It's taken me a week to determine what my word for 2018 will be. At first I landed on EMBRACE. I thought it would be a good word to help inspire me for the next 52 weeks ahead. 2017 was full of many blessings, but I have to admit it also had its share of disappointments as well. 2017 brought many personal life curveballs that at times had me crumbling to the ground, emotionally and physically. The word "embrace" has so many meanings. To me it means fully embracing whatever is coming at me in 2018. Also, to embrace the negative circumstances that may come my way this year while still trying to remain positive. I'm determined to go into 2018 with a ton of optimism and remind myself often that God has a bigger plan than my own.

But, after I gave so much thought to EMBRACE, I eventually landed on GROW. This word means so much to me in 2018. To me, it means growing more spiritually in my walk with God and using the tools at my disposal to look internally and learn how I can be the best version of myself. But, for years I have wanted to grow my own business. I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease in 2009, and after much research, I knew being my own boss would eventually be the best place for me. I started branching out into my freelance career in 2012 and quickly hit the ground running. I couldn't believe the growth I was having in my first couple years, but like many businesses, that growth slowed over the years. So, this year I have made the promise to myself to focus on my word for 2018, GROW.

I am blessed to have amazing customers and opportunities to work with several non-profits and I am determined to EMBRACE all opportunities in 2018 and GROW this business into a sustainable one. Perched Owl has a refreshed determination and I'm excited to see what GROWTH 2018 brings!

My newest venture into Direct Selling has inspired some new invitation designs! Check out some of these best selling options from my Etsy shop! Provide me with your event details and I'll set up the invitation proof for you! All you have to do is review the proof and approve! Once approval is received, I'll provide you with several high resolution print files! Easy peasy!!

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When my best friend called me last spring to tell me she was expecting I was over-the-moon excited! I was going to be an "aunt" to a new little person! I immediately went overboard thinking of all the little things I wanted to buy and the baby shower I wanted to throw for her... So, when the time came for her baby shower I couldn't contain my excitement to design her shower invitations!! Now, we all have a sweet baby boy, Dean, to love and cherish... and... SPOIL!!

This week I'm throwing it back to one of my most memorable design challenges. Early on in my freelance career I had a bride come to me by the recommendation of a good friend. She wanted something very imaginative and different. With inspiration from Pinterest she wanted her Save the Date invitations to be printed on cork board!! Being a designer that loves challenges and has several "connections" I quickly found a resource to print these unique invitations!

The bride sent me a few samples which I took to my printer for test prints. We sampled different ink colors and together we decided the black ink would look the cleanest and most sophisticated. Once I put the design together and the bride was satisfied we were off to the printers and VOILA! By far one of my most memorable, coolest, designs to date!

To say that I'm in LOVE would be an understatement. A customer came to me with this idea last week and said the mother-to-be would never have kids... her words were "when pigs fly". So, when she found out she was pregnant, the baby shower theme was undoubtedly going to be influenced by flying pigs! I was so excited to custom design and invitation that it came to me very easily...and quick! The customer loved it and off we went to the printer!