Winner!

i had the random number generator pick a number between the 6 comments left for the giveaway



soooo... miss melissa won! whoo hooo- give it up for her! i've been reading melissa's blog now for a bit and l-o-v-e this girl- big time! i'll be convo-ing you to get your address to send out the goodies!



thanks for everyone that entered! here's a sneak peek as to what the card file and typewriter are going to be used for...



the typewriter will make full and complete sense once all the elements are pulled together!

12 hours left!

go here and gimme your best guess!

Don't forget about the giveaway!

Get your name in there!
Win some stuff... and be the first to see the new designs!

Ends Friday, June 27th at midnite- I'll choose the winner on Saturday!

gettin' it together!

this weekend was our 5 year college reunion weekend. we visited some of the old regular hang outs, saw the houses i lived in junior and senior year (man do they look ROUGH!) and saw people i hadn't seen since we left. it was a lot of fun- yet a sharp reminder that we are no longer in college... if you know what i mean.

in design news, i'm gettin' myself together! i thought up the idea (which is not original, i'm almost 100% positive, but hey- i'm still doing it) to write out a listing template. it has the manner in which i would like all my listings to be written (to avoid a discombobulated look to my shop). i have all the sizes i offer already measured out- cm and everything, so i can just copy and paste! i have my tags sorted out so that i know exactly what constants i want listed them... all so i can list efficiently and without bouncing back and forth between the new listing and an item i've already listed.

i've even written out how i want to package my items to ship so i don't forget! i've made up a packing list to include with all my orders- not really a receipt, but just a check list for myself to make sure i've included everything i wanted to include... i haven't decided if that will be packed up with everything, but i think i'll worry about that when i actually get orders. it might be nice for inventory sake to keep it myself so that i can refer back if i ever get behind.

i've also decided to try and streamline the blog a little bit. melissahead did this with her blog and i thought it was a really good idea, so i'm going to try and organize my blog tags into particular categories instead of whatever i remember to type in. i figure that way if someone remembers something i did with my house or a favorites, they can just look there- a TOC if you will.

has anyone been following decor8's mood boards? i subscribed to the RSS feed and i have to admit i've never done a mood board- not once and i really wish i had learned about these in school... ever notice how much you DIDN'T learn while in school that would have been that much more helpful? i think of all the projects that would have benefited from a mood board and it makes me a little sad... but who's to say i can't make them now! i think i might do that with all the magazine articles i've been saving. sort them according to something- i'll figure that out when i actually do it- and make a bunch of mood boards, scan them in and then recycle the originals (so i can declutter my house!)

oh another project- just what i need...

favorites on hold

until after my re-opening... sorry :-(
i need to put my efforts in creating... instead of searching.

Christmas in June- for me and you... giveaway time!

i hadn't planned a giveaway, but what the heck! because not only did this little beauty make it to the house...



let me tell you- this thing is no joke- it's HEAVY!
but i bought this while i was out as well...



what will i use it for, you ask? oh i can't give away all my secrets (considering i'm not sold that this more modern and streamlined look is the way i want to go- let alone the bold color)

PLUS my uncle was nice enough to give me this bad boy to use for my next project in the works...



i'm hoping i have everyone so discombobulated as to what i'm working on... i have a few more key pieces to locate and i can really get started! so i do believe i'm going to have a giveaway... leave a comment as to what you think i'm working on and i'll choose a random number and the number that corresponds with that comment wins a little lovely something. just make sure i have a way of getting ahold of you! we'll let this bad boy run until June 27th.

• • • • •
in some other news, i've paired up with blackbirdmaille for the business buddy project thru etsygreetings. i'm super excited because i think a lot of her work will compliment my new designs (and i hope visa versa!) and we'll be a good promoting team thru the month of july. so look for a July Favorite with a lot of blackbirdmaille! her work really is beautiful!

i haven't forgotten you...

bloggy blog.

i've been so busy lately with work-work and with getting some of my new designs worked over, a custom order here and there AND the nugget (*whew*) that i haven't been able to put my favorites together in a timely manner. i started pulling some this morning (after posting a few items in my Yart Sale) and have about half ready to go.

then it dawned on me. this is the perfect time to track some views vs. activity. so this week (and maybe until the end of the month- depends on my energy level... i think i'm gettin a bug.) i'm going to check views every morning to see if the ticker has changed... i already snuck a peek after being in the forums for a bit and some of the views went up! i'm jotting down what activity i did on etsy that day- if any to see if putting my two cents in there gets a little traffic. granted, what i have up isn't much, but i'd love to move a little outdated inventory if i can. and no i'm not going to obsess over it, but i think it could be interesting- especially if i start to really keep track once i start mass listing.

i've also successfully saddle stitched without a saddle stitch machine! though it took me awhile to get it figured out and a few gnarled sheets, i'm quite proud of myself. i'm thinking my little notebooks will be freebies during my grand re-opening... but i haven't decided...

ok i'll hopefully get to post the June Favorites this week!

i must be in time out

i know- i know i've been slacking but for good reason- we've been having internet issue at work AND at home. so i'm off the hook for being blog lazy. but it hasn't been for lack of effort either- i wrote out a huge long post and then we lost power at work- therefore i lost all my brilliant yammerings. i think the internet has put me in time out... i don't like internet time out.

so my latest dilemna has been what to do with our front bedroom. right now it's the dumping ground for things i don't know what to do with and my "printing station" so to speak- and that's only because that's where my printers live. as of right now, here is the layout...



