Into the weekend...

This weekend I'll be really trying to take it easy... 

lots of tea + lots of sewing hair adornments for an upcoming photoshoot.  

I'll also be visiting with my sister-in-law, Kasey, while she's in town getting started on a new tattoo and spending some time with a new friend, Rebecca, over a tasty lunch and feeling thankful for the good people in my life.

Enjoy a sweet one, friends.

Love,

Cath

p.s. Last days to vote for a small business grant I've applied for.  Would you be so kind as to click here + take just 30 seconds of your time to vote me in?  I'd be so appreciative!

[Photo HERE]

Once Upon a Time/ 5

This past week, my friend, Meaghan, was in town visiting from my old stomping grounds of Boston. It was a good time.... grabbing bites to eat, a drink or two, and hanging out.  The photo above is of us at the annual Summer Solstice parade.  Santa Barbara loves its parades (it's out of control).  I would have shared some photos of the floats, but I really was just able to get the tops of heads from where we were standing.

Mars the Dog had a minor-ish ear injury + we were told he had to wear this cone.  He looks happy in this one, but I am pretty sure he was mostly miserable smacking into corners and tripping up the stairs.  Very sad.

I ended up taking it off and just kept a close eye on him.  He was very excited with his walk all naked and free from that cursed cone.

I've been in full swing making the final pieces for the next line (we'll be photographing + launching them in a few weeks).  The colors + materials are an interesting mix of vintage styling with a regal bent.  These are some- though not nearly all- of the materials being integrated into the designs.  Most of my ideas and actual construction time comes late at night.  Do you have a highly tuned creative time?

The Eats/ Jam + Scones

 

Keepin' it sweet + traditional.  I salivate just looking at this picture.

[Recipe HERE]

For today...

... this.

[Photo HERE]

I Wish / I Am...

Today, I wish I am here...

while wearing this...

and riding on this...

and grazing on this...

( I love cotton candy so much, I can't shut up about it.)

Can you tell I have a crush on summertime?

[ carnival / dress / swing / cotton candy ]

Into the weekend...

 

It'll be this kind of weekend.

Have a fun one, friends.

Love,

Cath

Once Upon a Time / 4

This past week, I did a little of this + that.  Lots of the usual with work, plus...

...a drive up north to visit with my in-laws for my niece's three and a half birthday party.  I got to spend some much beloved time with her before the activity of the party began.  We are at "Gramma's" in this photo, with the new polka dot umbrella Auntie Cath + Uncle Sebastian + Cousin Mars the Dog gave her.  

Two fails on my part, though... 

One: I didn't wear a "paity" dress, as she was secretly hoping I would (I had to try to convince her that the lace top + red bow in my hair were just as festive.)

Two: She already has two umbrellas.

Ah well.  I got hugs + kisses and a cute photo out of it, so that will do.

I've also been deep in project mode with the release of the next line in about a month.  There will be all sorts of cool + lovely accessories this round... new colorful + atmospheric scarves, beaded + lace bridal hair adornments, a piece or two of statement jewelry, and spirited hair pins.  But when I came across this awesome embroidered ribbon, I had to add it into a design.  Such happiness, don't you think?

Oh, I couldn't resist this one of Li'l V eating her half birthday cupcake.  She just ate the icing and offered me the bottom about two seconds after this photo was taken.  I totally ate it.

The Eats/ The Drinks: Salted Caramel Ice Cream Cake Shots

Oh my gosh, yummy + so festive for the first official day of Summer!

[ Recipe HERE ]

Yay for today!

My very very wonderful + funny friend, Meaghan, is coming into town today from Boston for a week long visit.  I'm so flippin' excited!  We'll be hanging and doing our silliness, like laughing at pretty much nothing and doing this...

I've got to go pick her up from the airport shortly, so it's back to finishing up some work first and then... Yay!

p.s. If you have a quick moment, hop over HERE to lend some love (thank you!)

[ Photo 1 + 2 ]

I Wish / I Am...

