vol.25

new flickr group!!

Some things in life never fail to put a smile on my face, my girls, my husband, chocolate peanut butter ice cream, and e-mails with pictures of my art in they're new home. :) I love it, it instantly makes me happy. I guess its just really rewarding, when you feel like you put alot of heart, thought and time into something and when you see someone love it back... its like the cherry on top of the cream cheese frosted cupcake. :)

So... I finally decided to create a group dedicated to all things vol.25.

Hopefully, it can be a source of inspiration for you and me. I started a group discussion, asking for future print ideas. If you've been dreaming up a particular print, in hopes that one day I might have the very same idea... well... your chances are probably better if you drop me a hint or two over there. ;)

photograph by anamh of flickr. Her gallery wall even made it to apartment therapy last year! :) Since then, its only gotten better. I love some of the new additions she made. Ana also says that all of the art (with the exclusion of the very top print) can be found on etsy. You should also most definitely take a peek at her blog rearranged design.

this image from casey plus three. :) Love the white frame with that particular print! She also has a blog. :)

We're up to 63 members already and I'm thrilled! If you've already joined, thanks! Its always a fear that I'll start a new group and maybe three people would join and that'd be about it. While I'd be happy for those three people... its nice to know there are a few more people in your corner. Oh- and if you joined outta guilt... well thanks just the same! ;)

this image is courtesy of Kelly. I would have never thought to group these together, but they look really good. She has a really fun style of decorating... her house is gorgeous.

Can you believe its only 7:40 am? (at my time of starting this post) Thats super early for me. Generally I get up with Jaydon around 6:00 (after having woke up with the baby at least once) and pack his lunch do his coffee, fix him a simple breakfast (lately its been sausuage blueberry pancakes on a stick) etc. and then I crawl back to bed and crash for as long as the girls let me... :) On a good day I sleep in until 9:30. Is that awful? I DO stay up late... its so hard to make myself go to bed early. Once the girls are in bed I get soo much done!

So why in the world am I up so early this morning? Well, last night I had a headache and headed off to bed pretty early. About 9:30 in fact! So this morning I feel super charged. Its nice, I planned to get a little done this morning... only problem is I'm having to be super quiet. :) The only sound throughout the house is the air conditioner running, and the sound of the keyboard "tap, tap" :) OH- and the dryer... cant forget to acknowledge that I already started a load of laundry. ;)

anyhow!! Hope you guys have an excellent day! :) I have some gardening in my plans for the day... with an occasional dip in the swimming pool. Summer's so rough. :)

happy birthday baby!

We un-officially celebrated Journey's first birthday.

Here is a random list of things that describe my journey at this time in her life...

- waving with both hands
- jibber jabbering "diddle diddle"
- crawling with one leg up
- "chasing" Trinity
- giving kisses by leaning in (always with a sweet look)
- STRONG preference to warm bottles... STILL
- an early gabber, already holds her hand (pretend phone) to her ear when you say hello.
- a blanket lover like you wouldnt believe. Giggles when you even mention her "blankie"
- Loves her daddy like nobody's business. A definite daddy's girl
- hates to be copied (especially when shes having an attitude) and will let you know with a shriek
- if its wooden, it will no doubt be a favorite toy... even if it isnt really a toy.

just a few things I hope I never forget.. and really should write in her baby book!

Here is her birthday invitation. Her party is planned for this saturday, and it appears as though most of our family and friends will be out of town. :( I guess that is the drawback of having a summer birthday. :) I'm planning a sweet and sour themed birthday party around lemon head candy. We'll see how it all turns out though!
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Happy 4th of July!

It seems so hard to believe that the 4th of July is only a few hours away. I can guarantee I will have a much more enjoyable 4th this year. :) Last year I went into labor RIGHT after watching the fireworks show. I guess it was a little too much excitement for me? :)

photo is one of the many gorgeous photos by mitch palmer :) check them out!

We have a parade and barbecue planned. There may even be a few pieces of red, white, and blue jello cake thrown in for good measure. ;)

life is like riding a bicycle...

 

"Life is like riding a bicycle - in order to keep your balance, you must keep moving."

