You win

LINDSEY WINS! She's been notified and things are in the works.

Congratulations Lindsey!

...now. we're off to cleveland.

It's Bone and Biggie... and Paula

So many people say you can tell a lot about a person by their playlist.

Yikes.

my "training*" mix...

rodeo clowns :: g love and special sauce
break anotha :: blake lewis
crazy chick :: charlotte church
break the ice :: britney
since you've been gone :: kelly clarkson
circus :: britney
tambourine :: eve
single ladies :: beyonce
rumors :: lindsay lohan
breathe, stretch, shake :: mase
body language :: heidi montag
toxic :: britney
reach out :: hilary duff
about us :: brooke hogan
stronger :: britney
(all nite) don't stop :: janet jackson
low :: kelly clarkson
shake ya body :: tyra banks
balla baby :: chingy
dirty dancing :: NKOTB
i hate this part :: PCD
mercy :: duffy
valerie :: amy winehouse
whole hearted :: extreme
wait a minute :: PCD
womanizer :: britney
SOB :: lisa marie presley
piece of your heart :: natasha bedingfield
elevator :: flo rida
shake it :: MC shy d
full service :: NKOTB
head sprung :: ll cool j
live your life :: t.i.
gimme more :: britney
naughty girl remix :: beyonce
girl you know it's true :: milli vanilli
naked :: debbie gibson
tilt ya head back :: nelly and christina
give it to you :: jordan knight
step by step :: NKOTB
top back :: t.i.
this is me :: dream
forever your girl :: paula abdul
screwed :: paris hilton
son of a gun :: janet jackson and carly simon
wanna be startin something :: MJ
don't stop til you get enough :: MJ
drop :: timbaland
let's ride :: bone thugs n harmony
victory :: p diddy
freedom :: george michael
maneater :: nelly furtado
give it to me :: JT, nelly furtado, timbaland
party people :: nelly
hello :: alex m.

if you would like a copy, let me know. i'm happy to share.

nice little mix, huh? i like random and from people that have no business recording music (um, paris hilton? alex m. from laguna beach? tyra? heidi montag?). i also like rap. this goes back to my BMX days and why my husband almost didn't continue to date me. (she ain't nuttin but a hoochy mama- hoodrat, hoodrat hoochy mama). whatev. and then there is NKOTB, extreme, paula, debbie gibson and dream. i will love them forever (i'm forever your girl, late 80's/90's). EV-ER i tell you- and they aren't the only ones.
there were so many others i wanted to add to the list, but they weren't "workoutable" so i will just have to make myself another list. and then i was worried that it was a bit long (3.7 hours! gaaah!), but then a realized that when my workout ADD kicks in and i quit WAY ahead of schedule, this will be perfect. i won't be listening to the same songs over and over and i won't get bored of them.
so there ya go. a small window to my soul (because i'm the put-on-a-show kinda girl).

did i miss any?
p.s. check out dizzlefig's post that inspired me to share.


*not sure what i'm training for exactly, but whatev

A day of firsts...

first snow and first snow angel! (couldn't get a decent picture because the nugget doesn't weight enough to make a decent enough impression!)

i also got a few things finished up... (none of these are color corrected- i apologize)



i drew this panda a while ago, but wasn't 100% convinced what i was going to do with him. i think i have a pretty good idea now, so once it gets finished up, i'll post. i sewed in the whites of his eyes, but they really just didn't look right, so i spent at least 2 hours ripping them out last nite being careful not to rip out the black stitches holding the black eye patches on. i was going to add in the mouth and nose detail with thread as well, but i think i like him how he is.



some hang tags for one of my FAVORITE sellers... BeanPickleSprout.

new invite package...


the red line on the left of the add-on pieces is actually ribbon. i did this one as a sample and not for a particular bride... yet! i used my invitation information just because it was available and i wasn't worried about the whole confidentiality thing.

i must now keep an eye on a little one that is doing wind-sprints in her walker from one end of the house to the other.

anyone have any good home remedies for a little girl that is going hoarse?

Carnival Time!

It's that time again! Carnival time!
Let's see... what do I have in my bag o' goodies...

This time around, you'll receive a pack of 10 personalized note cards. Yep- you can have your name put on them, your sister's name, heck- your dog's name.



Feel free to choose from the cards listed as "Custom" or to choose any of the designs and have them personalized. Though they are not listed, all the images in the 2009 calendars can be adapted to a note card. The sky is the limit!



This would be perfect for a teacher's gift...



This giveaway is open to whomever would like to enter- domestic and international. I only ask that you leave 1 comment per person telling me what you would like to see in my shop- what do you think is missing?

