Birthday Giveaway!!

In honor of Merry May's birthday we are giving away a $25 gift certificate to our online shop! All you have to do is go to shopmerrymay.com and tell us what you'd like to buy if you win. If you spread the word and leave a link in the comments you will receive an extra entry. We will announce the winner in about a week.

OUR FIRST EVENT OF THE SEASON!!!!

OMG OMG OMG OMG.  Our first event of the season is this SATURDAY!!! From 6-8 we will be at Medlock Plaza's Short Leash Saturday. I can't wait and here's why:

• Short Leash is amazing. Mmmm.
• Medlock Plaza events are always SO fun.
• I love everyone who works at Frances and Smeeks. EVERYONE.
• Georgeann is my hero.
• I wanna shop my face off and buy all of the fall goodies at Frances. There is a striped peplum top that needs to be mine.
• I wanna eat so much candy at Smeeks.
• And the biggest reason I can't wait- HOPEFULLY I'll see many of your sweet faces again! I'm so eager to get out and catch up with all of you wonderful people!  

Check out the Frances Smeeks blog for more info.

Press || Phoenix Style Collective

My dear friends over at the Phoenix Style Collective wrote a post about me! Woo! Check it out here and love them because I do!

New Things || Shop Update

And so much more at SHOPMERRYMAY.COM

My dear friend Jarrett came by and helped me photograph a ton of products for the online shop last week! New things will continue to go up each day so be sure to visit often. 

Lovey Love you all <3

Best of Phoenix

I won a Best of Phoenix award!

Last Thursday I was hanging with Trev when all of a sudden I got a text from my BFF Jasmine. It read, "You got a Best Of in New Times!" I was caught off guard to say the least... and to be honest, I didn't have a clue what she was saying (autocorrect mistake perhaps?). My slow brain finally connected the dots and then exploded out of excitement. MY BRAIN EXPLODED.

Growing up as a young girl attending high school in downtown Phoenix, I was always studying at Lux, eating at That's a Wrap or attending local fashion shows. I was always searching for cool things and totally admired the people working to make our town awesome. Now I'm growin up and feel like I'm becoming one of those people I used to admire so much! Every time I've gotten an award or recognition or, hell, even a blog post written about me I've been so honored, humbled, and blown away. I am totally inspired and hope that I can build my dream and maybe even one day be an inspiration to people, the way people like Angela Johnson or Kimber Lanning were to me.

Woot Woo!

Our online shop is now open. While we've only got a handful of things up at the moment, rest assured we've got a boat load of stuff that will be added in the coming weeks (like, a whole room in our house full of gems!). I'd love if you would stop over and take a look around. Be sure to let me know if you have any questions or suggestions for us. We'd love to get your take on it.

shopmerrymay.com

Also, I'm very excited because I have begun seeking out events for the trailer now that the oppressive heat is beginning to lift. There are some really exciting events coming up in and around downtown so cross your fingers that we can get into them. I can't wait to get back out there and see all you lovely folks again. Finally, Trevor and I have been talking about doing a shop open house/bbq at our home in the coming months. Would anyone be interested?

Secret Sneak Peak

Here's what I've been working on....

It's not quite ready yet but we (me, my bf, and some amazing friends and family) are planning on launching it next week. We've got a small inventory up and will continue to add inventory daily till we are completely stocked. Check back next week for more.

Big News || Merry May Shoppe Launch!

Merry May, a mobile vintage shoppe housed in a 1961 Shasta Airflyte is set to launch in a week! That's right! We are launching at Roosevelt Row's second annual Pie Social. It's one of my very most favorite events that Roosevelt Row does and I'm so excited and honored to be a part of it. We've got one lil week and lots to do! If you're local pretty please stop by to see us November 12th!

My Baby

Remember how I bought that super rad trailer that one time?

Well, we went out to Oklahoma to pick it up! (we actually picked it up some time ago and I'm just now posting about it. Oops!) Anyways, I'm pretty much in love. I've not loved something so much since I got my Iphone (Haha, kinda sorta kidding. But also kinda not : ).

Here's a buncha photos from our trip! Yay!

Humphrey and I- Ready to go!

Boooredom = taking weird pictures.

Tipi- AZ.

Water park- somewhere in TX.

NM had so many great old signs.

We made it!! (Notice those floral cushions in the trailer. They're gonna need to go.)

Bored again.

Pretty!-TX.

Tipi- AZ.

Sign- OK.

My Baby!!

I'm so stoked and can't wait for it to cool down a bit to begin working on it. First task- painting the interior. It's unfortunate that the previous owner painted over the pretty wood walls. But... Whatcha gonna do? The worst part is that the interior (weird fleshy peach color) and the exterior (vibrant yellow) clash. Each is pretty but not together.

