Blog #2!

Don't forget to check out my other blog, the "tester blog"! It's a little more personal, but that might change as the days and weeks roll on!

I'd love to hear your comments on the posts, the set up of the blog and what you think of that site compared to this! I'm just fiddling around with it right now, but in the future, I might end up perma-blogging over there...we'll have to see!

Let me know what you think!

~Memories~

Yesterday Damien's post got me thinking about my childhood memories. It's funny how they stick with you so strongly, isn't it? There's the good and the bad, the funny and embarrassing.

The other day I was reminiscing with my parents, I can't remember what the memory was that I was talking to them about but my mom looked at me and said "Katie, you were three when that happened".

I remember peeing my pants (I was younnnng!) right before my mom had company, she told me she thought I had learned "by now", set me up on the dryer and made me wait there until her guests were comfortable. I remember calling out for her...I think she had forgotten about me, you know how that happens when you get distracted. We were living in our first house at that time, so I was probably around two.

My Dad can remember when he was nine months old. He was laying in his crib when his mom and her sister walked into his room. He can remember what they were wearing and what they said. He told his mom this later on and she couldn't believe him. Apparently, the only time her sister had visited was when he was nine months old.

And of course, as summer draws closer (I'm sticking my tongue out at all you lucky bums that already have warm weather and green trees!), the memories of childhood summers start to come back. Remember when we used to run through the sprinkler at 11 at night because it was so hot we couldn't sleep. Or when we went for the family reunion on the coast and picked arrow heads off of the beach. Or when I threw that pine cone under someones car as they drove past and they backed up and reamed me out. Or when our neighbor brought gigantic cookies over. Or when we got our first puppy....

I love memories. It's crazy how specific smells or songs bring them back...that can be good or bad.

What is one of your favorite memories?

I think my favorite memory is riding with my dad on his motorbike, an old candy apple red Norton. We'd ride for hours, until I was nodding off to sleep on the back. Dad would be asking me if I was tired, and I'd say no because I never wanted to get off the bike. When we'd pass people, I'd put my hands on my lap instead of holding his waist because I knew it looked tough and cool. I'd look at the kids in the vans and be like "yeah, they think I'm awesome". But it's being with my dad and riding that bike that are the best memories.

This morning is a GOOD morning! The sun is bright and hot, the sky is clear, the job front is positive!

Yesterday I handed out some more resumes...well, it ended up only being one because I walked in and they wanted to interview me right away...and then they offered my the job! The position is a Events Coordinator Assistant for an Entrepreneur center. From the description of it, it's just my cup o' tea, creative, professional, enough contact with clients etc...it sounds fun but still "a job".

I phoned the company that I had an interview with before, told them that I had been offered a job but wanted to consider their position before I made a final decision...they'll be calling me back this afternoon.

Another thing that has me excited is Tara's comment on my post below. Her tips and encouragement were super awesome and she also made me aware of a consignment site, How To Consign. I checked the site out and for those creators out there who are looking for a way to get their products into the hands of sellers, not only in their own towns, this site is worth checking out!

By the way, I went to the green house on the weekend, like I said I was going to...but apparently the Foxgloves won't be ready for another month or so. Shows how much I know about flowers. But I did end up getting some great...flowers...I tried to be pro and remember the names, but I couldn't. Their pink and purple...does that help? :D

Creative Cravings!

Do you ever get that feeling that something great is going to happen? It feels the same as when you have a word on the tip of your tongue but you can't quite remember what it is. I have this feeling today. I feel anxious and excited and really have no idea why! It could be about that job interview I had last Thursday, or maybe it's something more on the creative side. Maybe I'm about to make it big with KatelynJane...Maybe!

I've been reading through my blogroll, focusing more on the inspirational and creative blogs (which, now that I think about it, is actually most of them). I've been getting super excited to create something. I feel like there's something there, something at the edge of my mind that I can't quite reach, that will help improve my store, sell more, bring more business. I'm just not sure what it is yet! It's killin' me!

