Daring Young Mom

Hello all! Madelyn came home from preschool last Friday not feeling well so we waited out the weekend and took her to the pediatrician on Monday. Upper and Lower respiratory infections....woo hoo.

I am not sure what to say or were to begin. I have been home with her since then and I feel like I am about to go crazy. She is sick, sad, crabby, bored, cranky, cuddly, and sometimes just plain mean. I feel bad for her as I know that SHE feels yucky. Thank goodness she loves to take medicine, so I do not have to go through THAT fight with her! She is stuck to me 24/7. I have exhausted my ideas for sick play and entertainment. It does not help that a huge winter storm came in and we FINALLY have snow and I can not let her go out......*insert her temper tantrums here*.

I have decided after receiving this great link from a friend on mine, to share this with you all. I feel like this mom today. Read it, Enjoy it, Empathize with it!

Have a great day! Excuse me while I go and get Maddy down from the walls......

Handmadeology!

The science of handmade! I am so excited and stoked as I await the first class offered by the ever helpful Timothy Adams!

What?

You don't know what Handmadeology is? Check out the website HERE!

I am going to "Learn the formula for selling handmade goods online!", taught by the master himself! Alright, so it is not REALLY a class. But, I will be able to view the information when ever I want!! Excellent for those, like myself, that have day jobs, households, husbands and children to attend to along with their online business! Can't wait!

So come along all of you, sign up for the newsletter, join the class! Learn and HAVE FUN! Check out the website and blog!

Take care everyone! Enjoy! Go forth and create!

Striking Solid

Hello all! I am VERY excited to introduce a new Etsy shop to you, Striking Solid Photography by Todd Tevlin. I am also happy to say that not only is Todd an extremely talented artist, but he is also my friend. We met in high school math class 20 years ago! I failed the class, and still to this day blame him! (We passed notes the whole class...the entire semester)

Read his profile, as he is an amazing person! A great artist, photographer, friend, computer guru, father and I am sure his wife would say husband! Do me, him and yourself a favor and give a little love to a new Etsian!

Thank you all and enjoy! Have a great week! Go forth and create!

Kids Say The Funniest Things

Scene: Madelyn sitting on the couch with blue blankie, pink elephant and Boo Hoo (Owl) waiting for mommy to start the old Disney Mulan VHS that came from Goodwill. Disney previews showing first: 101 Dalmatians, and Tarzan.

Maddy, eyes wide when Tarzan comes on the screen says,

"Holy Moly.....whata guy....*sigh*".

Uh uh...yes, my three year old. Where do they come up with these things? Wasn't from her daddy and I....thank you preschool and television!

Hope it gave you a laugh! Have a great weekend!

Just Something I Made Myself...FOR Myself!

Hello! You know, I make a lot of things for a lot of people, and finally made something for myself! I just wanted to share it with you. I know it will not mean as much to you all as it does me, but I LOVE wearing it. Of course I am biased, but I love this picture of my baby girl! I get a lot of compliments at work and at the grocery store. And as a proud mommy, I love to show off my girl!

Here is a little bit of info about it. It is made from polymer clay, sterling silver ball-chain, photo of Maddy, silver-plated bail, glass-like glaze on top....which is why it was a PAIN to photograph! I have been thinking of putting a tiny Swarovski crystal in the lower left corner.

I don't know...I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do. I will bid you all adieu for the evening! Enjoy!

Yearly Interview With Your Child

Hello all! At the risk of repeating myself, you all know I love The Crafty Crow blog! So, when I read the "Yearly Interview With Your Child", I wondered if Madelyn was too little to try this. I loved the idea, but did not know is she would answer the questions or not. Here are the list of questions we asked from the Blissful Kids site:

Here's our list of questions:

Favorites:
cereal Soup
vegetable Soup
drink Soda (of course it is her favorite, she does not get any from us)
toy Shapes
TV Show Spongebob
game Playdoh
book Ten Little Ladybugs
restaurant McDonald's
holiday Halloween
animal Giraffe

If you could change your name, what would you choose? Mama

What do you love about each person in our family? (did not answer no many how many times I came back and asked this)

Where would you like to go on vacation this year? Granny's

What are some of your wishes for this year? For Santa to bring me a Barbie Dollhouse

Visit Amy at her blog, Let's Explore, for more fun ways to play and create with your kids!

Well, come to find out, she answered almost all the questions, no matter if her answers boggled my mind, I wrote them down anyway! Wow, what little faith I seem to have in my own daughter. Sometimes I must still see her as "too little". I copied and pasted the questions on Word and typed her answers in red. Saved them under Interview and will pull the questions out for next year. The author stated that she prints them and puts them in a notebook......put that on my To-Do list! Maddy's answers are in red above...Enjoy! Try this with your little ones...it was great fun! Take care!

Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars......

You know, I never remember to check the Etsy Treasuries for those yellow or blue stars. In truth, because I never see any, so why bum myself out? Right? Well, I checked...and there they were...2 Yellow Stars! Wow! Guess I need to check more often! Ok, also, I can NOT do Screen Shots......so bear with the posted pics of these great Treasuries! The pics do not do them justice! Enjoy! It sure made my day!

