Catching Up

The last several weeks have been really busy (see #2), so I'm playing catch up!  So three little BIG things that have been going on lately:


O N E  //  My most favorite thing.  Labor Day weekend, my brother finally asked this girl to marry him!  Can't wait to officially have her as part of the family.  Read Rachel's perfect blog post about it here.

T W O // Grayson's parents got to come visit us last week...we made the most of the trip with one weekend in Lake Tahoe & one driving up the northern Cali coast.

T H R E E // Our new fall line is officially out & we're loving shipping new (& old!) prints out to customers!  Check it out here! 

1 Thessalonians 5:24 | Faithful

Oceans | 3 Print Bundle

Tune My Heart

P.S. If you're interested in any custom orders for Christmas, now would be a good time to talk to us about that!  I know several people have mentioned doing custom orders for gifts for their Bible study groups & I think that's a great idea!  If you're interested, you can send a message through Etsy, or email us!

All In All

A couple weeks ago, my friend Chloe e-mailed me about doing a custom order for her, & I loved her vision for it.  She wanted a print for her kitchen with the words "child of weakness, watch & pray // find in Me thine all in all," from "Jesus Paid It All."

Custom orders are usually some of my favorites, but especially this one.  a) I love that song, & b) Chloe is one of my dearest friends from eight (wow, that long?) summers ago when we did children's ministry in San Antonio.

Here's a little flashback for your viewing pleasure.

So, this is her order in process.  Now is done, shipped, complete, the end.

Then today, she posted this photo on Instagram of the print in her house.  Next to the Willow Tree Angel of the mom & dad with a baby.  I was in my car by myself right after I'd seen this picture & just started thinking about that image.

A newborn baby is completely dependent on her parents.  She doesn't know any other way of life.  She relies on them for nourishment, love, care, comfort...literally everything.  But what about grown ups?  No matter what age I get to, I will still need my parents.  I don't need them for food, shelter, or clothing.  But I need the relationships that I have with them, & always will.

I've never really thought before about how amazing it is that God is both of those.  He is a parent to us as if we were still newborns.  We can fully depend on Him for our every need.  And He wants us to!  But He's not just that.  He's also the Father seeking relationship.  He longs to know His children, & to be known by them.  He wants us to delight in His presence, to enjoy spending time with Him, & to talk to Him because we want to, not just because we need to.  He fills every need we have, & is the only one that can be all.  What a beautiful picture.

One Month Shop Birthday!

We've had our little shop for one month tomorrow!  We've loved this first month & can't wait for many more!

To celebrate, we're hosting a giveaway & offering a coupon code!  The winner of the giveaway will win...

one 8x10 print

or

one set of cards

There are three ways to enter the giveaway (your name will be put into a drawing one time for each of the following):

ONE.  Mention our shop (include the link) in a blog post & comment here with the link to that post & your e-mail address. (Feel free to include the image below!)

TWO.  Instagram the image included below & tag @eastwestdesignco in your post.

THREE.  Post the shop link on Facebook & comment here with your name & e-mail.

Coupon code is valid today - July 4 & will give you 20% off your entire purchase (custom orders excluded).  The giveaway winner will be announced on Monday, July 7.

Recent Favorites

1. Neon Steeple.  This wasn't an album I really got excited about because I wasn't expecting to like it.  So I hadn't even listened to it until a few days ago & now that's just about all I've listened to since.

2. Product photography.  It turns out this is one of my favorite parts of running a shop.  It's just fun to style things how you like & attempt to take pictures that help others envision where they would put a print in their home, or what colors it would look good with, etc.

3. I've had my eye on a Rifle Paper Co. phone case for months, & I finally broke down & got one.  I'm picky about phone cases, & Grayson is even more so.  So one that fits his demands of phone safety & no scratching, & my demands for beauty...that's a pretty tall order to meet, & it does so beautifully.  And the one I got is now on sale.

4. Gifting a kindle book.  On opening day of our shop, Rachel sent me a kindle book as a "happy first day" prize.  I'd never thought of doing that, but it was such a sweet gift & a great, easy way of giving one!  I'll have to keep this in mind.  And I can't wait to start reading what she sent me!

