TON of money on these incredible things. It is a pretty cool tour and they encourage you to imagine that you were there in the hey day of the castle and it's hard not to see why celebrities loved staying there with Hearst. 

One of the most impressive things about the castle are the pools. There is this kind of Greco Roman pool that has these awesome black lines on the bottom and then this other huge indoor pool that has a black bottom. I'm pretty sure I would be way too afraid to swim in that black bottomed pool because it looks like crazy monsters could be lurking about in there and you wouldn't even know it!

If you've never been I would highly recommend it. Mr. Coleman and I definitely want to go again and do a different tour. There are quite a few different ones and we would love to see more of the castle and guest houses.

Anniversary week posts are almost finished! I hope you've enjoyed hearing about it as much as I have enjoyed reliving it all.

Nicole

 

Anniversary Week Day Four: Picnic Fashion

I searched all over the internet for the perfect picnic attire. There were only two requirements. One, it had to be a dress. Two, it had to be long enough to sit on the ground and not be revealing.

So...I searched and searched until I found a new website, Shabby Apple. Then there it was, the perfect picnic dress.

I knew the moment I saw it that this gingham dress would be absolutely perfect for the picnic. Since it fit perfectly in my budget I went ahead and bought it. I think it worked out to be absolutely wonderful.

The dress didn't come with a sash so I made one with some red fabric. Paired with simple sandals to stay comfy and some red nail polish and my glasses to help highlight the retro 1950's feeling of the dress I felt great and even better I was extremely comfortable the entire day.

The perfect outfit really can make a difference!

Nicole

Anniversary Week Day Three: Photo Booth!

Having a photo booth at our party was really important to me. I thought it would be so much fun and the pictures would be adorable. (Turns out I was more than right about the pictures being amazing!)

I googled a lot of different photo booths and I realized that I wanted to do something that felt like our party and not just like any old photo booth. I was in the process of making this lap quilt that I knew would be the perfect back drop so I finished it specifically for the photo booth, (here it is sitting on our couch,) and then I made some bunting to finish off the backdrop.

I also googled a lot about photo booths props because I wanted to make it fun but then I decided that having a lot of props was a bit problematic for me. I didn't really have the time to put together or find all of the props so I settled on mustaches. I crocheted four of them just for our photo booth. The orange one was the most difficult to make but was definitely my favorite.

Here you can see all four of them modeled by the Pauls and Gobbles. I named them of course after some of my favorite mustaches. You've got the "Selleck" after Magnum P.I. of course, "el jefe" after his counterpart in The Three Amigos, the "McKay" is named after my personal favorite gray mustache that belongs to my father in law Frank and finally my favorite "Sam" after the iconic Yosemite Sam.

We set up the photo booth under a tree at the park with a picnic basket and the mustaches then we set up Mr. Coleman's DSLR with the remote and left it set up during the party. I can't tell you how much fun editing the pictures from the photo booth was. They turned out perfectly! Almost everyone got in on the fun and the pictures were hilarious! Thanks to everyone for getting in on the action. Here are a few of the photos. I ended up with over 300 photo booth pictures on my camera!

We had such an amazing time at the party and the photo booth pictures are a great reminder of how wonderful the party was! Thank you to everyone for taking photos.

Nicole

 

 

Anniversary Week Day Two: Picnic Decorations

When I started party planning I really wanted to keep the decorations to a minimum. I realized that I could really go overboard quickly if I didn't reign myself in but I also wanted to have a couple of great handmade pieces. I started looking online and used my Pinterest to create a picnic board and when it all came down to it here are the elements I decided I wanted to have at the party.

• Red and White Picnic Tablecloths
• Mason Jars
• Bunting
• Potluck Tents
• Balloons
• Photo Booth Decorations

We will talk about the photo booth later, it definitely deserves it's own post!

I found great one time use tablecloths on Oriental Trading Co. for the picnic tables. They had that wonderful red and white check pattern with the little flowers that you see at some restaurants. We taped them down because it was a bit windy when we got to the park and that was a little difficult but thanks to April and Lindsey for making it work!

For the buffet area I bought a roll of red and white check tablecloth. Also one time use which made for super easy clean up. Thanks to Jolene and Brenda for setting up the potluck area like the pros that they are. I think I still have more than half a roll of that tablecloth left plus three individual ones! 

This giant stack of mason jars was about half of the jars I bought for the party. The idea was that everyone would have their own mason jar to drink out of at the party. It was also one way to cut down on trash. About halfway through my search for jars I somewhat regretted this idea because finding the jars became difficult and washing all of the jars was also a giant pain...not as big of a pain as filling them with lemonade but in the end I was happy I did it.

