Little Bit of Everything

With summer coming to an end

2009-08-16T10:02:00.000-07:00

So it has been a while and what a great time I have been having since last I wrote. Where to start.

I have not written because I have become addicted to FB. I have fallen in love. I like documenting our day,vacations and celebrations. The best part is keeping up with friends and connecting to new and old ones. Literally for me :).

I worked at the Bothell Friday Market, between the heat and little traffic I did not do well and the days were long. I decided that the market was not for me and I am going to have to stop playing on the weekend ( not sure I can follow that through) and do the sat and sun markets.

I have been designing new candle holders and cards. Listing once again on etsy. Which means taking pictures. someday maybe I will get the hang of it and have beautiful pictures. Ahhh to dream.

I have worked 4 tens this summer in childcare. I have a wonderful time with the kids and realized I missed mentoring teachers and having meaningful discussions on quality care and what it means for children. Not just writing it down on paper but really practicing it in the classroom.

We had an art show at the end of our quarter together and it was such a trip. Awesome work by 4 and 5 year olds, the pride they had in what they had created. The pics I took did not capture the process which was amazing. I think that is where I am going to focus my blog( that is if I get motivated) I want good hard discussions around childcare and what teachers are doing to advocate for children, projects teachers are doing and to celebrate! We will see how it goes.

I also have this very funny 3 year old granddaughter. She has done some funny things, like all children and keep dreaming of writing a picture book about her adventures. When I dream the words and pics just flow from me and as soon as I sit to write they all disappear. Toying with the idea to tell the stories to my son and have him write them down. I am a better vocal storyteller than written.

Last but not least, I have seemed to have a break in my hip. 3 months ago I thought I pulled a muscle in my back and figured it would go away, the pain just continued and was unable to sleep at night. Then the pain centered in my knee and was unbearable so I finally went to the Dr. He was sure it was my hip and I had arthritis. One xray later no sign of arthritis but he was not convinced. We treated it like it was arthritis so I continued to walk and swim. Low and behold it seems I have a crack in my hip bone. Everyone is baffled. I have not fallen. This crack happens when you fall very hard and to the side, most people can not even walk with the brake. Hmmm I am baffled too. Now I am off the leg, no swimming, just sitting. They are going to run one more test next week to determine exactly what is going on. So until then I am layed up.

What a glorious end to the summer, I think camping will be out for a while as well. That makes me the saddess. Hoping end of Sept and first of Oct we will be back on the road again.

Etsy find

2009-01-25T10:16:00.001-08:00

This is a little late in coming but I wanted to share an etsy find! threelittlegoblins run by Pam.

My grandson is into being a super hero and according to my daughter he was wearing a too small pair of superman pajama's with a cape attached and when that was in the wash he was wearing a towel ( don't get me wrong a towel is a wonderful super hero cape) but that is not a cape a child should have when he has a grandma who shops on etsy.! My daughter called and asked if I would make a cape and of course I said yes. You see I had intention of making it. My sewing machine has so much dust I am not sure I can even find it! What is a grandma to do, etsy to the rescue. So I set out on my search for a cape on etsy. There were many but not as many as I had anticipated. So I set out on my hunt, affordable, bright,unique and loads of fun and this is what I found! threelittle goblins. Pam is the owner of the shop and she did a wonderful job. My daughter said her workmanship was terrific and she custom sized the cape for the length that I needed. She added extra touches, wrapping and a card with my own sentiments in it. Ayden has not taken the cape off since its arrival. Thanks Pam for making my little guy the super hero he was meant to be. I have shared your shop with other grandma's so they too can have super hero's in their families.

Update

2009-01-25T10:14:00.000-08:00

The laundry room still looks like the pictures I have in my blog. I am hoping to have pics of the new floor soon!

New Baby!

2009-01-25T09:55:00.001-08:00

A year of the new! We welcomed Beckett Ann into the world on Wednesday Jan 21. She arrived to the hospital at 7:00 courtesy of mom and dropped into her new world at 8:00. Baylor was excited to see her new baby sister. Hats off the Katie and natural child birth! Not that it was planned that way. She is a trooper. The epidural cart was ready and just in her reach and way too close to her eyesight but with Beckett chomping at the bit to meet her new family a lass no drugs for mom. Check out her pictures here. New babies and new hope, smiles, laughter and no sleep. Ahhhh new babies.

First stress of the New Year!

2009-01-11T14:49:00.001-08:00

Here we go the remodeling show

The laundry room.

Since we are not moving I wanted one like the ones we saw in all those new homes. My hubby is so good with the tools!

The New Year!

