Before and After

I've been so busy in my Etsy shop I didn't even notice when this poor little book expired. It has been sitting neglected in my expired items for a month now. I discovered it the other day but had second thoughts about relisting the book without making some changes.

It had 190 views but no hearts. It sat in my shop for 4 months without selling. Hmmm....what's wrong with it? Maybe it just doesn't stand out enough? Too plain? And ironically I called it "The Jane Mini Journal". Plain Jane. This afternoon I took a break from producing and played a little. Here's what I came up with:

How's that for sprucing the little neglected book up?! I took a tag BluebirdLane was so kind to include in a past order, tied a little sprig on it with some seam binding and voila! Not so plain anymore! Hopefully this little book will find a loving home now.

Oh, and by the way, I changed the name too. It's now "Butterfly and Hollyhock Petite Journal". No more plain Jane.

A Closed Door

When one door in life closes, another opens...

After much thought, I have concluded it is time to leave the Etsy Bloggers team. I have enjoyed the relationships built over the course of the last year and I will still be visiting your blogs. My decision to leave has nothing to do with my team mates; my experience with the leadership was the driving factor in my decision that a change needed to be made.

I wish you all the best and hope to continue seeing you in blogland!

There's No Place Like Home - And a Cool Vintage Pair Of Shoes

Okay, so I look more like the Wicked Witch than Dorothy in these, but I think they're the coolest shoes (and socks) ever!

These shoes are vintage 40's (?? any shoe experts out there ??) that came out of my grandma's closet. I used to play dress up in them as a kid and was so excited the day I grew into them and they fit! Fortunately for me my foot stopped growing at that point and they still fit.

Sadly they're as uncomfortable as hell because the padding is completely disintegrated but I'm sure I could replace it. I'm just scared to wear them outside...I'd be really mad if they got messed up!

The End Of An Era

Sorry to have left blogland for a week or so but I was thinking of you all. Things have been uber-busy in my shops and then I had to go out of town due to a death in the family. My last grandparent died this past week. It is the end of an era, no more grandparents are left. Now my parents are the grandparents and life goes on.

I went for a peaceful walk in the cemetery...well, as peaceful as it could be with three boys ages 4, 6, and 13 following behind! I took these photos to share with you.

A black swallowtail butterfly hovers around a red azalea.

And the grand finale...I was very moved by this headstone...Latin for "We had loved, We love, We loved".

Grand ReOpening of UberArt!

The Etsy Bloggers first blog carnival topic for this month is Spring, new things and growth...tell us about a new item and what inspired you to create it. I have the perfect item and story to go along with it--

Those of you who have followed my saga may remember that I opened a new shop in December and moved all my guest books there, leaving my poor UberArt shop sadly neglected.

Blank 16 Page Art Journal in Crossed Snowshoe Stitching

I didn't want to close UberArt because I had some ideas for that shop floating around in my head but none of them felt "right". I have finally captured one of those ideas and it's a natural fit!

BLANK ART JOURNALS! 

Sorry, I don't mean to yell, I just got excited.

Lilac and Periwinkle Blank Art Journal

It's so nice how it has coincided with the change of direction in my art. I've been making blank art journals for myself but then I thought, well, duhh, maybe other people might need blank art journals too!

This one is an accordion-star-flag book, or some such combination of all those techniques! It was fun to make and is even more fun to work in! Since it will stand open, you can paint a bunch of pages at once and let them all dry without worrying about them sticking to each other.

I was trying to wait until I had more inventory in my shop to do a grand opening announcement, but Emerson Bindery has kept me so busy with orders that I haven't had the time I'd hoped for to work on the art journals. My first art journal sold tonight, which forced me to start on a new one since it left only one lonesome book in my shop!

I've got a cool brown paper bag art journal I'm perfecting at the moment so watch for that, coming soon!

In One Hour...

I did an art journal page from start to finish. No fooling, really! Ok, I'm kind of late on the April Fools puns considering most of the day is now gone.

I actually remembered to take pictures as I progressed....

So here's the story behind the art. Today I went for a bike ride with DH through the woods by a stream. Very poetic sounding, but really it was just a glorified drainage ditch. I wish I brought my camera with me because the woods were beautiful with all their colors and sounds. We tend to think of terra cotta and ruby red as fall colors but I saw a lot of those colors blooming up in the trees.

The birds were calling to each other and the crickets were happily chirping. We stopped for a moment to listen to them and the water rushing by in the "stream". Truth: I was exhausted and had to take a break.

I am happy to report I kept up with DH including a small jump over a dirt hill, but unfortunately I am paying for it now. Time to get out the ice pack and heating pad! ;P

PS- I suppose I should mention DH was traveling with a handicap...our little guy in the child seat attached to DH's bike. Perhaps that is why I kept up so well.