                                                                                Albert Einstein

This quote from the genius himself, is so true. :) Sometimes its always nice to have a little reminder via a favorite quote. This was one of those illustrations where everything seemed to fall into place. I LOVE it when that happens! I did try a couple different colors for the bike, but when I used the pink it just seemed to really fit. I had two backgrounds from the beginning that I thought would be perfect for this print. Problem was, they both turned out looking good, and I couldnt decide which one to use!

so I'm going to let you make the final decision. When you order the print, just let me know which one you'd like in the message to seller. Now everybody's happy! ;) You can find them HERE.

Here is another sneak peek at another print I'm working on. This one has been fun, but a little time consuming... I seem to have this thing for prints with books in them. Think I have enough?

Well, there you have it! :) Its Friday and jaydon is getting off early today. Hopefully he'll be home by noon. We are finally making what feels like some progress on our house. The kitchen cabinets are now painted (inside and out) and hopefully today we can install the crown molding and cabinet doors. YAY! Its feels sooo nice to finally be finishing up the cabinets. We even started painting the outside of the house! Jaydon used to run his own painting business before we met, and he knows a few tricks to make the whole thing go a little faster. We may just paint the trim, and leave the body. The trim is in desperate need of a repaint. It is an ugly bright green...The body is white though, so livable. :) Does everyone have big plans for the 4th? Journey's birthday is Sunday the 5th. She'll be a YEAR old. It seems so hard to believe! She is STILL waking up at least once in the night, and I am SO hoping she stops REAL soon. :(

This is soo exciting! Creating Keepsakes magazine!?

yep, it really is. 2 of the stamps I designed for stamping bella made it into the magazine. either in the cool products or cool objects section? I didnt renew my subscription, and now I am kicking myself for it. :( I live in a small town, and I think my nearest magazine is about 30 minutes away. :) I'm gonna make a trip to our local grocery store to see if they might possibly carry it... but I am kinda doubting it!

Does anyone have the august issue they can scan and share? I would be SOOO appreciative! I heard that they showed only the rubber, so its kinda hard to make out the image... but here are the two they used.

jot it down and wire bound. You can see them here on stamping bella's website.

Thanks Emily for promoting and taking care of your artists! Shes the greatest! :)

thoughts on blog advertising... and a great deal to get you going!

Hi! I thought I would take a little bit of time to share a few tips on marketing your etsy shop. If you have been wanting to advertise but haven't really known quite where to start... then I have some really good news that just may point you in the right direction. :)

Lyndsey from Great Full Day (Dont you just love that name... clever!) e-mailed me to let me know about a new advertising special she is now offering etsy sellers. For 12.00 you can buy a 100x100 pixel "spot" on her blog. Your ad would be the same size as the ad I circled below of this young house. Which is a VERY good blog to read btw! :)

Its always a gamble when purchasing ad space, but when you find a blog running a special it helps to make the gamble seem a little less risky. At 12.00 a month I would only need to sell one print in order to recoup my cost of the ad. Not to mention all the people that seen my shop and possibly favorited it. It would be very likely that they might return in a month or two when looking for a gift. :) I currently have an ad with Great Full day and have had really good results. Its definitely sent some traffic my way. Now that etsy and google analytics have teamed up I can keep a closer eye on which ad spots are paying off.

I think the single most important thing to consider when purchasing ad space on any blog, is to be sure that the blog's readers are your target audience. It seems logical to think that if you were selling baby leg warmers, your advertising money would be much better spent on themommyblog then on thisyounghouse. Although I didnt check into ad pricing for either blog, and that definitely plays a part in making your decision. :) I just think that the most important thing to consider when buying real estate also applies to renting blog space... location, location, location. :)

There are soo many more things to consider when buying an ad spot, like how many visitors a month are they seeing, and how often do they post/update. I think there might be an interview in the works covering these exact same things. I'm awaiting the questions, but when the post goes live I'll be sure and provide a link!

Btw- That special on ad space over at Great Full Day is only good until July 13th!  If you enjoy reading the blog and think it just may be targeting your audience I say jump on it. :) Then keep an eye on your google analytics and see if it pays off. If so, defintiely renew for the next month! :) It takes money to make money... as they say. ;)

Do you guys have any tips for marketing your etsy shop that you want to share?

well established tree seeking a loving couple who wish to share they're initials...