2009-01-11T13:52:00.000-08:00

Here we are in the new year and it will be a strange one at that. I have decided I must enjoy living in the stress. The decisions I make seem to add more and not decrease them. I had a great holiday with little fan fare. My family got snowed in, at least they were at my house, and so Christmas went on as scheduled. There was laughter and quiet and cuddles. There was the first sled ride of my granddaughter and my first in a long time. Snowball fights and challenges on the wii. There was remembering a grandfather and a dad. Sweet memories in the midst of grief. There was tea and hot cocoa shared on web cam with my daughter and grandson. Thank goodness for technology! It was a wonderful visit. They were suppose to be here for the holidays, price of tickets and a miscarriage kept us apart. We celebrated the baby who is on the way any day now and we grieved the baby we will never know. We stomped in the snow, laughed at it, enjoyed it and cursed it. In the end it was the the Christmas I could never had planned for.I will keep it close as I make my way through the coming months with turning 52, my dads death, changes at work, remodeling my home, setting my own boundaries and nurturing my marriage, friendships, building my business, keeping myself healthy and all the challenges and celebrations that keeps us living.

To all my friends: thank you for being there

To all my etsy friends, here is to a great new year!

To you who I have yet to meet, I can not wait.

Sherrie

There goes the time

2008-11-23T20:25:00.000-08:00

Whoosh and it is gone! I have watched my granddaughter and it has been two years since she had entered this world and there is another one on the way. She will be here in the middle of Jan. In time for my birthday! I have watched my son and his girlfriend struggle with the issues of childcare and wished my hubby would win the lotto so I could stay home and care for her. I sent them to a childcare I felt was safe for my grandchild and low and behold even those who you trust can not be when it comes to children. She has been told she is bad, has been grabbed by the chin and told to stop it, and her mother only gets reports of all the "terrible things she has done during the day" She is only 2. My heart goes out to you moms who have to struggle with this issue. To top it off they are getting a subsidy from the state for care and their choices right now is this daycare. AHHHHHHHH. My sons girlfriend is on top of it and has let the center know she is not going to take this. If Baylor says she has been touched or scolded at school she will take it up with the director and the licensor. I am also going to stopping by unannounced. A good idea for anyone who has children in childcare.

Here she is in her pirate/ riding helmet/disguise from The red Ripe Strawberry. How she loves to dress up.

Christmas Tags

2008-11-08T09:37:00.001-08:00

Christmas Tags
Originally uploaded by sweetpeacardsgifts

The holidays are closing in on us so don't be late and order these beautiful gift tags before they are gone!
Check them out at
sweetpeacardsgifts.etsy.com

Trick or Treat!

2008-11-08T08:49:00.000-08:00

I partcapated in the etsyrain street team show at St Edwards Park. My grandaughter came to visit and took home this lovely princess hat. She wears it where ever we go, though sometimes she is princess buzz light year. It was a wonderful show, great park and good company to keep.

Hat designed by Cyndesigns Model is Baylor Raye.

More !

2008-08-03T13:06:00.000-07:00

A bunch of carrots! Count them, cook them, plant them Ohhhh endless pretend play!

More Pictures !

2008-08-03T13:01:00.000-07:00

Chants, ideas, carrot cake recipe( no sugar added )

New work

2008-08-03T12:52:00.000-07:00

I have been dabbling in writing and producing language and literacy boxes for parents and teachers. These are materials that I use in my classroom to teach a variety of concepts from pre reading skills, math and science. this is the first one with chants and poems written by me. I am kind of excited as I do this without thinking on a daily basis but writing it down has proven to be challenging. This is my first attempt. I have not listed it yet on etys. I am still trying to decide what kind of packaging I am going to do. I am leaning towards a blank box so the child can decorate it, I might even add some loose art materials. let me know what you think. It will listed here soon.

Hey Mom!

2008-07-31T16:16:00.000-07:00

With the start of school around the corner I thought I would answer the question “Is my child ready for kindergarten? This really isn’t an easy questions but I will try to give you some guidelines and some activities to strengthen your child’s skills

Socially: Your child should be able to cooperate with their peers, compromising in groups, come up with ideas so that the group can all play together. They should be able to control their impulses. When they do no like what a peer or teacher says they should be able to use their words to say how they feel. Respect and relate to non-family authority figures.

Children need to time to play with peers and to work out their disagreements without adults interfering. That is not to say an adult should not be there to model and help with choosing words to use and to remind the child to listen and say how they feel. We do not always see the whole picture and this allows children to have their words heard and their point of view being honored. Parks are a great place to learn these skills.

Motor skills: Your child should be able to throw a ball, walk on a straight line, draw a person with details and be able to cut on a line.

Having an art area in your home is a wonderful way for your child to gain these skills. I know it is scary having scissors around. You know the OMG she/he cut her hair. I do recommend that you are there when scissors are being used. When your child finishes an art project have them write their name just like an artist would. Have the alphabet magnets on your refrigerator, play I spy the alphabet when you are driving in the car or walking. Have your child draw a picture and then have them tell you a story and write down their words and read it back to them.

Cognitive and intellectual skills: Your child does not need as many as these skills as we all think. Kindergarten is the place where your child will learn the rest of the alphabet they do not know, letter sounds and how to read. For most children reading will start to happen around Dec and into the spring. Your child should know their shapes, colors and the letters in his name. They should be able to put together simple puzzles, understand the concepts of what the same is and what is different. Like an apple and orange are fruit and they are different because they are not the same color. Your child should also understand opposites. There are many board games that make learning these concepts fun.

