i love odd jobs

i was commissioned earlier this week to make asian-themed centerpieces for a party that is happening tomorrow evening. i earned a quick chunk of cash and got to use my creativity, so it's all good :). here's how they turned out:




and as part of that, i was asked to make 60 of my washi fortune cookies!



odd jobs are great, but i also need steady income, so i bit the bullet and applied for a job that i'm grossly overqualified for but need nonetheless. working in a video store can be fun, right? :p i just need something until we move back to austin, where i've got a better opportunity lined up. gotta sell our house first, though! we buried our little st. joseph statue the other day (google 'st. joseph real estate kit' if you aren't familiar and want a good laugh ;)), so hopefully someone will want our house soon!

♥,
melissa

featured in the storque!

i am on cloud nine right now! (and oops, so sorry for not updating my blog in forever!)

my 'beautiful day' washi fortune cookies were featured in etsy's blog, 'the storque'!

here's a link to the article, in case you missed it (i sure did! i had to ask in the etsy forums why my cookies were getting so many 'hearts'!)

wow, i never ever thought i would get featured by etsy... i'm so grateful!

life has been crazy since i last posted, but everything's going great - business is running smoothly and keeping me busy, and i've only got 4 more classes left in college (and it looks like i'm going to graduate summa cum laude, even!), but being insanely busy is all worth it when recognition comes, as it did today :D.

i hope you all are having a fabulous spring, as well! and a big THANK YOU to everyone who's supported my 'maoiliosa' business venture - you all are the best!

♥,
melissa

i love pretty packaging!

yes, i love pretty packaging, so it just comes naturally that i would want to make each package that i mail out to one of my customers as presentable and fun to open as possible. after all, that's how i want things that i buy to arrive to me!

here's my latest finished order, 100 custom washi fortune cookies for a very nice customer's upcoming wedding:



i hope she loves them! they look just like the ones i made for my wedding: boxes stuffed with these pretty little paper cookies!

it really makes me start thinking about my wedding. it's only about 40 days away, and i'm starting to get butterflies! i still need to get my dress altered, sign the contract for our photographer (this just came about yesterday! an old high school friend of mine, mel ferro cole of i heart photography, just found me on facebook, and we didn't have a professional photographer yet, so we thought, what perfect timing!), get our rings polished (and my band, from my mom's set from her marriage to my biological father who died when i was 6 months old, resized), get our marriage license, sign the contract with the catering, and a few small details. not much left, really!

i have a busy fall ahead of me, that's for sure. i'm tackling 5 distance learning college classes over the course of this semester, plus testing out of 16 credit hours of french, plus the wedding, christmas, the busy holiday season that's about to take hold in my shop, and more! phew! wish me luck, is all i can say ;).

♥,
melissa