Today we’re welcoming A Punkin Card Company to our shop! We’ve just added several stationery designs from their collection to our line. I’m thrilled to share owner and designer Amie Needham’s clean, creative designs with you. I’m also excited to properly introduce Amie, who has agreed to be interviewed today.

Welcome, Amie! What inspired you to start A Punkin Card Company?
Well, it’s a funny story really. When I was engaged in 2005, I started looking into getting my wedding save-the-date cards printed. After looking into all the different companies, I decided to make them myself. I had a total blast! From there, I made my wedding invitations, reply cards, and programs. It was so much fun and super cheap. I saved over $500! Once the wedding was over, I started buying supplies to make cards for friends’ and family’s birthdays. I had a small corner in our extra bedroom/storage space/computer room to craft but was so into cardmaking that I didn’t care.

After a year of playing around I opened up a Etsy shop to sell off some of the extra cards I had. From there, I grew into A Punkin Card Company’s full-time owner, designer, and only employee. I am so surprised to see how far I have come that I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. I love my job.

The name of your business is so unique. How did you come up with it?
Another funny story. Many people think my company is named after pumpkins or being a punk rocker, but both are incorrect. “Punkin” is the nickname my husband uses for me!

When I decided to start a card company, I wanted something that said “card company” in the title. That way customers knew what I sold right way. Though “Amie’s Card Company” was tempting, it wasn’t the right ring. So I decided to name the company after my husband. He has given up so much to allow me to do this dream job that he deserves to have at least the name.

What three words do you feel most describe your design style?
I would have to say color, nature, and retro-ness. If I could have a shag, lime green chair right now…I would take it! I love using the designs that are all around me to create the stationery that so many people love. Just look outside, there is so much around that you can find beautiful in your everyday life. I always use birds, trees, and flowers. Those are the three staples of A Punkin Card Company design. It’s what inspires me that hopefully inspires my customers.

What advice do you have for others interested in starting their own creative business?
Wow! First read anything you can get your hands on about starting a business. Really, anything. Then join every social network there is for indie businesses and meet people. Learn from other people’s mistakes. Understand why they are doing what they are doing. So many people want to start a business because it sounds fun and easy. It is the total opposite. It’s hard work, all the time. I am my only employee. If I don’t do it, no one will. Plus, there is very little vacation for me. I work from 10 am to around 7 pm everyday! That’s right, everyday. So know what you are getting yourself into and if you think it will make you happy, then jump right in. Both feet though, it’s easier that way.

What about running your own business has surprised you most since you started A Punkin Card Company?
Honestly, that people are still buying my stationery. I mean, I totally love my cards and wedding stationery but who knew that the world would love them just as much?

Plus, all the repeat customers I have. Thank goodness for them. It’s all because of my customers. They make buying handmade unbelievably awesome. They allow for me to have a full-time job that I love 100%.

Please list three random, fun facts about yourself that you’d like to share with us.
I love fun facts! Let’s see:
1.   I have a cat named Wednesday-Thursday Wennie Merow McCatams. That’s  right, all one name!

2.   I have a BA in History and totally love Russian history. I have so many Russian books, it’s kind of strange.

3.   One day I want to make a CD with fun children’s songs. I sing all the time, little fun songs that my husband totally loves. But I don’t have a great singing voice!

Thanks, Amie! I enjoyed getting to know the designer behind these great cards! Please check out A Punkin Card Company’s stationery collection, and let us know what you think! You can also learn more about Amie and her company by visiting A Punkin Card Company Blog, a design and trend blog featuring artists from all over the Indie world.

I’m really inspired by these fabulous capes, wraps, headpieces, and boleros by BONZIE. They’re so ethereal and beautiful. I’m in love with the silk velvet cape and antique rose wrap shown above!

BONZIE describes itself as an independent Irish fashion label with a romantic vintage appeal. It couldn’t be more true. What’s really cool is how artfully the whimsical and the elegant are combined to create really unique accessories. I can’t stop thinking about what a show-stopper any of these items would be for a wedding or dressy event. What a way to showcase your personal style!