Curious and eager to learn This is far the most important. We should be igniting the joy and wonders of learning. We should be supporting our children and their interest in the world and how it works, how things work and why things are.

I encourage parents to not answer the questions your child brings to you but ask them how we can find out the answer. Letting the child think of how they could go about finding the answer lets them do the thinking.. Then let them try it out what they came up with. Their suggestions may not always work and that is okay. That is how we foster curiosity. If it does not work the questions then is what can we do now, why do think it did not work or what can we do differently. Show your child the world, stop and take a moment to really look close at what ever it is your child is wondering about.
And the most important thing you can do for your child is read – read – read – read: Read to them, have them read to you ( using the pictures to tell the story) and your child needs to see you reading.

New line of scents for etsy store

2008-07-28T16:44:00.000-07:00

Just listed these new soy Yummy skin scents in my shop! My favorite is Happy is it close to the scent that I wear that costs me 45.00 for a small bottle. Ya who! I am having a introduction offer 2 for $6.00 until 8-11-08 when they will be one for $6.00. Skin scents have vitamin e in them to help make your skin soft as well.

What is that smell? Lemon? coffee? Rain?

2008-07-28T15:13:00.000-07:00

Busy busy pouring and keeping my inventory up!

2008-07-28T15:07:00.000-07:00

My challenge has been staying organized and keeping enough inventories in stock. I am getting there. I have set up a system to keep track of how many I need in stock, what I have sold and how many I will need to pour to keep my inventory up. It has worked so far. I spend way less time trying to figure out what I need to do.
I so hate the picture part of my listings. I keep trying though with different lighting and different angles. I keep hoping I will hit the magic flash!

I have started experimenting with mixing my own scents and it has been fun. I just mixed Sunday brunch, light earl grey with a hint of cinnamon and cardamom. It is quite yummy! I also have verbena, lime and coconut. This is my husband’s favorite. I am experimenting with tarragon and lemon, using fresh herbs from my garden. I will tell you how it works out. I have also introduced a line of skin scents. I have two scents at this time, Happy and Lavender Fields. Happy is a light flower and grapefruit scent and the other is light lavender with a sweet scent. The heat of your skin releases the scent. They come packaged in a wind up tube or a scent pot. These will make great aroma therapy for on the go. Check out my etsy shop

Hey Mom!

2008-07-03T15:33:00.000-07:00

I have had many a conversation with my daughter that starts out " mom I have a question". My daughter is an adult, a mom and a wife of a military man. He is stationed in Iraq and will be on his way home this month. Back to the question, and then she usually says "my friend" who is usually a young military wife, and then the question has to do with child development, what is normal and what should the child be doing. I do not mind answering as my training and profession has been in early childhood development. It brings to light that there is really no parenting support for our young mothers. Especially ones that are separated from their families. Parenting today is difficult. There are many books written and each has their own opinion. It can be confusing. As simple a thing as potty training has become a complicated process. You would think learning how to pee would be so easy. Not! Take a stroll down the book aisle and you will find books galore just on how to do this. I say children are not that complicated and given a moment with them they are very capable of telling you when they are ready. I was taken aback when reading that if you let your child run around free( no diaper or underwear) you can catch them before they go. Goodness it sounds like potty training a dog.

Other concerns are around what I call keeping up with the Jones. Young parents are very concerned that their child will not be ready for school and what is it children need before they get to kindergarten. Oh my! the pressure we put on our children and ourselves.

Though I do not have all the answers I thought it would be great if I posted some of the concerns that come up in our conversations, share some songs and art ideas and children's books I come across in a Hey Mom! column. If you have healthy recipes, art, books any ideas related to children please leave a comment.

The swat team and my neighborhood

2008-06-24T15:23:00.000-07:00

Nothing happens in my neighborhood. I mean nothing. You can not get much closer to the Cleavers. When I returned home from work today the entire Edmond's police force had surrounded my street.( okay maybe not all of them but most at least) There were police dogs and a ambulance. Way too much excitement for our quiet little homestead. I guess a kid tried to break in to a home by smashing the window someone heard it and called 911. The kid ran and they tracked him down with the dog. He had taken some computer stuff and a few other goodies. Some drugs were involved. The police were here for 3 hours. Wow! Better than watching TV. I am just glad they found him and all is well. We will have the police come through our neighborhood pretty regularly now for at least a couple of weeks. You know so we all feel safer.:)

Happy belated Mothers day!