Featured Artist: Simply Sentimental

Hello all! Before the mad rush of the holidays I asked Sydnei, the great woman behind the wonderful Etsy shop Simply Sentimental and one of my favorite blogs Simply Sentimental The Blog, if she would like to be a featured artist on my blog. Well, of course she was more than gracious and even told me that no one had ever asked her before! Can you believe it? The woman who features Etsy artists on HER blog and never been featured on anyone else's! Well, I am honored to be the one to ask the crazy questions and post her interview!
Tell us a bit about yourself and your shop:

Hello my name is Sydnei and I'm the sole creator behind Simply Sentimental. I create handmade greeting cards and scrapbooking embellishments. I got my start by scrapbooking for my family and soon realized I didn't have the attention span to work on layouts and tried my hand at greeting cards and here I am today....There are NO die cuts involved in my paper piecings. I hand trace, cut and ink each and every piece.....I've been married to my hubby Jim for 12 years this Feb. and we have 2 beautiful, but WILD little boys...Kaden is 6 and Kase is 3. They keep me on my toes, but I wouldn't trade a moment with them...My hubby works very long hours so that I have the opportunity to stay at home with them....I'm also the fingers behind the blog Simply Sentimental The Blog. It's been up and running since March and I focus on showcasing all the wonderful shops out there in Etsy land. I have Fibromyglia and was looking for something to fill my time when it was too painful for me to work with paper and that's when I decided to try my hand at blogging..I spend about 10-15 hours per week working on my blog. It's very time consuming, but I love it and wouldn't trade it for the world....

What is your favorite item in your shop?

That's a hard one because I love each and every one of my creations, but I'd have to say I LOVE my monogram note cards. They are a big seller for me with the ladies within my community and I personally use them to. I always try and have some on hand for those last minute thank you notes...

What is your inspiration?

I'm always looking at clipart on the computer or looking through my boys coloring books for great pictures that I can turn into a paper piecing. My boys have even learned that when they get a new coloring book mommy gets to look through it first to see if there's anything in there I can use....I'm also always trying to come up with "corny"sayings for my cards..It drives my hubby crazy with some of the silly things I come up with....


Apart from creating things, what do you do?

There's not much time to do anything but work with my paper and my blog...First and fore most I'm a mom and a wife...So after the household chores are done and the kids are taken care of if there's any time for paper it's mostly at night while I'm watching TV. I did buy some felt this summer in hopes of turning some of my paper piecings into felt scrapbooking embellishments but I just ran out of time..That's on my To Do List for this winter....


Name your top five books, movies, songs/musical groups, and web sites besides Etsy.

I don't have much time to read these day but I will have to say that I'm a HUGE Harry Potter fan..I've read all the books 10 times over and can't wait for my boys to get old enough to read them..These days my reading is limited to The Magic Tree House chapter books with Kaden....I'm a total country music fan, that's the only thing I really listen too...Movies, gosh we don't get to the movies that often but my hubby did suffer through Mamma Mia this summer...I know ladies, can you believe it...I owe him a football movie for that one...I don't really have much time for anything other than Etsy..THAT is my favorite website....as it should be..LOL...


How do you promote your work?

I use Project Wonderful to promote my shop and my blog. I also use my blog to promote. I also use paid advertising on other blogs..I LOVE to give my cards away a little gifts to Kaden's teachers and friends..I think that's the best way to get your items out there...

In ten years I'd like to be...

Sad to say in 10 years I see myself back out in the work force. My boys will be in school so it's back to work for me and I don't mind...Never fear though, Simply Sentimental will always be around because I'll always have time for my paper just might not be as much as I'd like...

Where You Can Find Me!

It seems I am popping up everywhere! I like it! Makes me fee somewhat important! Like I am a business, instead of feeling like a hobby! How about that? Well, let me share with you where I am, where you can find me and where I might SOON pop up!

I had a great feature on a beautiful blog by Southern Belle!

I have a beautiful little "Button" Ad on the INCREDIBLE blog by Amanda Blake Soule, better know as SouleMama.

Little Elephant Company was sweet enough to add my Etsy shop banner to their link page!

I will also have a giveaway and review hosted by STL Mommy in the near future!

On May 8th I will be the Feature Artist on St. Louis Handmade!!

I also signed up for St. Louis Moms Like Me website, which puts me in contact with other moms from the area. It has places for Groups, Forums, Martketplace, Discussions and Photos! I really am enjoying it!

Enjoy the new website links! Have a great day! I will be back soon with a HUGE amount new designs waiting to be photographed and edited! Woo Hoo! New Year......New Designs! Take care! Go Forth and Create!

Warmly,

Leslie

And The Winner Is.......

Lynn Cyr who wrote:

"Oh, these are wonderful!! My favorite is the Peace Angel print... but they're all so great!!"

Check out her Etsy Shop HERE! Thank you everyone who entered! Congrats again to the winner! I hope you enjoy your gift!

Warmly,
Leslie