I want to go home, sew, create, brainstorm, promote...anything CREATIVE! I don't want to be stuck here in the office, trying to figure this paper work out.

Maybe I should just quit my job, go home, take a week to regroup and create and enjoy life and then pursue another job. Oh right, this probably sounds trite to you guys because I haven't been telling you what's been going on with my job lately. To put it in a nut shell: I've been on the edge of quitting for a week now, sick of being taken advantage of, and ready to move on to new adventures because of the "advantage taking".

Besides, my sister is in town this week! Wouldn't it be amazing to spend the week together, enjoying the beautiful weather, sipping Tim Hortons Coffee and venting about our mother? Sounds good to me! She has other friends too, so while she'd visit them, I'd be sewing! Perfect plan!

Now...to just to work up the guts to quit...

Consignment Attempts

Well, this weekend, like I said in my post on Saturday, I brought some of the Katelynjane bags to a local store. As soon as I had finished ironing them, attaching tags, and worked up the gutz to actually go, I drove down, took a deep breath and asked for the owner.

To make a long story short, she said that she normally doesn't take crafts that she tries to stick with vintage products and wholesale items from larger companies. Another point she made was that she has tried to sell bags before but they haven't moved fast at all. She said to let her think about it and to call her early this week...so we'll see what she says then, but I'm not too hopeful.

That's what I get for living in a small town (: There's one more store that I could try, but I'm not sure if I'd want to sell my bags there, so we'll see.

Drag drag drag. I was really hoping the first store was going to take some of my bags!

Oh well, next goal!

Thanks for all your best wishes for this attempt though! It was really encouraging!!

I'll write more later...after I have my coffee (: Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Saturday Sun and Feature!

Goodmorning all!! It's a BEAUTIFUL morning where I'm at, I hope it's as sunny and springish whereever you are!

It's so hard for me not to find amazing stores on Etsy. Everytime I browse through the site, I find a couple more that I add to my list of faves. KMCdesigns is no exception. It's filled with these funky wallets and bags....all made from Duct Tape!!(Wouldn't Red Green be proud?). Their prices are super cometative and totally worth it for their unique products. Their style is totally in!





I'm headed out today to bring some of my bags to a local store. I'm hoping to meet with the owner and be able to sell my bags at her store. I'll let you know what happens. It's all part of my promotional plan! I'm not so concerned about the amount I earn from my bags being in this store, it's more about getting exposure.

Then I'm off to the greenhouse to see if they are selling Foxgloves yet...I'm hoping to plant my garden on May Long Weekend and I need to add to my Foxglove bed.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend so far! It'll only get better!

Spring Cleaning

I went through my Blogroll this morning, cutting out all the blogs that either didn't post very often or I had lost interest in. You know what amazes me? Blogs that don't consistently post entries seem to still keep their readership. Their entries, that they do eventually post, aren't really that enthralling...but they still collect tons of comments. I don't get it.

So anyways, my blog roll is now a tad smaller and I'm sure, as the weeks roll on, I'll work up the courage to delete a few more. There are some that I've kept hoping that the authors will suddenly appear, respond to comments and post more entries.

Do you ever get perturbed if a blog author doesn't respond or even acknowledge your comment? It's understandable if they have a huge amount of comments, but if not, it's sure nice that they acknowledge their readers. It just shows appreciation for the readers loyalty, I think.

I've also decided to start taking small advertisements on my blog. See where I have Beaumont displayed? He's the orange Pocket Pall at the left, under "Creative Ads". I'll be running ad's there, for bloggers and other creative minds. At first I thought that $15.00 was a good price for a two week ad...but then I was told that it was too steep a price considering my lower viewer rates...so for now, I won't be charging.

If you're a blogger and are interested in trading ad's, let me know! I'd love to display your blog. Please feel free to email me with "Creative Ads" as your subject and we'll see what we can work out!

It's finally a gorgeous spring day outside! I get so excited when we have days like this, I can't wait to dig in my garden, plant more flowers, get my hands dirty...and of course work on my tan! (: But then I always get a dose of Canadian reality when it starts snowing the next day. It's supposed to be at least +14 this weekend though, so hopefully...HOPEFULLY!!!...Spring is officially here!

