And the winner is...

I've been a bit under the weather, so this post is a bit late... but... the winner of the christmas cards is...

CHRISTINA!!
yay!!

I will be emailing you shortly! And thanks SO MUCH to everyone that participated!

I'll have more when I'm feeling better.

Now, look out Chicken Noodle Soup

The Breakfast Bar...

isn't this what breakfast bars are intended for, right? yummy paper and envelopes?







i think i underestimated myself and what i was putting out there. i think i'm going to be taking over the breakfast bar like this for the next few weeks... good thing we've never really even used it :-) big ups to hubz for building these cabinets to my specifications (he even lined up the waynes coating- or whatever it's called- lines) and making them look fantastic!




psssst...
here's the cabinets in all their glory... well, without their doors and hardware... but that whole wall he built- granite tile bar and all.

If I ever curse her...

Please smack me. She's helping me with the pretty stuff you see below... and she's been so good to me. I hope she never leaves me.

Seeing as how our bedroom doubles as my office, my stuff tends to spread itself out wherever I can find room. I make-do now, but I long for the day when I can take over an entire room without the inconvenience of having to move my beloved piles in order to sleep.




We had our first "snowfall" yesterday. This is what the Live Forever's looked like when I got home from work. The white was so vibrant off the green it was almost blinding. They looked like Dip n Dots if you ask me. Maybe I'm just hungry. Ah, well. Whatever. I still like them.

It's a Carnival in November

Yup. The EtsyGreetings Team is having a Blog Carnival... and I'm giving you a chance to win some goodies of mine.

I'm giving away one pack of Holiday cards of your choice. Yup. I just listed them this weekend and I'm giving you a chance to win one of the packs below





Just leave a comment here and on Friday I'll choose my winner. Please only enter once and this is open to everyone- international participants included. Members of the EtsyGreetings Team are welcome to enter as well! To head back to the EtsyGreetings blog to enter more giveaways, click the link in the first sentence or that snazzy button on the top right of the blog.

You think I would learn

As most creative do, ideas swirl constantly in my mind. I try to get them out as soon as I can, but it's not always that easy with an 8 month old and a full time job. So, I usually end up throwing something together in Illustrator, only to never be satisfied with how my design transferred to the computer from my mind. Sometimes I just go with it and sometimes I don't. I now have an entire bin full of "shouldn't have gone with that" to put out at my next craft fair as a "discontinued bin". You think I would learn by now to go back to the way we did it in school.

Sketches.

Mock ups.

Lay down the design.

Mock up.

Fix problems.

Mock up.

Finished.

Make millions.

The last part may be a stretch, but lately I haven't been able to successfully transfer ideas to designs and I know what the problem is. I haven't mocked it up or sketched it out. I haven't put it to paper- I haven't looked at all the possibilities. I haven't seen it- its flaws, its successes, it's "okays". We all have ideas in our minds, but we can never know if they are feasible (for us and our resources, anyway) unless we work out their kinks.

For months I've been mulling over a project, how to get it work and how I want to pull it together. It never dawned on me until now to sketch it out and mock it up. *duh* I started to do it with another project and *shocking* it worked. It showed me areas of improvement, areas that didn't work and areas I really liked. I haven't been able to go back to this project- mainly because I thought of another medium that would work better than card stock and give it the extra push over edge to make it great.



So now, I find my sketch book again, put down the design, mock it up, work it out and put out something I'm proud of and you're proud to give out. I've obviously had success with items that I take my time with (my calendar that 2 years), so I need to pay attention to what works and go with that method. I've always said that I will not put something out there again that I wouldn't buy myself. I need to remember that. There are a lot of good ideas that are just sitting in folders on my computer waiting to come to life- but they're all missing something and I refuse to put them out there before they're ready. I'm almost there, but "almost" isn't good enough.

Now if you'll excuse me... I have some designs to work out.

Now that's what I call Supportive

Little Mrs. :: I sold another calendar

Mr.Little :: Sweet! That's like 5, right?

Little Mrs. :: Something like that

Mr.Little :: You'll be able to quit your job and work from home pretty soon!

Little Mrs. :: Yeah... those 5 calendars really put me over the edge.

_____

Isn't he adorable? He dreams so big.

I told you!

Get 'em while they're hot.



And I'd like to give a shout out to Mr. Little this fine day as it's our 2nd year anniversary. He was so kind to send me flowers yesterday (to try to throw me off) as his way of saying thanks for my nagging, whining and just all around pain-in-the-ass ways. He loves me so.

So, hubs... I'm pourin' one out for you, homie. You're great and I'd like to keep ya around.


now, drink chug-a-lug!