To make a fabulous shop even better, many of these items incorporate vintage fabrics, upcycled materials, or thrifted accessories. BONZIE is the ultimate in hip eco-friendly luxury.

Photo copyright Bonzie (www.bonzie.etsy.com).

I’m starting a new category called Lovely, Lovely to feature finds I stumble upon and end up shamelessly coveting. There are many! Maybe I can make this a regular feature: Lovely, Lovely Wednesdays? I don’t know if that really has a ring to it. Wednesday is by definition kind of average, with its whole “middle of the week” thing. On the other hand, any day that has an un-lovely nickname like “Hump Day” deserves a little TLC.

For the first entry, I have to sing the praises of Rowena at Red Ruby Rose. I just discovered Rowena’s fabulous clutch purses on The Downtown Boutique blog. Angie at The Downtown Boutique gave us our first little bit of press when she featured The Sweet Unfolding a couple of weeks ago as part of her Friday Feature series–thanks, Angie! This week it was Rowena who was featured. Take one glance at her Etsy shop and you’ll see why. Her clutch purses are so gorgeous! Modern, elegant, a little whimsical–they’re everything I love about independent design.

If you act fast (as in today or tomorrow–sorry to report so late, but I just found out myself) you can enter to win a $75 gift certificate to Red Ruby Rose by leaving a comment on Rowena’s feature entry at The Downtown Boutique. Also included? Free shipping, anywhere in the world! That is one spectacularly generous giveaway. Stop by and give both Angie and Rowena a little love, if you have time. And enjoy drooling over those fabulous purses!

All photos copyright Rowena at Red Ruby Rose.

This is an idea to steal! How awesome is this martini glass full of mashed potatoes and gravy?! My friend Alexa went to a wedding over the weekend and apparently the genius couple getting married had a mashed potato bar at the reception, complete with a fine selection of toppings like sour cream, cheese, and chives.

And how cool is it to serve up this deliciousness in a martini glass? Listen, I like a good cocktail as much as the next person, but fill my martini glass with mashed potatoes anyday.

I just found this free green wedding planner from myecochicwedding.com. It includes all the checklists and worksheets of a traditional wedding planning guide but contains fantastic tips for greening your wedding celebration. Incorporate a few of these great ideas into your wedding and you’ll have even more reason to celebrate on your big day.

It’s worth your your time to browse the My EcoChic Wedding site, too. It’s full of useful tools. They even offer a free personalized wedding web site to keep friends and family up-to-date on your wedding details. Personalized web sites are such a great way to reduce the amount of paper correspondence you send out. Cheers to My EcoChic Wedding for offering the service!

Looking for ways to create a wedding celebration that’s easy on the earth and on your wallet? Check out these money-saving tips on having a green wedding from the fabulous folks at Portovert.

I love this idea of the freegan wedding, where the focus is on celebrating the love and commitment of two individuals and not on the wedding as an event. Maybe it seems odd for a retailer to want to help couples focus more on enjoying each other and less on creating a perfect event. It’s sort of like encouraging people to consume less…which I’m good with. A wedding should really be personal, and if that means you wear your mom’s wedding dress, tie up a bouquet from your grandma’s rose garden, and walk down the aisle to your ten-year-old nephew’s saxophone solo, so much the better, in my opinion. (Actually, I’m loving the idea of the nephew’s sax solo. I’m picturing myself at age 10 trying really hard to master “Good Kind Wenceslas” on the clarinet.)

You can read more about the idea behind freegan weddings here. I’m going to dig around for more creative, low-cost ways to add a really personal touch to weddings and promise to post regularly on this.

At long last, The Sweet Unfolding is open. Last night at 6:00 we officially launched. It was so thrilling, but I will confess that I was paralyzed with fear for a good long while after the site went live. There are still so many things left to do! And I know there are probably typos and things that I haven’t caught yet and, being something of a perfectionist, that’s hard to deal with.

