vol.25

Saturday adventure

Saturday was opening day for the Methow Valley Farmers market, so we decided to head to Twisp and take a peek at what was available. It turned out to be pretty chilly. The wind had been blowing (like it has the last few saturdays!) and it wasnt a warm wind. We grabbed a sweet treat from the okanogan bakery booth:

then we stopped in at blue star coffee roasters.The girls usually get a hot chocolate or an italian soda... even though trin always begs for "some of our caffeine" as she calls it. :)

Afterwards we took the road across the river from our place and found some really great places to take pictures! It had been waay too long since I had taken any pictures with the girls so Jaydon grabbed a few for me. :)

Trinity changed a few times before we left... and I usually make her wear a longer shirt when she wears leggings, but for some reason this time it snuck past me.

She also lost another tooth last week, while eating an apple. :) They are both growing like a weed!

This one is onry as ever... and a little too smart for her own good. She also LOVES this puple sweater that used to be Trinity's. She wears it ALL the time around the house. :)

She thinks her daddy is a pretty special person... definitely a daddy's girl through and through.

Have I mentioned that I hate having my picture taken? I really needed a new profile picture taken for a couple different reasons, and so I let Jaydon take a few of me. I really need to learn to tolerate having my picture taken. My kids need to have some pictures of me. I won't be around forever, and they aren't going to care if I'm not as slim as I want to be, or if my hair isnt as thick or long as I'd like it to be... :)

The girls really enjoyed this little excursion, and Trin said we need to do it once a month. There is definitely enough places around here to explore!

Saturday was a good day, Sunday we woke up and Jaydon wasnt feeling so well... so it was a lazy day spent inside napping. This morning we woke up to snow... and I am sure you all know how I felt about that, or how I feel about the fact that it is still snowing. We were wearing flip flops, capris and t-shirts just a couple weeks ago! This morning I sent Trin off to school in snow boots. I'm so confused! Is it winter, or spring? Spring or winter? I think this winter we will invest in a nice pair of snow boots for both girls, they definitely get more use living up here! :)

 

You can now follow VOL25 on instagram

Technically I've been on instagram for over a year... but the purpose of that account was to keep my family updated with pictures of my girls... and then have those pictures printed into a book at the end of the year. Well I recently sent a science poster to a friend named Rachel from smile and wave. She posted a picture of it on instagram and I had people sending me following requests. It was then that I decided I needed to change my sceen name of that account to something a little more personal and use my VOL25 user name for a separate instagram business account. It is a pain logging in back and forth between the two accounts (would be awesome if instagram would at least remember my usernames) but it is worth it. I can finally post about happenings relating to my businesses as well as updates on life in general.

With my previous account I always felt uncomfortable posting things I've been working on for either of my shops because I don't want to be that person who constantly self promotes to family (not that there is anything wrong with that, you do what you gotta do right?) but it has been nice feeling like I can do that and you guys might actually wanna see those kind of updates! ;)

So, if you sent me a request to follow (at the beginning of the week) please go ahead and follow me here, and tag your vol25 art with the hash tags VOL25 :)

Oddly enough: I had signed up with followgram to give you guys an easy way of following me on instragram via computer, and right after doing that, I mysteriously had people added to my following list that I didnt choose to follow! Has anyone else had that happen? I know that followgram had done it, because those same people's profile pictures were showing up at the top of my followgram home screen with the message "become a power user and increase your popularity" Buy for x amount of dollars. It just makes me think those people had paid to be promoted and added to my list. Not a HUGE deal, if I am made aware that something like that will in fact happen when I sign up. Otherwise it comes down to trust issues... what else will they do without me knowing. Has anyone else had that happen? I did a google search and nothing like that came up! Maybe it is something new they are doing? I like to be intentional with who I follow you know- I'm not in for the followbacks. I want genuine ppl who care about what I do following me... even if my numbers are low.. okay super low! ha ha :)

At any rate, I went ahead and deactivated my account, I'll stick to webstagram... ;)

How is your day?! I am having one of those days where I dont feel like I am accomplishing much. Some days are just like that. I had a pretty  busy day yesterday with kindergarten registration and getting orders out yesterday morning... so today is somewhat of a lazy day! Can you believe Journey is starting kindergarten this year? I'm dreading it... but the fact that she is SO excited is helping me cope... I think. :) I had a proud mommy moment yesterday when at the screening the teacher brought up a piece of paper with letters on it Journey had wrote. She said "we have never had a kindergartner draw their letters in bubble, 3d form, I think you have a graphic designer on your hands" I just laughed a little, and said "well, that is kind of what I do." so she comes by it honestly! :) She is always trying to copy what I draw, her and Trin have always been that way.... its cute. :)

She is getting much too big. :) Did I mention she knows everything at the age of 4? She gets that from her daddy. ;)

Meet Willow

This is our new addition, Willow. She is a calico siamese mix... and she is sweet. :) Her and Talon get along puurfect, and she has really helped him transition to being outside. We adopted her from the Okanogan animal shelter. She is estimated to be a year old.

