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Oh friends...last week? Well, last week was one of those weeks. You know what I mean, the one week that is seems like a month's worth of activities were squeezed in to 5 days.
The to-do list wasn't bad. There was a microdermabrasion from a friend practicing before her final exam to become a licensed esthetician. And a morning spent junking with another friend that was a blast. And a morning taking my mom to another eye appointment that will hopefully lead to her vision getting back to normal.
But the business leads to not enough time to work...and that leads to me stressing out...and in a weird way leads to my creative juices flowing.
And inspiration hit over a cup of coffee while browsing Pinterest....
And a whole lot of prayers that Monday afternoon to be able to make it through the week.
A perfect little sign that combines the two things that keep me going.
I love the fun quirky font mixed with the sweeping lines of the hand lettered font. I like to think the heavy distressing is a reminder that some of the most beautiful people {or things} in my life, got that way by weathering the storm called life.
Of course this sign is listed in my Etsy shop {just click here!}...you know, just in case you need a little coffee with a whole lot of Jesus!
This is it. My first "life in between post". I'll get back to the sign making or crafty stuff with the next post, pinky promise.
My husband and I have been on an over-haul, we're finally getting healthy plan since the beginning of the year. One of the super foods I have been pondering is quinoa.
So what does quinoa have to do with the title of this post? If you live in my home...everything.
My 9 year old likes to take new things that she doesn't understand and turn it in to a perfectly understandable idea that works for her and may just leave you in stitches.
Like the quinoa.
While holding a bag of it in the grocery store, and debating if this was the week we were going to try it, my daughter turns her attention from poking every single bag of rice to excitedly exclaim,
"Oh! Look at all those tiny little turtle eggs! We're not going to eat those are we? I don't think I could."
Which was followed by laughter from my fellow shoppers as I turned to see exactly what she was talking about. She was looking at me wide eyed and pointing at the bag of quinoa I was holding.
Sorry quinoa...maybe we'll see what you're all about another week.
Later in the week, my mother in law wanted to take the girls, while they were on Spring break, to the Waco Mammoth Site and I tagged along for the ride.
We were there early and the girls took advantage of browsing the gift shop while I stood outside and took a phone call.
"Mom...MOM!! They are selling diamonds in there for $5!! I mean they're really dirty but I know we can clean them!"
Luckily the phone call was my mom. And the dirty diamonds were crystal quartz from Brazil. And I didn't buy a single mammoth item from the gift shop but made sure I went back to get us one of the dirty diamonds.
Little girls are the best. They're adorable and have dreams of one day becoming a princess.
But little girls turn in to preteen and teenage girls and that brings a whole new storm. One day they are following you around, wanting to be just like you, and it seems the next day they are closed up in their room texting and the only time you see them is if food or you buying them stuff is involved.
Oh. And they start worrying what everyone else is wearing, friends opinions will seem to matter more than yours and if they don't have that cute new shirt that so-and-so from YouTube designed they simply.will.die....
And you know that they won't because you start to remember those years and that you never believed your mom's advice and you call your mom to apologize with each new growing phase you face. {Again, sorry mom.}
But in all reality, I'm learning to take each new battle {or eye roll} as a learning experience for all of us. The biggest lesson I'm trying to teach them right now is that things are things. They're true beauty will always come from deep within and that they need to be able to look at themselves in the mirror at the end of the day and know that they were the absolute best person they could have been. And if they weren't, well, tomorrow is a new day.
I found a picture of this passage on Pinterest when I first signed up a few years ago. I never knew how important this passage would be for myself and my girls.
And the fact that it would start a bathroom remodel that should have happened a long time ago. I'm shocked I have ever been allowed to pick colors for our home after this pink. It's now painted in an eye pleasing sparrow gray and I will be keeping you up to date as it all comes together!
I whitewashed the sign to allow the wood to come through. Once I was done with the lettering, I distressed the front of the sign and painted some lattice boards the same black as the lettering and attached them to add a little dimension. I'm not sure exactly where in the bathroom it will hang yet, but I love that it will be there as a daily reminder to the girls before they head out in to the world for the day.
I do have this sign listed in my Etsy shop if you would like to take a peek and will be soon offering it in different sizes to fit every budget!
This post is also being shared here:
http://diyshowoff.com/category/other/that-diy-party/
Inspiration Monday at
www.ishouldbemoppingthefloor.com
That was my statement to my husband the end of December..."If I could work as hard as I do during Christmas I'm pretty sure I could rule the world!"
Let me clarify, the handmade sign shop/blog/being the best crafter this world has ever seen world.
Ha! It's now the middle of February and I am no where near world domination {as you can tell since October is the last time I posted}. I'm not even close to dominating the craft market on my street.
Here's the thing, the highly successful shops you see on Etsy and the popular bloggers you love to read all have one thing in common. At some point they had to get their "stuff" together and figure out what works for them. Like a crafty a-ha moment, sometimes you have to change they way you work if you want to grow.
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I recently sat down and thought about what bothered me most. The fact that I have a 3-4 week turnaround time on Etsy orders really started to eat at me. I know I have missed out on sales because some people don't want to have to wait that long for a purchase. I know that I have given myself permission way too many times to spend a couple days doing nothing because I was getting orders shipped way before my turnaround time.
Knowing that I have pages of pending orders waiting on me would be like a gloomy cloud over my head some days. A gloomy cloud that would start sucking the creativity out of me and I want my creativity back.
I'm know working like every day is like the last day of my Christmas rush. Well, Monday-Friday, 8-5 {and sometimes in the evening}. Not just painting. I'm finding my passion in photography again. I'm working on drafts for upcoming blog posts. I'm slowly getting my creativity back for new items in my Etsy shop.
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And slowly working on dominating the craft world...on my street.
