All Posts By

Amber Renee

Visual Splendor

We Call Them Chicago Weekends

02/17/2011

I live in a small city I like to call OZ. It’s cute, sweet and colorful with bright blue skies, yellow meadows and green grass. Living here is nice, you get small-city life but there’s not so much hustle bustle that you can’t get around easily. I love Indianapolis, I’ve tried to move several times and I keep coming back here to roost (the people here are rad).

One way we Indy folk like to have fun is to go to Chicago over the weekend. Our neighbor is a major city, has delicious deep dish pizza, and has an abundance of sky scrapers, shops, events and food to enjoy.

chicago
Exploring.
folklorique
Foklorique fashion show
gino's east
Deep dish at Gino’s East.

The pizza was delicious and quite different from my usual favorite. It was refreshing to try something new but, as you can imagine, very messy. This baby was not so much a hands-on pizza slice.

It was also here that Benjamin and I met and had pizza with Jamie of Japan L.A. and Stephie of Dollybeast — both were visiting Chicago and couldn’t stop raving about it. It surely is a special place and it will always have a special place in my heart.

Stay tuned for features on two of my favorite places in Chicago, Chinatown and Rotofugi.

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Design Your Life

Spring Cleaning Isn’t That Far Away

02/16/2011

I keep looking around my apartment and sighing. My husband doesn’t see it. This place is an absolute wreck and it’s just screaming at me to clean it.

I can’t stand living in a messy home. I can’t work in a messy home. I can’t get inspired in a messy home.

When I look around at what needs to be done.. I get so overwhelmed. I can’t stand to clean much anything at all and organizing seems such an impossible feat.

I let things get a little too cluttered this winter. Looks like it’s time to donate.

To get inspired I’m looking at images of lovely rooms, doesn’t that inspire you?

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Diary

Why Can’t Everyday Be Like My Birthday?

02/14/2011
jamber tea party

We’re often told to do what we want to do on our birthday. We’re able to enjoy sweets without guilt and to celebrate with friends and family. It’s a relaxing day and I want to take time out though today to enjoy every single thing with my family. I want to remember this day.

Why can’t I do that everyday? Why can’t I just take time out to do what I want and enjoy every moment? That’s my new goal this week, for everyday to feel like a special day. To take time out during the day to do things that I want and to make sure to enjoy them.

1. Eat and really enjoy sweets and coffee.
2. Sit outside on the balcony all snuggled in a fluffy blanket and have cocoa toped in marshmallows.
3. Paint colorful deericorns on tiny canvases.
4. Have tea and dessert at a local coffee shop.
5. Read in the bathtub.
6. Have champagne with friends.
7. Dip strawberries in chocolate.
8. Make and decorate cupcakes.
9. Have a tea party.
10. Have a movie marathon.

Write down a list of things you enjoy doing. Write down things that cheer you up even when you’re feeling blue. This is a great list to refer to when you’re feeling bored, unmotivated or a little overworked. You’ll be surprised how much better just doing a few things on your list will make you feel.

Soon I’m going to create little printable journal pages for you to use when reading these posts — I’m hoping it will encourage you to take part in the lessons that have helped me when in need. What sorts of journal pages would you prefer?

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Crafts DIY

Let’s Make Permanent Daisy Chains

02/11/2011

Please excuse Miseducated again for looking a little curious lately, there will be lots of changes occurring over the next few weeks!

I’d love to sit outside along the water and braid delicate clover blossoms and smiling daisies.
Don’t you love daisy chains?
My daisies are gone, they’re under about a foot of snow and ice.
How will we have a relaxing and flowery day in the sunshine?
My best friend suggested we go to the craft store recently and purchase the tiny craft roses for just that purpose!
Why hadn’t I thought of it before?
A permanent daisy chain?
It’s simple!

Pick out a couple of the metal-stemmed flowers at your local craft shop.
(At our craft shop they’re in the wedding section~)
I got two bouquets of contrasting candy colors.

It’s quite easy, just twist them together similarly to the knotting you do on a real daisy chain..
When you have a chain large enough to sit atop your head twist the ends together.




