Say Hello to Honeybean!

Today is the day, friends! We're so excited to finally unveil what all of our hard work and our dreams! We took the 'bean out for a spin today. It was the first time loading her up and towing her around by our lonesome. We ended up at Percy Warner Park in Belle Meade where we shot a few photos of her. Below I'll share those photos along with the before and afters! We don't have any current interior shots with her all stocked up (except the iPhone 4 ones I'll include) but we ripped out the garment rack she came with and built our own with industrial pipe and flanges. It now holds about 15x the weight and she's as sturdy as ever! (Sadly today we were on the interstate and a tractor trailer blew a tire and it hit Honeybean. We didn't think it did but we got home to find a hefty dent. Luckily it's nothing we can't probably fix ourselves and it doesn't have any effect on the tow or the inside!) We love her so!

Meet our 1968 Yellowstone camper... Bernadette!

To familiarize yourself with the transformation, here is what she started off looking like! And peep some in-progress shots and the final bits! Isn't she marvelous?!

(we got a new air conditioner too!)

(everything in the above two photos was thrifted by Sherry, the lovely woman who did the restorations! She had it stocked for me when we picked it up! Isn't that sweet?! Restorations were done by Fine Designs Camper Sales in Kentucky!)

(I think we're going to recover the cushions to a slightly more neutral color. Not sure what yet!)

We love Bernadette so so very much! Our hearts have never felt so full! We've been hard at work stocking her inside and out and we can't wait to find the perfect location to have the Grand Opening party! Thank you all SO much for being part of our dream! We couldn't do it without you!

To celebrate, we're offering 35% OFF OUR ENTIRE HIVE + HONEY LINE! Just use the code HONEYBEAN and you'll be good to go! Feel free to visit Hive + Honey to stock up on pretty handmade things! H+H will be stocked in Honeybean along with tons of other awesome things!

If you're awaiting a response from me about being a Honeybean designer, please hold tight! Hoping to filter through several of the 125+ emails in my inbox! You are all SO talented! I wish we could stock all of you!

What do you think!? Do you love her as much as we do?!

Want to be part of the 'Bean?!

I'm excited to announce that we will be taking on a select number of indie designers via consignment and wholesale! I didn't intend on getting others involved so soon but the truth lies in the fact that I can't do it all myself if I want to get it rollin' super soon! That's where you come in! 

Are you a crafty maven with an Etsy shop or Big Cartel full your handmade goodness? The 'bean is looking to stock lots of awesome items from other indie designers and entrepreneurs! 

If you'd like to be considered as a Honeybean designer and you want to talk shop, shoot me an email at honeybeanboutique@gmail.com and be sure to include a little bit about yourself, your items and a link to your shop (or some photographic examples of your work!). I hope to hear from you soon! xo

PS; If you design jewelry or other awesome accessories/wearables, we'd really love to hear from you!

Honeybean Mobile Boutique

Yesterday I saw the painted 'bean for the first time! My heart is so incredibly full. I audibly gasped and fumbled for my phone as quickly as possible to text Susannah and Mike the pictures. I cannot even begin to tell how you how real it's starting to feel! Mike worked until after 11 last night so I poked around the house cutting out fabric to make a pennant banner for her. Might as well bring her home in style, right?! A few things will be left to us when she gets in our possession this weekend so I'm scouring the internet for all sorts of odds and ends to add to her. I can't wait to have her in our driveway so I can spend too much time playing with displays and set ups! We're going to be adding a vinyl decal on the back that says "Honeybean mobile boutique" so we're also on the hunt for a reliable sign dealer here in the Nashville area. She's almost home! I can't wait to show y'all pictures!

Until then, I'm going to share some of the branding and "behind the scenes" type stuff! Up first, the logo! Followed by 6 sets of business cards that I've designed. I ordered 3 of the designs last night from Moo and VistaPrint so we'll see how the quality is or if I opt to have them printed locally/elsewhere! 

I hope you don't mind me sharing details like this. Many of you said in a recent post that you loved hearing about the business-y stuff and I know I love sharing it because I'm going to read back on these days in total awe of everything coming together! Design has always been a huge passion of mine but being able to design for my own dream job is just that much more magical! (Say that five times fast!) Thanks for being a part of this journey. I know I say it every single day but you are truly rockstars! I cherish every email, tweet and comment ♥

PS; Like my little drawing of the 'bean that I did last night? It'll replace the one up in the sidebar now since we went for a Yellowstone instead of a Shasta! I love Shastas but I couldn't be happier with our decision!

