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Well, hello again.

I'm ba-ack!!!




Hello again, friends! It's finally October and I figured this would be the perfect time to get back to blogging. I have lots of new fall-inspired ideas to share with you, along with a whole bunch of wedding photos, wedding DIYs and plain-old weddingy things to show you as well!

I'm very excited to be back to blogging and creating; fall is such an inspiring season, don't you agree? The changing leaves and the cooler weather just awakens my creativity and gets the gears in my brain moving; plus, I've never met a pumpkin I didn't like. Or pumpkin spice latte, for that matter.

xo Allison

(Photos above are from my Instagram account. Follow me! @allisonicole_gs)

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do



I didn't really know how to start off this post, so I think I'll just dive right in.

My life is very crazy busy right now. Jake and I get married in less than 2 months (yay!) I just got a full time nannying job that keeps me busy 45 hours a week, I have a family to spend time with and a doggie to walk whenever I get the chance. I'm loving how busy I am as of late, but at the end of every day, I feel guilty for having gone yet another day without making any progress on my dear old (new) blog. So, a few nights ago, I wrote down all of the ways I'd like to spend my free-time, and then I ranked them. It was a fairly short list, but with a lot of major things on it. Then, I took my pen and drew a line after the top 5 things that were most important, and as I dreaded and suspected, my little blog was number 6. It's time for me to take a little break, and put GS on hold until after the wedding and Jake and I have settled into our new life and schedules. It won't be long (yeah) but it needs to be done. I've seriously been putting off this post for some time, because I didn't want to face the facts, but here I finally am, facing them.

Jeez, first cat pouch and now this, this blog is way more serious than I intend it to be.

Anyways, thanks to all who have been following along so far and you can keep up with the madness by following me on Instagram until I'm back to blogging. Lucky for you, on my time off, I'll still be dreaming up a million new ideas to share with you. So, that's cool.

xo  Allison

DIY// Cat Pouch



I had been wanting to create this cat pouch for a long time. A friend gave me this glorious cat vest after wearing it as a part of her Halloween costume, and I saw its potential right away. It took me a while to find enough time to make it, but one morning I felt super inspired after a long dry spell of my creativity.  And so, I knew it was time to, at long last, give life to cat pouch. And it was awesome.

I write this post with a twinge sadness in my heart, though. After making cat pouch, I was so excited about it that I brought it over to Jake's house to show him. We, of course, talked about how awesome it was and which cat we thought was the ugliest. And then we went out to the car to go to lunch, I set it on the roof of the car and I drove away. I never set anything on the roof of my car, but for some reason, I set cat pouch up there. It took me a while to realize I didn't have it with me, and even longer to accept what must have happened. I still look for it every time I drive though his neighborhood, but I know in my heart that it is gone for good.

One day, I will find another cat vest and cat pouch II will be born.


I'm probably being way too dramatic about this, but I really liked it. Okay?

Cat Pouch DIY//

Materials Needed:

Thrifted tapestry vest, scissors, zipper, needle and thread, sewing machine. (optional: A book for a size guide)



1// Cut the tapestry fabric away from the lining, and using a large book, cut one piece in your desired size.  2// Pin first piece to the uncut tapestry fabric and cut a second piece in the exact same size.


3// Cut your zipper to slightly longer than your desired length and sew to your two tapestry pieces. 4// Turn inside out and sew the edges for the rest of the pouch.


5// As per the instructions on the zipper packaging, create a new stopper using a needle and thread. 6// Love it, use it, and never let it out of your sight.


Farewell, beloved cat pouch. May we meet agin one day.

xo Allison


Be My Bridesmaid



I'm calling this a DIY, even though there wasn't much DIYing involved, besides the fact that I did it myself. If that makes sense. Either way, I thought I'd share my simple process in making these, "Will you be my bridesmaid" gifts.