Team Trials

You know, I have a huge soft spot for kids. It probably stems from being an oldest child and having a big part in raising some of the younger siblings. And of course this all stems into my love for my hockey team.

Every week something happens at ball hockey, either one of the kids acts out, they tell us something that's just out of the blue, or I get a chance to really level with them and have a good conversation. Last Monday was no exception.

Us coaches always meet after the games to chat, brainstorm on what to do for our teams, talk about the games and see where we can help each other out. This past Monday was a jaw-dropper.

One of my fave players, Joe, had been looking sad all evening and I asked his coaches about it. He was usually not like that, usually he was playing hard, a bit cheeky and had a smile. The coaches didn't know anything, but the manager told us this story:

Joe's birthday had been the week before and at the last minute his mom had invited a couple friends to come and play at the Youth Center. It turned out that only one friend showed up. The dad brought the friend in, gave Joe his gift, left him there to play and came back half an hour later. When he came back he saw that his son was the only friend there, he snatched Joe's gift from him (already unwrapped), grabbed his son and left. Joe sat in his chair, obviously stunned, and cried.

Joe comes from a pretty good family, considering the other families we deal with at the Youth Center, but it's obvious he doesn't get the attention he needs. We're not exactly sure what it is, but there's something lacking there. So to see something like this happen to him is super hard. It's got to be so traumatizing!

As soon as we heard this, we all turned to each other "You free next Monday night?", "Yep.", "Good, I'll bring the cake, you bring the balloons. Invite the team, we're having a party for Joe". We're going to surprise him, it's going to be so awesome! We're going to set up a game of blacklight ball hockey, watch a movie and enjoy some cake! I seriously can't wait to see his face, he's such a sweet kid with a really great heart.

Martin Verdict

By fluke I stumped on this article about Brenda Martin's verdict this afternoon...poor girl got a guilty sentence but at least she might get the "double credit" in the Canadian jail she gets transfered to.

The thing that confuses me about Ms. Martin is that in each photo and video of her in prison she has makeup on, jewelery and pretty nice clothes...hmm...

Treasury Westness!

Got another one (: I'm on a roooolllll!

If you want a dose of Spring, take a gander at the items I Treasured!

The Big Rant

I was watching TV last night and finally figured out that if I unhook the useless cable cord (since we don't have cable anymore) I can get two more channels. Figure that one out. The channels were just starting the new hour of shows and since Opera's "The Big Give" was on, I decided to stick with it.

At first when I had seen the ads for this show, I was weary...the thought of the show seemed good enough, contestants competing to give the most to others. Nice right? Sure. It seemed a bit weird to be COMPETING to give stuff...but they were giving things, so who's going to complain?

My fears were confirmed when I watched this finale. Three contestants were left, a beauty queen, a young millionaire and a dad of three girls. On this last challenge they had to work as a team to come up with their "Biggest Give".

During the course of this episode, the three "teammates" fought, batted for "who planned what" and who was going to get the credit for what, stomped off on their own, and then didn't even show up for the reveal of their "Give". This, to me, is completely missing the point of the giving. Completely.

Giving is to give, not because you're in a competition to give the biggest, not because someone might beat you and give bigger, and not because you friggen have to to stay in a game. Giving is supposed to be from the heart. I understand that it's a show, that it can't be completely from the heart because they're competing...but then isn't that missing the point? I mean yeah, by the end, they are all enjoying giving to those kids, providing that money etc. but the intitial thought wasn't "Wow, those kids need us, we should give them _____." The initial thought was "Quick, these kids are in need, let's give them a ton of money and a good experience and hope that it's enough to impress the judges".

And then. THEN. At the end of the show Opera says "none of these people expected anything for themselves". Yeah. RIIIIGHT. It's Opera! As if those people thought "Opera is having this show, I'm not going to get anything out of it, but let's go on it to have some fun and give a lot of stuff anyways." I'll bet you my left foot that getting something, something BIG, crossed ALL of their minds because of the simple fact that OPERA, one of the most successful women in the world, was hosting this challenge. Duh.

