SNAP! 2013

guess what?!

this girl is heading to the SNAP! 2013 conference

in just about 5 weeks!!

I am super excited about this opportunity,

although I'm also pretty nervous...

this will be my first blog conference,

so I'm not 100% sure what to expect/what to do, etc.

I can be pretty shy, but hopefully I won't be a wallflower. ;)

If you've gone to a similar conference,

what would your #1 piece of advice be?

If you'll be at SNAP, too, I'd love to get to know you better.

Leave a comment with a link to your blog so I can check it out!

life lately // Feb. 6th

{a little peek into my world via my instagram profile}

All I can say is, January flew by.

My intentions were to get back into

regular blogging in the new year,

but I guess this new month is close

enough.

So, here I am. My life lately?

 >> I started a new job (working for my husband) in December. I only work part time, in the mornings, and I enjoy it. I get to see my husband more, which is a big bonus for me, plus I'm not at home by myself all day. I still feel like I haven't quite gotten a grip on the whole working-outside-the-home + still-keeping-everything-at-home-running, but I guess it takes time.

 >> I've been sending out lots of cards + letters to some of my "online friends". I so enjoy snail mail, don't you? :) Finding something pretty in your mailbox makes the whole day brighter!

 >> I've been spending most of my free time cleaning the house, doing dishes, hanging out with my mister, or knitting. Someday, when I finish the baby blankets I'm working on for friends, I hope to share some other creative projects.

 >> Newest goal? To finish the 30 Day Shred! The first couple days were really, really rough, but I'm determined to get through it. I haven't had as much time to go walking, so a 20 minute video is fitting into my day a little easier.

How about you? What have you been up to? I miss my bloggy friends! I'm working on blogging more consistently, so hopefully I can keep up with all of you a little more. :)

Have a lovely, wonderful Wednesday!

fresh start

Well, hello there!

When I announced my blog break, I was thinking a week. It's been almost a full month! But, you know what? Taking a break is not a bad thing. I missed blogging, I missed the community, but it was also nice to not have the pressure of putting a post together every day (I am terrible at scheduling posts in advance!).

Taking that time off also gave me time to really think about my blog/content/purpose/etc. I had kind of started to feel like I was posting purely to have something new on the blog, and I don't like that feeling. If you take a look at my header up there (and the new blog design! thank you to Five Sixteenths!), you might notice that I changed my tag line. It now reads "just this girl's story" instead of "capturing joy in ordinary life". Because really, that's what this blog is. It's just my story, no matter what it is.

This paragraph from Danielle's great post really says it all:

>> "being true to yourself. sharing your heart, your happenings, the things you desire to share, not what      anyone else is telling you to share. the things you never want to forget. the lessons you have learned, that thing your kid said that made you pee your pants. the picture you took that took your breath away. that time you felt the Lord teaching you something that you just had to share, in hopes that it blesses others as well."

So thank you for sticking with me, and hopefully you'll continue to share my story; I so appreciate everyone who reads my little blog!

hello again!

card from Mandipidy :)

Good morning, friends!

I certainly enjoyed my little break, but I am glad to be back.

My goal here at The Sweetest Petunia is to

capture the sweetness in everyday life,

to share the lovely things I come across,

appreciate all things handmade,

and to interact with you, my readers.

I've put together a little survey, just to gain a little feedback.
Would you mind taking a few minutes to complete it for me?
It's embedded here, or use this link.
{also, I've never done a survey like this,
so please let me know if anything goes wrong.}

Thank you so much!

I can't wait to read your feedback. :)

I've got lots of things to share here on the blog,

but I'll save that for another day(s).

Hope your Monday is a lovely one!

taking a break...

found via countryliving.com

Just popping in for a minute today...

I just wanted to let you all know that, as much as I love blogging, it's time for a little break. I won't be doing any posting this week, but you are more than welcome to send me an email if you'd like to chat, or if you have a question.

I'll be spending time working on lovelies for the shop, tweaking the blog for the better, and focusing on real life for a while.

See you next week!

{cold hands, warm hearts}

 I was SO excited to be able to participate in the Cold Hands, Warm Hearts swap, hosted by the lovely Sandy a la Mode and Much Love, Illy {love them both!}. My sweet swap partner is Kate from Be merry, Kate.It was so fun to get her package in the mail, pink bubble wrap and all! 

She went me some cute raspberry gloves with grey trim...

a lovely new mug, a handy purse hanger, a recipe to try, 

nail polish {the pink is on my fingernails now!},

and a sweet handwritten note. Yay!

Kate, thank you so, SO much for the gift.

I love all of it, and I'm glad we were able to "meet"!

*****

You can also see the package I sent to Kate, right here.

Many thanks to Sandy & Ilene for hosting and organizing!

