Iowa | Esparto Studio by Regina

Puppies and fall projects

Posted on October 17, 2018October 17, 2018 by admin

Who doesn’t love a puppy!! Our chocolate lab (Dixie) is nearing her 10^th birthday and we decided it was time for her to teach a puppy the lay of the land at our house. So everyone meet out new silver lab Ridley. She is fun.. and a handful!

Despite the new distraction I have been getting some new work done! This fall in local stores or by contacting me I will have some fun new items! They are currently in progress and will be available soon.

I stumbled along this little machine called a Zutter at a garge sale late this summer… it makes spiral bound books! I have been creating fun notepads with little extras inside the pages with it. I can also create a special notebook for you from a book you have at home.. maybe a fun title for a co-worker, something special for a teacher. It is a useful gift with a lot of personality!

Also in the mix are wreaths made from book pages. They are beautiful. The process to create them takes some patience… but I just turn on Pandora and jam to some music and work away. They are great for any season … I just happen to be rolling them out before the holidays.

This year’s Christmas tree is a simple design, one tree looks great, but a grouping of them really dresses up the mantel.

I’ll be sure to post when everything is finished and available.

Family Fun and Shopping Local

Posted on September 10, 2018 by admin

Have you checked out your local farmer’s market? I love visiting the Fort Dodge market! And now the town I grew up in is hosting a market that started in August and will continue in September and October. What fun we had and check out this locally created pumpkin to adorn my yard this fall!

Enjoy the harvest…. my pumpkin (yup..not plural… I have just one) and my first time growing cantaloupe has me excited! I have a bounty of other veggies coming on and when the garden comes to a close I will get to work creating with books again.

Enjoy these warm late summer days and get out an enjoy the local offerings available to you.

Earth Day is almost here!

Posted on April 16, 2018 by admin

Each spring (even if it does not feel like spring outside) I celebrate Earth Day with a sale. I enjoy recycling books (that were headed mostly headed to a landfill) into new items! I also use other recycled items in my creations. Because of this I feel Earth Day is a fitting holiday for me to celebrate.

From Friday, April 20^th – Monday, April 23^rd you can use coupon code EARTHDAY10 to save 10% on your online order from my Etsy shop.

I will be posting fun Earth Day and recycling info all week long. If you want to learn more check out the Earth Day website https://www.earthday.org/earthday

Here is to hoping spring really is coming this year!

How eleven became my favorite number

Posted on November 22, 2017 by admin

Each year I celebrate the 11th month of the year as eleven is my favorite number, and has been since the age of seven… I was married on 11/11/11 and that year our dog had 11 puppies! True story.

Why eleven? I was home sick with the chickenpox for the week, it was the week in school that we were learning the number that add up to eleven…. 8 + 3, 9 + 2 … well you get the idea. My mom, being the teacher she was, made sure I kept up on my school work and taught me this math lesson… to this day I (who do not make math in my head) know numbers that add to eleven better than any other math.

End of story.

This year the celebration is simple… from now until the end of the month save 11% OFF order of $10 or more in my Etsy shop with coupon code ELEVENOFF. Or just click here and the code will be in for you automatically!

It’s time! The holiday shopping season is here.

This is the coolest feedback ever

Posted on November 4, 2017November 22, 2017 by admin

Last night I was having an ordinary evening until I received a notice on my Etsy shop that someone had sent me a message. Well, this gal named Joan had ordered a ‘Mentor Print’ and had received it and was happy with her order and the prompt shipping… THEN she explained that she couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw the address I had sent it from. She grew up in the house I live in now, my address had been her address! We plan for her to contact me next time she is in the area to take a peek inside – I did warn her that my creativity seems to get in the way of my housekeeping … but with fair warning she was welcome to come take a look around. What a small world!

New this fall 2017

Posted on September 20, 2017September 27, 2017 by admin

Greetings all. I have been busy in the garden all summer and have been spending the past few weeks harvesting my goods! I have made Amish Hot Mustard, Salsa, Spaghetti Sauce and more! I will be all stocked up for winter.

I also did a few fun projects for myself this summer, refurbishing a $2 metal cart for my patio and painting on some old windows.

Fun times were spent with my family and my husband, going to races, fishing, enjoying time with my nephews and all that summer brings.

I am now beginning my fall stock up on my Etsy site and preparing for a few fall sales. One in the Des Moines are in late October and perhaps a local Fort Dodge show closer to Christmas. I have also began to stock items at The Tin Shed in downtown Fort Dodge and will be cutting back on vendor shows this season.

New for fall is the introduction of leather into some of my necklaces… and leather earrings are all the rage this fall… so I have added some of those into the mix as well!

Check them out here.

Enjoy!