Honeybean Sneak Peek!

Oh my stars! I moved today's Wedding Wednesday post back a few hours so I could share this teensy weensy tiny lil sneak peek with you all! Last night I was phone with the family who is doing the renovations on our camper and she told me she took a few pictures of it. I was so nervous! I had this vision in my head of exactly what I wanted and I was so afraid it wouldn't be spot on and I'd be heartbroken. Well honeybees... I'm elated! Several parts are different from what we first imagined, but it's coming together so very well!

Thursday and Friday she's getting her exterior paint job as well as a new roof sealant... and then hopefully Saturday we'll pick her up (if time allows!). If not, we're loading up the car Sunday no matter what and we're bringing our baby home! (Okay, I say no matter what but we'll see!) I cannot tell you how excited we are! Our hard work and passion is finally paying off! AHHHH!

I'm only giving you a small little snippet of the inside! This is the "dining" area and side shelves. A table will go in between the two dinette benches and it'll have big plush cushions on it, too! 

Look at that floor! a;lkdfja;sldj! I can't even! We didn't think the floor was going to happen but it was like a crazy miracle and she called us as we were meeting with some flooring people in town! It couldn't be more divine! 

Can you believe it?! It's actually happening! Thank you SO much for being part of this adventure with me!

Honeybean Mobile Boutique

Today is the day, friends! Honeybean Mobile Boutique has been born! Mike went with me this morning to get my new snazzy business license and to open a business bank account! Pending my small business loan, we will be good to go! Loan approved! We're getting there! I'm making calls today to find the perfect Shasta baby for our little boomin' biz! I'm on a roll and I have no intention on slowing down anytime soon. It's definitely an exciting time for us!

If you've emailed me in the past week and have yet to receive a response, stick with me! I promise to get to you soon. It was a crazy crazy chaotic weekend of product photography, party planning, friend enjoyin', and working. I'm hoping to get back on my feet this week! I also have a lot of design work to do so emails tend to get put on the backburner! If you have something that is quick and you need an immediate response, tweet me @kaelahbee!

I can't wait to share with you the rest of this journey! It's going to be so much fun! xo

ETA: WE GOT A 1960's SHASTA!!!! They're starting work on it tomorrow! We custom built the entire inside and my heart could not possibly be more full! Everything is falling into place!

Operation Honeybean! Hand-drawn Typography...

Hello honeybees! So in light of my recent career announcement, I had many people offer up the idea of starting a KickStarter fund for people to help support my self-employed dreams. While I truly appreciate all of your sweet gestures, words, and encouragement at my hesitation, I simply do not feel comfortable doing such a thing. While I fully understand the reason KickStarter (and various other funding websites) exist, I don't feel comfortable accepting money when my endeavor is one that will (hopefully!) generate me profit. If the circumstances were different, perhaps I wouldn't be so quick to write it off. Even when I said I didn't really like the idea, so many of you jumped in and said that it would be wonderful and you'd love to support my endeavor, and that means the world to me! But rather than just giving me your money, how about I earn it? 

I mentioned in my post that 100% of the profits from Hive + Honey, Kaelah's Closet, and at least 50% from sponsoring Little Chief Honeybee would go to fund my little dream... well, since I'm going at it alone, I need to get creative in other ways to help fund it. So here I am! Presenting you with my newest creation! Hand-drawn typography!

(this typeface is not one of them sadly! :P)

I loved making my own typefaces in college and I really really love scribbling them down in my Little Book of Ideas. I formatted them out as a typeface for myself and thought, why not offer them to you, too?! You're obviously design savvy people! I've spent oh so many hours drawing up some typefaces and I will be releasing one at a time. The process is simple... you just purchase the typeface via PayPal and it will be emailed to you within 24 hours. You just download the file and install the font! Then you're free to use it on Word, Photoshop, Illustrator, etc! You can change the size, color, opacity... you name it! And of course, 100% of the proceeds will go directly into the mobile boutique fund! 

I had a lot of fun making them and I'll continue to work toward new ones daily! If you have an idea of something you'd like to see, let me know! I'm even working on a few sets of "Webding" type symbols! Cutesy stuff! 

Up for grabs first is a typeface I first started my sophomore year of college! I drew it for my Loquat album-redesign and it's been my "go to" style for doodling ever since! Feel free to purchase below!

Sketchbook 2011

PS; I can also make you a custom signature (like mine!) using your handwriting, mine, or a typeface for just $5! Email me at kaelahbee@gmail.com if you're interested!