It’s also really scary to put out for all to see this business that for so long I’ve planned and dreamed and stayed up nights and nights working on. All of these fears of failure instantly filled my mind. I read somewhere (I think maybe in the Ladies Who Launch book) that many of the most successful entrepreneurs claim to never have doubted the certainty of their success. Failure never entered their minds, they said. That’s pretty hard to live up to!

The authors of the book I was reading said that being honest with yourself and looking all your fears in the face was more empowering to them as entrepreneurs. Of course failure is a possibility. Of course you’ll doubt yourself. But you keep on working and dreaming and doing because you have to. Because you know that this is your dream, and you can do anything with hard work and persistence and by being true to yourself. I much prefer the honesty of that approach and mindset. It’s also liberating to know that other successful entrepreneurs had their share of fears and self-doubt.

So, The Sweet Unfolding is open. It’s wonderful that the shop is finally a reality. Of course I’ll be working night and day to make everything as perfect as possible. But for a few minutes I am going to sit back, take a good look at how far we’ve come, and breathe a sigh of relief, rest, and thanks.

Please enjoy looking around the shop!

The shop development is coming along really well! I’m so excited that we’re getting closer and closer to launching. Starting a business is such a huge task. I knew it was going to be when I finally decided to take the plunge, and I thought I had a good idea of how many steps would be involved. Because, seriously, I am nothing if not a planner. I love planning! (On the other hand, “doing” comes slightly less naturally to me!) But I never knew it would be this big. There are more steps than I can keep up with at once, and it often seems that I will never get through my novel-length list of things to do. But it’s fun work, and knowing I am creating this actual business all from things I’ve had in my head for years is extremely rewarding. Seeing it take shape and become reality is actually quite amazing!

I can’t wait for The Sweet Unfolding to be up and running. I’m ready to move on from the start-up planning to the business of running a shop.

One of the things I loved most about planning our wedding was choosing gifts for my bridesmaids. I purchased jewelry for them to wear in the wedding and also gave each one a gift basket, but I also wanted an extra little gift for each of these special friends. I wanted something that reflected each one’s personality and also something that was a little quirky and unusual. We’re a quirky lot, after all!

It was easy to decide upon the gift: prints from the adorable Emily Martin of The Black Apple. Emily’s Etsy shop is filled with her unique artwork. If you’re lucky you can sometimes find an original painting (she’s a top Etsy seller, so they’re snapped up quickly!), but her large collection of prints makes it easy to own a piece of Emily’s art.

The characters she paints are so unique that it was easy for me to find some that fit with my bridesmaids’ personalities. I also love how each one has a different attitude, but they’re all a little bit mysterious. You know these girls are thinking deep thoughts! At only $18, you could even pick up one like the whimsically romantic “As Long As I Have You” (shown at left) for yourself as a keepsake from your wedding planning days.

All Photos © Emily Martin, The Black Apple

The photo is a little melodramatic, I admit, but it pretty accurately describes my feelings about starting The Sweet Unfolding. As thankful as I am to have worked for great companies in the past, working for myself feels luxurious and liberating.

This blog will be sort of a collage of things: things I love, things that inspire me, cool ideas that I stumble upon that I hope will inspire you. I imagine that it will probably contain some of the day-to-day adventures of The Sweet Unfolding team, too. We’re a business built on relationships, after all. And since that’s the case, I really should start this blog off right by thanking my husband. Mike, I could never have done this without your support. You truly are the very best!

So this is my boutique, The Sweet Unfolding. We’ve hand-selected each product with care. All of them are lovely and unique, and as many as possible are friendlier to the earth. Many of our items were made by independent artists and designers. We look for products that embody our values: creative, stylish, and socially responsible. Our hope is that you’ll find just the right items to add your own signature style to your wedding or event.

Thanks for stopping by. Please check back with us now and then, as we’re always updating our collection with new (or sometimes beautifully old) pieces. We hope to see you often.