Sometimes it gets worse before it gets better.

So we all had a snow day yesterday ... everyone was home. (The big bad storm only amounted to about 3 or 4 inches, even though it seemed like it snowed all day. Whew!) The Mr. worked from home and the kids had a day off from school. I've learned a long time ago that having everyone home in the house does not lend itself to a productive day in my studio. I just can't seem to get the time to concentrate long enough on new projects because someone is always in need of something. So, after putting in just a few hours doing only the necessary ... I decided to take apart my studio. I thought at least I would be accomplishing something, and it wouldn't be a big deal if I had to stop and restart a million different times. I started removing things from shelves and drawers and making huge piles all over the place in an attempt to clean and reorganize my studio. Now, I know when I started there was a master plan in my head ... but amidst making meals for the kids, refereeing moments of sibling rivalry and keeping the kids entertained for the day ... somehow that master plan sort of dissolved along the way. Here's some photos of how bad and totally unorganized things looked only 1/3 of the way into this project.



I finished another 1/3 of the reorg today. And hope to get the rest done tomorrow. Hopefully the next time you check in, I'll have photos posted of a neat, and tidier new studio. :)

Making Valentines

I think this might be the last year for my daughter to bring in Valentines for her class. Sad!



This year we decided to print out some cards that I found online as a freebie. There was a cute pink and brown set with little birdies and cupcakes for girls & a pirate theme in black and red for the boys. This worked out perfect because I purchased Hershey Kisses and Hugs for the treat. The Kisses and Hugs came in pinks and reds ... so we filled each boy classmate's Valentine Goodie Bag with red ones and each girl classmate's Valentine Goodie Bag with pink ones. How sweetly they matched. We simply cut the square Valentines out after printing out the sheets. We also cut out white squares from cardstock as the backing. We filled little clear bags with a few chocolates, lined up the printed Valentine square on the front of the bag, lined up the white cardstock square on the back of the bag ... allowing the top of the clear bag to be "sandwiched" in between the two paper layers and stapled! That's it.


How cute are these? Handmade ... no store bought Valentine's here! Here's the link for the Valentine Freebies in case you haven't gotten around to making your own Valentines yet.

Goals, Resolutions, Projects? What are your plans for 2010?

So the first week of 2010 has come and gone. And while my Christmas decorations are all still up (sigh, maybe I'll tackle that one tomorrow), my list of goals, resolutions and projects for the new year has been scratched into my virtual notepad. One of the projects I hope to tackle this year is called Project 365. (Also known as Photo A Day.) Basically you take a photo everyday for a year. Some people choose to do Project 52 which means you take one photo a week for a year. Either way you choose an outlet for your photos. You could blog them, facebook them, flickr them, print them and put them into a photo album, scrapbook or journal. There are are a ton of other creative ways you could compile your 365 photos for a given year. I've chosen to put my photos together into a digital collage on a weekly basis. So one collage for 7 days of photos. The photos do not have to be works of art. They don't have to pictures of the amazing things you do everyday. Just daily moments. Simple things. Things in your life you probably would overlook if you weren't doing the project. I've been aware of this movement for awhile now ... but never had the gumption to take it on. As it is I usually am photographing my work for my website as often as 4 days a week. It can be a chore. The last thing I wanted was another reason to HAVE to pick up my camera. But the one thing I noticed over the last two years was that while I was spending so much time behind the lense shooting my wares, my kids and my life sort of disappeared from being on the other end of camera's lense. As I went through my photos and organized everything, I noticed I didn't have nearly as many photos of my family and our adventures as I used to. This realization of loss motivated me. So here is my P365 Week 1 Photo Collage:

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!
Hope everyone had a lovely holiday break with family and friends.
Thank you to everyone for your support.
Here's to 2010!