...and she is a cuddler, a definite lap cat. :)

She spends most of her time laying in one of these chairs on that blue pillow, basking in the sun and being lazy.

Honestly, I'm a bit jealous. I wish I could spend all day long out on the front porch basking in the sun... :) She has the prettiest blue eyes!

Talon caught his first mouse the other day. Jaydon seen him do it! We are so proud of him... :)

We love him and all his odd behaviours... he is a funny cat. :)

In the picture above Talon is standing on an amazon box I made into a cat house for them. It has a heated pad inside.. and Journey decorated the box and taped something special onto the outside for them. :) Talon loves his box, but I havent seen Willow use it yet. She does have a thicker fur though. :)

I hope the hawks and eagles leave these guys alone. So far we think Willow may have had a run in with a big animal, she was gone all day and came back SUPER jumpy, and she has a spot of fur that almost looks like it was shaved... which is really odd. That was over a week ago (over Easter weekend) and she seems okay now, but never ventures very far from the house! Then again, Talon doesnt either. Maybe they are smart? :)

So, how is your week going???

New Overlay set for little girls + Storewide 50% off sale

-LITTLE GIRLS OVERLAY SET  -

Super sweet set for your sweet little girl(s)! I had received a few different requests for a little girl set, and I knew I had to do one up!

I also kicked off a 50% off tax sale... because I am expecting a call from my accountant any day now, and I know we'll be paying in... and it isnt going to fun! Yikes.

So, use code TAXSALE and I'll take 50% off your order, sale expires on the 16th!

p.s. this shoot Shannon did for Matilda Jane is EPIC!! Creative people make the best collaborations! :)

p.s.s. It snowed yesterday!!! I am so ready for Summer.

Excited and grateful

So, last Friday I released my science posters into my etsy shop. I had spent weeks illustrating, printing, perfecting, staining, sanding, researching, and deciding the best way to package and brand these big guys. I styled them MANY different ways, photographed them popped them onto my computer, edited all 9 posters, only to change my mind and repeat the entire process!! I was going crazy. It felt almost surreal to see them finally up in the shop. 

Over the last few days I've tried to put in a little time marketing the posters, and I was so excited to sell my first poster on Tuesday, and another on Wednesday! But, almost more exciting than that is seeing the positive response they've received on pinterest... as well as here on my blog. I had a few posters set aside for marketing purposes. I contacted a few of my favorite blogs, and everyone I e-mailed was eager to review a poster for me!! :)

Rachel from smile and wave was even kind enough to tweet the posters, and pin a couple of them following our e-mail. Shortly after that I sold my first poster!! I am always amazed at how powerful the internet can be. One person creates a drop in a pool, and from there it creates a large ripple... Another example of a drop turned ripple- Someone pinned my poppy poster from an image on my blog, and another repinned it, and this continued for awhile until it finally showed up in my own pinterest feed.. pinned by an amazingly talented Interior design stylist I follow- Holly Becker from decor8! I was pretty excited... and couldnt resist commenting on her pin even if it did make me see un-professional... I mean some things just require you to make an idiot out of yourself... and this was definitely one of them.

So, thank you for all the support, pins and kind comments I've received, I sure do appreciate it! :) I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

 

Quote #117

"Do something today that your future self will thank you for"

This quote really gets me to thinking! Something I need to dwell on a little more. It is much too easy to get caught up in the here and now, that we lose sight of the  bigger picture.

Vintage Inspired Science Posters listed- all 9 of them!

Hi guys!! I did it. I finally, really, truly got them listed... and now I will overwhelm you with all 9 designs! Are you ready?

Vintage Inspired Science Posters- Antler Study Vol.1

Vintage Inspired Science Posters- Antler Study Vol.2

FEATHER PATTERNS VOL. 1  & 2 .

Detail shot of the posters + wood!

EMBERIZA VOL.1

EMBERIZA Vol.2

POPPY STUDY Vol.1

LEPIDOPTERA Vol.1

FEATHER PATTERNS Vol.3

How is that for an awesome overload! ? :) I'm SOO excited to get these FINALLY listed. You have no idea how stressed I've been the last few days. So many little things I hadnt considered that took a little more time than I had originally thought. BUT, at any rate I have them up and you can finally purchase your very own poster. Right now I do have a limited supply of each design. I may end up listing these in batches depending on what I have available.. but I will probably wait and see how things go. Maybe I can get a better idea as to which ones sell better so I know how many I should keep in stock! :)

I'm so glad it is Friday. My cousin is coming all the way from Springfield Oregon, and my aunt and uncle from Prosser are coming up with her. :) The weather sounds like it will even be nice for Easter... fingers crossed!!

A few days away from listing the science posters!