2008-06-23T12:12:00.000-07:00

I had a great belated mothers day planned by my youngest son(19). It was wonderful! I have found so many joys and celebrations with my children growing older. One is that I no longer have to plan my own mother day events. He planned our day starting with attending the show Avenue Q. What a funny show. We laughed and gafawed and revisited the moments we thought were the funniest even when it was long over. Enjoying live theater is what all my children and I share in common. A form of entertainment I inspired from when they were very young. I am happy to see it has continued in their adult life. After the show we shared a meal at the Cheese Cake Factory. I started out my day on Lake Union celebrating my granddaughters 2nd birthday! The weather was the best and the day was amazing!

What New?

2008-06-23T11:52:00.000-07:00

Here it is summer again and like any good resolution we will see what happens. With summer here and my work schedule a lot less than the winter months I have vowed once again to really dedicate myself to my etsy store( two now) and blogging and building my business. With fingers cross and a work schedule in writing I am setting out on not so new a journey.
My husband and I are selling our home and it is ready to go and on the market. Yea! Now I have the time to address my etsy stores. I decided to open a new shop for my candles and book thongs( markers) I will keep my sweetpea shop for my cards and all the other stuff I do to keep my hands busy. I have been experimenting with my photos and I think I am getting better. At least I hope so. I will keep you posted.
My new store: wicks and wire

2008-04-06T12:14:00.000-07:00

It is a beautiful day and here I am sitting writing. Hmmmm what am I thinking! I have been busy with many a crafty endeavor. The first and foremost is the planning of the first etsyrain Puget Sound Indie Arts show to be held in Edmonds. It has been a journey for me in so many ways. There have been many personal challenges along the way. I believe we all have a story and I think they are pretty interesting but we usually share only the surface. To start I am planning an Art show which has turned into a learning experinece on many levels.
I am a quiet, opinionated, introvert. My definition of introvert is someone who needs to process or think before they talk. I like to do things in my own time and do not tell me it can not be done. That is a dare if I ever heard one. I am a leader. I like to have fun and find if it is not fun I do not have much use for it. If it remotely sounds like fun I will pounce on it in a moment. That is kind of what happened with the art show. It was talked about at a dinner we had with our etsyrain meet up group. Lots of talk but no one seemed to know how to start. I really wasn’t looking but with the support of my husband, we said if we find a place we could organize it. I had enough experience in planning (my wedding of 80 guests and all the PTA events along with managing a business) he had the tape measure and the ability to keep me sane. J
My husband and I had been to a few art events at artworks in Edmonds and so I googled it to see if they had any events going on. What I found was they rented the space out to art events. The space would be perfect for our show. We took the plunge and rented it for our first show! The ideas started to pop into my head and off we went.
The show was posted while I was on a trip over the mountains I was gone for 6 hours and on my return not only had the event been posted but it was full and closed. OHHHHH my goodness. 24 vendors had signed up. The board was busy with everyone talking about the show! Ideas were flying. At times it was hard to keep up with what was being said and who was doing what. To honest this was the time I had to stop reading for a while, it was quite overwhelming. I kept telling myself think of this as a think tank, brainstorming session. Most of what is being said are ideas. It helped and sure enough most were just ideas people were throwing around. Out of those ideas came some solid parts of our show. As we were just getting the show off the ground my father committed suicide. My world came to a halt and time stopped. He had been in great horrific pain for over two months coming and going to the doctors with no relief in sight. He was waiting for an appointment with a nerve specialist and I guess he felt he could not longer bare the thought of his wife caring for him and the pain. He was 76. My fathers decision in that moment has for ever impacted my life, it has caused an imbalance in my family, it has forever changed me. His death has brought up questions about who my dad really was, who I am and reevaluating many of my values. There are days when I am strong enough to pick up the pieces and then there are days that I let the pieces stay in a pile because it is too hard to look at them. At the end of a job interview the woman summarized who I was by saying; so you enjoy the outdoors and are more comfortable at home. It gave me pause for thought. I have hunkered down at home. I never been thought of as a home person but that is what has happened. Interesting how we have the tools to care for ourselves but do not even know it. I am thankful for this as I am a caregiver and find myself worrying how everyone else is doing and not caring for me. There are many thoughts that have come to me that make me smile and I have an odd understanding of maybe why some of the grieving rituals had come into being and sad that we do not follow them now. Like why the widow and family members wear black ( I would not pick that color) and are veiled. I cried a lot at first and now I cry less but without warning. It would be nice not to walk around in public with a red face and swollen eyes. With a black veil at least people would know that I am grieving and not been drinking J People say the most interesting things and do the funniest things when you have lost someone. I am thankful for that as it makes me laugh and it lets me know they care. A friend of my step moms brought her a puppy a week after my dad’s death, thinking that would fill the hole she had in her heart. It didn’t and my step mom declined. She hates dogs! It did make us smile.
In all of the sadness and grieving my life has had to go on. I have gone back to work, I have continued with my crafting, and I have continued with the planning of our art show.
I have made myself get out of the house and continue to do what it is I enjoy. I will find the fun in life again it just seems I have to work a little harder for now. I am thankful I decided to plan the art show, it has given me the challenge I needed to keep me going. As we plan the last details and meet the last deadlines all is falling into place. I am excited to see it fully set up and I cross my fingers that it will be well attended. I have this grand vision of what it will look like in my head, I hope when all is done that is what I see. I encourage anyone to step out, find the things that make you laugh, smile and brings you joy. It is a great way to live!