Sorry, I'm ranting, but this kinda bugs my butt. I get it. I get why they had the show, to get people to see the joys of giving...but it also showed people that someone else will be giving too so you better give bigger than them! That's sad. That ruins it. The dad of three nipped it in the bud when he mentioned in the show that the conflict between the players was taking away from the joy of giving.

It all just seems completely backwards to me! The thought of it is good, giving is great, everyone should give, everyone should set themselves aside and give more to others...but that's not what these contestants were doing. They were giving so that they could get the glory.

I hope this isn't what our world is becoming. A world of greedy givers.

Brenda Martin: In Limbo

Well, looking up the news this afternoon, I guess poor Ms. Martin will have to wait another week to hear if she is a free woman or not.

The poor lady! I'm the kind of person who doesn't like to wait for things. I'd rather people gave it to me straight and asap. I hate waiting for things! I can't imagine waiting to hear if you were to remain in prison for years longer or not! Crazy anticipation! I'd be bawling my eyes out.

Guest Blog!

Damien just contacted me to say that he had posted my Guest Blog entry on his blog, Postcards From the Funny Farm!! Take a look and don't forget to leave a comment! I'd love to hear your thoughts!

How do you get inspired? What sort of things make you want to sit down and create something, or write?

For me, inspiration comes from family history, news stories, watching creation, and history in general.

Ok, speaking of news stories! There's one that I've been following that is finally coming to a peak today. Brenda Martin is a Canadian woman being held in a Mexican prison for apparently helping a crook with his dealings. She worked for Alyn Waage as his chef for 10 or 11 months and is being accused of helping to swindle investors out of millions of dollars. She claims to be innocent and has been imprisoned for two years unjustly.

Brenda's judgment has been promised to come today. There is no actual guarantee that it will, the judge has told Brenda personally that he hopes to deliver a verdict this afternoon. He isn't actually obligated to give one until the end of May though.

For some reason I'm excited to see the result of this trial. Brenda seems genuine to me and it's crazy how she's been held in prison for over two years now...with no proof that she even committed the crime.

I'll be posting the outcome of this afternoon's trial as soon as I find out.

Within the next couple days my Guest Blog for Postcards From the Funny Farm will be posted (thanks Damien!). SO cool! I love doing guest blogs and it's even more of an honor when you're asked! Yay!

My GB is about inspiration, something which comes pretty easy to me...it's just a matter of using the right words. As I was writing the entry, it got me thinking about my family background and the huge amounts of inspiring drama that sits in that huge, knotted and ever growing family tree.

On top of the amazing story I shared in Damien's blog, there are many other family members that have left their mark in history. Both involving the family and influential people in history.

Uncle Burt, an engineer in India in the early 1900's, received a jewel encrusted sword for saving the Maharajah's life. During a tiger hunt, the Maharajah's elephant was confronted with a tiger. Seeing the elephant spook, Uncle Burt shot the tiger and thus saved the kings life. Unfortunately, all of Uncle Burt's possessions were sold or given away after his death as his wife knew she could receive a small fortune for them.

My Papa, my mom's father, saved his crew mates when he took charge of their boat and navigated them safely though deathly rapids. Papa's captain wrote to his parents and thanked them for the life of their son and described his amazing efforts to go beyond his position and save the boats crew.

It's amazing how so much history lays in your family, sometimes without been told. I look back and wish I had taken more more quiet moments with my grandma before she passed away, to learn about her experiences and past. Every time I see an elderly person, I think about the history, the stories they have to tell and I wish I could sit down with them and see what they have to say.

I've been thinking about taking a trip to the retirement home here in town to get to know some of the people there. It'd be amazing to hear their stories. Maybe I need to take the time to do that...

