Happy Halloween!

This is what Paulsen Marketing looks like today :)

best birthday gift ever...

Well it was a weekend full of Birthday celebration. My brother's birthday was Saturday and mine is Wednesday. My dad bought me these fleece lined cCrocs. I LOVE them. They are so warm and so comfy. I saw them in Colorado and then I had totally forgotten about them. I was so excited when I opened the gift. I did not want to put on real shoes to come to work today :)

i heart fall!!!!

Here is the beautiful tree by Paulsen. It makes me happy!!!!!

welcome Addison Rose...

Congrats Rani & Ryan! She is beautiful and I can't wait to meet her.

time machine chair

Well I guess I have been neglecting my blog. Starting today I will try to do better...

Tonight is the SDAF Chairity Acution. Every year crazy designers (us) make a chair and it is auctioned off. Well, we usually end up buying ours back. This years chair is a 2-year-in-the-making palooza!

We finished last night at 12:00 am. YEAH! I was sewing like crazy. But we made it and its fun. Even the control panels light up! That is so next level!

So...we will see if we end up buying it back tonight. We probably will...it looks pretty cool in our office :)

design camp i love thee...

Well, the adventure began on Thursday afternoon. We loaded up the rental vehicle with suitcases for four girls and one guy (sorry Jon). We headed North to Nisswa, Mn. When we arrived at the lodge they did not have a reservation for us for that evening. They said we were supposed to arrive the next day. Crap! They were able to find us a room. Well, it was actually a condo. It had five bedrooms, a game room, a full kitchen and a really cool deck. We were all a little sad that it was only for one night. The next morning we got up and packed again (yuck) and registered for Design Camp. We had a little time so we went for a drive and went into town for a really quick shopping trip.

Design Camp officially began at 1:00 pm. We started off with a speaker. He was really cool. He is a poster designer and screen prints most of his stuff himself. He was cool! Here is his website. You can also purchase his posters there: http://www.thesmallstakes.com/

Next to a workshop. The one I have been waiting for the most! The workshop was non-computer aided book binding. Wow, this could be my new favorite project. I will totally have to do more of this~!

That night they were having a mixer dinner. We skipped this part. We went into Baxter to the Black Bear Lodge for dinner. It was fun! It was 3 Paulsen people and 2 HenkinSchultz girls. We had fun. When we got back to our cabins we went to Karaoke. It was fun, really packed and kind of hot in the bar at the Lodge, but fun none the less.

The next day was full of speakers & workshops. One of my favorite workshops was this a photography. Her name is Nanacy Bundt. She has traveled everywhere and had some amazing photographs. She was very creative and fun to listen to. Here is her website: http://www.nancybundt.com/

We had one more speaker on Sunday and then we had to head back to South Dakota. It was fun and we didn't really want to leave. Its so beautiful up there. I totally feel more creative now! If you would like to read Katie's account check out her blog: http://www.overcaffeinatedkatie.com/

I have also posted a few more photos on my flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kristieweiberg

Well its back to reality this week. I was so busy yesterday that I did not have time to post more photos. :)

Saturday was probably my favorite day of vacation. We went to Estes Park. I LOVE that place. Someday I am going to live there. They were having an elk festival (I think they are cute!). This is the time of year the elk mate. So they are all over. The town was packed, but it was still totally worth it.


Sunday was the 8 hour dive back. By the time I arrived in Sioux Falls, I was a little tired of driving.

Next: Design Camp! We leave tomorrow. I just want to see more fall, but first I have to make it through today.

I have posted the rest of my vacation photos on my filckr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kristieweiberg/

Enjoy :)

I love this....

Yesterday was our Mountain exploring day. This is where I belong! It was cool & crisp. The farther into the mountains the more layers required. I love dressing for these outings. I call it my Colorado uniform. Jeans/hiking khakis; long sleeve white t-shirt layered with a short sleeved t-shirt; tennies/hiking boots; one of 3 poofy vests; a windbreaker and mittens if you are lucky. I love this state!

We stared out by going west of Denver, we didn't really have a plan. Exploring was all that was on the agenda. Our first stop was Central City. It is a really cute town, but it was filled with casinos. So we wondered around town, took a few photos and we were on our way.

Next stop was Georgetown, Co. When you go into town there is a beautiful lake, where the big horned sheep are supposed to be. Of course there were not any. I am not really sure they exist. We at lunch by the beautiful mountain lake. Next we went into town and looked at all the shops. I could totally live here. If I didn't love my job, friends & house so much. I would be here in 2 seconds. From Georgetown there is a scenic byway which is actually a mountain pass. It is the highest road in America. It was beautiful and there were lots of Aspens turning color. I think I might want to plant an aspen in my back yard. Beautiful!

We wound our way around down the mountain. Next we visited the town of Evergreen, Co. It was cute also. Then we were avoiding rush hour in Denver so we went to Red Rocks. So cool. The rocks are really, really red. I took lots of photos there. It is really more of a park when there are not concerts there.

I have posted all my mountain photos on my flickr site. Here is the address:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kristieweiberg/
Enjoy!

