Exciting adventures ahead!

There is so much going on right now! Not just at the boutique, but also personally. I thought that I share a few things. :)

First, I had a chance earlier this week to meet with some wonderful artists who have a co-op store. I'm hoping to be able to join 19 other artists in selling items at this venue. (So say a few prayers for me!)  As if the possibility of having a brick and mortar store with my jewelry items isn't enough to get excited about... It also offers the ability for me to resurrect a craft that I've been away from for awhile - stained glass. I'm looking forward to firing up my grinder and heating up my soldering iron again. (The Lord knows I have enough glass still in the basement to keep me busy!)

And on a personal note, I made kind of a crazy decision yesterday. I am going to 'run' in the Warrior Dash here in STL in October.  If you haven't ever heard of it, you don't know the depths of my insanity yet... Check out the website and you'll get a better idea. :) It's basically a 5k obstacle course. So yeah, this thirty-something, overweight, mom is going to go from 0-5k in 3 months. And lets through in some fire pit jumping just for fun! Keep me in your prayers on this one, I have a feeling I'll need all I can get!

-Warrior in Training (aka julie)

**Photo courtesy of the Warrior Dash facebook page**

Please forgive me...

So after making promises to be better about posting... here it's been over 7 months and you haven't heard boo from me. (Unless you're on facebook or twitter, and let's face it, who isn't...)

I've just about forgotten how to do this... but no excuses for the past - just a simple promise pledge that I will attempt to post something more often. It may be short, but at least you'll know I'm still around. :)

In the shop, I'm currently running a Christmas in July sale. Check the Etsy store for the coupon code to get free domestic shipping on your entire order from the Boutique!

As far as social media goes...

• The website is LIVE :) check it out and see what you think!
• Facebook page is going strong at 150+ fans!
• Twitter is always available too.
• And as soon as I get Google+ figured out, I'll pass on a link there too! :)

Later!

and to all a good night...

Twas the night before Christmas...
And I'll gladly admit
I'm an awful blogger
who doesn't know when to quit.

I had such big plans
cookies, jams, jelly and more
beads, baubles, jewelry galore.

So much left to do
on this Christmas Eve night
But am I working on these projects?
No, just sitting here to write.

So although this blog is very short
and my to-do list is quite long
I hope you'll have a merry day
and in your heart's a song.

Because this day is not about
the presents or the food
It's about the birth of our Savior
So get in the holiday mood.

Merry Christmas to all...

I'm still here...

15 days ‘til Christmas


It’s been a couple of weeks – just wanted you all to know I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth… Between the Thanksgiving holiday, getting sick and a short trip to Gatlinburg, TN I haven’t logged much time on the PC.

I had a great time making some beaded bookmarks – I can’t wait to get them posted. Adorable angels, just in time for Christmas!

Cheers to you, faithful followers!

31 days ‘til Christmas

Have you started your Holiday Shopping yet?  I have my shopping list made out but I haven’t bought a single present yet.  I guess I’m still looking for my motivation… I have bought a few toys to add to the Toys-4-Tots boxes at work – but those don’t really count. (Just like calories consumed on Thanksgiving or Christmas Day don’t count.)

While I haven’t yet started my shopping, I have continued to create items for the Boutique. I continue to be encouraged by special requests and seemingly random sales.  So as you are making your lists, think about shopping at the coolest collection of on-line stores ever: Etsy. You can find something for everyone and you’ll be supporting small & home based businesses. (Not to mention bringing joy to someone’s day when they get that awesome e-mail that you’ve purchased something from their shop!)

So why haven’t I started shopping yet? I keep thinking that I’ll just stop by a store at lunch or take the easier route and just order on-line – yet still I haven’t managed to do anything.  Can you believe that I’m too lazy to even shop on-line? (Yes, this from the girl who already sent out her Christmas Cards – much to the shock of EVERYONE I know…) Obviously they aren’t yet faithful followers of my blog, like you!

So here is my vow… I will be done shopping for all extended family members (leaving only one lucky winner of the name draw, Mom, hubs and son) before Thanksgiving.  With 14 nieces, nephews and cousins it sounds like a tall order, right?  Eh, not so much. The hard part (deciding what to get everyone) is really already done. That’s why I love online shopping – just a few clicks and you’re done. No pesky parking space searches, rude retailers or strange shoppers to deal with.

So cheers to you, faithful followers!
Have an amazing Thanksgiving and happy shopping!

Call me obnoxious

36 days ‘til Christmas

From what I understand, the ‘early birds’ send out Christmas Cards Thanksgiving weekend. In my limited research this past week I have been told of people who won’t even open cards until December 1st. (Personally, the suspense would kill me – I don’t even like to wait until the hubby gets home open them.) I even had one person say that it’s obnoxious to send them out before Thanksgiving: ‘It’s just obnoxious to send them out so early, it’s like rubbing our noses in how far behind we are.”

So call me obnoxious – I mailed out my Christmas cards today! :)

I’m feeling a little superior about my Christmas Cards this year. First of all, I’m usually more of a last minute person on the Christmas Cards. I’m not as bad as the folks who send out ‘New Year’s Cards’ because they couldn’t get it together before Christmas (not that there’s anything wrong with that). But I typically send them out about a week before Christmas. A few years I was really pushing it because I handmade all my cards. Very cool, but definitely some preplanning is helpful.

And second of all, this year I decided to try my hand at designing a photo card. No, I didn’t just upload a few pictures to a predesigned card on Walgreens.com. (Not there's anything wrong with that - I've seen some very pretty cards with that method.) I actually DESGINED it. In Photoshop. It was surprisingly easy – and it only took me about 2 hours (I was thinking DAYS when I started). When you consider that the back of the card has 25 photos that I had to size, crop and jigsaw to fit on a 5x8 flat card it’s pretty impressive, if I do say so myself!

So maybe I am rubbing it in just a little…

Here’s to the Monday blahs

40 days ‘til Christmas

3 Holiday Sales

I don’t know about you, but I had a rough weekend. Xan-man was grounded and so he had to miss my company’s ‘Family Movie Day’ where we rented a theater to show Megamind and then Santa came to visit and take pictures with the kids (poor kid cried for hours asking me to change my mind). What was even worse than him not being able to go was the fact that I had to go to help out (joys of being in HR, my friend). So he got to spend the day having fun with Gramma, where the rules of grounding aren’t so strictly applied – I’d say it worked out OK for him anyway. ;)

That fun was then followed by a baby shower. It was way better than I expected (even kinda fun) considering I didn’t think I’d know anyone (wrong) and I expected to have to play one of those awful games where you have to taste or smell mysterious baby food, sniff diapers with melted candy bars or embarrass the mom-to-be by guessing how big around she is. Thankfully there was none of that.

The day is going so well (you can hear the sarcasm, right?) that it can only improve… So I thought. Unfortunately then I got a flat tire. Lovely.

I could go on about the crazy weekend (including a twice-twisted ankle, a broken iPhone, a disorganized trivia night, a wasted trip to the mall and a potty accident) but really, I think that you get the picture and I’d much rather move onto happier thoughts. Such as: Yay, It’s Monday! (Really, I’m just thrilled to have made it through the weekend!) And after all, I did wake up to another nifty e-mail telling me a sold a rosary!

So no Monday blahs for me. Instead I say, “Three cheers for Monday!”
Hmmm, maybe that’s going a bit too far…