{returning}

found via weheartit

{wouldn't you love to live there? it looks magical...}

I enjoyed my break from blogging, really.

But now I'm back in my blog "home", excited to share.

I've been working on projects, planning for Christmas {only 46 days!}, crocheting like crazy.

I haven't been taking any photos {oops!}, so that's next on my list.

Putting together the celebration for next week.

Trying to stay organized & on top of things.

What have you been up to while I was away?

{celebrate with me?}

update :: I've filled the 5 giveaway spots! Thank you so much!

print by Backbone Studio

The Sweetest Petunia's blogiversary is coming up very soon!

I'd love to be able to host a week of giveaways {especially handmade items!}, November 15th - 19th.

Will you help me celebrate?

If you'd like to donate something for a giveaway, please send me an email,

or leave a comment with a way for me to reach you.

If I could get 5 shops {one for each day}, that would be perfect!

See you there!

:: details ::

You'd have your own feature post, links to your shop, blog, twitter, etc.

Great exposure for your handmade items!

Please be sure to ask if you have any questions. :)

{taking a break...}

part time clock

Sometimes I feel like there's just not enough time in the day to accomplish every little thing I'd like to.

Sometimes I just get overwhelmed.

That being said, I'm taking a little bloggy break.

Don't worry, it's not forever. I will be back!

I'll check my email, read other blogs, hopefully catch up on commenting...

but The Sweetest Petunia needs some rest.

I'll also be logging off of Twitter for a while.

{I can waste SO much time on there!}

I will definitely miss all of you, but I'm taking this chance so I can get some things done, without the pressure of posting on the blog as well.

I'll be back as soon as I can...

au revoir!

{community}

Lately, the word community has been on my mind.

It's the thing that I appreciate the most about blogging, I think.

When I started blogging {2 years ago this November!}, I didn't have any readers.

And I really didn't expect any! Somehow along the way, I gained readers, and it's a great feeling.

I'd like to say that I don't blog for comments {because I don't really},

 but each comment left was such an encouragement.

Each person who left kind words pushed me to keep going, even when I didn't feel like it.

Community.

No, I don't know any of you in real life.

And I may never get the chance to meet you {although I'd love to!}.

But I appreciate each and every one of you so much.

What do you appreciate the most in your blogging experience?

How can I encourage you in your endeavors?

{photo source}

the {color love} page

{turquoise bag}

Did you know that there's a page for the {color love} posts?

I just spent some time updating it, so if you are need of some color inspiration,

check it out here.

{what's in a name?}

{source}

Have you ever wondered, what's in a name?

Before I started this blog, I spent a looong time thinking about it.

I needed a name.

Something fun and kinda cute, but not like a little kid.

Something the could reflect my personality without actually being my name.

The Sweetheart's mom had once christened me "his petunia" {after watching a Veggie Tales introducing Sweet Petunia!}, and it's kind of stuck. The Sweetheart doesn't necessarily call me that on a regular basis, but it is a part of my 'identity'. I don't mind. At least his mom thinks I'm sweet! :)

Anyway, as I wracked my brain for the perfect name for my new blog, it came to me.

The Sweetest Petunia

It seemed to just fit.

And one of my goals now is capturing sweetness in everyday life.

I like it. I hope everyone else does, too!

Tell me,

What is the name of your blog?

Why, and what does it mean to you?

How does it inspire you?

I'd love to hear about it!

*****

Be sure to stop by and enter the CSN giveaway, if you haven't already.

I'll be {randomly} choosing a winner tomorrow morning!

{hello!}

Wow.

Can I just stop and say "thank you"?

Thanks to all of you lovely people who make my blogging worthwhile.

Being gone for practically the whole summer has made me realize how much I love to blog!

{source}

{I haven't quite returned to blog-land just yet, but I wanted to pop in to say hello.}

I've been gone from home all summer long, which means I don't have full access to a computer. I can check my email and tweet, fortunately, if you want to keep up with me. I'd love to hear from you!

Celeste will still be here until life returns to normal in a couple of weeks. Hasn't she been doing a fabulous job?! You can read all of her posts here.

I'm currently exhausted and surviving on my sweetheart's love + coffee. It's not the worst place I've been in life. :)

So, tell me. How has your summer been?

{{hugs}} to you all!

P.S. I should be returning to "normal life" the week of August 9th. Be sure to stay tuned - I've got some {color love}, a fun giveaway and a new series planned!

{thanks} a party + giveaway

{source}

This morning when I opened my Dashboard, I saw a number.

A rather large, milestone kind of number.

200 {followers}

Wow.

Can I just stop and say thank you?

I am totally blown away by how much my humble little blog has grown.

And that you lovely people actually enjoy my blog!

So I've decided to throw a party.

