What a great week!

I don't want to jinx all of my good fortune of late, but I have to say that I am really excited about the recent attention my shop has received.  It all began with being included in the Etsy Finds email a couple of weeks ago...wow!  That sent quite a few folks over to my shop and resulted in a few sales.   Thank you Etsy!

And then the following Monday I was asked if I would like to send in one of my journals to a magazine (not naming names yet just in case...again, don't want to jinx it!) for a feature in November!  Umm...you bet!  So I sent off my journal and the information requested and am keeping my fingers crossed!

And then I received my first bulk order from the world's best bookstore (I should know...I was fortunate to work at the Edmonds Bookshop for a couple of years).  Thank you Mary Kay!

And then I was invited to join two extremely wonderful teams on Etsy that are full of very talented people.  Thank to the team, my work has been on the front page twice this week!   I have also had two of my treasuries on the front page of Etsy this week.

I feel a warm, golden light shining on me and could not be happier.  No matter what happens with the magazine, I am so excited about the path my shop is on!  I could not be happier with the folks of Etsy and am truly grateful to have an outlet for my creative side. 

I am also thankful for all of the positive feedback I have received from my fellow Etsy vendors...it is nice to be a part of such a positive community!

And I could not ask for a more supportive, wonderful husband who never complains about my after-work hours spent doing my work for Etsy.  In fact, he has always provided constant encouragement for all of my creative endeavours. I married him for many reasons, and this is one of them.  Thank you sweetie! :)

Yay for a great week!  And now for the weekend!

So many new things!

Yay!  Fresh items are now sitting in my shop just waiting to be shipped!  Take a peek at them when you get a chance...you know back to school is just around the corner!  Also, these would make terrific stocking stuffers!

Idea Bulb on Black Moleskine

  Exploring Bear on Red Moleskine 

Chalkboard Scissors on Black Moleskine

Roller derby and live music

The hubby and I broke away from our little house in the woods and traveled to Dallas for a weekend in the city. Our evening started with a little roller derby action---there are some tough girls out there!  If you have ever have a chance to watch a roller derby live...go for it!

We were able to watch the first two matches before we had to head over to Club Dada in Deep Ellum  to see Seryn.  The hubby discovered this amazing group - he gets at least 317 extra brownie points for this magnificent discovery!  Dada's is really small...really, really small...and they managed to pack in 300 people for this group!   Needless to say, it was quite warm and clammy by the time Seryn hit the stage at midnight.  And might I say how proud I am of myself for staying awake this late!  Oh boy...this group was SOOO worth it!  They are just full of energy and amazing sound!  You have got to go check them out!

And after all of that, we walked across the street for breakfast at Cafe Brazil at 1:30 in the morning!  Oh...yummy, yummy French toast! Cafe Brazil is literally the only place we eat when we are in Dallas.  We like all kinds of food, but it is so hard to NOT eat at Cafe Brazil whenever we are in the area.

What a lovely weekend!

Sometimes you just gotta dive in...

You know how it is to come upon something in life that, though a little scary maybe, you know deep down you just have to do it.  You start thinking about all that could go wrong if you do it, all that could go wrong if you don't.  But the more you think about it, maybe the biggest that thing that could go wrong if you don't do it is that you will regret not giving it a try.

So...just dive in!  Make the leap...move to that faraway town, take the dream job that means a pay cut but a happier life, say yes to him or her!

And...while you are at it, take a look at my latest card and journal!  :)

New...Camera Cards and Journals

I am with the school of thought that old school film cameras should never be entirely replaced by digital cameras.  But, when was the last time you scouted for some film?  I remember the days of an entire aisle being devoted just to film, being confused as to which speed I would need and wondering if the lighting would would be sufficient to have my photos turn out well.  And do you remember having to buy those flash cubes for your camera?  Remember waiting a week to get your pictures back, hoping that they all turned out okay?  I am showing my age here. Those were the days of no do-overs.  You had one chance to get the picture right, and all of your hits and misses were forever recorded on film.  In the present digital age, we just snap a photo, view it on the camera, and make any adjustments we need (no blinking this time! turn the flash off! adjust for the shade!) and try, try again until we get it right.  Don't get me wrong, I love my digital camera and would never part ways with it.  But there is just something about film cameras that, even though they can be a pain to work with,  I will always love.

