Thursday!

Today has been hard, not bad, not sad, just hard. There are some loose ends I am trying to get tied up. I have a couple of concerns that seem to be hanging over my head.  I have a family member on the road; which makes me a tad bit nervous. I am incredibly tired today even though I got plenty of rest. It has just been a long day and it is only noon. It is gloomy outside and cold. Which after the bright sunshine we have had I am missing it.

Anyway, here are some things to brighten up a darkish, longish, dreary day.

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This photo by H20 works is bright and cheerful!

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There, I am feeling better already. Thank you for allowing me the time to regroup. Some days are just hard, nothing serious or permanent. It is a day to be cozy and  warm to hang out and crochet kind of day. I think I need to do a bit more cleaning before my Mom comes. So I will see you later!

Karen

Organizing for Summer

I am an artist...but I am also a Mom. I am running a small business but I also have to put meals on the table, do shopping and have fun with the kids this summer. Today, I keep waffling between organizing the studio, organizing my kitchen, planning summer activities for the kids, and getting meals planned and made. Since today I have planned, scheduled and paid for the summer activities; drivers ed, and some fun computer classes, cake decorating for kids, a craft class or two and I have looked at the free tennis lessons available in our area. So that part of life is planned. I looked at my friend's    summer bucket list for her family, adapted and changed it to fit our family. I swapped tea party and blowing bubbles with hot dog roasts/bonfire at the state park, and making banana splits. I have worked in the studio for a couple of hours this morning, sewing, cleaning, sorting and putting away.

So I guess this leaves, getting meals planned,  freezer meals made. Which is harder since we have gone gluten free. We already had a ton of food sensitivities and allergies to cook around. The biggest ones being tree nuts, fish and MSG. The meal thing is huge at our house as we have teenagers and they eat and in an hour they are hungry again. It feels as though we spend huge amounts of time thinking about, preparing and cleaning up the kitchen. Freezer cooking is a way around worrying about what we are going to have for dinner. I have several substitutes for the canned soups that are in some of our favorite recipes, and for the breads which are in others. I think that we will make

• Breakfast bars


• Energy bites from http://moneysavingmom.com/2012/05/4-weeks-to-fill-your-freezer-homemade-energy-bites-day-18.html


• quiches or as we call it cheese and egg pie using hash browns as the crust.


• breakfast burritos


• bean burritos


• pizza crusts with this flat bread recipe from here  http://www.glutenfreecookingschool.com/archives/gluten-free-bread-30-minute-flatbread/


• Freezer coleslaw (there are many recipes on the internet and coleslaw is not rocket science).


• Apple crisp to eat tonight (too many apples)


• Crock pot refried beans for bean burritos. From here minus the jalapeno, cumin and salt. We add these at the end of cooking before eating. http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/08/29/recipe-easy-slow-cooker-refried-beans/

I am thinking this is a great start as it uses items we have on hand. I will have to put off all the items that require hash browns. So that will leave pizza crust, freezer coleslaw apple crisp, crockpot refried beans, energy bites, and GF peanut butter cookies.

Tomorrow is another day and I hope to get more done on this then.

Talk to you later,

Karen

To tweet or not to Tweet!

Using all the different social media to promote your online shop can be overwhelming. Here are a few good sites that can help you understand what twitter is and how it can help your online business.

Twitter: These are pretty basic and a good introduction to twitter.

http://www.wikihow.com/Use-Twitter

http://www.wikihow.com/Use-Twitter-to-Promote-Your-Website

http://www.squidoo.com/howtousetwittereffectively

http://www.ehow.com/how_5112315_use-twitter-marketing-platform.html

http://www.business2community.com/twitter/how-to-use-twitter-effectively-to-get-a-quality-following-0172889

And then this...

http://www.wikihow.com/Promote-Your-Online-Store-Online

I am trying to spend time reading about how to promote my little business so that it isn't quite so little anymore. That is one of the hard things about running a small business, you get to wear a bunch different of hats. It is also one of the good things about running your own business. Creating and maintaining the image and voice of my company I can  be sure that the image I promote is accurate.

