Nest

Hello again!

It's the beginning of March and Spring is almost here! I have so much I want to do for Spring, like gardening and other yard work.  I have no idea how to garden, so this will be my trial and error year!

I've been doing a lot of painting this week. I've been setting aside at least an hour a day to paint and create. It's been hard to do, but so worth it. And, I finally finished something!

Nest

It's titled Nest and I have the original and prints available in my Etsy shop. It feels good to finally finish something! And I really love this one. I was thinking about motherhood and how protective I am as a mother and everything that it means to nest.

That's all I have for this Friday. I hope that y'all have a great weekend and set aside some time to something that you enjoy. You're worth it!

Peace, Love and Chocolate

Updates!

I feel really bad that lately most of my posts have been about cleaning house or getting ready for craft shows, but really nothing meaty. So, I'm going to try to make it up with a big ol' update...

Here's my table from my first craft show as an artist. I apologize for the bad quality of the pic - I only had my phone with me. As you can see, it's kind of sparse. So, my lesson learned: have tons of inventory!  I was expecting a smaller table and most vendors would have loved an 8 footer, but I just wasn't prepared for one.

As far as the show went, it was a bit slow. It was a festival at a local church and most of the turnout wasn't interested in art/crafts (there were also threats of thunderstorms looming outside, so that may have been a deterrent). I did however make connections with some lovely ladies and got some experience under my belt!

And, let me show off the ornaments that I semi-posted last week:

Available in my Etsy shop!

I think they turned out great and were so much fun to make! What do you think?

I love taking my art and transforming it into something special for the holidays. And, working on these gave me some ideas for new items - so I'll be experimenting more! *smile*

I hope this update has been a little more interesting then my latest posts. I can't wait to show off our new [to us] country home! The inspection is this Friday and if all goes well, we'll be setting a closing date!!!  Excitement and stress all rolled up in a fun little knot in my stomach! (ha ha)

Peace, Love, and Chocolate

Sale in Etsy Shop!

I'm offering 25% off your total purchase in my Etsy shop through the 4th of July. Just enter the coupon code: 4TH2011 at checkout!

Something New

I'm trying some new things for my Etsy Shop, like this ceramic coffee cup and canvas tote. I'm really loving playing around with both mediums and I want to continue to experiment!

With the ceramics, I'm trying to give the pieces a mixed-media look. Not totally easy, since I'm limited to using only the ceramic paint. But I'll keep playing around with texture and colors.

I want to do the same thing with the totes. A lot easier since I can use fabric, paint, embellishments, etc. And just by finishing the above tote, gave me ideas for other bags, so I have a lot that's going to keep me busy!

What new projects are you working on? If you leave a comment add a link so we can all see!

Peace, Love, and Chocolate

Lessons Learned and Other Musings

The picture above is of a piece that I WAS going to submit to Cloth, Paper, Scissors for their 2012 calendar. However, I got the date wrong and missed the entry. I worked really hard on it and it went so many incarnations, so I'm bummed that I couldn't even get it entered (not sure it would have made it on the calendar though). But it's my fault. I should have written it on my calendar and double checked the submission date. Lesson learned.

As for my second lesson for the week - patience. I'm going on day 4 of snow days/school cancellation and staying at home with my son. Day 1 was fun. Day 2, we were doing ok. But by today, we were bothing getting a little "cabin feverish". Tomorrow I have plans to get us out of the house (the roads are actually pretty good, so I'm not sure why school is closed again). But, I know that this is testing my patience and once again, learning a lesson that I need to exercise patience when I don't have control over a situation. I get it. :-)

And on another note, I'm changing things up with my Etsy shop. I'm renaming it to The Joy Shoppe. I think that fits better with what I'm trying to persue with my blog. I don't have anything listed in it yet, but I will.

I hope your week is going well. Have you learned anything this week?

Peace, Love and Chocolate

Week One

I've had a pretty good first week of 2011! I met with a new creative friend over coffee (her blog is here), worked on my Sketchbook Project pages, added new stuff to my Etsy shop - and made a sale - and basically just had a fabulously busy week! I'm going to take a break this weekend to rest up a bit and then start all over again on Monday.

On my healthy eating, I've done PRETTY good. I've added more water and really watching my portion sizes. I can already tell that I have more energy by drinking water and I'm actually sleeping a little better at night! Now all I have to do is add some exercise. Why is it so hard to fit into a day?

How has your 2011 first week been?

Peace, Love and Chocolate

January Giveaway

I have a giveaway announcement! I'll be listing necklaces (like the above) in my Etsy shop starting Friday and wanted to have a drawing for my Facebook fans. These necklaces are made from prints of my art, using cute Memory Frames that I found at Michael's. I'm not a jewelry maker, but think this is a fun way to display art!

To be eligible, simply go to my FB page and click "Like". I'll announce the winner this Friday!

Wishing you all,

Peace, Love and Chocolate!

The Word for 2011

I don’t normally make New Year Resolutions. Typically, people never follow through with them, including me. But, with everything I want to accomplish in 2011, I feel the need to document it somehow. So, this year I’m stating what I want to accomplish in 2011 and then will try to sum that up with ONE word. This idea came to me when I started reading the blog {Words of Me Project}. What do I want for 2011?

~ I want to feel healthier – eat better, get regular exercise, drink water, etc. Hopefully this result in weight loss – but I’d be happy with just feeling more energetic.

~ I also want to put my all into a creative business which hopefully brings success, so that I can once again contribute monetarily to my family.

~ Lastly, I want to maintain my home so that it will remain organized and peaceful. Right now, when the clutter gets the best of me, my home feels very chaotic – and that’s not how I want my family to live.

So, I can only think of one word that will help me accomplish all of these things and that is:

Discipline.

And I’m approaching the idea of Discipline like I’m “mothering” myself. I don’t let my son eat bad things, so why should I? And when I worked full-time, I had set hours that were dedicated to what I needed to get done, so I should be able to apply the same time management to my creative business and things that need to be done around the house.

A Sketchbook Project page

I’m very optimistic about 2011! I’m ending 2010 a little under the weather, which means I’ll just have more incentive next week to get going on everything I want to accomplish. I can’t wait!

Peace, Love and Chocolate

Etsy Treasury

A little Happy Monday for me! My Noel Dove Card was listed in an Etsy Treasury curated by CrafterDi! http://tinyurl.com/2a978kt A little pat on the back...feels good! :-)


Peace, Love, and Chocolate