Monday night was a hard one for me. I coach ball hockey for 9 - 11 year olds at a Christian youth center. My husband usually comes with me, but for the past few weeks he's been tied up doing Income Tax work for his Grandpa's accounting business. I don't mind going to The Ark (the name of the youth center) by myself, but sometimes it's pretty overwhelming.

This particular Monday night was tough. The team was playing amazing, it was so obvious that they had improved on their skills and they were really giving it their all. For some reason though, they weren't winning. The opposing team has several star players that play defensive and offensive really well so that may have had something to do with it. The boys were getting frustrated, which I can understand, but one player was taking it the worst. Our goalie is always tough on himself even though he's the best goalie in the league. As soon as we start losing he blames himself and wants to give up. It's so sad to see! Especially when I see his dad encouraging this behavior and acting in the exact same way. It's hard for me to watch because there's no reason for it.

I don't understand why people can be so negative. Obviously, I have my bad days, I have days where I could just sit and bawl or I get super frustrated with people or situations. But for the most part, there's always a little voice in the back of my mind saying "It's going to work out, just keep smiling, you're doing good". I don't understand why or how people can just give up. How can some people just slump down and completely give up? "Oh well, it's the second period and we're behind, might as well give up and go home"...why?? There's still one and a half periods to go!

I try my hardest to encourage these boys, to let them know that I see their improvement and that they're doing good...but in some cases it's just not enough. They have too much negative input at home.

I feel so sorry for some of these kids, their parents don't even give them a chance. I'm hoping, as much as I can't see the results right now, our positive attitudes will help them as they grow up. I hope that they can look back one day and see that we meant what we said, that they were amazing kids with huge potential and that if they just try, they will be successful. Because they can, I honestly believe that.

Getting Out There

I decided a few days ago that it was about time I marketed my blog a bit more. I'm not here for huge amounts of readers or a nice cash flow, but I would like to make more people aware of it. A reader base that is a tad bit bigger than what I have now would be nice. I love the loyal readers I have now and really appreciate their comments, but I'd like to expand a bit more.

I've joined two sites now and am impressed with the instant results they have shown me. Blog Catalog was the first site I joined with. I wasn't sure what to expect and really just signed on to look into it more. I entered my info and checked out a few of the blogs and forum posts. I was impressed with the easy navigation of the site, and as I uploaded the widget code, I was also impressed with the views I have already received. I was expecting to have to earn my way into the community more before seeing views.

I joined up with Entrecard today and have already seen some results. I have a few clicks on my blog as well as a couple "Card Drops" recorded. Again, more than I expected for such a short time being on the site. One thing I didn't like about this site was that you need an exact sized image to upload for your avatar. Not that this is a huge deal, but usually sites resize them for you. I'll get over it once I get home and resize my avatar.

Forum posts for both these sites will, like all sites, help you become more involved in the community. Blog Catalog has groups you can join, which are along the same lines as the forum posts, only they are based on certain topics.

I haven't had much time to explore these sites, but from what I've seen so far, it's worth signing up...if only to see if the sites suites your needs.

Don't Offend the Blogger Gods

I've been trying to change the layout here in my blog for a few weeks now...with no luck. It all seems so complicated with Blogger! I left a note on Damien Riley's blog about this, since he's been changing his layout several times. He mentioned that I might try Wordpress.com or Wordpress.org...I've decided to give them a try.

Don't worry! My account with Wordpress won't replace this one, at least not yet. I'll be updating this account as usual, just as if nothing has changed. But at the same time, I'll be experimenting with Wordpress. Just to see what it's like. Come on by and see what you think, I'd love to know!

And Another Week Starts...

This weekend was perfect. I haven't had a weekend that relaxing or fulfilling in a long time, it was exactly what I needed.

I was thinking after I posted last time, how amazing it is that I can say "we don't usually go to government camping spots". Most people don't have that option. When we visited the Shuswap last summer, we assumed we would be able to camp out along the way. In our area, you can find unofficial camping spots wherever you want. Really. And it's not private property, it's the middle of the bush. But we had forgotten it wasn't like that down south. There's private property everywhere, no room for a quick camping spot and hardly even room to pull off the road at all. I consider myself so blessed to be able to go camping, drive half an hour and be in the middle of nowhere.

