Welcome on in to the cozy cottage! I am so glad you are here. <3
The story of launching my ETSY shop all started with designing/planning my own wedding and reception. It was totally DIY, from cutting and styling my own hair (and my husband's! ), makeup, designing enchanted garden wedding invites and shower invites (I am a graphic designer among other art forms), to designing and decorating the entire theme of my reception, the table decorations, etc. It was my dream come true and we got married right here in the garden at our own home under a vine-y arbor. I even picked flowers from my garden and created my own wedding bouquet... 10 minutes before my wedding started. That's right! With my bride brain I forgot to make my bouquet and didn't remember until it was almost time for me to walk out! I had to rush out to my garden to quickly gather flowers and then make them into a flower arrangement. While I did have one flower in mind that would go in my bouquet (my favorite flower-lilacs!) I hadn't planned out the rest. Thankfully I have a good eye and somehow by the grace of God it all came together. The funny part is that my 5 minute thrown together bouquet was so BEAUTIFUL and people raved about it. That's when the light bulb went off. I realized aside from my love of gardening and flowers, I may just have a natural talent for floral arranging. I guess it makes sense, with me being an artist and all.

So now one of my favorite mediums to work with are things from nature. Flowers, herbs and other things I find in my own garden and around the surrounding woods and neighboring gardens here in Michigan. Mom and I had so much fun planning my wedding that it was sad when it was all over. I wanted to live in the magic of my enchanted garden event forever, and so I decided to start an ETSY shop where my mom and I could continue to create magical works of art for other brides and just people in general who enjoy rustic chic things like we do. The wedding line has branched out to include cottage home decor (mostly wreaths) and women's accessories/gifts.

As a poet.writer.artist. , I am a dreamer and a romantic at heart. Since acquiring our first home in June of 2013, I have decided to live my dream of an artsy cottage lifestyle and have named my home Ivy Rose Cottage. Our home story is FULL of miracles and is so very dear to my heart , that my ETSY store had to be a reflection of that story. I decided to name it Ivy Rose Cottage because the first thing I noticed when I opened the secret garden gate for the first time was English Ivy creeping everywhere! I mean the garden and pathways were overgrown with it since this house had sat empty for awhile. It really made me think of a favorite book and movie-The Secret Garden. As overgrown as it was, it was magic. I was in heaven! The second thing I noticed was a beautiful pale pink rose bush in bloom with sweet, fragrant roses. And that is how the idea of Ivy Rose Cottage was born. Ivy Rose cottage to me also symbolizes a blend of the masculine and the feminine (the robust masculine ivy, and the delicate feminine rose) and the marriage of my husband and I as we started our new journey here. You will find I am into symbolism and everything I do has meaning/attention to detail. For example , my floral items come with a print out explaining the meaning of the flowers! :) In my daily life I am creating a world of beauty and I want to share that world with others (my brand mission statement is "Bringing Beauty to Your Front Door". You can read more about our home story and follow my cozy cottage living blog at http://ivyrosecottage.com . It's just getting launched, so there isn't much there yet, but you can subscribe to our newsletter there to be in the loop. Subscribers also get exclusive coupon codes to use at the ETSY shop that won't be posted anywhere else.

I love vintage and Victorian things, a good book, a good cup of tea and visiting with people. You will notice my love of Jane Austen , since one of her quotes is my brand motto. This quote is on the shabby chic product tags attached to each work of art you order from our store (and is also on my business cards!). And so I will sign off with that :)

" I am excessively fond of a cottage; there is always so much comfort, so much elegance about them. " - Jane Austen