Antler Study Vol. 1 & 2

I have one poster still in the works (A study on Moose antlers) but I told myself that I needed to put that guy on hold to get the rest of the series photographed... like- yesterday! So I took a bajillion photos and started editing them... then later that afternoon I realized that I liked the pictures taken later that day SO much better then the set I took early in the morning. BooHoo... so that means, I still need to photograph all 9 posters AGAIN. Because by the time I decided I liked the other set better, the sun had set and the moon was in full force. I'll show a peek at what one of the afternoon group shots looked like:

The shorter posters are about 23" long, and the longer ones are just about 28" long. The wood slats are included in that measurement though. This wall I have is pretty tall, and I still can't fit all 9 posters up. I wish I had more wall! Our cabin has lots of windows, which is AWESOME... but it also means I don't have a lot of wall space. So, the posters shown above are 6 of the 9 posters. The first picture shows the two antler posters hanging above our bed, so really the only poster missing is the butterfly one. :) After staring at that picture long enough, I think I just might move the posters down in order to make room for the other 3... I just might make it work after all.

Today I need to take stock of how many of each poster I have available. I'm thinking I may need to list these in small batches... and make more to replenish the stock... not too sure yet. I've gone over the numbers and it looks like I will be listing the longer 28" posters at 70.00 and the shorter 23" long posters at 65.00. 

Still a few details to work out, but I am happy to say that I see the end in sight, and I should be just a few days away from getting these up and available for purchase... FINALLY. I have an appointment with our new tax accountant today... so that will take up part of my day.

Now that you have seen more of the posters, do you have a favorite, or two? :) 

p.s. the digital shop newsletters went out yesterday, if you didnt get the e-mail make sure you are signed up HERE. I had a few ppl that didnt realize they would need to re-sign up to get it. :)

BIG news in regards to my newsletters!

I've been posting about this on facebook today, so this will be repeated info if you happen to follow me over there! :)

This morning I sat down and logged into my digital shop. I was browsing my customers, and realized that 1,200 people had opted in for marketing... marketing that I had yet to really utilize! I've been sending out newsletters for the past few years, but when I initially started it was purely for my etsy customers... but after the addition of my digital shop I began combining the two shops into one newsletter. I really didn't like doing this, but wasnt sure quite how to change the set-up.

Well today I downloaded an app from the shopify app store that synced all the customers that have opted in to marketing into a mad mimi newsletter account. Long story short- I am set up to send separate newsletters now!

... and I have to say, I LOVE Mad Mimi.... and if I'm not mistaken it is cheaper than mailchimp. So, I just may need to make the switch for both newsletters. For the time being though- I will be sending out a newly designed newsletter to all VOL25 Digital Eye Candy newsletter subscribers. If you have signed up for my newsletter previously from the blog, you will need to sign up at this new link to still receive updates in regards to the digital shop. If you've made a purchase from my digital shop, and you opted in to receive marketing, you should already be on the list. :) The existing original newsletter will be reserved for etsy shop updates specifically, so you may want to un-subscribe if you are only interested in photoshop templates, overlays and printables. :) When that newsletter goes out, there should be an option to unsubscribe at the bottom of the newsletter. :) Oh- but I've decided to send out free printable calendars with the original VOL25 Art newsletters. So- you may want to remain subscribed just for that! ;)

Sending two separate newsletters, will also allow me to send out a freebie geared towards the two different shops... so excited about this!! Tomorrow I'll be sending out digital shops newsletters for the month of April, and I will also be including a Free facebook timeline cover template... so make sure you are signed up to receive it! I will also be giving away a 20.00 gift card for my digital shop with each monthly newsletter.

So... I feel like I'm rambling and confusing you, and not making much sense. I feel the need to over simplify:

 

VOL25 Digital Eye Candy Shop Newsletter:

•  Monthly newsletters ( I rarely (okay- like NEVER) send out more than one a month)
• Each newsletter will showcase new products from the previous month
• An exclusive monthly discount code, and freebie- just for you guys :)
• One gift card given away each month (post your favorite photo showcasing a VOL25 overlay to my facebook page and if I choose it as a "Facebook Favorite" for the newsletter you'll win a Digital Eye Candy 20.00 gift card!)   

 SIGN UP HERE 

(You may have previously signed up after completing a purchase from my digital shop)

 
VOL25 Etsy Shop (ART) :

• Monthly newsletters ( I rarely (okay- like NEVER) send out more than one a month)
• Each newsletter will showcase new art from the previous month
• An exclusive monthly discount code, and a new monthly free printable calendar.

SIGN UP HERE

(You may have already signed up using the newsletter link here on my blog)

Whew! That was a bit repetitive... I'm working on the Digital Eye Candy newsletter tonight, so it should be ready to go out sometime tomorrow. I also don't expect the etsy shop newsletters to go out for a few more days. I still have quite a bit to finish up before I'm ready to send those out. :) Anyhow, I hope you have a nice night... or morning! :)

Quote #116

"Everyone wants happiness, no one wants pain. But you can't have a rainbow without a little rain"

I love this quote!!