5. I'm developing quite the Etsy wish list lately.  This has been #1 on my list for several weeks, followed closely by this, this, & this.

6. The countdown is on.  My parents arrive in 9 days & are staying much longer than they got to last fall!  And we're going back to Yosemite & taking them!  So excited!

Doing a Good Work

Disclaimer: I promise everything here is not going to be about our shop.  That's just what I have going on right now so it's usually at the forefront of my mind.

Yesterday was a stressful day.  I feel like all day long, people were telling me that what I want to do isn't possible when I know that it is.  I called to talk to several local printing places & every one of them was discouraging & didn't really give me any real answers.

Last night Grayson got home from work later than usual.  He's had a lot of really busy days lately because an app they've been working on for a year is releasing today.  Even after all that, he came home & while I made dinner, he immediately started working on scanning & printing just to see how our scanner/printer would do with my paintings.  He adjusted settings & tweaked for hours, & it still just wasn't really what we were looking for.  He ate dinner in about two seconds while still doing all of this & researching what other shop owners do - professional printing place vs. investing in a really good printer & doing it yourself.  This went on for hours.

In the middle of all of this, I got an email from someone I don't even know that was so encouraging & had good things to say about the sneak peek of our shop that I posted yesterday.  (Thanks, Amy!)  We decided to just quit thinking about it last night & research some more this week & maybe go printer shopping this weekend. 

This morning, I woke up to several posts on Instagram that I felt like were just for me.  (I think this means Jesus loves Instagram!)  She Reads Truth is currently in a study on Nehemiah.  I haven't kept up with it lately, but today I felt like I needed to read it.  I usually work in the mornings, but today I'm working a weird shift & don't have to go in until later, so I sat down to read it.  Nehemiah is one of my favorite books.  The whole story is about rebuilding & restoration.  Amidst hardship, Nehemiah persists, & says "I am doing a good work & I cannot come down" (Nehemiah 6:3).  He kept pursuing what he felt God had placed in front of him.

Grayson & I have been going through the One Year Bible this year, & we usually read at night rather than in the morning, but we're a little behind so I was reading one to him this morning while he got ready.  Today we were in 1 Chronicles 29 when the temple is being built.  After Grayson left for work, I wanted to read those verses again, more slowly.  I opened my bible, & it opened to that very page.  Back in January, I'd stuck my birthday card from my mom in my bible, & apparently that's the page I put it in.  I felt like it was the same story here.  Hardship + endurance = more glory for God.  1 Chronicles 29:10-20 is David's praise to God.  The passage ends with other people praising God in response to David's praise.  This is ultimately what we want.  We want to bring more praise, more glory, more fame, to God.

I want to have every bit of this in writing.  Whether we open our shop in a week or a month, whether we sell one thing the first day, or fifty.  Whether this shop lasts 6 months of 6+ years.  I'm doing a good work, & I cannot come down.

Introducing...East West Design Co!

I haven't posted much in awhile because I've really just been going to work & whenever I'm home, working on a new project...an etsy shop!

For awhile, Rachel & I have talked about "our etsy shop" that we'll have one day.  It was always one day when I move back to Georgia, or one day when we live in the same town.  A few weeks ago, Grayson came home from work & I was showing him something I'd made that day & he asked why I don't have an etsy shop now.  

Well...good question.  The more I thought about it, the more I felt like God was saying "why not?"  I really wanted to wait until we were in a house where I'd have more room to work than I do in our little apartment.  Or until Rachel & I live somewhere without an entire country between us so it'd be easier to work together.  But those limitations are no hindrance for God.  I was the one who thought I needed to wait, not Him.  I thought about it for awhile, & I couldn't shake the question of "why not?"  I didn't have a good reason not to.  So I started talking to Rachel about it & she felt the same way.

So...in the next few weeks, our shop will be open!  We have everything made, just going through the hassle of figuring out the best way to do prints & shipping, & then photographing & listing all of our stuff!

We're doing prints, cards, & maybe a few other goodies here & there.  Here's your sneak peek :)

And a few that Rachel has been working on...

I'll definitely let you know once the shop is officially up & running, but for more previews, follow along on Instagram.