Peace, 2018Hey look! I’m already bad at keeping up with these “blog” posts.... Ok. 2018. Pretty awesome. Made lots of mistakes. Met lots of people. Learned lots from both. Last New Years Eve I drove out to my folks house, dropped the kids off for the evening and Scott and I got a hotel for the night in Asheville. It was snowing, we drank too much and rang in 2018 with brand new friends we made over a game of cards against humanity. I had a baby business that barely had a few months under its belt. But I feel like I took the mood of that evening with me throughout this past year. Braving the elements. When to hold back and when to have another. And when to just sit down with a stranger and share an experience with them. It has been a year of growth. I’m thankful for those that celebrate with me in my wins and those that listen to me vent at my losses. Thanks friends. This year Scott and I are back in Asheville, again kid free - so clearly we are already ending this year on a high note....;) I hope I can once again base the year to come on some lessons I learn here! Or at least have a great night out with my biggest supporter before I dive back into this Bloomin’ Adventure in 2019. Love y’all! Thanks friends! See ya next year! 
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SHop Small for Christmas
Blogger/Virtual Assistant, Brittany Wilhorn and Billie Jo at Baked by Billie teamed up to write a blog on Shop Small for Christmas.
I am so thankful that they selected Adventures in Bloom as one of their favorite places to shop local! We wanted to make sure that you were able to also see all the other wonder local places too! Check out their blog below! Billie Jo from Baked by Billie and I teamed up this week to talk about the importance of shopping small for Christmas. It’s something we have both always been passionate about, and actually what started our friendship.It becomes too easy to buy items off of Amazon, or run into some big box store. We all fall into that. But let’s all try to at least buy a few items from a local shop or creative. If you are local to the Raleigh area, we compiled a list of our favorite local businesses.Gifted Boutique and WrapperyThis is the CUTEST little shop in Holly Springs. They have a variety of items like clothing, stationery, cards, gifts, and so much more! Best of all they will even wrap your gifts for you! It’s pretty awesome! So, head on over with all your gifts and let these ladies make your presents look AMAZING.Jillian Darville ArtThis girl is TALENTED beyond belief and is the sweetest person in general. Grab a gift certificate to give for a custom painting. I mean who doesn’t want a cute little puppy or kitty painting. She even does live wedding paintings! Swoon, seriously.Little DetailsPlease go see Jessica and get the most adorable family Christmas pajamas. They always have cute, stylish clothing, but these pajamas are the best.Adventures in Bloom & That’s Too Cute BoutiqueWhere to even start with these two. Laura owns Adventures in Bloom, and does the most amazing metal stamping! Go and grab a personalized ornament or necklace! SO CUTE! Adventures in Bloom’s studio is inside That’s Too Cute Boutique. They have the cutest clothing, jewelry, and gifts. Billie Jo actually got this adorable sweater that said: “I just want to bake and watch Christmas movies.” Honestly, anyone who knows her knows how that is 200% true.Thanks-a-latteThis has to be one of the most adorable coffee shops around. They have adorable gifts, great coffee, and tons of room to meet with friends!Holly Springs Farmer’s MarketThe Holly Springs Farmers Market is so well run and has great vendors. They offer a wide range of local vendors. They are in their winter hours, but you can still grab a few fun gifts on the 1stand 3rdSaturdays of the month!Our Moments in TimeThis is a super fun shop that we have been watching be built right on Main Street in Holly Springs! They are going to be opening up right before Christmas so make sure to check them out for your last minute local Christmas gifts. They are going to have a ton of local artisans in their shop. Oh, we almost forgot to mention they are going to have coffee and baked goodies too!Audrey Zirbel StudioThis girl makes the most adorable handmade items. We grabbed our Christmas cards from her and absolutely love them. If you need anything personalized, check her out. She is amazing. OHH, and she has a fun class at Adventures in Bloom on December 7th! Go support her and take a class. You will get a fun craft to do too! Remember these are only a few of our favorite local shops. There are so many in the area, or in your area that you can support. Shopping local effects a family in your community! Try to support that as much as possible. When you support a small business, you are supporting a dream.Grand Opening Party!As many of you know, it was a dream come to open this beautiful space. My younger self would be a little sad that I am no longer “Lu Lu’s Jewelry,” but also so proud that I have been able to build this beautiful business. I have come a long way since that $20 profit as an eight year old! It felt like a long time in the making, but our Grand Opening party was worth it. I was able to see so many of our customer, along with some new faces as well!
If you weren’t able to stop in and see our beautiful space for our Grand Opening party, we'll be waiting for you at one of our events soon!