Talk to you later,

Karen

What do you do to promote your online business? How do you advertise? Do you pay for advertising? Curious minds want to know....

 

My friend Rose

Have I told you about my internet friend Rose? She is finishing up her school year. She has taught High School science for years (AP chemistry, if I remember right). She is getting ready to start organic farming, interested in bee keeping, and has two boys and a husband. She also has two Etsy shops and is co-owner of another. She keep busy all of the time.  What caught my eye today are her wonderful hair clips and ties. The colors are intense, bright, and summery. Well, pictures are worth a thousand words so here are a few shots of her beautiful work.

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Rose seems to be working all the time.

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Her Etsy shops are http://www.etsy.com/shop/Rotifera and http://www.etsy.com/shop/sewecological. The paper shop that she shares with Cris is http://www.etsy.com/shop/TwoPaperAddicts. Rose sews the most amazing rick rack roses that she puts on hair clips.

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Rose is also a team leader for the Easl team or Etsy Artisans Success League team (http://www.etsy.com/teams/9712/etsy-artisans-success-league-easl) on Etsy.  Rose works really hard to help everyone around her be successful and I just wanted to say thank you. Thanks, Rose for all that you do!

Karen

 

 

 

Art for Thursday

I found these beautiful artworks recently on Etsy. Hmmm, how wonderful that I found them when I wasn't looking. They make me happy.

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Don't the dogs in this one look so fully into going somewhere, except for the beagle facing backwards. It must be our beagle/hound mix. He has always seems to be looking back at life, or sleeping. I just love both of these. I would love to put the both of these dog prints in the family room. I pinned the top one earlier this week but I couldn't resist showing you this one too!

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="570" caption="http://www.etsy.com/listing/53947527/115-back-up-signed-and-numbered-giclee"][/caption]

See you later,

Karen

 

Summer on Etsy

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Here are a few shops on Etsy that have beautiful items for Summer. I can just see my summer reading or pool items packed into this wonderful bag.

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I would love to journal all of my wonderful summer vacation into the luxurious leather journal. What a great gift for for a writer!

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This glowing sea glass pendant would go great with just about anything in my closet.

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I really love the combination of the blues and yellows in this table runner. It  is just gorgeous and what a easy way to set the patio table.

See you later,

Karen

 

Crocheting....

Crochet has been calling my name again, patterns are running through my mind and interrupting my sleep. I have been googling patterns and finding lovely items all crocheted. Lovely colors and items with texture and life. Moving is difficult even at the best of times, and I usually reach for yarn and a hook for comfort. That sounds a bit odd. I also pray deeply while I am crocheting and think. I let the yarn run while my mind is planning or thinking about the future. I have crocheted at least 6 blankets and numerous other items since Christmas.

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I find myself wanting to head in a different direction with the crochet. I am not sure which direction, yet. Possibly just a change in yarns and colors. I am craving the bright colors that I see from the European crocheters. They are light and bright while the US yarns seem a bit grayed and drab. Do you even care about this? It doesn't matter to me I need a place to talk about it and think about it. Is it worth ordering yarn from over the sea? Shall I venture out into wools or cottons?

Here are some of the items and blogs inspiring me at this point.

Lucy at Attic24

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Aren't they bright and cheery.

Jules at littlewoolie

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Gorgeous colors and great ideas.

Sandra at Cherryheart

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Wow, this one is just gorgeous and beautiful!

 

Well, there are others but these are the few that I visit, again and again. I am thankful that they share their days and projects with us. I have been through three computers in the past year, so I have lost many others that I had bookmarked.

Well, I will check back in another day. Today is waiting and there is much to be done. Thankfully, I don't need to solve this small problem today!

Karen

 

 

24 years and Counting!