 Down the road I would love to paint the exterior a minty color.

-weheartit.com-

That's what's guiding my choice for the interior. I'm thinking pretty golden white color.

Thoughts? Ideas?

Boot are Coming...

Boots are coming to Merry May Farm. Stay tuned for first dibs.

Life Lessons Part 2

Focus on yourself. Like I mentioned yesterday, I do think there are some good things about being selfish. First off, selfishness propels us to act. It helps us get things done. I also strongly believe that you must take care of yourself first before you help others. If we focus on ourselves, our desires and needs, we will be better able to help others.

There is no use in complaining; it doesn't do any good anyway. Here's another from my sweet ol' great grandpa. Of course everyone needs a good bitchfest every once and a while. But not only is it better to act than react to situations that arise, its far more empowering and esteem building to find the silver lining in any situation. Looking at things positively makes it easier to make magic happen too.

Don't waste time planning; things rarely unfold as you had planned. Ok so I must admit that this one is seriously hard for me. I waste soooooo much time planning. It's so stupid because all the time we spend planning we are missing out on so many beautiful things going on in this world- we're letting life pass us by! And, seriously, have you ever had a plan for how things will unfold and things happen exactly as you had planned? Not me. Not once.

There's always time to create. Sometimes it's really hard to be creative, especially in the working world where creativity if often squashed by systemization. But there are tons of quick and easy ways to infuse your world with creativity. And your time will be well spent because creative expression is empowering and, to me at least, life affirming!

And an extra I just thought of : ) Do what you say you are going to do. If you want to succeed, in business or relationships, do what you say you are going to do. That means, if you know you never wake up before 8, don't schedule a coffee date for 7:30 in hopes you can drag yourself out of bed. It's worse to make plans and promises and break them than not make them at all because its just not realistic for you. Be respectful of others by doing what you say. Plus, you don't want to be known as that person.

What lessons have you learned in your life? I would love to know.

Merry May Farm, I Trade Handmade, and More!

Announcing the new and improved, Merry May Farm!!

So... I don't know if you remember but I talked a while back about how I was working on making some changes around here. Long story short- I have been working really hard over the past year or so at making changes in my life. I am working at figuring out what is important to me and how to put those things first- how to create a life I am passionate about. Well one of the things I really wanted to do was revamp my Etsy shop. I created it a loooong time ago- kind of on a whim- then neglected it since. So I've been working hard to fill it with things I love. As many of you, I really want to be able to create a life for myself through blogging, creating, and collecting- my favorite things.  I know its a long, tough road ahead but good things are worth fighting for.

One a similar note, I am proud and excited to announce that I jumped on the "I Trade Handmade" bandwagon. If you don't already know about it, "I Trade Handmade" was conceived over at Under Those Neon Lights (awesome blog) and offers a whole list of amazing crafters willing to trade their handmade goods! This is so fun and I am happy to be part of it for various reasons. In fact, I have a little challenge coming up later this week that should explain more.

P.S. If you find something in my shop you can't live without, be sure to include (in the message to the seller part) that you are my blog friend. I'll include a super special present for you : )

Heroes

I wanted to share with y'all some of my personal heroes. These folks are all amazing and inspiring. I hope they get you jazzed for your day!

Faythe Levine is the producer and director of my very favorite documentary Handmade Nation. She is working on a new documentary about American sign painters which will surely be amazing.

Rob Kalin is the founder and CEO of Etsy.com. "In June of 2005 while living alone in a wood shop and wanting some company, I came upon the idea of Etsy, and then the name, and then the design. I was twenty five years old with three cats." It's so inspiring to see someone so young doing such unbelievable things.

Ira Glass, the totally attractive and brilliant host of This American Life, began working in public radio as an intern some 30 years ago. Look at him now.

Jenny Hart is a writer, artist, and the founder of Sublime Stitching. She makes some of the most unbelievable pieces you will ever see. She has revolutionized the art of hand embroidery.

I just really like this show : )

Sources 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Who are your heroes??

Workin' Hard

I've been working hard and fast at revamping my sad and lonely Etsy shop.

Looong story short-I made this headband right before a company Christmas party because I was lacking something fun to wear. Before the party I went to the annual Crafeteria at Francis, an amazing local boutique. Georgeanne, the amazingly smart and talented owner of Francis told me I should make some more to sell in her shop. Well, from there I expanded and asked my Butter Toast friends if I could sell them in their shop and they kindly obliged. I made an Etsy shop to get my work out there but over the past couple months have decided to give it a BIG face lift.

I am working hard at intorducing a new crop of vintage home goods to Merry May Farm! Here's a sneak peak : )

Do you have an Etsy shop? How did you get started and what are your goals for it?