The weather was beautiful this weekend, perfect with the exception of a wind. It was so relaxing to sit around, warm by the fire, chat and roast wieners. We forgot the marshmallows, but as long as I have my M&M's I'm fine (: I had brought my book (The Other Boleyn Girl) and it turned out I needed it. The boys decided to abandon us for several hours (according to them, it was "a good half hour". HA!). I sat beside the fire, warmed my toes, ate my M&M's and read. It was so amazing to be able to read for so long, something I don't get to do (or don't chose to do) at home very often.

I'll post a couple pictures as soon as I take them off the camera.

Also, I've joined another bloggers community, Blog Catalog. Hopefully I'll be able to make some new contacts and be able to promote my blog more. It's just another way to build my blog up and hopefully make it more successful...while having fun!

How was everyone's weekend?

Takin a Trip

My new laptop sucks. Well, it doesn't, it's cool, but the lack of RAM sucks. Sorry about not posting another post last night! I really did mean to and tried to, but this new computer isn't uploading pictures for some reason. And when it decides to, it takes half an hour. Maybe not quite. But too long! So I'm using my husbands computer this morning.

I woke up late today, read for an hour, just finished my bowl of Cream of Wheat and have to start preparing for camping. I have a love hate relationship with camping. It's so much fun when we get out to our camping spot, relax, quad around or roast marshmallows. But the getting there and the coming home really aren't my favorite things in this world. The packing and unpacking...I hate.

We have a remote camping spot that we go to every year. We've been attempting to reach a glacier three years in a row now, but each time something stops us. Last year we hit a lake that seemed to block our way entirely. I'm not sure that any path we take now will bring us to the glacier, but we had a lot of adventures trying to get there!

Tonight we're going to head to one of my favorite camping spots. It's an actual government camping spot that no one goes to in the spring and fall (which is great, because we love to camp in these seasons!). Usually we don't camp in "actual camps" because they really limit your activities and there's way to many people around. This camping spot is at the very edge of a river, surrounded by trees and we always take the spot at the end of the road. It's completely secluded and so beautiful. Hopefully I'll have some pictures to post at the end of the weekend!

Have a great weekend guys! I'll be writing more when we come home!

Blogs and Puppies!

I was just looking through my pictures and came across this one of my pup the day we brought her home. She was so cute. So little and sleepy and cuddly. I wish they stayed this size!!

I just blogged over at Fuel My Blog, so make sure you take a peek and leave your comments!

I'll write more later! Thank goodness it's Friday!

Shelly Tucker is a crazy lady...but a crazy lady I'm lovin' even more! She blogs over at "This Eclectic Life" and always has challenging entries...she's a blogger to look up to.

I just clicked onto her blog to see what was new and was blown away by what I saw. Talk about CRAZY! Shelly has taken up a challenge and is in turn challenging all us readers and bloggers to help her out. She's making a goal to send 140 kids to camp this year. That's $21,000.00!!! These kids will be attending Camp Sanguinity, a camp for kids with cancer.

If you feel the urge, that small little voice, to help Shelly and these kids out, check out her blog entry for more details.

Good luck Shelly!! I'm really rootin' for ya!!

Etsy Fave

I haven't featured an Etsy store in a while and I found this great store yesterday. Somavenus has these funky journals or sketch books, covered with colorful collages and abstract art. I love it!!

One of my favorite things about this store is that they use their original photography to decorate the covers of the journals, not all of them, but some. And great prices! $30 bucks for a freaking cool journal. I think it's a great idea for a present for a teen, they're always so hard to buy for I find.

Ahhh Cloooothes!

I just found this great site...I've never heard of it before but I think it's going to be my new shopping stop! Such cool clothes and super great prices! (I should be their sales person!)

Madder Than Mad Hatter

My last few days at work have been filled with an irate client calling several times. "Several times" is an understatement, actually, she's called...probably close to 10 times a day for the past two days and is working up her call-count already today.

