Paisley Peepers has gone INTERNATIONAL!

Back by Popular Demand! Weekly Meal Plans!

Happy Sunday my Peeps!

I posted some of our dinner's on facebook this past week and got a couple requests for the recipes. So I decided to start posting my weekly meal plans again.
I stopped posting them for a couple weeks because I started getting really frazzled, see last post for details. I know, I know it's not an excuse but... well I'm bringing them back!

If you don't know already I started doing weekly meals back in October. I was getting so bored with the same 5 "safety" meals. You know the ones you always go to when you don't know what to make? I picked up the October issue of Real Simple Magazine and right there in plain black and white was a whole month of meals already planned WITH grocery lists! Of course I bought it and now have made over 200 recipes from real simple! Now every dinner is different and healthy and fresh. I've already written a few blogs on my amazing discovery so please feel free to go back and read or click here , here
and here :)

This Week's Meals all amazing!- Click on the title to get recipe

Spinach and Ricotta Lasagna With Romaine Salad 

Curried Chicken with ginger and yogurt 

Chili-glazed pork with sweet potato hash 

Roasted turkey with cheddar-stuffed potatoes 

Asian steak salad with mango 


Nick picked this week's meals from my stash so they all contain meat of course, but please don't be discouraged my veggie Peeps! There are many many veggie friendly meals on their website. Also for all you tech savvy iPad, iPod, iPhone, or Android owners there is an app from Real Simple you can get that allows you to make meal plans with grocery lists already attached! Hope you enjoy! Until next time...

A Grand Opening and a Grand Challenge

It's finally February which means... my Grand Opening events are finally here!

This month you will find TONS of specials and perks along with brand new items I will be introducing to the store weekly. If you are a fan on facebook, you get extra special perks! A special thank you for being one of my "Peeps". If you are a fan please look out for this avatar

This will let you know that there is a special "Perk" that day or week. Starting Feb. 1st all aprons and bow holder frames come with a FREE gift so check them out :)





I've been SO very busy this last week so I'd like to apologize for my absence. I've been a busy bee e-mailing potential customers and sending out thank you e-mails to my customers who have been so great in making my first month as an up an running shop so encouraging :) Really, if you are reading this right now, you've really helped my confidence and have inspired me to make new items. YAY!

I recently bought a  DSLR camera, which is serving the purpose of both a family camera and a business camera, and I'm having lots of fun trying to figure out what I'm doing. I tried out a camera club this week and I think I'll try it out again. This week the discussion was on beauty shots. Not my cup of tea but I did end up learning a few really cool tricks. The majority of the class was on the importance of  good make-up. Most of the discussion was stuff I already knew since I have one of the best make-up artists for a mom, Liza Millan of State Street Salon. She was voted best make-up artist in the Inland Empire by Inland Empire Magazine. For anybody out there that is looking for a fantastic make-up artist in So Cal.
Sorry just needed to send a shout out to my mommy :)
Back to the camera club. So I think I'll go back and hopefully meet some local photographers and get some direction on how to work my new baby.

I also took sometime this past week to spend just with my daughter. I've gotta be honest, I was getting a little distracted with my new business. I had to take a breather and really concentrate on my #1 baby, little Z. I just can't help wanting to put 100% of my energy and effort into ANYTHING that comes from me- i.e. creativity, business, our daughter, marriage, a relationship, a friendship, a promise. It's hard to be a multi-tasker with the the urge to want to put your all into everything, it can get pretty exhausting and something always tends to suffer.  So I pretty much forced myself to not think of the business this last week. If I had an idea, I'd write it down and try to forget it. By the time the week ended I looked at the sheets of paper filled with ideas and thought "uh oh, I better get on this".  And then again finding the time to create all these ideas gets a little overwhelming.  Being a stay at home mom with a home business is a little challenging... ok A LOT challenging. I've never been so frumpy, my house has never been so messy, I've never felt so unorganized, I've never stayed up so late and woken up so tired, I've never had to juggle so much all on my own during the day... BUT I've never felt so loved, never felt so accomplished, never been a prouder wife, never thought I'd say "I LOVE being a stay at home mom." The things I get to experience with our daughter are priceless and I get to do something I love and earn an income. All the other stuff are just steps to learning how to be a more loving and humbled mom and wife.  I still pray and hope to find that balance of being a mom, a wife and a business owner. I've been all three at one point of my life before but never been all at the same time.  But I gotta give myself a break here...it's only been a month :)

Speaking of which, I'm very proud to say that last month, my first month in business, I reached my goal in $s! Just by a hair I made my income goal. By a hair I mean by a couple dollars literally, lol, BUT I made it! I didn't think I'd make this goal for a couple months so this was a great surprise to me and even MORE of a reason to thank everyone for their business. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

Sorry about missing the weekly meal plan tutorial this week. I plan on posting it tomorrow. btw the meal were delicious as always :D

I hope everyone is having a fantastic week. Until next time...

