{paper umbrella & me & gold glitter raindrops}

When I first moved to the Cathedral Village, I instantly fell in love with a sweet little paper shop just down the street from our new place. It was this whimsical little place that sold journals and pens and stationary and gifts and other fantastic miscellany. Stuff you couldn't get anywhere else, stuff you wouldn't even think of until the exact moment you saw it and realized you needed it.

The shop owners, Brad and Theresa, were part of the magic of the place too--they made you feel as though you were their favourite customer, and as though your life was the most fascinating and fun life they'd ever heard of. They asked questions and remembered the answers. 

They were excited about their store; they were excited about their customers. 

And so, obviously, I could never walk past without going in, at least to say hi and buy a card.

{I now have a drawer full of cards that I've deemed too pretty to give away.}

It's been three years or so since I moved here now, and three years of ducking in to say hi has evolved into a really sweet friendship. I started teaching their son piano this fall, and, just recently, they asked me to give their website a little makeover and do some other little jobs for the company.

I was so excited. 

No. You read that wrong. You read it like, "I was so excited." You should have read it like, "I WAS SO EXCITED!"

Because there's something about being invited to be a part of something that you've loved for so long from the outside. It was like my favourite band pulled up to my house in their crafty little tour bus and asked me to join. Or like the guy who invented spaghetti offered to put my name on the box. Just a wonderful, good thing. 

Anyway. I've been working with them for maybe a month now, and we finished up the website last week sometime. Click over and say hi, if you want. And if you live in the area, you absolutely should wander in and say hi. 

{I turned the design into an iPhone case too, because I was pretty excited about the gold glitter raindrops.}