Valentines Day!

2008-01-12T12:08:00.000-08:00

I have created a new line of candles and cards for Valentines Day. The line includes peppermint and orange scents. Both scents are body relaxing and soothing. They are a variety of containers they come in. China tea cups, votive with ribbon and hand beaded hearts. Some are one of a kind. I can make any of the candles in any color and unscented. I love soy. It is soft and gentle to touch and allows the fragrance to have a gentleness when burning. Stop by and see what is new.

A friend of mine from our Seattle artist group etsyrain,seattlebeadcreations also has a new line of jewelry. Her first piece is posted, it is fun and certainly will create some conversation. Stop by and meet Lady Bella, She sounds like a hoot to hang out with.

I took a plunge

2008-01-09T17:16:00.000-08:00

I have decided, with the help of my husband, to organize and throw a craft and artist show. My husband assures me that it is no different than throwing a party and far less work that planning and organizing my wedding. So I am going to think of it as a party and I am the hostess. I am going to try to blog my party planning and the main event. I am going to try to remember to take pictures as well. I am excited and a little scared, of what, not quite sure. I am to naive to know. I have never done this kind of event before. So far it has been a piece of cake. We drove to the place the event is going to take place and I shook the mans hand and my husband measured the place. The man was very nice and had answers to most of our questions. We then left. No sweat! then we got home. Now we need to hammer out the details and this is where the work begins. My husband and I do not agree on a few details and so we will compromise and I will win. He will give his opinion and I will win. I do not think he likes working with me. Okay maybe I do not have to win all the time. Well make to the drawing boards. Details to work out and plans to be made!
Check in and see how it is going. If nothing is written then just assume the sailing is rough and I am way too busy to write sassy and funny stuff. (not that I write that way when I am not too busy)

And the little naughty elves came upon us

2007-12-28T12:43:00.000-08:00

Jingle all the way

What a holiday season! My season started out with a break in to my place of work. Quite alarming to say the least. I am a preschool teacher and am in wonder as to what was in these bad guys head.( the children in my class called them bad guys) they were very neat bad guys really not doing too much physical damage but a lot of mental anguish. What a head trip. They threw, very careful not to get any on the carpet, a gallon of blue paint, they threw it onto the easel and then dumped the rest in the sink. Not getting any on the counter. Thank goodness they left our computers and boom box alone but they did take our dozen eggs, which were to be used to make green eggs. I was not happy about that! In all as you can see we were very lucky in that there were gallons of paint they could have flung all over our building, and many blocks, puzzles, and a variety of small pieces that could have been destroyed. We are blessed it took only a short time and a little elbow grease to get the room back in order. What this did do is made us realize how vulnerable we can be. That it took an open window for these bad guys to enter our world. It took a moment. We will recover. We have already put some safety measures in place, talked and talked. I am on winter break and hope by the time we return the safety measures that need to be put in place will be. Though the experience jarred me it has not made me scared or concerned. It will be a while I am sure before my brain files it away as an experience to remember and not one that is still raw and processing.
My holiday season did end with joy and lots of laughter. I had all of my children and grandchildren with me this year. Yes I did a happy dance. I served diner to 21 people, mostly family and a few friends who had no family around this season. In all I am starting the New Year with lightness in my heart and ready for what this new year will bring.
Happy Holidays!

Etsy Sampler Bag

2007-11-23T15:40:00.000-08:00

Hi what a great and interesting night we had putting our etsy sampler bags together. A good time was had by all. We did a little crafting and talking. We ate, what is a get together without food and the evening ended with a splash! We put together two sampler bags with five artists represented in each bag. They would retail for 50.00 but we are getting in the holiday spirit and they will be only 25.00 each. If you go to my etsy store the etsyrain logo is the only thing listed along with the artist who are represented in the bag. Here is the place you get to find out what is in each bag. One is listed for now and the second one will be listed soon. you will need to check back to see what is revealed. Check out the links on my site one will take you there. Have a safe journey. This is a wonderful way to get at least 5 Christmas gifts crossed off the list, that is if you do not keep any for yourself. Please leave a comment under the picture and tell us what you think. Have a good one!
Sherrie

I am on a roll

2007-11-12T12:00:00.000-08:00

I just finished a new design of my pop up Christmas tree card. I added a wire beaded tree topper on it. This card comes nicely packaged with a red envelope and a small gift tag.I sold out on these at my craft fair in Everett Wa. I am hoping they will do well on esty. I had a list of goals to complete today and I have completed all of it already. I am jumping up and down with joy. I have a day off all to myself and it is amazing what you can get accomplished. I am out of most of my candles so I poured tea lights with a new scent of Birthday cake. I am including these with my etsy sample bag of Birthday related cards and candles. I made two Christmas scents and poured two clear glass mugs with the scent of coffee with cream and sugar. It smells quite interesting in my house with all these scents swirling around. I have almost all of the items written up and pictures taken. I am going to put one or two on line starting tonight. I am not doing any more shows this year and so I am focusing on etsy. I say that and then I get discouraged but I am going to keep to my goal list. My grandson and daughter are arriving this week for 2 and half months and so I needed to get what I can done before the holiday rush and before I get distracted by my grandson.