Good Luck! Giveaway ends at 10pm tonite EST

It's like Where's Waldo

So I know I've been MIA. I do know this and I'm sorry. But please know it is for good reason. Reason that is not appropriate to discuss in a public forum, but a very good reason if you happen to read minds and know the reasoning (disclaimer: Mr. Little, Little Miss, Mrs. Little and the pooches are all fine. My reasoning lies in immediate family, but not in our household directly- though our household is affected by the reasoning- make sense? I'm just trying to be sensitive here and I don't know if I'm succeeding. It's just a hard situation to explain without details- details that are not appropriate for a public forum, as I've said. Have I spun you in enough circles?)

Anyway- I've been working on custom jobs, creating mock-ups and overall just stalking. I usually don't do much in January or February because I'm wanting to figure out my path for the year. Come Monday, I'll be participating in the Bloggy Giveaways Blog and I'm also doing my part to help the recovery of Nie and her husband. Keep checking here to see my donations. Enter both and good luck!

The Valentine's Day Valentine's cards are up and the Calendars and Holiday Cardsare marked down.

I'll be back soon, I promise!

You and dirty got ties for different reasons...

i'm having a dilemma (no, no... not dilemma like nelly and kelly BTW... but why did i think dilemma was spelled with an "n" in there?), but a real puzzler as to what I should do and should not do.

i like to think that i have the ability to obtain my goals- to make up my mind that i'm going to do something and then do it- self discipline they call it. Other times I get distracted by shiny pretty things and all self control is forgotten.

Now... after I've built this dilemma up to be much more than I'm sure most will think it is, I have to tell you that I wrestle with it. (this just in- I just read a blog post from suffix.abuse that has now thrown another ratchet into my dilemma.)

So- I've built the suspense up enough, huh?
Let's lay it all out on the table.

Dilemma Object 1: Stuff

Dilemma Object 2: Guilliotine Stack Paper Cutter

Dilemma Object 3: Gocco Printer

** I think I've already talked myself out of the Gocco. I can set up a conventional screen printing screen if I really feel like this is a path I should pursue. **

So that leaves us with #1 and #2. I'm debating on if I save all the money from this year's jobs to buy myself #2. Or do I continue on with my ways, spend the Paypal money that accumulates on a need-to-purchase basis... need-to-purchase being things that are just lovely and i covet.

I cannot decide. Call it a conundrum. A pickle. A bind. Whatever constricting synonym you want to use. I can't decide. I need help. Help me decide. Please. I listen to other people.

so until then

East Coast, I know you're shakin' right
Down South, I know you're bouncin' right
West Coast, I know you're walkin' right
(Cause you don't know what you mean to me)
Midwest, I see you swingin' right

25 Things...

we're friends, right? you won't judge... right?

1. I do most things in pairs: I drink with 2 straws, eat M&Ms by like color or complimentary color in 2s or 4s, pretzels eaten in pairs... the list goes on. It's part of my charm.

2. I could never be a stay at home mom. I would have to be a work at home mom that drops her kid(s) at daycare. I would be worrying too much about what I'm not getting done instead of enjoying my kid(s).

3. I worry that the longer I wait to become self employed, the harder it will be to leave and not because I'm worried about succeeding, but because it will stress me out that I'm not making the equivalent of what I would be making working for someone else- even though all I want to do is be self employed.

4. Then I worry that T$ will feel that I do not pull my weight in the cash flow department, silently hate me for spending money, in turn depriving me of one of my true loves- Target.

5. I hope that Charlotte will call T$ "T$" instead of "Daddy".

6. I thoroughly enjoy space planning and have a plan for each room of my house. I will soon space-plan the house as if it were my studio/office and we lived somewhere else.

7. I would love to flip houses (due to #6 and the ability to knock down walls in my mind).

8. T$ said he almost didn't continue to date me because he thought I was too "ghetto"

9. I have the worst stage fright ever possible. I took voice lessons in college and didn't really sing like I could because I was terrified my voice coach was judging me.

10. I rarely mix my groups of friends. If we're having people over, we have one group at a time. I stress out that they won't like each other and no one will enjoy themselves.

11. I really want to learn to sew my own clothes

12. For the longest time I rarely participated in conversations because I couldn't get my words right. I would start talking and completely forget what I was saying and what I had just said. So I would listen, pipe in when necessary and that was it.

13. When I was younger, my mom said I wanted to be a doctor and a cheerleader. I can also vaguely remember wanting to be a semi driver as well because I wanted to honk the horn for little kids pulling the invisible chain as they passed by.

14. I subscribe to 196 blogs... and counting.

15. I'm obsessed with handwriting. Entire notebooks filled with handwriting makes me giddy.

16. I want to spend more time with my letterpress this year, but because I haven't had enough time to devote to adjusting it to get an even impression, I keep putting it off... and then I worry T$ will get mad that I bought it.