Today I am hanging out uploading all my photos and blogging. This afternoon I am going to go shopping and buy a pair of black shoes that do not give me blisters. Its hard to look cute and comfortable at the same time.

Hopefully, on Saturday we are going to go to Estes Park (my fav!) They are having an Elk festival. They are all over the place. It will be cool to see. More photos to come from there :)

on vacation...

Dad is at the convention center now learning about the Ace computer system, so I have time to blog the trip thus far...

The vacation adventure began by leaving Sioux Falls at 7:30 am on Saturday. I realized that morning that my camera was totally D.E.A.D.! Why does this happen when you are going on vacation?

I arrived in Lincoln and had lunch with my cousin and aunt. I then had to help my aunt pick out paint for a room they are remodeling. So I told her we should go to Barnes & Noble and look at magazines to see what kind of colors she likes. Well that lasted about 5 minutes and she got bored and she decided she was done and she just wanted to go buy paint. Great now we have no idea what we are going to buy and she has to live with her decision. I hate helping pick out paint when they have no vision!

That night I went to the new Super Target in Lincoln and bought a camera. I think its cool. It was on clearance. So that made me very happy!! Oh and I found a 2 gig memory card at Wal-Mart for $20.00. Yeah! Now I have to stop spending money!

Sunday morning was the departure day. We left Lincoln and headed west. We drove to Fort Morgan, Co and stayed the night. They had a Chinese restaurant named: Beautiful House. That made me laugh.

On Monday morning we left Fort Morgan and drove to Denver. It was raining like crazy when we got here. We found our hotel (thanks Mac the GPS), and checked in. The hotel is super cool! We are on the TV Mania floor (floor 14, room 1415-Katie). The elevator has famous voices that announce which floor you are on. There is a photo of Johnny Carson on the desk in the room. It is really cool.

Here is the room, already messed up though. I didn't get a photo taken right away.

It was kind of hard to take a photo of the bathroom. This photo does not really show how cool it is.


This is the alarm clock in the room. Cute!


This is one of my favorite parts. Its the menu from the restraunt downstairs. Its called the corner office. They actually have a whole section of the menu for dogs. Its a dog friendly hotel. You can actually order them room service!


This is the view outside our window. Can you see the mountains in the back? They are calling my name. Hopefully we will get to go west and check them out sometime soon.

We ate lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe in Denver. I have never been to a Hard Rock before. Then we walked around downtown. There is a mile long outdoor pedestrian mall. It has a ton of shops. It feels like we walked forever!

We also saw this building being torn down. I just thought it looks cool, so I took some pictures of it...




We did try to go to the art museums yesterday. They are all closed on Monday. Frustrating!!!

Well, I think thats it so far. This afternoon we are going exploring again. The big part of the Ace show starts tomorrow. I might get to work on my jewelry website tomorrow, I really need to get that done!

looking forward...

Next week is my long awaited vacation. I desperately need a break (I feel like I have been working non-stop for a week). These last 2 weeks have been crazy. But...soon I will get to go to Denver. Yeah! I heart Colorado! I am so looking forward to it. The actual real reason I get to go is Dad is attending the Ace Hardware Show there. I am tagging along to go shopping and all do other things fun.

The hotel we are staying at is called The Curtis. It is a fairly new hotel in downtown Denver. It is super cool. It has a pop art theme. A robot greets you at the door. They have cool vintage games in the lobby. Instead of a gift shop they have a 5 & Dime store where you can buy vintage toys and candy. Each floor has its own theme. I can't wait to see it! I think it might be creative heaven!

The alarm clock in each room is a vwbug :)

So next week I will be blogging from beautiful Denver (and yes the hotel has wireless internet!)

Here is the link to the hotel: http://www.thecurtis.com

new hair...

Tuesday was the night. I told Michael (my hairstylist) that he could do what ever he wanted. He has been wanting to cut it off for a while...so this is the new me. I actually get to sleep in longer and it feels like I have lost about 20 lbs (I wish that was true) without all that hair!

avoiding...

Today I have been avoiding all that I really should be doing. So instead I decided to re-design my blog. I was tired of the name and the look. I really should be making jewelry. Instead I went to Hy-Vee and made homemade chicken noodle soup. YUM!


Now I need to focus a little and finish a freelance project and force myself to go home and make jewelry.

I think I had so much fun yesterday with Bobbi on our girl day. That now I am bored with myself!

state fair, football & kayaking

Labor day weekend was packed with fun events.

On Saturday I went to the Nebraska State Fair with my Aunt. We ate corndogs (yum). Saw a 715 lb. pig. Which she said didn't look that big. Yeah it did! And we went to the kids petting zoo. This year they had a giraffe. So cute. These guys make me smile. Here is his portrait...I want one!


I made it home just in time to watch the football game. I LOVE Husker football! I think that when you are born there, you are just raised to love it. Its just home. The city is a buzz. Everyone is wearing red. Everyone is happy and it means fall is on the way! It's GREAT! Oh and we beat the pants off Nevada. 52 Neb - 10 Nev.