Visions of what? Dancing where?

2007-11-11T20:26:00.000-08:00

I started to write this blog and my computer froze up so I got wise and I wrote it on word and I will copy and paste it. I can be so slow sometimes. I have completed two art fairs and I have called it quits for the season. I have shocked my husband and my family. I love the craft shows, getting ready, designing the table, talking to the customers and the venders. I do well at these events. Much better than on etsy. I need to create more inventory and I do not have the energy to go crazy making more candles. I have decided to be selfish and think about me and only me. I believe we all need to do this from time to time and in the end it really isn’t selfish at all but a necessity of life. With the holidays approaching us I am already feeling the push and I do not like it. We have almost the entire month of Dec booked with one event or another and a few more who want us to put them on 0ur calendar. ENOUGH ALREADY. I stomp by feet and I say STOP!!!! I will not be attending the church recital and if you would like our company please stop by before Christmas, we would love to see you. Just call first to see if we are home. I am going to take time to cook, to bake, to sing off key, to reflect and to run in the rain with my grandkids. I am going to do one random act of kindness each week starting with thanksgiving weekend in honor of my son law and in memory of my father in law. I am making time to cut our tree to have our traditional toast to celebrate the things we are thankful for this year and to share the dreams I have for the coming year. I am taking time to mend a fence with my oldest son that was damaged in a horrible stormy misunderstanding. I am going to toast my son in law who will not be with us this holiday season because he is in Iraq. I am going to remember and mourn the passing of my father in law who had a courageous and long struggle with cancer. I am going to take time to reflect on a year that brought me great sorrow, happiness, struggles and joy. I am going to say no to the things that I feel obligated to do and I will say yes to the things that I want to do and that bring me joy. You can find me sitting quietly in front of my fireplace sipping a scotch on the rocks. Bring it on!

Here I sit silent and weary

2007-11-02T19:24:00.000-07:00

Okay I try to be the optimist but today has challenged that. I found it a little hard to find something good.Okay there was one thing good and positive I got to go to work and did not have to sit at this horrible craft show. If it was not for the fact I did this craft show to be moral support for my mom I think I would have lost my hair. I got up at the crack of a bad word to help my mother set up for a two day craft show at her retirement complex. After I set up I still had to go to my real job. In the end that was a blessing. There was a total of 12 people who came through. AHHHHHHHHHH! And yes I will going back tomorrow because my mother has another engagement and I am to man the table. AHHHHHHHH. I hope you can hear that primal scream. I love my mom and this is her one show a year and she enjoys sitting and talking with her friends. I am there basically to unpack, fetch food and water and pack up. The vendors ( 9 in total) are nice. I did make a 5.00 sale before I had to go off to work. Okay you see now are two things that were positive. So maybe it wasn't a bad day after all. I spent the afternoon with my mom and had a nice meal with her. Tomorrow is another day by myself in a retirement community who know me as OH this is Joanie's oldest girl( as if I was 10)as they point at me and move on. I just hope no one pats me on the head! More to come as the saga continues.............

So here we are and it is Halloween

2007-10-31T19:33:00.000-07:00

I am pretty much an empty nester. My husbands children are with us every other weekend. My children are grown up with a child each of their own. Here comes Halloween. Our Friends have past the lets dress up and party stage. Never thought I would get here. So do we just let Halloween pass us by. My children loved this day. They would decorate the yard and as they got older they became more resourceful. Making holes in the ground and buring themselves and then scaring the unsuspected trick or treater coming by. I still have the left over holes. A bottle of ketchup was a staple in our house. In any given day leading up to Halloween I could find my son or sons in some dead position with ketchup all over. Sadly the day my son really did cut his hand(not bad enough for stitches but he did a good job) I did not believe him. There were haunted houses, pumpkin farms and hot soup and bread. I have great memories. They have their own children now. I hope my grandchildren give their parents a few heart attacks as they gave me. This last Sunday was a beautiful day and not wanting to see it go to waste I talked my husband into going to the pumpkin farm. Yes without children. It seemed sacrilegious. We started out to find that perfect pumpkin and then reality set in. We really weren't going to carve a pumpkin. We both knew by the time we would get home we would have lost interest. We reminded each other how much we hated it when we had to finish the pumpkin's the girls started. So we changed our plans. We went searching for gourds. We found the most amazing and odd gourds. We had a wonderful afternoon. When we got home my husband made a great arrangement on our front porch. I smile when I see it. New traditions replacing the old. I still get to hand out the treats, my favorites are the body parts. This year it is rotten teeth. Got to go, the bell has rung and the bewitching hour is here. The fangs are in and my cackle at the ready. I open the door and the words of the day Trick Or Treat! Have a Happy Halloween!