{a rather impromptu party}

This is for followers/subscribers only, because I am thanking them for reading.

{you are more than welcome to become a follower/subscriber during the party!}

Here's how it will work:

Add a link to your blog to the Linky below - I'd love to come say hi!

The Linky will close Friday morning.

I will then {randomly} choose one of my followers/subscribers from the Linky list {so you must add a link to win}. That person will win a little something special from me!

This being an impromptu party, I don't know exactly what the special something will be...but it will be good. Probably something that's a favorite of mine. :)

Once again, thank you. Enjoy the "party"!

{a makeover}

It has been a crazy week here on my side of life.Between birthdays, picnics, parties, piano lessons. errands, a last-minute day trip...I think I've only been home one day since last Friday. Because of that, I have not had the time to pull together a {color love} post for today. So you'll just have to wait and get your color fix next week. And I am really trying to come up with new and fun colors, so if you have an idea? Email me! On another note, The Sweetest Petunia has gotten a makeover!  {if you're reading in a Reader, I'd encourage you to click on through and check it out!} It's bold, fresh, colorful and fun - I loved my other design, but I don't mind the change! Kelly of Fabulous K Creative did a great job. :) Well, that's all I've got for today. I need to rest, clean, craft, etc. I'll be back on Monday! What are your plans for the weekend? What do you think of the new blog design?

{just a second}

Just popping in for a second today!

I am BUSY.

It's my dear friend's birthday, among other things. :)

But I did want to share a few things with you before I go...

I made a set of these cute little flower pins for Valerie to give away on her blog; she's also featuring a fun little Q&A with yours truly {who knows, you may learn something about me that you never knew before!}. You can see the feature post here.

Erin from Bringing Up Burns commented with the link to this lovely Peony + Pewter Wedding theme - it's just lovely! You can check out all of the inspiration pictures by clicking the link, but I had to share those shoes. They're too fabulous.

I've also just added the option of email subscription with FeedBurner. Check out the sidebar if you'd like to subscribe, or click here.

That's all I've got for today, ladies.

{I don't think any guys are reading this?}

I'll be back tomorrow {hopefully} to kick off my Favorite Musicals series!

{ a couple of things }

Just a couple of things for today...

*****

I'm participating in SheyB's fun lineup of Birthday BASH giveaways!

I'm giving away a set of these adorable cards:

Would you like to be the lucky winner?

Hop on over to enter!

*****

Next week {probably on Wednesday} I will be starting a mini-series about my favorite musicals.

{source}

Every week, I'll be featuring an old musical that I love and {possibly} can sing along to. But I promise to spare you the singing part on the blog. :)

I'm not sure how long the series will last - that mostly depends on how many musicals I decided to feature. But I'd also love to feature some of your favorites! If you have a suggestion, please email me.

*****

Hope you all have a lovely Wednesday!
What are your plans for the day?

{unique oppurtunity}

The other day I got an email from CSN.

Ever heard of them?

Well, it's a site that has all sorts of stores.

Seriously, you could probably find anything there, even the kitchen sink!

They have corner tv stands, artwork, hand bags...really anything you could think of.

{it's pretty overwhelming and fun to browse around there!}

I will be doing a review here shortly of some cute little baskets. Can't wait to try them out! I love using baskets to organize. Thanks, CSN!

{button, button}

Who's got a button?

Grab my button for your blog!

<a border="0" href="http://sweetestpetunia.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i862.photobucket.com/albums/ab188/thesweetpetunia/blog%20button/jacky-button-small.png"/></a>

Well, now I do!

Many, many thanks go to Bailey at b's {blog} boutique for whipping up this adorable button for me. I've been in need of a button for quite some time. Problem - solved!

So if you enjoy reading The Sweetest Petunia, would you consider grabbing my new button and putting it in your sidebar? Be sure to leave a comment and let me know if you do. :)

{at some point I will host a giveaway just for the people who post my button on their sidebar. not sure when, but it will happen eventually!}

{new blog things}

I have been so busy here lately.

Sometimes I feel like all I do on the computer is answer emails!

But I'm trying to finish all of that up so I can spend more time blogging. :)

That being said, there are a few new things on the blog that you might want to know about.

If you look up at the top, right under the header, you'll see that I've added pages :: simple things like About Me, Blogs I Like, etc. There's even a page where you can find links to all of the {color love} posts. So if you get bored, that's where you should browse {and there are some great blogs to be found under Blogs I Like}.

In other news, I have giveaways scheduled every week for at least the next 3 weeks - yikes! It's going to be fun, I promise. They are all giveaways that I would personally love to win. :)

So, hopefully I can corral my inbox and resume normal blogging soon!

Thanks for sticking with me on this crazy ride called {life}.

While you're here, be sure to enter the s.d.g. giveaway!