This makes me oh, so very happy…

http://studiopiluca.com/2010/08/notebook-connoisseur/

see my jumbled notebooks featured on the studio piluca blog?

*big happy smile* 

happily becki loves apple nutrition.

Happily Becki products are for sale at Apple Nutrition! (It really wasn't too hard to convince the owner that he needed a Happily Becki gift section...) Pretty cards, calendars, notebooks, and magnets are smiling brightly on shelves, just waiting for someone special to take them home!  

My mom is the other half of Happily Becki... What, you didn't know that? It's true. I'm the designer. She's the organizer, customer service rep, accountant, and everything in between. I make everything look pretty. She processes, assembles, and ships orders. (I'm pretty sure I got the better end of this deal.) This design business takes two, and we make a great team. (Plus we have a business savvy manager I like to call Husband.)

I get to do what I do best (designing, making things look pretty), and not do what I do poorly (organizing, details... math...) My mom is my best friend (note: this is a different kind of best friend than my best friend Timmy), and it's pretty fabulous to be in business with someone like her. She is undoubtedly the sweetest, most dependable person I know. Mom does everything amazingly. And she is my creative buddy. 

Which is why I am happy to announce that Happily Becki has brand new products for sale! Cute Cozies, Sweet and Snappy purses, Inside Outside Reversible Purses, and Petals and Pretties flower clips. They're not up on Etsy yet, so I guess you could call them an Apple Nutrition exclusive!

Let me just say, I love making packaging and labels for products.
Doesn't a cute tag just make everything look so much more magical?
I love it.

 

Our Business Launch Celebration on Saturday night was a lovely success. Thank you to everyone who came with smiles and happy encouragement. Laura is the perfect kind of person to do a party with - she is completely creative and so very fun. We talked and laughed with best friends and family, ate delicious vegan treats (made by sweet Nicole), and celebrated the beginning of two lifelong dreams. 

Thank you, dear Jamie, for the beautiful photos. :)

tomorrow.

 

Are you coming?

6:00-8:30 @ Cool Beans Coffee Cafe

and the winner is…

Yay Kristen! She is the lucky winner of my happilyBecki giveaway! Kristin chose the Natural Silhouettes Desk Calendar and the Peacock note cards as her prize.

And because I had so many sweet comments, I decided to give a second place prize as well.

This time the random number generator chose comment number 18. Wanda! She asked me to surprise her if she won, so I'll be picking something special out just for her.

Kristen and Wanda, send me an email within the next 24 hours (rb.obrien7@gmail.com) giving me your mailing address. And be watching your mailbox for the little treasures I'll be sending your way...

A great big thank you to everyone who participated in my giveaway this week. All your comments made me so, so happy and I truly wish I could send prizes to everyone.

meet Laura.

I really like Laura Zastrow. She plays in a band, uses cloth napkins, makes delicious hummus, teaches her babies sign language and Spanish (wow!), goes to school full time, paints her living room one wall at a time, has seemingly endless energy, and runs her very own photography business.

Her photography speaks for itself. Brilliant, creative, stunning. Her website is here. If you need pictures taken, she's the one you should go to. 


I am often in awe of Laura Zastrow. 

And in the midst of raising a beautiful family and chasing her dreams, she always finds time to inspire others. She tends to make gloomy days seem brighter, and her endless encouragement helped to make my Etsy store become a reality. 

You really should meet Laura. Oh, lucky you! You can meet her right now! This short interview will give you a peek into her delightful world. You may now consider yourself officially introduced to Laura Zastrow, the other half of our amazing Business Launch Celebration.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I'm a 23-year-old wedding and people photographer. I've lived in Madison, Wisconsin for six years with my husband, and both of our babies were born here. My family is very important to me, and there's nothing I'd rather do than spend time with them.

How do you know Becki?

My husband and I have been good friends with Becki's husband, Tim, since we moved to Madison. I worked for Tim for a brief stint when he opened his first business. I met Becki a few times and was at their wedding, but I didn't really get to know her well until she sent me a sweet e-mail encouraging me in what I do. We've been bouncing ideas and admiring each other's projects ever since!

Besides creating things, what do you do?

Currently I stay at home with my two kids, Oliver (almost 3) and Eliot (17 months) while my husband goes to school, works, and makes music. I'm also in school full time for graphic design, and I play acoustic guitar pretty casually with a band. That summary makes me sound much cooler than I really am, though.

What made you decide to become an artist?

It's always been in my mind. My mom saves cute magazine ads she finds to make homemade birthday cards, and my dad has been working in computers for probably 40 years. I guess I was destined to do something with digital art!

I got my first digital camera when I was 14 using $600 I had received as eight grade graduation and confirmation gifts. That 2.1 megapixel point-and-shoot cost more than my first DSLR did! I took the camera with me on our family's spring break trip to Washington, D.C. and documented the whole trip. I was smitten after that.

So, you have a photography business. What do you do exactly?