I started out with these lovely Ban.do hearts. We all know how much I love ban.do, so I figured I'd share the love with others. I then wrapped them in pretty tissue paper (Thanks Urban Outfitters!) found some cute kraft paper boxes that they fit in perfectly, and tied them up with some gold ribbon! Easy. I designed the card in Photoshop using my Bamboo drawing tablet. Also easy.

This was a fun project to work on and a fun way to ask 3 very important people to do me a very important favor. And they all said yes, by the way :)

xo Allison

The Streets of Paris

I wish I could blame my absence on being in Paris this whole time, but alas, I've just been plain-old busy, and  my poor little blog got neglected. But, I'm ba-ack! And ready for some blogging action.

I thought I'd share a fun shopping trip I took with my mom to the Paris Street Market here in crazy Colorado. On the first Saturday of every summer month (May-October) a parking lot fills up with tents full of vintage and hand-made goodies, and over a thousand over-heated, popcorn-munching people trying to find the best stuff before everyone else. It's tons of fun. If you're near the Littleton area (or even if you're not!) it's worth a look. This time, my mom and I were scouring for wedding things, but it's also fun to just wander though and see what you can find! I've purchased dresses, furniture, books and, my favorite, a vintage jewelry box, over the years as well as some amazing hand-made things (Hello, Beatles record tote bag!).

I'm still a little awkward about bringing my camera out in public, so I didn't get as many photos as I would have liked, not to mention that I still don't fully know how to use it, so some of them are overexposed beyond recognition. I'm working on it.















Do you have any summer traditions you look forward to all year? This is mine, for sure!

xo Allison

(PS I get married in 12 weeks! Ah!)

Hot Pink is my Jam

I spent last Saturday snowed in, watching Lord of the Rings with my family and online window shopping. I started trolling the archives of DesignLoveFest because I love seeing all of the cute stuff Bri puts in the Blogshop goodie bags (PS I am also dying to go to a Blogshop! Come to Colorado, please!). As I bookmarked, favorited and pinned my various finds, I noticed one color in particular kept showing up: Hot Pink. We've always been friends, Hot Pink and I, but I've been drawn to it more than ever, lately (much to my soon-to-be husband's chagrin, I'm sure). So, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite Hot Pink finds from Etsy and Pinterest Enjoy.



(1/2/3/4/5/6/7/)

I actually broke down and bought that tote bag from Alphabet Bags (tote bags: another strange current obsession of mine) and I'm dying for those adorable Kate Spade Keds. Speaking of Kate Spade, are you as ecstatic as I am about Kate Spade Saturday? I already have my eye on some cute new sunnies!

 What's your color obsession these days? 

xo Allison

Easy-Peasy Glitter Notebook



Hello and happy Wednesday! As promised I have a super fun, glittery DIY for you today. This DIY also goes hand in hand with a exciting announcement:
I'm getting married this summer!
My fiance, Jake, and I were planning on waiting to get married until June 2014, but we changed our minds, decided we were ready now, and jumped on the wedding-planning-train! Yay! So, with all of this planning going on (stressful!) I needed something to jot down important to-dos and random inspiration, so, I created this beauty. This DIY is so simple and can be done in an hour, seriously. Let's get started. 



Supplies Needed: A notebook (mine is a kraft paper Molskine) a pencil, regular school glue (hot glue does NOT work well), paper to put under your work, clear nail polish and glitter, of course! 

 






1/ Write your word or phrase in pencil. 2/ Trace over your writing with glue. Steady hand! 3/ Cover that with ALL THE GLITTER! But, seriously, douse the glue in glitter so all of it is covered. 4/ Tap the glitter off and on to a piece of paper. Pour the excess glitter back into its container. 5/ After the glue is dry, paint over the glitter with clear nail polish. This will prevent most of the shedding, there may be some, but not as much as there would be without it, trust me. 6/ Admire it! 



And that's it! Like I said, super simple, but really fun. You can use this method to glitter bomb almost anything, which is always a plus. What will you glitter? I'm thinking greeting cards would be really fun, too. 

xo Allison