Happy New Year!

2012? That just sounds weird. Of course, I still feel like 1990 was only like 10 years ago. :) Saw that on Pinterest and had to laugh because I totally do still feel this way. Does that mean I'm getting old? Jason and I stayed home as always. We had a fun night. Appetizers for dinner, watching the ball drop on tv, champagne and a kiss at midnight and then right to sleep.

Did you make any New Year's resolutions? We did but nothing too extravagant.

• Go to church. Really. Quit TALKING about going to church and just do it.
• Be more present and PLAY more with the kids. When did we get too busy to play?
• Keep the house neater. This one's gonna be the toughest.
• Eat healthier and exercise more. No specific weight goals. Just get healthier.
• And go to bed earlier. Seriously. Mama needs her sleep!

And that's about it. I would add two more personal goals and those are to:

• Open the Studio 456 Etsy shop and
• Keep up with this blog.

2012 is sure to be better than 2011. We were sick more in the last year than in all seven years J and I have been married, I think! No way that could happen two years in a row, right? Happy New Year!

Oh, and I'm also going to try to do this photo challenge: (of course, I found it on Pinterest too.) http://pinterest.com/pin/146437425353407742/

Facebook and The Challenge

I just love Facebook. Through Facebook, I am able to keep up with my friends and family all over the world. Whenever I have a problem, I just post it on Facebook and 99% of the time one of my Facebook friends comes through for me. Here are just a few examples of how this has happened ifor me recently:

• I was staying in Oklahoma for a month and was looking for a pack and play to borrow or buy cheaply. I posted it on Facebook and sure enough, a friend's mom brought me one. Magic! Thanks, Jeanna! (And your mom too.)
• More recently, Jason had to go home to Oklahoma for his grandma's funeral. He needed a garment bag to take his suit on the airplane. What happened? I asked where to buy one and our neighbors let us borrow one. Thanks, Cox family!
• That same weekend, I was getting ready for the open house. I had worked for DAYS getting ready and now Jason was (very understandably) out of town and we had no one to watch the kids for me. Once again, Facebook came to my rescue. Thanks our neighbor, Mandy, for watching our kids, free of charge!
• And just one more example (I could go on and on!). I'm sure I mentioned earlier about my love/hate relationship with sewing. When I was making the aprons for the kids, my sewing machine was acting up and I could NOT figure out how to fix it. So I posted a picture on Facebook and my sweet friend in Mississippi took one look at the picture and told me how to fix it. Wowee! Thanks to her help, I was able to adjust the tension on my machine, start over and completely finish the projects in under two hours. Thank you, Sarah!

Yep. Facebook is awesome. Another reason I love it is because I'm able to keep in touch with friends - new and old. A new friend and I were talking late one night about our businesses and she was able to give me advice about pricing and getting more customers. (Thanks, Alissa!) And the same night, I was talking to a friend from elementary school who has her own jewelry business. She and I were discussing how difficult it is to get out of your comfort zone and overcome shyness to make your business grow. I want to share with you a bit of the message I sent to her. I want to record it here so when I'm feeling discouraged, I can come back and read this. I just bet I'm gonna need it.

You can do it! If I can, I know you can. I was/still am SO SHY and awkward around people I don't know! But you know what? I CAN and WILL be successful at my business. I CAN and WILL overcome my shyness and step out of my comfort zone to make my business grow and thrive. I have to! I don't know but I feel like God wouldn't be telling me to go out and do this thing if I was going to fail. I believe He gave me the idea for this and through Him, I can succeed. Now if only I can get off my lazy behind tomorrow and get some work done! lol
I'll make you a deal... If you do at least one event before June, then I will too. I said June because it takes a while to find what you want to do, get it set up, do the event (craft show, bridal expo, etc) and still live your every day life. What do you say? It is really going to be a stretch for me to step out and do it but I will if you will. :) It is HARD to sell your products! At least with my products, I want to give people a good deal, not charge them too much but still make a profit and pay myself back for all my hard work. And when people don't buy I start to second guess my work, my prices, EVERYTHING! But I just have to quit listening to that negative self-talk and say "Hey, I can do this!" But it sure is easier said than done sometimes. :) I believe in you. And YOU are an inspiration to me too, my sweet friend. Thank you for those kind words and if ever you need a little encouragement, just let me know. I know you'll do the same for me. Thanks for being my friend. Love you!

Sometimes Facebook is just awesome technology.  Through it, I keep up with my friends and family, have received help more times than I can count and am growing my business and challenging myself too.  Now to start making products for a craft show for my challenge.  And signing up for my first craft show too.  Woohoo!  Let's go!</p>

What a week!

Well it has been a busy week around here. I had the open house/craft show last Saturday and it was really fun. Of course I stayed up WAY too late the night before getting everything ready, so by the time for the show, I was EXHAUSTED! But I set up all of my products, got everything priced and had a fun time talking to the people who came. I am learning to get out of my comfort zone and actually TALK to people who are looking at my products and believe me, that is not easy for me! I sold a few things and got an order for a custom banner, so I'm really pleased. It was nice to get out of the house and do something for my new little business.

Later in the week, we all were fighting off colds. This year has been the worst for us! We've had more sickness and sad things happen in 2011 than ever before. I'm very much looking forward to 2012 and the happy, good things ahead.

Now I'm trying to decide whether to open an Etsy shop, sell my products on eBay or do craft shows. I may try one of those options and then gradually add another. Eventually I'd like to do more parties and invitations and less gift items. I am happy to have gotten a little bit of exposure at the open house last weekend. I got my business card into lots more hands and that can't be a bad thing. I also got to talk to some other small business owners (Thirty-One, Pampered Chef, Scentsy and Lia Sophia consultants) and I'm thinking of inviting them to do a bigger open house some time soon. Maybe around February or March? We'll see.

I've also been pinning a LOT on Pinterest. And not only pinning but actually doing projects I've pinned! That is such a satisfying feeling.

One of the things I pinned (and completed!) was an apron for Audrey. I used this tutorial: http://myblondeambitions.blogspot.com/2010/09/quick-and-easy-childs-apron-tutorial.html and created this: Apron for Audrey

and this:

Tool belt/apron for Easton

These two little items might not look like much but they are HUGE accomplishments for me! First, I went to the store, bought the fabric, came home and had these completed the VERY NEXT DAY! Sorry for the all caps here but seriously, if you only knew what a huge thing this is for me, you'd be yelling in happiness too! And the second reason this is a big deal is I have a love/hate relationship with sewing. I know next to nothing about my machine and when it works, I love it. But boy, when it doesn't ... that's another story entirely. I still need lots of practice and you can tell if you look very closely at anything I've sewn. But I sure am proud of these two little projects.

Here's hoping you have a productive week!

Hello again, Internet friends.

If you've known me long, you might remember a little blog I wrote on called Crafty Lil Devil. Yeah, it's quite dusty and neglected, I know. I've decided to start a new blog that reflects my new interests and will give me a fresh new start. A clean slate. A blank canvas. Oh yeah. I just love that feeling, don't you? I'm going to be using this blog much the same as my old one. One part craft project log, one part recipe file and one part whatever else comes to mind. I hope you enjoy it.