This woman has made my day. She's so steamed up, so hopping mad it makes me laugh. She has no reason for being this mad other than the fact that she loves to scream. She's the kind of person that thinks she knows everything and how it, apparently, should be done.

She's screamed at four of our secretaries now, each for at least twenty minutes, and has just ripped a strip off our boss. We've tried to tell her that we know what we're doing and we're doing the best we can, that our boss will call her back etc. She just keeps screaming and refuses to hang up. One of our secretaries finally set the phone down and continued with her other work while the lady screamed at herself for ten minutes. I was laughing so hard! I know it seems unprofessional, but we've tried every other tactic in the book, and nothing is working! She just wants to scream. So we let her scream.

Fuuuuny!

So tonight Krystal is coming over to work on her wedding center pieces. She's bringing two of her bridesmaids so hopefully we'll get a ton more of them done!

Treasury West! Horrah!

Woootwooot!

I got a Treasury West! It IS easier!! Actually, before I had assumed that a box would pop up on the screen...like right in your face, to enter your treasury codes. It doesn't. It comes up at the bottom of the page. So I could have gotten it a treasury way before this if I had been aware of that...oh well though! Now I know!

Here's the link! YAY!!!

Etsy Attempts

It's been three days since my last entry...what have I become?!

Have you ever tried to get an Etsy Treasury? I have. I've never actually been successful, but I've tried! I just lately found out that it's easier to get a Treasury West treasury, so I'm attempting to grab one of those today.

I've been working on more gift tags this weekend. I'm going to try renewing four items a day in my Etsy store, I hope it will bring more sales and views into my store.

This past week and weekend I've been focusing on getting more hearts and views into my store. One of the ways I have been pursuing this is by participating in the Etsy Forums more often. I used to comment all the time in there, but have been slacking in that department lately. I'm pretty sure that this is what brought several more hearts into my collection within the last couple days.

Last night I had a dream that I had sold a bag. I checked my Etsy store this morning and it hadn't sold...drag! I was hoping it wasn't just a dream...

7 Things.

I was tagged by TwiddleStix with Seven Random Facts! I've done this before, a few months ago, but it was fun so I'll do it again (:

Here are the rules:
1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog. (Check!)
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.



The Randoms:

1) I hate liver. I hate it. SO MUCH. Ewwww grosss SICK! Just the smell of it makes me gag. Gross but true.

2) I'm secretly getting discouraged with my Etsy store. I love the site, I love the sellers...but I hate the fact that I haven't sold anything in the past...who knows how long. I think I have interesting products, I always get compliments on them from other sellers and buyers, but hardly any sales! I'm not sure what's up with that. But yeah, secret frustration happening over here. I'm trying not to be discouraged, but the Glad Game is getting worn out.

3) I've always wanted to be a model. I'm not conceited, I don't think I'm amazing looking or that I'd make it big, but I love posing for pictures and getting "done up". I'd just love it if I could be a model. It's not a huge secret, everyone is always giving me a hard time about being so eager to have pictures taken. I'm not thinking "I look amazing today, someone should take a picture of me", I just think it's fun.

4) I'm so jealous of my sister. I know I have a lot in my life that is amazing, but she makes me so jealous. She's traveled, lived in Australia for a year, can move whenever she wants just because she feels like it, shops her butt off when she wants...I'm just jealous.

5) I was completely humiliated when I lost a tooth when I was 15. Who looses teeth that late?! It was so embarrassing!

6) I love family traditions. My family used to rent cabins at a lake during the summer and it made the best memories. I just love doing things similar every year. It's fun and it builds great memories. I hope I can continue that when we have kids.

7) I'm a very honest person. Something that really bugs me is when someone can't be honest back. It used to really get to me when boyfriends would break up with me for stupid reasons or lie about things. Hello! Just tell me! Yeah, it might make me mad for a little while, but I'd rather know the truth than wonder for months what I did wrong or what really happened. But it's not all about boys. Just in general, I would rather someone be completely honest with me, in a nice way, but still honest.