Couples, weddings, families. I want to have candid photos of them being themselves and capture the emotion of that time in their lives.

What inspires you?

Textures and colors of old urban buildings, patterns, shapes, emotion.

What are your top five favorite creative blogs?

In no particular order

(http://benchrismanblog.com/) Ben Chrisman

(http://colormekatie.blogspot.com) Color Me Katie

(http://www.bobbiandmike.com/blog) Bobbi + Mike

(http://happilybecki.blogspot.com) happilyBecki

and currently probably (http://thedieline.com/) The Die line as well due to its relevance in my computer graphics glass.

What is a little known interesting fact about yourself? 

I'm so hippy and frugal that I wash and reuse Ziploc bags. I think my husband thinks I'm weird.

Favorite color?

I like them all. Really! No favorites.

Favorite books/movies/music?

Not too specific on movies and music, but the book Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne changed my life. And how about TV shows? We don't have a TV, but Hulu and Netflix have it all. We watch Biggest Loser, Mad Men, and (I hate to admit it) Party Down, as well as early seasons of The Simpsons and The Office.

What is one thing you feel like you couldn't live without? 

Maybe my down comforters?

In ten years where would you like to be? 

Oh goodness, what a scary question. In ten years I will have a big family, and I hope to be helping people who need it. I would like to be an award-winning photographer; traveling every so often for my job; making enough money to easily support my family; teaching others to do photography well. 

If I'm interested in your photography services, what is the best way to contact you?

I hold strange hours with mothering and school and such, so e-mail is great! Its laurazastrow@gmail.com

 

Don't forget to sign up for my giveaway!

Note: You don't need a blogger account to leave a comment. You can leave an anonymous comment - but be sure to sign your name! Or, you can leave a URL comment and just type your name in for the URL. 

AND. Laura is hosting a yummy giveaway at her blog. 
Go here for a chance to win some delicious cookies! 

happilyBecki Giveaway!

With the launch of happilyBecki, I'm hosting my very first blog giveaway.

The winner will get to pick their prize - any two items from my Etsy shop!

Any two items! 

To enter, go check out my Etsy shop! Then, come back and leave a comment under this post, saying which two items you would choose if you win! The two you pick are the two I'll send to you.

Anyone can enter! But, you can only enter once.

 I'll pick a random winner on Friday, March 19th. 

(Be sure to check back, because I'll be posting the winner on my blog. If the winner doesn't contact me within 24 hours, I'll choose another winner.)

my big, beautiful surprise announcement!

 

My dear photographer friend Laura and I are hosting a joint Business Launch Celebration!

And you, blog readers, are invited.

To celebrate the beautiful beginning of happilyBecki designs. 

My Etsy shop is finally, finally up and running! Find it here.

To celebrate the official start of Laura Zastrow Photography. 

Her website is here and her photography is stunning. 

To celebrate the amazing reality of lifelong dreams coming true.

And to celebrate the fabulous people who supported us throughout the entire process.

Pretty please come. Bring a friend.

It's going to be an amazing night.

(Blog readers, leave a comment letting me know you're coming, and I'll have an extra special present waiting for you at the party!)

To mark the launch party and start of my Etsy, the following week will be a week of jubilee! Check back for exciting posts and some additional little surprises.

a brief history of me.

For the first 10 years of my life, I was known as Rebecca. And then I somehow turned into Becky, with a "y". I was Becky for about a year. But there weren't many creative possibilities for a name ending in "y", and so I decided to become Beckie with an "ie". This seemed rather glamorous to me at the time, and I was Beckie for a good two years.

Then, in a very dramatic 13 year old moment, I suddenly realized that Beckie with an "ie" looked very awkward. And so I quickly dropped the "e" and became Becki with an "i" - dotted with a heart. It was totally me.

And at that point, nobody had any idea how to spell my name.

But, while the spelling of my name changed, my favorite color remained the same. Pink. (I had a brief period in middle school where I only pretended to prefer lavender - because the boys had, due to my pink infatuation, started calling me Pepto Bismal.)

It's never really been much of a question to anyone. Would Becky/ie/i prefer purple or pink? Pink. What color did Becky/ie/i paint her room? Pink. Pink purses, pink shoes, pink coats. Pink pens and pink sunglasses. Pink birthday cakes, pink toothbrushes. Pink sapphire engagement ring. For as far back as I can remember, everyone has always known that my favorite color is pink. It's kind of an immediate knowledge.

And with pink comes happy. (Sorry all you pink-haters, but the studies have proven it to be true.) I have always loved being happy and making other people happy. (Timmy makes me happy.)

So I have become known for Becki with an "i" dotted with a heart, pink, and happy thoughts. Which is where the name happilyBecki came from.

Where is all of this going?

I'm changing the official color of happilyBecki. To a delightful teal blue. I'm actually really excited about teal blue.

My favorite color is still pink. I just don't want my logo to look like Valentine's day.

Any thoughts on teal blue?

P.S.

Do you like my new logo? :)