Some of you may recognize this tree as "do all things with love" because it is indeed the very same tree. The difference however is that this lonely gray tree has been modified to hold a special message for your special someone. It is the very first (of hopefully many) customized print offered for sale in the shop.

In the past I have customized this print for quite a few people. Some as wedding gifts, others valentines or anniversary gifts. But really... any day is a good day to show someone how much you love them. :) After altering this piece several times the light bulb finally went off. I decided it was time to create an actual listing for the customization. :) Why it took me so long I really have NO idea. Its available in three different options:

You can find the listing HERE in my etsy shop. If it says sold out, it should be relisted in the shop under the "customizeable prints" I will never really be sold out of a print. :)

Do you have any ideas for other customizable prints you'd like to see? I thought of maybe drawing a stack of books, with the spines of the books being customized? Or maybe even customize the message inside "you only live once"

or even better yet... how about customizing the message on the paper of either of the typewriter prints?

I think that would be really neat. :) Would love to hear your guys' opinions! Your always so helpful! ;)

fuzzy wuzzy was a bear...

"fuzzy wuzzy was a bear, fuzzy wuzzy had no hair. If fuzzy wuzzy had no hair, fuzzy wuzzy was no bear? Wuzzy he?

The "wuzzy he", was a part of the rhyme that my cousin shannon and I made up. We thought we were so clever too. :) (now watch someone tell me its supposed to be said that way in the first place!)

Growing up this was my all time favorite tongue twister. :) It seemed only fitting that fuzzy wuzzy would kick off the first print in a new series. You can find him HERE. I have big plans for a few other tongue twisters, and I would love to hear your favorites!

for my kitchen...

Just a quick post to share what I've been working on today. I've had this idea in my head for awhile now, and it feels nice to finally be able to mentally check it off the list. :) Jaydon hung my grundtal shelves from ikea. I love them, but (like always) I do wish they could have been centered a little better. Had to hang them where there were studs. I'll try to get some close ups of the shelves, but for now I suppose this will have to do. The picture is going into a larger frame I sprayed black, hopefully it will fill in this area some.

(the white cabinet door is leaning against the wall, because I had thought about painting it with chalkboard paint and hanging it instead of a picture. Figured it would make good use of that cabinet door... but it wouldnt be an ideal spot. In fact I could barely reach it. Its so nice being short. :P)

As you can see the kitchen is still in progress. :) I am still scraping away at the paint on the cabinets. We decided to keep the upper cabinets, but add a coat of paint and some nice dentil chair rail. We'll be using the same doors as the lower cabinets. We also have  a door and drawer face on order, so that will be coming in soon!

I bought this platter from ikea, and love it! I had a hard time finding art to match the colors... so I decided to make something that would. :)

Well, hope you guys are having a nice week so far. :)

etsy must haves- Wee Woodland Mushrooms

ok... these are just TOO cute! It has been awhile since I've done an "etsy must have" post. I instantly felt the need to bring it back when I spotted these ADORABLE mushrooms on etsy. I can see soo many cute possibilities for these little gems. They are handmade by Wee Wood Natural Toys.

Wee Wood says this about they're uses:

"Use them in whatever way suits your whimsy!
Nature table, woodland, gnome or fairy playset, game tokens, have your wee child count, sort and stack them!"

Can you picture them lined up on a windowsill?. :) talk about cute overload!

The mushrooms are painted with nontoxic paint and sealed with a nontoxic and hypoallergenic sealant. Doesnt get any better then that! :) 

well, I guess it does get a little better. :) See... after visiting Wee Wood, you can report back here with your favorite item from they're shop and you are automatically qualified for a 10% discount off towards your purchase. :) Just be sure and post your favorite item here, and then again in the message to seller upon checkout. I thought it was nice of them to offer that up!

oh and btw- your item purchased does not have to be your favorite item. :) Just in case you were wondering! Hope you guys enjoyed these cuties as much as I did. They also have some wood cars listed that I am thinking about buying Journey. She loves cars, and I love that they are a natural non toxic toy. :)

happy friday!!

p.s. you can also find Wee Wood on facebook and flickr !