Working, Like for Real

Julie Tiu June Monday Mugshot 6-15-15

And now starts summer

It’s the first official day of summer vacation for my family (I didn’t count the weekend, because that’s just normal scheduling.) and I’m skipping out the door to work. Work. Official part-time job. EXCITING! With a touch of good butterflies. And, ironically, the picture above shows that I’m having a cup of coffee and I’m going to work at our local tea shop, tea room, TeaLula. Let the record show: I never said I was solely a tea or coffee drinker. I’m equal opportunity.

So, what might this mean – this official part-time job? I get to work with friends. Awesome. I’ll learn, research, create content and write… I even get to play with some products and merchandise displays if I’m good. I wasn’t necessarily looking for work, but it seemed like such a natural fit that I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. Besides, I’ve kept myself in some sort of (work) loop for eight and a half years with dabbling in papercrafts, sewing, food blogging, art workshops, and copious amounts of volunteer work at church and school that mostly revolve around graphic layouts, writing, editing and social media. (Stay-at-home-mom clearly meant staying at home and working my butt off?)

It’ll be a great, new adventure.

Who knows, it might just inspire new projects and posts here, too!

—–

Come and follow me at facebook.com.

12 Days of Gift Wrapping: Basic supplies, tools and how to pack a gift box

12 Days of Gift Wrapping, Julie Tiu, Basic supplies

How much fun is it to hang out with people who love to wrap gifts as much as you do? Last week I headed up a gift wrapping workshop, craft class… gathering. Lots. Of. Fun! I prepared way more than the two hours would allow, but that’s okay for my first time teaching gift wrapping (HA, a teacher. Me.)! I definitely have learned some lessons now that I have taught two “craft” classes on my own.

12 Days of Gift Wrapping, Julie Tiu, Basic supplies

So, here we are beyond “Beyond the Bow”. Sort of like Oprah’s “After the Show”. We could call this “Beyond the Bow: After Class”, and I am going to share what we talked about in class, and more.

12 Days of Gift Wrapping, Julie Tiu, Basic supplies

Let’s start with the basic supplies and tools of the trade. Gather your paper, ribbons and trim. (I’ll share some gift tag ideas around Day 11 or 12.) Maybe sooner.

12 Days of Gift Wrapping, Julie Tiu, Basic supplies

I wore a craft apron during the workshop – SO handy. And, no I did not sew it myself (just because you can, doesn’t mean you have to) but I’ll probably put that on the projects-to-do list.

Think of all the things you might use when you’re wrapping gifts: Sharp scissor for paper only, scissors for fabric only, tape measure, fancy-edge scissors, craft blade, hole punch.

12 Days of Gift Wrapping, Julie Tiu, Basic supplies

Other things you should have on hand: tape (Scotch brand, double-sided and regular), glue gun (for embellishments, later in the week). Note: Do not put the glue gun in your apron.

And here is my pair of multi-blade scissors (I made these crepe paper flowers with them last year.).

12 Days of Gift Wrapping, Julie Tiu, Basic supplies

One of the things that I didn’t think of for the class is – how do you pack a gift box with fragile items? Here’s how I do it. Prepare your gifts and your gift box with plenty of tissue paper (see the following pictures). Continue reading, there’s more!

Mugshot Monday: The Bright Side

Mugshot Monday: The Bright Side | Kawaii drawing

Not a lot of sunshine here yesterday, and the weather has been so mild for summer. It’s been so mild that last weekend it felt like football weather – sunny, crisp breeze, and downright chilly in the evening. Even my daughter said, “It feels like, like, October.” It’ll be harsh when the temps go past 80 degrees later today and tomorrow – my kids start complaining. The bright side… I’ve been in drawing-and-doodling mode lately. (Check out some of my drawings at Instagram.) And in my mug is a blend of green and black tea with notes of vanilla and fruit (Mystic Moons and Madagascar Fine Bourbon from TeaLula).

I could have taken a picture outside, clouds and all, but I was preoccupied with preparing for my husband’s parents coming back to town for a week. Nothing refreshes a dormant house like opening up the windows and a good cleaning.

So excited to have our young niece around too… she’ll get lots of attention from her big cous’.

Ollie and Ella

Mugshot Monday: Good Old Days

TeaLula storefront (Park Ridge)

TeaLula storefront with customer and family pictures over the years (Park Ridge)

We headed to our favorite tea shop for Mugshot Monday. Yesterday morning was a little more festive than usual – TeaLula celebrated its five year anniversary! (What a great milestone for a new business!) Check out the big number five – a picture of Oliver is at the tail end. He fell asleep on that table, in that very window.

TeaLula Anniversary Blend

Enjoying a new brew

Chinese Bai Mudan white tea

Chinese Bai Mudan white tea

TeaLula: Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for 5th Anniversary

TeaLula: sitting at the bar

TeaLula: refreshments

Mingling around with our tea friends, having a spot of tea, scones and fruit made for a lovely morning.

TeaLula with my tea buddy

TeaLula with my tea buddy

It’s hard to remember now, lugging Oliver’s infant car seat into the shop. (So sweet how the staff remembers.) Then he learned to sit up at the bar and sip his rooibos… totally content. Now we bring the iPad so I can have a little more time to chat with our friends.

TeaLula with my tea buddy

It wasn’t just a teashop for me. It was my refuge once a week, a time to talk with “grown-ups”. (We tease now because we’re not sure how “grown up” our conversations were!) I was settling into my new role as a stay at home mom, and with postpartum depression experience from the first time around, I was hell bent on not going down that path again. TeaLula was my way of doing something for me, even if it was just for an hour or so.

When I first went to the store, I could not get over how quaint and cute everything was. Talk about wanting to buy everything…

TeaLula mugs
TeaLula mugs
TeaLula: aprons

Sheila Duda capturing the morning

Sheila capturing the morning

So, congratulations and thank you, Sheila, for not just creating the loveliest, cutest shop ever, but creating an atmosphere of friendship and hospitality. It’s a haven for anyone. The best part wasn’t learning about all the delicious teas from around the world, it was meeting you and everyone at TeaLula who I can call friends. Here’s to more good old days.

**Update: Links to more TeaLula posts including Oliver falling asleep.

Mugshot Monday (on Wednesday): The Going-Ons

Surprise visit from my sis-in-law, birthday project, works-in-progress… no wonder I missed posting on Monday! Well, not totally. I did post my mugshot on Instagram. But here’s an “outtake”.

Mugshot Monday: Yerba Mate Tea

Here I have a mug of Café Maté from our favorite tea shop … a delicious alternative to coffee, lovely with milk. Almost enough to wake me up from the Daylight Savings stupor. What it as bad for everyone else? Awful.

Speaking of TeaLula, we did the Harlem Shake! Crazy tea shop friends.

So, what’s been churning in the craft room these days?

Personalized nursery art

Here’s the finished nursery art project for my niece. I went with a monkey theme after the burp cloths I made for her, and she just loves her monkey “binky”. My daughter made the quilled bananas, and I found the little bugs on sale at Michael’s. I added some bling (what girl doesn’t like bling?) and buttons to add some interest. Want a closer look? I posted a picture at the Facebook page.
A Chicago Bulls fan, quilt in progress, read on!

Related Posts with Thumbnails