Today, I wish I am here...

while wearing this...

and dreaming of this...

Yep.

[ Ocean / Bathing Suit / Love ]

I'd love your support!

Hello, Friends!

My company is in the running for a grant of $250,000.  This would enable me to hire on marketing and PR help, as well as a website designer so I don't have to stay up until 4am trying to figure out what html code I just messed up to make my shop site suddenly get deleted (THAT was fun.).  I'd also love to take a course like BlogShop to advance my blogging and marketing options and to ultimately expand my studio space into a design house.  Stuff like that.

This is where YOU make a huge difference.

Here's how just 30 seconds can make a big ol' positive impact... ready?

Click -> HERE.

+Once on the main page, scroll down to the lower right corner where it prompts you to log in with Facebook.  Click the blue button there.

+ Once on that page, scroll down to where you can type in the voting info.  This is all you need:

Catherine Masi -> California -> Santa Barbara

Click the blue vote button... DONE!

Thank you, thank you!

If you have any questions at all, please feel free to email me here: 

info[at] ShopCatherineMasi [dot] com

(typed out like this to avoid spam, you would of course replace [at] for @ and [dot] for a .  and all with no spaces.  I guess it would have just been less fuss to type it out as normal and risk the spam!) )

Much love,

Cath

Into the weekend...

I'm a little late in getting this weekend post up.  Running around fueled by sugar + a touch of caffeine.  I just got back from our 3 year old niece's (love her) birthday party up north (and what a beautiful drive along the ocean it was.)  + am now about to jump back into work, including applying for grants for my shop.  There's one, in particular, that would be a dream come true to achieve and I am hoping that you'd be keen on taking just a quick moment to write in your vote for my company (I'd be forever thankful.).  In the link below, all you have to do is scroll to the bottom right of the page, click where it says to log in with Facebook, and then fill in the following:

Catherine Masi -> California -> Santa Barbara

Link HERE.

This grant would mean more opportunities to create beauty in the world and who doesn't want that?

Wishing you a weekend filled with lots of hope, friends.

Love,

Cath

[ Photo HERE ]

Once Upon A Time / 3

This week, Sebastian and I took a mini- road trip south toward LA to visit with his publisher and go over final details + images for his upcoming book (will keep you updated on this as the publish date is finalized). The house below is where we spent the day and, man oh man, was it something cool.

I was so impressed with the sustainable features in this place + how well it integrated with the vastness of nature surrounding it.  Also, that infinity pool really tempted the hell out of me.

Both Sebastian + I were photographed for the book, but I'm only showing the behind the scenes of him because mine were a little too risque to share here...
(yay for a private studio and cropping tools for the final images!)

The rugs in the house were astoundingly beautiful.  I looked down to see what I was standing on and had to snap this shot.

I'm a little shyer.  Sebastian, on the other hand, is more comfortable in front of the camera. The photographer, Betina LaPante, in every case was wonderful.

And then here I am back in the studio working on a bridal headpiece for a client in Australia.  Much of my sales come from all over the country, but I love receiving orders from other regions of the world too... Canada, Australia, and France seem to be where my biggest foreign market sales come from.  And, one week not too long ago, I had sales from customers in Iceland, Qatar, and Japan- which I thought was a pretty neat mix, thanks to the world of e-commerce.

Busy week + more to come.
Until next time...

Gentle Reminders...

+

I needed these today + thought that if any one of you did too,
you now have them as a sort of hug from me to you...

[ \1/ + \2/ ]

The Eats/ Chinese Almond Cookies

So pretty + so delicious. 

Wouldn't you love to eat one leisurely while watching butterflies and hummingbirds flutter around?

[Recipe on this beautiful blog]

I Wish / I Am...

I wish I am riding this (on a slow stroll) on a summer day...

while wearing these...

and humming this tune in my head...

[ Vespa : Shoes ]

Into the weekend...