Summer's Last Hurrah! It’s been over a week now since I “kidnapped” my mom and drove to the beach at 8pm after I had just finished a private party. Some girlfriends had rented a house a while back and I kept being on the fence about going. Too much work....too much mom guilt....you know, the usual.  So I finally just said, no. I’m going. And mom (who was in town for my daughters birthday - happy 5th Madeline!) you have to come with me!  I got my time away, sunrise walk on the beach, lots of laughs, quite coffee on the deck and one last centered moment before the rush of the holidays completely takes over my next 2 months.  I'm so thankful that I finally got to the beach this year. (hey, October still counts as summer in North Carolina...right??) Bottom line, always take some time for yourself. If you’re a friend of mine-please remind me of that on a daily basis. 🌺🔨🏖  7 Years Later... We moved in together in 2007. He had a room for rent and my ignorant 22 year old self thought it was a great idea to move in with a guy that I had essentially just met on Craigslist. He was just looking for an extra $300 a month... We just celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary.  I have made lots of 7th anniversary gifts in the past. Since the 7th years gift is traditionally copper, and dudes are traditionally hard to buy for, I end up making lots of stamped keychains. Sometimes it's pennies with the date of their wedding. Sometimes it's just copper keychains with a quote or song lyrics from their first dance. But when it came time to get my own husband a gift I felt that this type of gift would be 1.) expected and 2.) cliche. So I searched and search for different ideas. All I could come up with was wool, also a traditional gift, and I decided that 1.) he doesn't wear scarves and 2.) my knitting abilities weren't quite up to the sock challenge. Which led me back to a keychain. He of course loved it. At least he told me he did. Apparently, 7 years of marriage has taught him something. And then I opened the gift he got me. Ever the romantic he got me an iPhone X. 1.) Way to blow my gift out of the water and 2.) It was super sweet because he got it for me so I could take better product photos. Even on our anniversary he was thinking about AiB. <3 So keep an eye out kids! Scott has a shiny new keychain on his backpack and my facebook page is about to look a whole lot prettier.  Look how far we've come, look how far we have to go.  Yesterday was my friend Rachael's 2 year anniversary party with Lularoe. I met her about a year ago when she moved here from Virginia. At that point I was struggling with the direction of my business and she seemed to have it all together. I knew I had to connect with her! I had just started metal stamping and was very unsure of myself as an artist. Rachael allowed me to tag along to multiple events with her and helped me gain the confidence I needed so badly at that moment. Since then we have both grown as entrepreneurs and I'm both happy and sad that I don't need to tag along with her anymore. My jewelry has grown up and has gotten more refined. I have found better suppliers, dove into classes head first and feel confident bringing my products to the consignment market. We still chat business from time to time, usually when one of us has a "moment" and needs to either vent or celebrate a huge win. I'm so grateful to have her-literally in my neighborhood! So when she asked to have a raffle prize for her 2 year anniversary party, I was so happy to contribute. To my surprise, she had found a pair of my very first earrings that I have ever made from last years anniversary celebration (they were a prize and were never claimed!) She asked if she could just give those out this year. No. I was embarrassed by these. I have new packaging, new blanks, please don't let anyone see these! My business card was also quite out of date! Then I stopped to actually look at them. And I love that I have these. They show just how far I've come in not only my technical abilities but also my skill in finding the right suppliers ;) So this year the lucky winner got a brand new AiB necklace! And thank you Rachael for being one of my favorite #momboss ladies! Here's to another year of growth!  Everything, All at once.So many new, exciting things happening over here.
For the longest time I ran this company out of my home. Taking my hammers to bars, people's houses, board rooms, class rooms...and of course many, many pop-up craft shows. This was working well and of course I had very little overhead. But I also had very little stability. This is where our NEW STUDIO comes into play. I decided it was time to put down some roots and commit to an adorable little studio space in Downtown Cary, North Carolina. The new space is ready for PRIVATE CLASSES now! Public classes will be available here on a much more regular basis as well. Drop in stamping might very well become your favorite way to spend an hour ;) Follow my Facebook page for current updates! I still very much plan on hosting my metal stamping classes in all the local establishments you have come to know and love. The other exciting part is that you can purchase Adventures in Bloom jewelry and accessories (and greeting cards) on a regular basis. No more "porch pickups!" (aka, no more trying to keep my porch from looking like a hot mess and trying to impress y'all) |
AuthorHi, I'm Laura! The hammer wielding mama behind Adventures in Bloom. Archives
December 2018
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