I crafted my newest stamp based on a camera from the film age.  The stamped cards and journals would be perfect for just about anyone I think.  My hubby spends a lot of time outside for his job in search of wetlands and he remarked how he would love to use one of the journals to keep track of the many photos he takes.  Of course, he will have to pay for one I told him.  ;)

At home wherever I find myself

Wouldn't any of these lovely items be just perfect for your comfy home?

New goodies in the Etsy shop

Today was a good day to post a few new journals to my shop.

This is my Loblolly Pine design, a stamp I hand carved in honor of the trees that surround my home.  When I was a little kid, I would spend hours making pine needle houses, which basically consisted of crafting a 3-inch tall outline of a home floor plan. I was also convinced that if I buried a whole pine cone and watered it every now and then, I would be able to grow a gigantic pine tree.  Needless to say, that never worked.

The rocket in this picture is a bank that once belonged to my husband's grandfather.  As a child, my husband loved launching pennies into the rocket using that little slide and red button. It still works, but I have no idea how to get the money out, which I guess makes it a fairly secure penny bank.  Given that the original design for this light bulb was for my sweet husband, I thought that the rocket bank would be a perfect pairing for this journal.

I have always loved koala bears, and would be very disappointed to find out that they are not as cute and cuddly as they appear.  I just cannot imagine them being anything but impeccably sweet.

What's your favorite?

Don't you just love the Etsy Taste Test?  I do!  The best thing about this test is that there is absolutely no way that you can fail!

I took the test tonight and found a new favorite shop, La Petite Boheme, full of cute, cute jewelry.  And as I was perusing this lovely shop, I stopped in and looked at the shop's favorites. Since I was in the mood for making a treasury, and I really would have loved to feature several of La Petite Boheme's goodies, I decided, "Why not use favorites from the shop?"

Voila!  A new treasury was born!

Where shall we go?

Feeling "inspired" by the lack of vacation time coming my way any time soon, I settled for daydreaming on Etsy.

What's a bunny to do?

Sometimes, the best evenings are spent eating Ben and Jerry's while drawing and scooting around on Etsy.  Tonight was one of those nights, and Boston Cream Pie ice cream was on the menu!  I don't know how we ever lived without that amazing duo Ben and Jerry! How do they make ice cream even better??  It must be some sort of magic.  And that magic led me to draw this cute little guy...well, I think he is cute, anyway!

Sexy pants

Sometimes you just need to draw a bear in underpants after a stressful day.

I have to admit...he is kind of cute, especially for a bear in blue tighty-whities.

I feel better now after having drawn this guy.

Just what he needs

Looking for the perfect gift for that great guy in your life?  Want something that you can't find at the mall or one of the big box stores?

Well, you are in luck then!

Take a peek at these fabulous finds on Etsy that I think any guy would love! 

Along the road

Isn't it just amazing all of the lovely flowers that pop up during the spring time!  I love checking our mail this time of year, not because I look forward to finding bills in the mail box, but because of all of the flowers that take over the area along the road by the mail box.  And where there are flowers, there are plenty of little amazing insects taking advantage of all the flowers have to offer.  While I did not get any mail today (which means I also did not get any bills!), I did take the time to snap a few photos of the life along the road.

All new light bulb necklace in the shop

We are slowly phasing out incandescent light bulbs in our house, replacing them with the little squiggly compact fluorescent bulbs (the U.S. is set to phase them out entirely by 2014).  Of course, for the bulbs in our ceiling fans and such that are exposed for all to see, we have opted for the squiggly bulbs that look like incandescents.  I cannot foresee a day when it will look acceptable to have bare little squiggly bulbs showing.  While the new breed of light bulbs are definitely a better idea when it comes to energy efficiency, I still love the iconic image of the standard incandescent light bulb.