Found it!

2007-08-30T14:49:00.000-07:00

So I found my calendar and today's goals were to make some promos for our etsyrain group and and to give out when I am out and about.Promotion promotion! I will let you know if it works. I am giving out small cards with my etsy site and my blog address. It is a coupon kind of for a free card if they send me a convo or comment on my blog.Hmmm might work. I like the idea of a contest as well. I will have to pencil that in. Tip: Always pencil everything in, that way you are never committed to it and you can move it to another day. I also set a goal to read three blogs and leave a comment to help with more traffic to my site and to broaden my knowledge of who is selling out there. Maybe tonight. There are so many great artists! My other goal was to be in the forum in the am. I did do most of them and I still have some time but honestly I went to tea( 3 hours) with my mom. It was much more civil than working. Well so much for the calendar and now I seem to need a nap.

PS If anyone reads this please tell me how I link to your blogs! I am sure I can figure it out but it goes so much faster when I am told what to do at least in this venue:)

OMG Summer is almost over!

2007-08-28T10:03:00.000-07:00

Summer for me is winding down and now the new challenge begins. I go back to work( which I am looking forward to, I miss it ) and I have to figure out how to keep the momentum I have started going with creating and etsy. I have set up a calender which of course I have now missed place with the goals I have and the design ideas I have. I thought this would be a great way to keep on task. It works at my job. the problem is I keep miss placing it. I have put out a bulletin in my home for a reward if someone finds it. So much for organization. I have no plan B so I must find that calendar. I am off on the hunt.

So how many carrots are in your basket? Tell me your story!

2007-08-24T10:24:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking a lot about where do I go from here? What is it I want from this experience? I read a thread in the forum about who should be selling and who might want to bail. What are people thinking when they post items that just are not going to sell and nobody wants to buy low end crafts. Art has always been a personal interpretation for the buyer as well for the seller. Etsy is advertised as a one of a kind handmade sight. Hmmm who says my story is not a good enough reason to be there. We each need to know what it is we want from our venture. I already have heard a few stories all interesting and unique. Each one of us with a dream and craft that gives us pleasure. My story? I get great enjoyment from my crafts, I am very sensory motivated and so it needs to feel good against my fingers. I loose interest easily and so I will have two to three projects going at the same time. I started my business when I found myself off for the summer and I needed to do something with my time and I thought I could make a little money to finance my crafting addiction. I also wanted to learn more about the Internet and what it had to offer. This year I made a goal to really focus on my etsy business and to learn how to blog and navigate with less difficulty on line. All the while I continue to craft. I have not sold a thing this summer from my etsy store. I do have my cards in a shop in Florida and one now in Seattle. It makes me smile. I also have met a group of very nice people. I have stepped outside my comfort zone and pushed myself. I have done a street fair and look forward to a group fair in the fall. Wow all this from a hobby. I think my summer as been a success but if you just visited my shop on etsy you may have thought differently. My shop is a cover to a book that is very complex and has many chapters.

Do you have a story? Of course you do! Tell it here.

The Fair a Family afair!

2007-08-07T10:43:00.001-07:00

I did it! I made it through the Fremont Fair and had a great time. I have done craft shows so it is not like it is new but I have never done it with a group of people I did not know. I at least paid for my space and made a few cents on top of it and met some great people. I so love my family who no matter what I make( or don't) support the fact that I like doing this. I do not think it was the intention of my husband to stay all day with our two daughters but that is what they did. There is a vibration, a feeling when you are there that you get no where else. When artist gather there is an energy. I think he liked the energy and the support that he was able to give me. In all it was a very nice day, sun and I got a little tan. I wasn't at home so I did not have to do house work or those other important(not) home life things we are suppose to do. Hmm maybe I am doing this to provide myself a good solid excuse to avoid those things I can not stand to do. Now I have another excuse besides lets go play. We haven;t played all week. The dishes will be there when we get back. Yes I may be on to something. Weekends fairs no housework. I am liking this. I what I did find amazing is how long it took all of us to get ready and the checking and rechecking that we did to make sure we were ready for our 2 x 2 space. Our booth looked good. Each of our own uniqueness represented in our small area. Each of us prideful of what we had to offer and of the work we had done. This is a group of very mixed and talented crafters. Not only in materials and whimsy but in age and experiences. I look forward in all I have to learn and in getting to know these artists as we journey through our experiences at etsy and beyond! The challenges I found was not knowing what to do. I found that I needed to be doing something, I did crochet for a while but I needed to mingle with the people. I handed out bags with goodies that gave me an excuse to talk to the crowds( Use that loosely). There was a huge crowd but it dwindled before it got down to us and the tree troll. In all a lot was learned, friends were being made and fun was had by all.