Ok, now to tag seven people (Seven?!):

I Heart Peonies
Snippet & Ink
Enjoy: {the blog}
a new one: Lucky Me!
Christy DeKoning
Paper Chick
Style Me Pretty

....now just to let all these bloggers know that I've tagged them!

Ever Changed Your Blog Layout?

I've been thinking lately that I need to change my blog format. I tried this once and when I had a new code in the proper place, it told me that I would lose all my links if I didn't save them. Is this a hard process? Do I need to write down all my links and then re-enter them?

The reason I'm doing this is because I'm trying to find a blog banner that will STUN my audience :D Have you seen All Sort's banner?? SO AMAZING! I'd love to have something like that, something that wow's you as soon as you click onto the page.

I have a place for a banner on this set-up, but it's only at the top of my entries...and it just isn't bold enough or big enough for me. I don't want something huge, but I'd love something more noticeable.

I'm all about the flahsy-flashy.

Once I figure out how this goes, I'll write an entry on what I found out (:

Too Weird!

OK. So like every other human on the planet (almost!) I have a facebook account. I'm on it constantly, checking pictures, uploading photos, commenting on friends walls, checking in on my groups etc.

Yesterday I received a short message from a girl I've never met saying "Hi, I saw your pictures on so-and-so's page and...I like you...that's all". I laughed out loud! This was kinda odd, but whatever (: We started writing and it turns out, she loves "my style", which I find a huge compliment. She lives like 13 hours from me. BUT then things start to get WEIRD! Like "Cool" weird. So, she found me through my cousin. I look at this girls page and it turns out, one of her friends from high-school plays Risk with my husband at least once a month. Weird coincidence because this was in a totally different town. To make things even WEIRDER she goes to church with my husbands aunt and uncle...way down where ever she lives...TO MAKE THINGS EVEN WEIRDER, she knows a girl that goes to my old church. Talk about a small world hey?? This girl and I live in two completely different towns but yet we have four connections. SMALL WORLD!

Etsy Banner

I was working with an Etsy seller, Well Feathered Nest, for a custom banner for my Etsy store. She ended up giving it to me! How nice, hey?? Take a peek into my store to see the new banner!

Tryin' out the Gocco

This first one is my number 1 attempt at printing on the Gocco. It's not bad, but there's dots of carbon around the actual image from the photocopy I used. Oh well, you live and learn.

I learned from the Gocco-How-To link I posted a couple days ago, that you can save your screens and ink by putting them in plastic and in then in the fridge (just like you can with paint rollers!). So I did that with both of these screens and I'll be using them again tonight.



These are my second attempts at Gocco printing. I had printed an image of these leaves but they came out super small so I printed several more, cut them out and placed them individually on a piece of white paper. I then imprinted them into the screen. I'm not sure if others do it this way, but it worked. The only thing I would suggest is that you somehow stick the separate images onto the plain paper. Some of the leaves burned to the screen and I was afraid of taking them off. I did, and it was fine, but I'm sure there was a chance of me making a hole in it. Don't want that!

I made three 4 x 6" cards, three 4 x 5" cards as well as a 30 page note book. All on one screen with one round of ink on it. And there's still more to use! I'm not sure how much further the ink will go, but it seems like there's a lot left on there!

I don't know if I'll keep these for myself yet, or sell them on Etsy...we'll have to see!

Once I build up my "stock" on these types of items, I'll be listing them on Etsy.

Blogs and Crafts

I've entered another blog on Fuel My Blog! Take a peek and remember to leave your comments! I really do love hearing from you!

I was doing more crafts last night and came up with these tags that I'll be adding to my Etsy store. What do ya think?




I also went shopping and bought a new stamp and a template for envelopes which I was experimenting with! Oh and I bought a new stamp pad, yay for paycheques!

Crafting Again!

This past weekend was filled with crafting for me! Brett went out quadding so I filled my time with paper and ribbon. So much fun!