Tattly: instant camera temporary tattoo

How cool are these super snazzy instant camera temporary tattoos from Tattly? Since they're temporary, I'm thinking of getting a pair as a small birthday present to myself. I can even share with Joe and we'll have matching tats!




Tattly has a bunch of different styles to choose from besides this one, all equally as chic. I found them through A Cup of Jo, one of my favorite blogs. If you haven't checked it out before, I highly recommend it. It is definitely something to aspire toward.

Speaking of gifts. If you're looking for a great gift idea, I'm having a 3 day sale on various print sizes in my Etsy Shop! Get $5 4x6 photo prints and 15-30 percent off several print sizes! Sale ends on Monday.

23

I turned 23 today. And although I'm to the age where birthdays are just like any other day, today was the first time in the past two years that Joe and I got to spend one of our birthdays together, which has given it that special factor that I so miss from when I was a little girl.

Joe made us cinnamon buns in the morning, and I guess you can say I love those things because before I knew it all that was left were frosting smudges. He also got me sunflowers, my favorite. And I get a homemade burger dinner. Can you say yummy! Joe is a great cook, and an amazingly sweet husband.

I think I can get used to this every year.




We don't have any flower vases, so I took our wedding idea, and used some of the mason jars we're using as drinking cups to hold the flowers. A great DIY idea that looks great.



We're going home for the weekend to celebrate my birthday with my family. I'm excited to go back to the Bay Area after three weeks of being away.

What are your plans for the weekend loves?

ZoiShop: September special & More

Over the past eight months I have worked on building up my photography business internationally. Mainly by selling my original prints and photo cards online at Etsy.com, the biggest international craft and vintage marketplace on the Internet.

After months of working hard, joining teams, making treasuries, being featured on the front page of Etsy numerously, trying as many selling points as I can, I'm finally making headway and am up to 22 sales! How exciting is that?



One way that I've found people are driven to buy from my shop is if they get something for free. Last month I offered a free print with every print that you bought of equal or less value and finally started accumulating some print sales.

This month, if you spend $25 or more from ZoiShop, you get a free 5x7 photo print of your choice from my shop stock.



I am also working on several new photo items including bookmarks, holiday cards, and a collection of 2012 calendars featuring some of my most loved photographs! I am so excited to see where Etsy takes me this next year as ZoiShop's audience and sales increase.

Fall Fashion i

Some of my favorite colors for fall fashion are mustard yellow, teal, and orange. The following is an outfit idea for the new season.

Fall Fashion i by zoishop featuring a wool shawl

Tibi v neck wrap dress
$495 - net-a-porter.com

Dorothy Perkins orange jacket
£40 - dorothyperkins.com

Leather heels
$140 - topshop.com

Clutch hand bag
€55 - modekungen.se

Wool shawl
£59 - bruunsbazaar.com

Post Office Crisis

Ever since I became an online seller I have become a United States Postal Service fan. I really do love it. For a while I visited their San Mateo location every day to ship merchandise and prints I'd sold online. When I read that USPS has a 5.5 billion dollar bill to pay this month and may fall short of it in an article in the New York Times yesterday it scared me a little. Especially when there's talk that post offices throughout the United States might close the entire winter.



Yes, I know that are plenty of alternatives like FedEx and UPS, but for me it is about another comfort that we'll see being hit by the economy. One that over the past couple of years has become a second home to me, a place I feel almost indebted to. I could have never sold prints to places like Australia or Switzerland if it weren't for the postal service here in the United States.

With only a few months away from winter, I have a good degree of optimism that the post office doors will remain open. Meanwhile, I'll continue to support the service that I owe so much to.






*photograph curtesy of USPS.com

Housewares: Handmade and Vintage

One of my favorite things to look at on Etsy.com right now is home decor items. Our apartment is far from being decorated, so I'm even more drawn to handmade and vintage housewares available for purchasing and drawing ideas from.

Here are some of my favorites:



Yellow hand-painted sideboard from Rubyrhino1



Mini round concrete pots, a set of two roughfusion


the four seasons cup set from balleydoesntbark


sea urchin vase from blueroompottery


a metal and wood wire note board from oldcrowfarm


a saffron modern wall clock from uncommon


large black and white tea pitcher from owlcreekceramics


circles cafe table from michaelarras

Labor Day Weekend

What have you all been doing for Labor Day weekend loves?

Joe and I spent the day outdoors yesterday after a sports heavy Saturday. It was a nice change from being at home trying to organize our apartment. Joe had to take photographs for a wine tasting festival that his work sponsored, so it meant free tickets to our fill of alcohol and good food.

We also saw something that I hadn't seen in forever, fireworks. We went to Reagan Beach to watch South Lake Tahoe's Labor Day firework event. I've never been a fan of fireworks, but this year it was something special. It was the first holiday weekend I spent with Joe as my husband, and it was wonderful.