I Love Days Off

(Don't forget to leave your comment for an entry into my very first Giveaway. Click here for the post with the rules!)

I took the day off today because I had a doctor appointment for my annual physical with my internist. They called at 6:50 a.m. to let me know that the doctor had an emergency and they needed to reschedule my appointment. So, I rescheduled the appointment for Monday because I am off for President's Day.

No longer needing to head over to the doctor, I looked at my "to do" list and did a little rearranging. I spent a little time on Twitter and in the etsy forms and then got to work on some new decoupage things I'm making for MyOtherShop.

Did I ever tell you how much I love days off? I live for the day that I can retire and be home every day to do whatever it is that I feel like doing. Since that isn't in the cards for quite some time for me....I try to make really good use of my days off from the other job.

I worked in my shop for a while and then went to run a few errands. That included a stop at the Bead Boss in town to scope out some possible ideas for Tresa's wedding necklace, and a stop at the craft store to do the same thing. While I was there I sent Tresa a text to ask her a few questions to try to help narrow down the necklace possibilities. Sparkly? Green? Gold? Chain? Beads? Pearls? Pendant? Stone? We narrowed it down to green, gold, chain or beads and pendant. Still haven't bought anything yet.

When I got home I hit the workshop again and took some photos and got some things ready to list. I ended up having a really productive day. I listed a photo in FourDogDay. It's a friend of Matt's hiking up the side of a mountain with his snowboard. The view is awesome!

I also managed to get some descent photos of a little purple floral trinket box and a really fun photo frame I had finished a few days ago. I got them both listed and they even got some immediate views. That was encouraging. I also finished another little bird house and another cute picture frame. I am having so much fun with the stuff for MyOtherShop. I love the painting and cutting paper and gluing and sanding and making things look old when they really aren't.

I thought I would make cards and tags and bookmarks forever because I really enjoyed it, but I love the messiness of decoupage. So even though my day off didn't start out as planned, I was able to grab that extra time and make good use of it. I really feel like I have found what I am meant to be doing.

How about you? If you have an etsy shop, are you making what you have always made, or did you start out doing something else and change course along the way? I would love to hear about it.

Journals and Photo Albums for Kids

I am one of those people that believes in letting your children try a lot of different "things" when they are young....so that in doing so...they will find their hidden talents. Tresa played the clarinet, she was in the marching band, she played softball and she swam. Michael and Matt tried every sport imaginable.

I encouraged reading from a very young age. We belonged to a variety of book clubs. In fact, I have boxes of kid's books just waiting for the day I have grandchildren coming to visit so I can read to them! My daughter was a fluent reader before she entered school. The boys.....they could take it or leave it at that time. They were too busy trying to juggle a soccer ball or hit a home run.

Since I was always doing some kind of crafts, we always had art supplies in the house. The kids always made me "special" things. I have some of the most elaborate Christmas decorations you would ever want to see. There is nothing better than a special gift made by little hands.

My kids are all grown up now, but many of the things they were exposed to as children are still very important in their lives today. Matt still plays soccer and softball, and gets his workout hiking and rock climbing. Tresa loves to run, works out and does yoga. Michael played soccer through college, and has recently taken up running. Matt does most of the photography for our shop, still draws and loves to write poetry. Tresa has been thinking about taking some art classes. She and Michael are both very good writers. All three kids still love to read.

Knowing how important it is to expose kids to art at a young age is what inspired me to create some children's journals and photo albums. You just never know where that next little talented artist or photographer might be hiding.

The journals I made have blank pages and heavy cardstock covers. There is a cute picture on the front of each journal and some of them are decorated with buttons and brads. The journals are held together with eyelets and ribbon, and each one comes with a pencil, an eraser and a sharpener. The journal and all the "goodies" come in a handmade cloth drawstring bag.

The photo albums are made from a purchased album. I recovered the album with cardstock and decorated it as well. Each album comes with a disposable camera for some great picture taking. The album and camera also come with a handmade cloth draw string bag.

My kids would have loved these when they were little. I can just picture them toting their little bags all over with them.

I have additional kid's journals and photo albums available in my etsy shop. I also have two beautiful lined journals for the non-kids that love to write!