Sadie Olive – The Blog

family, love, and everyday muses.

Well, hello there!

If you haven't been here before, allow me to properly introduce myself. My name is Sara Duckett. I am 35 years old and one of five girls in my family. I am happily married to a handsome, slightly older man named Josh. We live in Orange County, California with our pup Hannah and two kitties, Mason and Annabelle. We just recently were blessed with an unbelievably adorable baby boy, Finn, who we privately adopted earlier this year. He is the light of our lives, and is absolutley adored around here.

About four years ago, I decided to start an online shop, selling home decor and accessories. At the time Josh and I had been struggling with years of infertility and I needed a positive distraction. I am shopoholic, and thought nothing could be as fun as helping others shop just as much as I do! And so Sadie Olive was born. (Sadie Olive being the name Josh and I had once picked out for a future daughter).

Soon after I started the online shop, I started dabbling in web design. Sadie Olive Design allowed me to keep up with the boutique while helping others start their own online businesses. It provides an additional creative outlet for me and connects me with so many wonderful people.

This site has opened the door to many opportunities I would not have known otherwise; including the honor of being featured in a few magazines. Our home was featured in the March 2008 issue of Romantic Homes Magazine, the Fall 2008 issue of Budget Decorating (A Woman's Day Special Publication), and the Fall 2008 issue of Dovetales (A Boston magazine). My design business has also been featured in Artful Blogging Magazine, the Fall 2008 issue.

Photography is another passion of mine, although it probably gets the least amount of my attention. I truly believe that if you follow your heart and live your passions, they will shine through for others to see. I hope that you find this blog, and my photos worth peeking in on every now and then.

Monthly Archives: July 2007

Happenings and such…

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Well I managed to make the move from blogger to typepad…. It took me a few loooong hours trying to figure out how things work in this new control panel, but I am pleased with the results. (I’m a little bored with the look of the design, but I will have to lose a few hours of sleep at a different time for that one!). My blog thus far has brought me some great friends, and I hope that I can manage to keep all of the same and find new even after my "change of address". :)

I have some exciting new items for the store. The enamel signs have come in, as well as some very fun decor and accessories. I have several big boxes to go through, and I am exhausted trying to get through it all! I have some photos of some of the new items… (they are not available online yet, but will be later this week). You can always send me an email to reserve an item if you feel you just can’t wait. (A word to the wise… I only stock of few of each item I have on the site, so if you don’t get it the first time around, it will be a month or so before I get more).

A few close friends of mine are hosting an "open house" with several vendors, and I have decided to participate. It should be fun. We have some free gifts, raffles, and refreshments for the customers. It’s my first "in person" sale event, so I am excited to see how it goes… If you live in Orange County (CA) and want to join us, send me an email and I will give you the information. It will be at the end of August. Depending on how it goes, we may make a regular thing of it, so all you crafty etsy-er’s let me know if you would like to be a vendor and join us.

There are many more new items to come, these are just the few I managed to snap photos of before I am off to bed! Hope you find everything as lovely as I do! Good night!

Posted in shop news

weekend to do’s

Saturday, July 28, 2007

My youngest sister, Morgan received the keys to her new house this week. She and her finance Mike, both just graduated college, sold their condo in Utah and are well on their way to setting up their new "adult" lives at home in Orange County. They are busy finding their dream jobs, buying a home, (and all new furniture since their condo was sold furnished with their stuff!), and on top of all that – planning their wedding for November! I am so proud of them both.

I must say I have been excited all week for her to get the keys, because I’m dying to get in there and help decorate! Although Morgan and I share the same tastes in clothes and a lot of other things, she and Mike have a very different style than I do; they like clean modern pieces with a sparse uncluttered look, adding a touch of the islands here and there. The condo has great bones, new carpet, cathedral ceilings, lots of windows, but needs a little updating with the fixtures and colors. It’s going to be amazing when they are done with it, I’m sure. The best part is it’s only down the street from me!

Her bridal shower is fast approaching too. I have been trying to come up with a few great ideas for that one too. I will share pictures for sure!

I am also expecting a shipment of some new pretty things for the shop, (glass cloches are among them for those of you who have been asking) as well as a few new cake stands, frames, and fun black and white signs. I will be trying to get these all online ASAP!

Hope you are all having a great weekend. :)

Posted in family

the o.c. fair

Monday, July 23, 2007

We went to the fair on Sunday with my sister Lindsey, her husband Nate, daughter Lauren, my other sister Morgan, her fiance Mike, and her Dad Craig. It was the perfect day to go, not too hot, and not so crowded it was unbearable…

Thought I would share a few (ok…. a lot) of photos from our day….

Posted in family

I am crafty!

Saturday, July 21, 2007

I was home alone today all day (Josh was out riding dirt bikes with my nephew and brother in law), and was growing a little tired of the computer. In my boredom I decided I would attempt my second ever craft project…. the first project was earlier this week… which had cute but not quite so perfect results… (a sign for the fence to accessorize the new garden).

I am in love with all of the vintage ephemera I have being finding at flea markets, etsy, ebay, and fellow blogs… and have acquired quite the collection of ephemera and craft supplies over the last few months. I love what I have, but I haven’t really been inspired to do anything with it… until today.

I purchased these cute cut outs from Deb a few months back and decided they needed to be decoupaged with some of my favorite vintage papers and given some personality. (Deb is having a give away, by the way, so head on over and enter, or just buy some of these cute letters).

I covered the “2″ with some old ledger paper and only put the writing on the bottom. I added a bingo call tag at first to embellish it, but I liked the plain buttons much better…. The “s” I covered in old pages from a recipe book, and added some buttons again to tie the two pieces together… The sides were difficult for me to handle so I painted them white to get around having the decoupage them.

I liked how these two came out so much, that I decided to keep going… I grabbed a frame with a green mat that I have had in a cupboard for a year or so that I have been unsure what to do with (because of the color)… and decided I would decoupage the mat.

I used a few of my favorite pieces and took care to the leave the dates showing on all the dated items. The board started to warp a bit, but I figured once it was pressed tight in the frame it would straighten back out.

I love the way it turned out. The boat photo inside is just the print it came with, I haven’t chosen a photo for it yet… I love the way the sepia looks with the papers I chose… I might have to start telling people I am crafty now. :) I never thought I was, but I am so proud of these little projects, I just might keep going….

Posted in friends, personal

new goodies

Monday, July 16, 2007

I added a few new items to the shop today. Like these lotus flowers lined with gold leaf. Candle light looks so pretty when it is reflected in the gold…. I think the smaller one would be so pretty with a flower frog in it too.

These french gray stripped linens are the newest in my tablecloth collection. The one above is 60″ x 60″ but there is also a 60″ x 140″ over sized version (pictured below).