Kayaking was also on the agenda. My dad is slightly obsessed with it. It is fun though. We went 3 times. Yesterday my arms kind of hurt. It makes me feel adventurous. Dad calls the people on the lake kayaking "The Yakers". Which really makes me laugh. I kind of imagine this yak animal with paddles and a life vest, paddling around the lake. Below are our kayaks.

favorites...

Last night was design girl night. It was beautiful, it was outside and it was fun. We chatted about all things pretty.

Bobbi talks about it here: http://backfortydesign.blogspot.com/

We also started talking about our favorite websites & blogs. Here is a list of my favorites.

http://www.decor8.blogspot.com/

http://www.thatfunkyboutique.blogspot.com/
This blog belongs to a fellow Concordia College Alumni & design major. We had all the same classes together. This is her newest venture.

http://funkyfinds.blogspot.com/

http://raggeddog.wordpress.com/
This is Stacie's blog. She is the owner of Archival Elements in downtown Sioux Falls. (She also sells my jewelry).

http://soulemama.typepad.com/soulemama/
This is a blog I stalk daily. She is an amazing creative woman.

http://thirdday.blogs.com/
This is the blog of one of my favorite bands. See they are real people too...

http://fulltimemommy.blogspot.com/
Most of you reading this probably already know about this one. This is my dear friend and super college roommate Rani's blog. (Cindy I'm waiting for you to start one!)

http://moonwaterdesigns.blogspot.com/
Nicole makes the coolest jewelry. And she lives in Denver. I am so going to live there someday...

http://www.overcaffeinatedkatie.com/
Does this need a description?

http://www.rarebirdfinds.typepad.com/
This is another daily diversion. They always have the coolest stuff.

http://www.designsponge.blogspot.com/

http://www.etsy.com

Enjoy...

ha!

I was in Minneapolis on Sunday and Monday for a press check. I had to press check a 24 page supplementation guide for livestock supplements. Who said advertising isn't glamorous?

I saw this sign in a park and had to take a photo. It makes me smile :)

funny story....

I have been wanting to blog this since Tuesday, but I had to wait. (For a special reason, I could not post a birthday gift before the birthday girl opened it)

This week has been especially busy. We have been working on a mongo project here at work. My head has been spinning. I am on the board of our local AIGA chapter (a club for designers). Of course I am a co-planning director, which requires the most work. And our first event of the year was last night. We had 2 guys from a super cool agency in Minneapolis come and speak. Lucky for me I was invited to a fun girl birthday lunch for Bobbi on Thursday. Yeah, a bright spot. So of course I think...I just can't buy her a gift, I have to make it. Thats what you do for your designer friends. So Tuesday was the only night I could sew and go to the fabric store. I left work about 6:30 pm and headed over to the fabric store. I get there and who do I see? Miss Bobbi. So I make up this big lie about how I am buying fabric for a background for a project at work. But then we just start shopping together and picking out all the cool fabrics. So then I started to pretended I was going to make more aprons. We shopped until almost 9:00 pm! It was fun. It was a little funny to me, knowing I was going to go home and make a purse out of the fabric she was helping me buy.

I got home and read through the pattern. Its in a cool new book I purchased.

I decided that the pattern was a little boring so I decided to make the front more like a patch work quilt. This is totally the most creative thing I have done all week. Wow, I needed that.
So I sewed for a couple hours and went the bed. I finished up the next evening. All I had to do was sew the handles on.

So...that is my funny week story. Happy Birthday Bobbi!!!!!!

did you know...

Since my cool friends Bobbi & Rani are always posting "tips" & Recipes. I thought I would try to be cool like them.

Did you know that aluminum foil, boiling water & baking soda removes tarnish from silverware and other silver items? The other night I made about 7 batches of this magical potion and wow! This is so going to save me time with the thousands of pieces of silverware I have right now to make jewelry out of.

well...i did it...

I just completed my application for the No Coast Craft-O-Rama event in Minneapolis. SCARED!!! I think it will be fun. I have a lot of jewelry to make by then. I will be notified by September 15th if I am accepted. Hopefully this will turn out better than the last competition Katie & I entered...if you wish to read about that check out the link below :( (http://www.paulsenmarketing.com/blog/index.cfm/2007/8/6/square-one--or-is-it-two)

Of course since I am a total idiot...I was filling out the application online and I was about half way done and I accidentally hit the enter key, and I submitted a half competed form. Yikes! So then I had to go back, re-do it and submit it again. I hope they don't think I am too dumb to make jewelry :)

Here is the link to the show. They have a cool flickr stream (click on the scrapbook link in the menu) of photos from last years event. It looks like fun! Check it out if you have time. http://www.nocoastcraft.com/

creating...

Well I took a break from silverware and dusted off the sewing machine. I had to make a super hero cape for a tv spot we are shooting today. Katie's little boy gets to be our super hero. I am sure it will turn out really cool.


While the sewing machine is out and the dining room looks like fabric has exploded all over it. I decided to make an apron. Bobbi and I have been working on this next fun project. Hostess aprons are back in style. So cute. So I dug though all the material and put this together. The scary thing is...I did not have to go to the fabric store at all. (I think I have a fabric addiction. Who actually has all this stuff collecting in their house?) Below is a photo of the final product. There are a couple of tweaks I would make to the pattern if I use this one again :)