in all reality, there isn't as much room as the space plan shows- however it IS to scale seeing as how i measured EVERYTHING in our house and did this for every room we have furniture in. the small rectangle next to the desk is a filing cabinet that my ginormous laser printer hangs out on. now, the desk that i have was built by my grandpa and doesn't have a wide enough surface to put the printer on the desk and still have room to work. (he built two shelves that come up the back that would prohibit the printer being pushed back far enough- it's really a nice desk... ). anyway, i hate the filing cabinet. everything feels cramped and i could center the desk on the wall better if i got it out of that room- but where do i put the printer? i would put it on the ground, but with two dogs, the floor gets too furry and i'm not about to ruin the printer with fur balls. the new ikea just opened up and i thought about seeing if i could find something to slide under the desk that would be big enough to house the printer and had a lid or closed up in some way. looks like i have some online shopping to do... oh i love online shopping-- anyone else have suggestions? i'm very open to ideas- especially ones that involve chucking the filing cabinet :-)

come to mama... i heart ikea

i feel- i hope- that once i get the desk under control, i can finally get that entire room under control- it's just so cramped... and the hubz will kill me if i said i wanted to rearrange it... i DO have the alternate space plans...

Come hell or high water- August 4th

I'm opening August 4th.
yep. and offering a sneak peek sale to newsletter recipients the week before (so i would sign up now!). I have to set a goal date or i'll keep prolonging it... and i can't afford to not be open for business right now. but this is a good thing. i've got some steam in my design engine now after having a slight break thru last nite on my new collection. so my list of promos before i open is beginning to form.... oooo i love lists!

back in the game

okay, internet is restored and i can now get a few things done :-)

so this weekend i spoke with a company that was at the NSS this year as a seller. last year was their first year and from what they said, attendance- not companies showing, but companies BUYING- was down 50%. they also said hotel prices were up 3x what they were last year at the particular hotel they stayed at- no wonder some of these small shop owners couldn't afford it! it's a shame that the smaller boutique stores are going to have to rely on last year's contacts and/or blog reports to do their purchasing for the holiday season. i just hope that the newbies this year think to send out catalogs to every shop they can think of they didn't meet at the show or can somehow get some names together for a mailing list!

i also concluded that i want to go and look next year. not show, but look. i want to soak it in because by 2010 i want to show. i want to refine my ideas, pull together a cohesive line and show in a small booth- maybe even take up my fried, Corey, at Correspondence Ink on sharing a booth. i have a giant stack of random pieces of paper with ideas and thoughts and sketches that need to be flushed out but i know i can't pull it together for next year. i think if i aim for 2010, the nugget will be 2 and she can either come with us or stay with the grandparents or the grandparents can come with us and they can just play in central park all day- oh my god can you imagine how fun that would be? they could do the zoo, the carousel, the kids playhouse, the castle...


i'm getting to the point where i'm creating designs that i'm really happy with so what i really need to do is print out a contact sheet, have a mini crit within myself and possibly send it out to my old classmates, see it all as a whole and refine everything. i need to see the flow and i need to just see what i have- that was my problem last year. i jumped in fast because i panicked and i tried to push items i didn't like nor believe in. i was designing what i thought would sell and not what i was passionate about. i have some things started that i really like- i have some sets in the works that i think are going to be great and i'm so excited about the packaging for these sets that i'm itching to get started- but have hit a roadblock because i don't own one of the key components i would need to make it happen. i'm okay though- i've learned to be very patient lately with my ideas. and i'm taking the necessary steps to figure out costs of all the materials so that i don't buy things i don't need and that i don't spend too much.

i'm thinking i'm going to look into promotional items as well. i have one idea i'm looking into pretty deeply, but i haven't found exactly what would work- persistence! i will find it!

so i've left you with a lot of vague information- just as i planned, but even though the creative juice isn't flowing fast, it's trickling and i'm collecting all the droplets.

all quiet on the home front

so the downside of having internet issues at work? no blog. blah! and i'm waaaay too productive while there ;-)

so the hubz and i have been having so much fun with nugget lately. she's begun yabbering away and smiling- so fun! we lay her on her back so she can "ride her bike" for a bit while she "ooo's" and "wwaaaaahhh's" and carries on in her own little cute language. i love it! she's starting to get ticklish too, so that just means a bigger smile. daycare has done sooooo many great things for her- she's around kids a few months older than her and years older from her and i like to believe they all love her to death. and i couldn't have asked for a better sitter- she's amazing so i'm lucky to have found her!

here's the blog i had planned for last week...

freshly sharpened pencils... clean, crisp notebooks... aahhhhh school time.

i've been going back and forth with myself about going back to school to get my masters or my MBA or just take some rejuvenation courses. the only real benefit i see to getting my masters is that i can then teach at the college level- pending someone wants me to teach what i know. i could probably get my teaching certificate to teach secondary art as well. i'm not convinced what i would enjoy more. i'd love to teach an entry level drawing course or even a production course at a college, but i don't know if getting my masters is worth it for that.
i thru MBA in there for business purposes and in case i ever wanted to change my career. but then i think, is that even worth it? couldn't i just take some business classes at a community college, get another degree in business and have a similar affect?
then what if i just took some classes for fun at the art academy's community class program? they have a lot of classes i would be interested in, but they wouldn't really be giving me skills i could use everyday or that would benefit me in the long run. they would just be fun classes.

all i know is i need a creative kick in the ass. nothing jolting, now... just stimulation. a lot of the work i do at my day job and some of the stuff that passes over my desk is just slapped together- and rightfully so. no one looks at subscription cards or renewal forms or letter inserts for the design quality. they get recycled immediately. this is part of the reason i wish i would have gone to the stationery show this year. i need the colors, i need the patterns, i need the atmosphere. i need a vacation.

not much to the sneak peek today. in fact, nothing. i'm working on a few things, though and i'm pretty excited about them.