This past week has been a super busy one.  The amount of orders I've received for the latest collection has been mind blowing.  I am always so thankful for your continued love + support with my business and am really really glad that you are enjoying your pieces (I love your love-fest emails!).  It's been five solid years of full time work with my company and to see it expand as it has makes me feel such huge appreciation.
So, thanks a bunch.

This weekend I'm going to try to lay low (lots of activity + events in the coming weekends), maybe write a long overdue catch up letter for an old friend + put together a little gift for my dad for Father's Day + wander around letting adventure in.

Here are a few neat things found from around the web this week:

* Cool gift wrap.

* A funny new twitter page from a father to his toddler son.

* This lady is awesome.

Have a good one, friends.

Love,

Cath

[Photo /1/ + /2/ ]

Once Upon a Time / 2

Some shots from my week, so far...

I love this old (former) church up the street from our house.  I not-so-secretly want to buy it and make it into a home.  I think that would be so cool.  

Instead for now, I walk by it, dream a little, and sneak in an impromptu photoshoot with my chocolate + peanut butter shake (in which a sampling of bee pollen was added to make me feel like it's healthier, when really- who am I kidding... I'd drink it anyway).

Who doesn't love a patch of daisies?

And oh my god, this chunk of candy here mimics- only what I can assume is- crack.  My friend, Jetta, is quite the baker and often brings us bags of this sort of thing whenever she visits town from LA (including peanut brittle with bacon for Sebastian).  I had one little bite of this sprinkled treat, and I swear to you, I was bouncing off the walls.  Ah, sugar... simultaneously, my worst + very best friend.  

Thanks, Jetta!

I recently received a request to donate for a silent auction for the American Cancer Society.  Since my friend, Heidi, is chairing the event and also because my mother passed away from cancer when I was little, I was all set to offer up a couple of my designs for this fundraising effort.  I got inspired from these two necklaces  (the *Stardust* + the *Gentle Glow*)  so I decided to go with both for the donation package... 

a happy + glowing duo.

Until next Once Upon a Time (lots of fun stuff coming up!)...

The Eats/ The Drinks // Granita

Granita is a more sophisticated + grown up version of one of my favorite childhood desserts, Italian Ice.  In the Summertime, when the ice cream truck would come through our neighborhood (man, I wish I could track down one of those now), I'd almost always go for the cherry Italian Ice, which is like a frozen Shirley Temple.  But this Granita has a kick of alcohol in it and so I think I'd prefer one of these nowadays... 

Rose Champagne Granita

 

Sauternese and Lemon Honey Granita

(Wow.  Yummy.)

Which would you try?

[Recipes found HERE.]

What's your favorite?

I used to rarely wear sunglasses.  They'd always end up on the top of my head acting as a headband or hidden somewhere in my bag.  Now, I don't know if my eyes are just getting more sensitive or if I found a pair that somewhat fit me, but I kind of like 'em.
Here are some sunglasses that popped out at me.
Which ones do you like best?

I think 3 or 5 are my picks.  That way I have one pair for everything and one pair for those days when I've got a little extra bit of the happies.


I love sunshine by catherinemasi featuring diane von furstenberg sunglasses

I Wish / I Am...

Today I wish I am hanging out here + enjoying this view...

...while wearing my hair like this (but maybe with a red or pink or light blue ribbon instead, because my hair is already black!)...

... and writing + drawing in this...

I guess I'm in need of a little quiet introspective time.

[Photos /1/ \2\ /3/ ]

Introducing...

They're in! For more details click HERE.

Into the weekend...

This weekend, I'll be launching some pretty lively jewelry in my shop (keep an eye out for them on Saturday!) and now, because I have a little pause in my day's schedule, I just might go out and find some adventure before I jump back into work this evening.  It's sunshiny and warm over here... maybe a mini-road trip along the sparkling coast + a nice solo lunch is in order.

Also, some neat things made by friends...

A custom toy by Brian + Jen, concocted for their toddler!

and this cool painting by Stephanie.

Have a sweet one, friends.

Love,

Cath

[Photo found HERE]