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Visual Splendor

Come and Soak Up The Eye-Candy

02/10/2011

I’m tired. I want to lay in the sun. If you experience a snowy and icy winter then you’ll understand.. It gets a little dreary.

To pick myself up I’ve decided to look at inspiring photos on tumblr, isn’t that site a bit addicting? Sometimes I start posting inspiring photos to the Miseducated tumblr and can’t stop! You’ll find a link below each photo to where they’re from.

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Diary

Do You Have the Winter Blues?

02/08/2011
Pink, yellow and green oh my!

Please excuse Miseducated for being a little wonky lately.. I’ve been making changes that I feel are best for our growth (no more ugly ads!).
I’m only allowing your ads from now on.
I’m really overly anal about how things look around here, you might not pick that up at first from the rainbow headache you endure upon visiting but it’s true!

We talk about motivation a lot. What KEEPS you motivated? I continually go back to the same old thing, exercise and coffee. It never fails that when I put exercising off I begin to feel lethargic and unmotivated. Exercising produces endorphins which are especially important to those of us with depression and seasonal affective disorder! Let’s also not forget about those of us who are just tired. The winter makes us want to be more dormant, we’re stuck inside (we keep getting snowed in here!) and cozy. It’s cold outside. However if we could just push ourselves to reach a small goal we set for ourselves each day? And slowly raise it?

I haven’t been exercising since I had Colette so I’ve been forcing myself to start. It’s really invigorating… on top of all of the damn coffee and tea I drink everyday.

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Design Your Life

Work Keeps the Light Coming In

02/04/2011
Deericorn adoption papers~ haha ;) Remember to take your pills~

I was watching ’16 and Pregnant’ recently because I can’t seem to get enough young mom drama. It makes me feel like my crazy working and being a mommy life is much less stressful when I see these girls juggling school, work and their families at such a young age.

One of the girls on the show (Kailyn) said something that rang true to me and now every time I start to slack a little I hear her words.. that I just have to keep working because work will keep the light coming in. At such a young age, she understands. When it all seems so overwhelming, so impossible, work will keep the light coming in. Never stop working to meet your goals. Work towards them everyday.

Sometimes I have a tough time being present with all of the things rolling through my mind, as we discussed in Learning to Live in the Moment, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. Join me again next week in my mission to live a happy, healthy and inspired life.

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Diary

Where Do You Find Inspiration?

02/02/2011

I really wanted to make a big, cheesy collage for this post like I did when I started Miseducated.. remember those days?
I miss those.

Where do you find inspiration when you’re feeling overwhelmed?
I always ask the artists we feature here but I’ve never gotten to ask you!

When I’m feeling overwhelmed and can’t focus I like to flip through my inspiration drawers filled with old photos, papers and all sorts of useless things I’ve collected through the years. Useless to the onlooker that is but quite important to me! My favorite place for my brain to play is old magazines.. I love soaking up the eye-candy in 60s women’s zines most of all. I can’t get enough!

What can you not get enough of? What inspires you?

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Design Your Life

Start Advertising Your Products Online

02/01/2011

Those of you that are interested in promoting yourselves or your creative endeavors online will find everything you need to get started here.

Why is it important to promote your brand online? In the very vast marketplace of today it’s important to brand and differentiate yourself to your competitors and fellow crafters, this will tell you how to get started.

After having visited Everything Etsy I was absolutely flabbergasted about the amount of care and a display of the wonderful and sharing community. The Etsy community itself is a very giving community and as you can see there’s a lot to be learned from the many seasoned sellers that sell there.

It all brings me back around to blogs being the best bang for the advertising dollar.

From Use Advertising To Promote Your Etsy Shop at EverythingEtsy.com.

Do you want to promote your Etsy shop without a marketing budget? No problem.

From A Creative Approach to Promoting Your Shop at Etsy Community.

Your own business: will it be a dream come true — or a nightmare?

From Realities of Running an Indie Biz at MICA.

Also don’t forget to read The Etsy Seller Handbook if you haven’t gotten a chance to yet! If you’re looking for great information as a newcomer or as a seasoned seller it’s great to brush up and see how others are finding success.

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