Not too long ago, I created a hand carved stamp of the incandescent bulb and created a card, which you can find at my Etsy shop.  I wanted to take it a little further and add the image to a necklace.  Well...here it is now, and I could not be happier!  I really, really like this design.  I have the image framed a little by sanding the edges a little further than my other pendants. I think that it works well with this design. 

It starts with a toe in the water

Are you ready for a little swim? Well, grab that swimsuit, slip on those flip flops, and hit the beach!

On a spring evening

Spring comes early and leaves quickly around here.  Just last week, I was telling my co-workers to not complain about the abnormally cool weather when we all know that soon, very soon, the great outdoors will feel like a soup kitchen! People tend to think that all of Texas is like what you see in the movies--desert, tumbleweeds, cacti, cowboys, dry heat--and, there is a large portion of the state that is just like that.  We lived in Amarillo (in the panhandle of Texas, "near" New Mexico) for four years and, when we first moved there from east Texas (a full 11-hour drive from our hometown), we were elated to know that 100 degrees could actually feel "pleasant" if the humidity is only 10%!  Here in the piney woods of east Texas (sorry, no tumbleweeds, but plenty of folks in cowboy clothes), we often find ourselves sweating from the short walk from the front door to the mailbox in the summer because the humidity is 90% at 95 degrees.  Soupy, soupy days are ahead.  Already, the temperatures are peaking into the mid-90s.   Ugh.

To keep myself in full Spring mode, I dug through some of my favorites and found a few more along the way to put this little treasury together.  And if you don't instantly fall in love with the little Bambi in this treasury, well...I just don't know what to say. :) 

A feature on I's Ha-Lo Ha-Lo Blog

Irene of I's Ha-Lo Ha-Lo was kind enough to feature my Etsy shop in her lovely blog.  I truly appreciate the time she spent putting this together and hope that you can make your way over to her blog to take a peek. She puts these features together weekly and so be sure to check it out from time to time to catch the latest Etsy seller feature!

Thank you Irene! 

The lightness of being

My latest treasury is inspired by the sweet subtle colors of spring.

My love is here

We have had our first nasty storm of spring--lightning, thunder, strange colored skies.  The entire area is under a tornado watch, and earlier today the tornado sirens sounded a couple of times.  My poor sister-in-law who is VERY pregnant with twins and in the hospital until the babies are born actually had to huddle in the hospital hallway today until the alarms went off.  This is a woman that can barely bend over right now, let alone "huddle."  Poor girl.

With all the gray skies overhead and the hubby away working, I put this little treasury together.

Treasury Love

Thank you to each of the Team Treasury Island who featured my shop in their team spotlight treasuries on Friday!  I certainly do appreciate all of the Treasury Love!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4da84a2896986d911b780946/black-birds-of-spring?

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4da84bfc53e76d91a53c5228/color-me-foxy?

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4da851ab7adf6d91cd8681f0/dotted-lines?

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4da86be4769a8eefb3b1b35f/whooo-loves-you?

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4da879ceede56d919d261f35/bw2?

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4da87e6fd2c46d9149d7256f/sewingits-what-we-do?

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4da8e2060ad38eef66ef677c/your-mama?

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4da8e83193b68eefc2c615ab/he-looks-straight-ahead-not-at-me?

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4da8ed6193b68eefe7ed17ab/a-fox-amongst-the-birds?

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4da8f85ad4cf8eef40d2dde2/owl-are-you-the-babys-asleepsighim? 

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4da91e8c94138eefab4e9bde/in-pursuit?

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4da957f8cb686d9102d7b78a/little-bit-of-spring-little-bit-of?

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4da9d6dfb2f18eef161e8754/pueo-hawaiian-owl?