It's Official!

My shop is open!

I decided I wanted to open an online craft shop in October when I picked up the book The Handmade Marketplace- How to Sell Your Crafts Locally, Globally and Online by Kari Chapin at Michael's and made it a goal to have it open by Jan 1st 2011. At 11:00pm EST Jan 1st my shop was officially up to browse and shop, just in time for my goal! WOW! what a great feeling it is to meet your goals isn't it?

When I first decided to open a shop I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to sell, I just knew I absolutely love making things for myself, my family and my home. So I took all those things and built on it.  My craft room started to look like a flea market full of crafts,  but I guess I'm a little random myself so it seemed to be very appropriate. This gave me the idea to give my official banner a flea market feel, the one you see at the top of this blog :). A little fyi all the items in this photo are very personal to me: my favorite books,  my mannequin and sewing machine that have been my best friends since I was 14, lady bugs, and the most personal is the time on the clock 3:05 the time our lives changed for the absolute best when our daughter was born.


Now the name of my business is a different story. This took a few days to figure out.


I love henna and paisley. So naturally "paisley" had to be apart of my business. I'm not really sure how "peepers" came into play other then it started with "p" and it reminded me of the cute marshmallow birds you eat for Easter, Peeps :), and I think that's where the bird logo came from as well.  A henna peacock! A Paisley Peeper of course!


I always love to look at how my favorite businesses or brands came to life so I thought I'd share a little about mine.


I also would like to take this time to thank my amazing husband for motivating me to stick to my goals and for being so patient these past few weeks and weeks to come as I'm locked up in my craft room like Rapunzel for hours. Thank you Boo! and I love you so much!


Thanks for visiting my blog friends. Look out for new stuff in my shop these next few weeks, I'm just getting started! Until next time...

Welcome, Bienvenidos, Merhaba, Bienvenue... a little about me

Hello friends! Well... where shall I start. 


I'd say I've always been a pretty creative person. I danced, I sang, played the violin in my youth, but being crafty is a hobby I've held since high school. I didn't have much of a social life, outside of school and sports (strict parents), so sewing and crafting became a passion. I remember making my bedroom sets, curtains, drawing up sketches on my drafting table, making clothes on my mannequin , sewing, making birthday cards, ect... Then into college the passion began to fade due to a busier life of course; boyfriend, school, my own business as an Esthetician and picking up a second job at a veterinarian hospital. Oh, did I mention I love animals too! 
Here comes 2007; this was a big and very exciting year. My, then, fiance and I travelled to India on a mission trip through our church which was a HUGE eye opener for me and I am SO grateful I got to experience that with him, I graduated with a BA in Business Marketing, I became a wife AND we adopted a dog all in the same year! My husband and I were married July 7, 2007. The planning was extra fun for me. It gave me the opportunity to use my creativity and craft skills again. We were able to do a little more traveling the following year, this time to Jordan, before moving from the West Coast to the East Coast due to a wonderful career opportunity for my hubby and three months later we found out we were expecting. The delivery of our daughter was the most amazing experience we had ever shared as a married couple, and she was truly a perfectly planned gift from God. 
I've been a stay at home mom for the past year and I never thought I'd enjoy it as much as I do. Not to say it is a breeze; planning meals, cleaning, organizing, caregiving, and managing a home isn't always easy. YES, somedays I've felt defeated, BUT when I see my household well-kept, happy, with full tummies of good food... it just puts a big smile on my face and joy in my heart. I feel proud to be able to say "hey, I did a good job today and I made it through" and it motivates me to want to keep it up the best way I can.  
My daughter has also inspired me to start crafting again. I was able to dust off my old sewing machine from high school to make HER first bedroom set, most of the decor in her room, and after making all the decorations for her first birthday I start falling in love with it all over again. I also thought of the possibiity that she might enjoy crafting with me. And so I decided to put myself out there; share my experiences of being a stay at home mommy, good and bad, and finally find out if my skills and reborn passion for crafting could turn into anything more than just a hobby. I've cleaned off my old drafting table, set up a little crafting corner in the office and started little by little.


And that's me in four paragraphs. I hope you enjoy and visit often. Until next time...