Today is our anniversary. I wish I could say that it has been rainbows and happiness the whole time. It hasn't and we live an normal average life.We have had all of the average problems, health issues, money issues, parenting issues, car issues, dog issues. Some of those are better now that the dogs are older and the cars are younger. So instead of bragging about how forgiving we are...how we don't carry grudges, how we never fight, how miraculous it is being married to such a perfect person.  (Please don't spit the coffee out on the laptop, computers don't handle moisture well.)

I am writing a thank you to all those that have invested in our marriage and helped us through the hard spots, because frankly we are real people just like you.

If you ever watched our kids (wild as they were) when they were young and we were too, thank you so much! You allowed us to touch base again and remember how much we do enjoy spending time together.

If you ever taught us at church or a Bible study, thank you, because you enabled us to see that God has the ultimate hand in our lives and also in our marriage. You probably taught about money, forgiveness, how much we fail, how much we need to forgive others, the list is endless.

If you ever went out for coffee as friends to either one of us, you have helped to keep us sane and helped us laugh hysterically or listened to us as we spilled our hearts.

If you ever spent time just hanging out, you have helped us feel not so isolated.

If you ever talked about your life, kids, marriage, life issues or money, thank you because you helped us to remember that life at times is hard for everyone.

If you ever brought a meal when one of us was recovering from surgery, thank you; you helped us make it through another day with less frustration.

If you ever allowed us to help you, thank you because you have and are teaching us to reach out and not be so focused on ourselves.

I guess what I am saying is that it takes a lot of people helping to help a couple make it that long. Thank you for sharing your lives and friendship. When you reach out to someone you are making a difference in their lives and marriage.

Karen

P.S. Thank you for sticking through the thick and thin times! I still love to hold your hand.

 

 

A Sneak Peak

Here are some new things that have been happening at the studio these days...



I can't resist taking yarn and a crochet hook with me on a road trip. So, it started with these  yarns and some little bits that were used up. I then added these beauties halfway through the trip.



Now you can't see all of the colors as this is a big bag. Here is a better look at them.



and another look here.



This is promising to be a big crocheted blanket. I can't wait to have it finished. I did feel silly crocheting in 90 degree weather as we were driving along. It was a long drive and I finished quite a bit. Hopefully it won't be long before it is completed.

Karen

Why do yarn projects seem to grow out of their bags? Am I the only one that has this happen?

Something New out of Something Old

A couple of months back an internet friend sent me some lovely doilies and vintage napkins. They had seen some wear and weren't quite suitable to sell as doilies. So my friend Renee from http://www.wakeuptheangel.etsy.com sent them to me. As I washed and pressed them, I thought of all of the lovely things I could make. They ended up sitting on my work table for several weeks while I decided the best use for them. Here they are waiting on me to think up some lovely cozy use for them.



Here are a few of the finished cozies, ready to go into the shop this week.







The fabric for these two beauties is up-cycled and fussy cut to make the most of the stripes. There is a lot of work that goes into each of these cozies to make sure that I make the most of the vintage linens and doilies. The doilies had some holes and were not fit for their usual purpose. I can't wait to show you some of the other new cozies. I have some more modern looking quilted cozies and then some more up-cycled cozies.

I know it has been awhile since I last posted, but we had a senior graduating from High School and it was taking my full concentration. Then there was a mini-vacation to see family. We are now back home and just dealing with life which will be full of acclimating a dog back into our house, a wisdom tooth extraction, grocery shopping and the beginning of Summer! The kids on our street were playing outside last night as we drove home and it was a huge reminder of how quickly they grow and how little time I have left with the two still in school.

Karen

Spring Sale 35% off Everything!

I have some great news for you. Everything in the shop is 35% off....absolutely everything. It is all priced as marked so you don't have to remember to enter a coupon code. There is no messing around with anything at all. Just add items to your cart and shop 'til you drop!

If you have ever wanted this.....



Or your guy needs to know that you think he is a Super man!

See you later,

Karen