We used the big jars for flowers on the tables and everyone was given a 16 oz jar for their drinks, and there were 8 oz jars for the kiddos. I realized that there would be no way for everyone to tell their drinks apart without name tags so I made some up. Jolene devised a great way to hang all the nametags using clothespins and I didn't get any photos of it :( but I stole this one from my friend Kristin where you can see it in the upper left hand corner. 

I was so excited to make bunting for the party. I really really like bunting! It's so much fun and looks so cute. I settled on three fabrics; a red and white check, yellow and a blue. I got my pinking shears out, cut out the triangles and got to sewing. I made three strands; one for the photo booth and two for decorations.

I think potluck tents were my friend April's idea and they turned out to be perfect for the day. Everyone wrote down what they were eating and it made it easy to tell what you were eating and to know what dishes were your favorites.It was such a simple idea that made things so nice and easy.

With some light blue, pale yellow and red balloons there were the perfect amount of decorations to help spruce up the picnic area without being too much to set up or clean up!

Nicole

 

Anniversary Week Day Two: Finding a Party Location

One of the reasons I decided on having a picnic potluck was because I wanted to save a few dollars by having our party outdoors. Once I started looking at parks in our area I realized that we have some really great outdoor parks in and around Long Beach.

El Dorado Park is a huge park with several free and reservable picnic sites. To keep my stress lower I wanted to reserve a space so when the day came I didn't have to struggle with getting to the park extra early to reserve a free space. Mr. Coleman and I spent a couple of hours driving around the park and ended up reserving Willow Grove.

Willow Grove was the perfect site for us for many reasons:

• A parking lot was right next to the site which allowed for convenient parking for everyone.
• There was a stage with electricity.
• With 9 picnic tables there would be a lot of seating but there was still a lot of grass for the more traditional picnickers.
• There were a lot of trees that would keep it shaded and cool.
• With a playground and duck pond next to the site it was perfect for all of our friends with kids. 

We reserved it for the fee which was a little bit more than we expected but with a refundable deposit it was actually pretty affordable and the City of Long Beach was great to work with and I got my refund back via direct deposit within two weeks of having the party.

Nicole

Anniversary Overload! - Day One! Plan, Plan and Plan some more!

As promised I am dedicating this week (and maybe part of next week,) to our anniversary! I mean one year is a big deal and since we celebrated with a big party and a special trip I really want to share what I learned through it all.

Today is dedicated to those two not so fun words, planning and budgeting! For those of you who don't know me well, I am a PLANNER! I don't do well with spontaneous or when plans start to fall apart. I'm not sure where I get this from because my mom isn't really a big planner and my dad doesn't even know the definition of the word, but I love to plan things. So when we decided to have a party I officially went into planner mode.

So first things first, invitations. I decided that we were going to have a picnic potluck and I wanted to do all things picnicky complete with red and white checkers all over!

I was so pleased with how the invites turned out and by making them postcards I saved a little money on stamps. The back side of the invites included all the important information, (including all my personal information so I'm not going to post the back side here.)

After invitations I realized there was a lot of planning to do and I had to create a budget. It became very important to me to stick to the set budget, mostly because I wanted to keep Mr. Coleman happy. I found a Excel template budget I liked on Office.com and set to planning out every detail in dollars and cents.

This all may seem boring but for me the most important part was to plan everything out first and to try to make sure I over thought everything. In the end it worked out, I didn't miss any details that I really wanted to have at the party and I proudly stayed over $200 under budget!

I know this probably wasn't the most exciting post but here's the reason I posted it first; it became really important to plan out everything to maintain my sanity. It helped to have the budget and lists to look at throughout planning because I was always able to figure out what needed to be done and where money still needed to be spent. I always had everything I needed in my plans and budget and in the end that paid off 100% for me!

Up next, a little more fun with party decorations!

Nicole

 

Good stuff is coming!

Well I have been absent from my blog because I was preparing for our amazing 1st anniversary party and trip. It was really great and I am dedicating all next week to the fun, food and friends that made it all possible!

For now, here is a picture of my first quilt! Technically it was my second since I made one once before with my aunt guiding me the whole way and I tied it off but this was my first one that was completely sewn all by my lonesome.

I made it for my sweet nephew Jude. I really like how the blue and brown go together and it's the perfect color to match his big blue eyes.

Nicole