17. I've lately become obsessed with my Domino Deco File.

18. I like to think I'm very witty, though very few can really figure out what I'm saying. (For instance, a friend that was dating a reverend's son that was a coke dealer received a mixed CD entitled "Simon Camden took the Pepsi Challenge and lost")

19. I believe that almost all great actors got their start on Lifetime.

20. I have a slight OCD complex that makes me match things. For instance. I bought particular containers for all of Little Miss' clothes- Clear bin, purple top and pink handle. If they ever stop making these containers, I will buy all new containers that match each other because having 2 different containers will drive me crazy. Same goes for if they change the style of that container.

21. I used to keep my shoes in individual clear tupperware shoe boxes.

22. I have 47 first cousins on my dad's side. (What was the tally on second cousins??) He is 1 of 15. This gives us a total of 150 family members alone at weddings.

23. My wedding was the first time all those cousins (with the except of Jen) were in the same place at the same time.

24. When I do things like this or post on my blog, I pretend I'm writing for people I've never met and will never meet. I can't comprehend that people I know and talk to all the time would read things I post.

25. This took way too long to think up 25 things about myself... mostly because I was worried they wouldn't be interesting enough.

to Resolve or not...

I'm horrible about being held to things I say when it doesn't really involve anyone else. Need me to show up to help you move furniture around? No problem. Need me to pick you up at 3am from the airport and then drop you at your great Aunt Trixie's house 45 minutes the other way? No problem. The end result benefits you. When the end result benefits me... I could really care less if I follow thru. I'm not lazy. Just... well, whatever.

So everyone makes these great resolutions right about now. They vow to do this, say this more often, not do this and then get super super skinny. So... will I do it this year? Sure, I always make goals for myself. Do I make New Year's Resolutions? Not really... but it never stops me from putting a few ideas down that I'd like to keep in mind.

Business-wise... the goals are important. They give me a timeline and they allow me to visualize where I'm going. Just like I made my monetary goal last year, I make milestone goals scattered thru out the year to keep me moving forward. So... here they are.

:: Spend wisely ::
This is actually two fold with the next goal. Everyone is spending less these days, I'm not an exception. I feel like I have all the necessary tools to run my business efficiently- anything else at this point would be an "extra bonus". I would love to find a paper cutter, seeing as how I outsource larger cut jobs right now, but if it doesn't turn up, I can still provide service to my clients that doesn't have disruption.

:: Maintain ::
In some ways I feel like having the expectation that Five Dot will grow (i.e. me put more money into marketing, advertising, etc to reach more clients) is a false hope. Referencing back to the first goal, spending is down everywhere and I do not expect to thrive in a poor economy. Don't get my wrong- if I take off I'm not pulling the reigns back. I just don't think it's wise to put money into something where I can only hope there will be a return. Maintaining what I have now will allow me to secure relationships and plan for the next year.

:: Internal Growth ::
This is the year of internal growth. Processes, research, network- all of those things and more. I want to push my wedding line a little bit more (seeing as how most designs are already done and becomes a matter of listing them in the shop.) I'll take this year to rework my website, build my catalog, build my "to contact" list for wholesale and pull my look book together. It's all do-able... I just need to build that time line.

:: Experiment ::
I want to experiment with different materials- fabric, felt, metals, etc. I think this year will be a good year to play. I already have a few ideas I'd like to pursue- things that I think will be received well. Many involve pattern work and attention to detail which will be a nice break from my work now. I've hit a bit of a wall with what I have now and breaking out of that box, I think, will help me build on my collection. This is the first year I've started to put together an inspiration board (I'll show it once everything's up and organized)

:: Continue to have fun ::
I'm having a great time building my brand and my company. I feel like I'm heading in a direction that I'm comfortable going and I feel like I'm finally asking the right questions and putting those answers to good use.

Personally...
These tend to be the same as everyone else, but I'll put 'em down on paper- er, blogland.

:: Spend Wisely ::
Time to glue that wallet shut. Don't get me wrong- we want for not (or whatever the saying is) and we're not eating saltines and peanut butter every nite (even though they're soooooo good). We live. We buy things we like. I buy things I like but don't need. This HAS to stop. I have plans for that money now... a new house with a studio to call my own. (and Hubz, if you're reading, please don't remind me of this post when I've been at Target for an hour and I'm still not back.)

:: Declutter ::
I got stuff and I like my stuff. I like my stuff with me. I have too much stuff. Someone else needs stuff. I'll give you my stuff. The past few weeks I've done a very good job of letting things go. We recently took advantage of some good deals on plastic bins and switched over all the old cardboard boxes to labeled plastic bins. But I must say, Hubz took the prize for oldest-stuff-kept-that-was-meaningless-to-everyone- involved: timesheets from the early 90's. Yeah, we shredded those.

:: Stick to my Plan to win Prizes ::
let's just say this goes along with everyone else's "... and end up super super skinny" pledges. 'nuff said.

:: Be Content ::
If none of this ends up panning out, I want to know that I at least had fun this year... which so far, is going very well.

(I know, posts with no pictures aren't really as fun, but I haven't done much creating. I spent my time watching all 19 episodes of My So-Called Life and flipping thru magazines.)