A New Path

I hope you are all having a great week!  Today, my post is a bit different than previous ones.

Most of my blogging thus far has been about the projects going on around our house and the inspiration I have found from other bloggers and decorators/designers on the web. 

 I wanted to open up a bit more and share a few things about myself and what I am currently up to. 

As of last April, I received my teaching license to teach elementary school k-6.  Since receiving my license, I have been working as a substitute teacher in the school district in our area.  I have gained a lot of experience working with the students in all elementary grade levels, but so far, the teaching jobs in our area continue to be far and few between.  I haven't given up hope on a teaching job, but I am also looking down other avenues. 

Throughout this past two years, while I was working towards becoming a teacher, I have also been heading down a different path without even knowing it :-)  

To me this couldn't come at a better time! 

The other path I have decided to take is

Interior Decorating. 

 I don't know where it started, but I know that I have always loved the ability to express myself in various artistic forms and interior decorating seems to come natural to me!! 

Let me take ya back...

Eight years ago, I started a cake design business with my mother in law.  We started from scratch, but moved quickly from the regular bakery style sheet cakes in to some amazing works of art for our clients.  I worked with my mother in law to design the cakes and from there I was able to bring the cakes to life!  Many of our high end cakes that I was fortunate enough to create, where published in Wedding Cakes, A Design Source Magazine.  It was something I never imagined would happen and to this day, was one of my biggest accomplishments :)

Designing and decorating cakes gave me a lot of insight into decorating!  Over time I knew what colors worked well with others, how to give the right mood or feel to a cake, and working with my mother in law, we were able to bring a brides dream to reality!

My mother in law Elizabeth Williams is still running the cake business The Magic Cupboard.  You can check out the amazing site here.  

Here are some of the cakes I was able to make during my time at The Magic Cupboard.

 

Spongebob was one of the funnest cakes to make!!! 

This cake was by far my favorite baby shower cake! 

 Anyone for a backyard BBQ?

The tiara and pillow cakes always seemed to be a big hit...

 My attempt at a Vera Bradley Knock off.

A surprise firefighter groom's cake for one of my husband's co workers. 

The last two cakes describe more of my current environment of the DIY world ;-)

 

Just taking this little cake walk ;-) down memory lane is bitter sweet!

It was a VERY difficult choice to step away from designing and decorating cakes, but my kiddos where still little and needed more of my time than the cakes would allow! 

So, where does that leave me?  Well, I have thought long and hard about it and I have come to the decision to start my own interior decorating business.  I know, CRAZY and EXCITING all in one!!!  Currently a little more Exciting than crazy.  I went back and forth over the name and finally chose Seaside Interiors, LLC. 

 I have a relaxed and cozy way of decorating, I love to decorate interiors that give the feel of a retreat in your home, and I live on the East Coast, so I think the name kinda sums it up ;-) 

I still have quite a few things to do which include:

Building a Website

Setting up my Office

Make my Brochures

Begin Marketing my Business

Adding an E-Design Option to my blog and/or website

Have a logo made

A few things on the list are already underway. 

First, I am currently working with Molly of Mixed Molly Designs

 to create my logo and business cards.  I saw Molly's work on Blue Roof Cabin when she created this logo for Mimi.   

 I emailed Molly immediately!  She has a great eye for designing logos and her pricing is very reasonable and much cheaper than many of the other graphic designers that I came across.

So over this next month, I will be able to share with you my choices of logo and the completed product.  I am soo excited to see the end result!!!

Another "to do" is to set up the E-Designs portion of my business on my blog and website.  Many of you already know about E-Designs, which are also known as Mood Boards or Design Boards.  I have been creating them for a few years now.  I started doing them for my own rooms when we began to build our house and then more recently I was asked by friends and family to create Mood Boards for their homes.  I love doing them and I hope by this next week I will be able to have it set up and available on my blog. 

Here is one of the recent Mood Boards I created...

Thanks for letting me share all that with you guys!  I would love to hear your feedback and I will keep you posted on the process of starting my business.