Getting ready for the fair

2007-08-01T11:01:00.000-07:00

I am getting ready for a fair this weekend with some sellers I have not even met yet. I made a vow to push my comfort zone this summer and give my business my all and here I am doing it. I am also meeting 10 to 15 artist from Seattle for coffee. Yes I do not know a single soul. Way out of my comfort zone. I understand networking in the world is how small business works and so I will try my hand at it even though it makes my heart race. Back to the fair. I am so not organized and I have a hard time making a decision and keeping to it because there is always another way to do it or a prettier way to present it and the list goes on. I am second guessing my pricing and on and on and on. It is not like I have never done a craft show so you would think I would just let it flow. Oh no way! I am like a pilot at take off. Check and recheck and recheck and fret that I have missed something. It is my goodness only a Sunday market. I have a small space so then I have to decide what product I want to bring. Simple? Oh not for me. I think I will just bring everything I have. I do not have to decide and if I do not have enough space, it is limited, I will have to chose when I am there. I do not have a lot of product so it is not like packing the entire castle. It is two containers. And to think I am the CEO of my company. It is amazing I get anything done. Sadly my husband is inflicted with the same personality type. Goodness making decisions in our home is needless to say a lot of talk and very little action sometimes. There are lots of tips out there for fairs, make sure you have the basics, water, food(and in this order) snacks, very little cash to spend( you will not make a profit by spending it all at the fair, go with a budget) cash to make change, receipt book, great table set up and your product( oops maybe this should be after the food) and have a good time. It is a great opportunity if nothing else to get out of the house and meet some pretty darn nice people. Keep repeating step out of the box, step out of the box

Have a great day and keep crafting!

unfinished projects

2007-07-25T13:17:00.000-07:00

Well I have completed an unfinished project I have stared at for a year. It is beautiful! It is made from homespun lion brand yarn. It is variegated in deep purples, maroons,blues greys. It is soft and cuddly and I am sure very warm. I think this is one trait of a crafter. It seems we have projects started but for what ever reason we stop the process and move on to something more exciting. Sometimes I am just bored with the process and sometimes I have found this new idea and can not wait to try it out. There is some satisfaction in the completion of a project. One less thing now that clutters my side of the bed. Hmmm I guess I need to be off to the craft store for more yarn!

Prideful to be a crafter

2007-07-20T14:24:00.000-07:00

I have been with etsy for a year. I did not work my shop very much during the winter. It was hard to find time to craft and have a full time job and do the craft fairs on the weekends. Busy! I would like to be able to do just on line sales and drop the craft fair route. I struggle with how to advertise and get and keep my shop out there. I am joining and learning about blogging but I am not sure anyone is really interested in what I have to say or not. I truly love crafting, I am not an artist but a crafter and I take great pride in that. Crafting to me is a long tradition of skills that have been handed down from generation to generation. Crafting was a means to an end. you could not afford to buy so you learned how to make it yourself. I was very poor when my children were young. I learned how to cake decorate so my children would have birthday cakes like their friends. I ended up making a few bucks with my skill because all my children's Friends wanted the cake my kids had. HMMMM!I taught myself and have handed it down to my daughters how to crochet. I could not afford nice warm blankets and so made them. My children would not sleep with anything else. Each item my hands create be it cards or a 200.00 afghan it is crafted in love and a deepness in pride. traditions are important in the stability of our families and crafting comes from traditions from a long ways back. I encourage myself as well as others to keep their craft alive. I will continue to sell my wares in hopes that I find that customer that just needs what I have to offer.

Handed down from generation

2007-07-16T16:00:00.000-07:00

It seems when you talk to crafters there is always a story surrounding their family. Crafting is handed down from generation to generation. My mom taught me how to crochet and find it a great stress relief and easy to take where ever I go. My own children only wanted to sleep on a hand crocheted quilt and not some scratchy blanket. My youngest carried his around till there was nothing left and when they left home they took them with. When my daughter married he husband felt left out because he did not have one of his own. I have taught my youngest step daughter and I have a variety of shapes around my house now. They do not seem to look like the pot holder or scarf but you know we all had to start somewhere. It gives her the same pleasure it gives me and that is quite satisfying to watch in your child. I have started to do some free form crocheting adding texture in my stitches. I am enjoying seeing what will happen and how this baby quilt will turn out. I will post it when I get done. So far it is very pretty.

Welcome!

2007-07-11T16:18:00.000-07:00

I have just entered the world of blogging so please hold on, I have no clue as to what I am doing. If you stop by and have any suggestions please oh please leave them

I have a dream of having a successful card and gift shop on line. I am realizing how difficult it is. there are a lot of crafters out there and they do some beautiful work. I am off for the summer and decided I would learn as much as I can and get involved in as many groups that I can handle. Right now that is 3. I am on the hunt to learn about all I can bout blogging and how it can help create a customer base. I will write about my frustrations and my successes. I look forward to hearing from all of you and any information that is helpful will always be received with much a do.