I Can't Believe It

I can not believe that it is mid-September. Time flying by is okay when you have a lot to celebrate. I can not believe that as of tomorrow my shop will be open for ONE YEAR. This is such an exciting anniversary for me (sorry hubby you are special too!) but when I set out a year ago to put my creations out there online and SELL them...well I was more than a little scared. Would people like them? Would I be successful? Would I fall on my face? As I look back on the last year I can say with a smile that it has been a little of each. And I wouldn't have it any other way. But overall I am proud of myself and my shop. It is growing more every day. It has even been picked up by a few major blogs.

Next Saturday I will be venturing out again in a new way by doing my first Craft Fair/Show. If you are in or around New Bloomfield, PA come over and visit. I am excited by getting to meet customers face to face and see with my own eyes peoples reaction to my craft. This coincides perfectly with my birthday. I am celebrating the big 33 that weekend as well.

Last but not least, yesterday I completed a nine mile run. My half marathon is four weeks away. I am jittery, nervous, excited. I won't be the fastest. I won't win a medal. But if I just take it one step at a time, I will finish, god willing. Wish me luck.

What exciting things are you celebrating?

Every little step is still a step closer...

This year is turning out to be a year dedicated to overcoming my personal obstacles (physical, mental and emotional). The interesting thing about this is that it has happened without any clear vision or intention on my part. X happened resulting in Y, purely cause and effect.

One of these "obstacles" was reclaiming my physical strength and health. I signed up to run the Hershey Half Marathon on Sunday October 16th. Aside from a brief stint in high school (16 years ago) I have never considered myself a runner. In my mind there was two categories of people: those that ran and those that did not run EVER. Then a friend called six weeks back and I heard myself saying "Sure. Why not." And so it began.

I'm up to around 4 mile runs with 10 weeks to go. I have blisters on both feet a sore muscles and am faced with heat in the high 90's for the rest of the week. That's not even to mention that I have two small children that hate to sleep, housework and my Etsy shops to maintain. Training must go on. I have committed myself to the training and won't stop until I cross the finish line in October. Wish me luck!

The Daily Pic: Feathered Friend

I've been beach combing, which does amazing things for my creativity and well my heart and soul in general. It also does terrible things for my blog.

When there is sand running through my fingers I tend to forget about the internet completely.

Here is a little friend I met while searching for shells. I think he had the same idea. Some new coastal themed items coming to my shops soon.

Hope you are having a great summer.

The Daily Pic: Summer Nights

This was the moon last night. Just as the sun was descending on the horizon and the moon was taking over it's rightful charge of the night.
I just love summer nights.

Simple Pleasures

Our foreheads and upper lips were already moist with perspiration and it was only 9:00 a.m. I'm not sure why I was so inclined to hurry a one year old and four year old through their breakfast and skip their morning cartoons altogether for a morning of picking cherries off trees, perhaps it was the child in me.

The woman behind the counter told me all the trees near the farm were picked. I would have to walk a while to get some good ones. No problem. I had a bottled water and a stroller what else would I need. Nothing I found out. Though Jacob insisted that "he did not like cherries" (although he never tried one), he had an amazing time stretching his little body as far as he could to reach a plum ripe bite size piece of heaven. He was an excellent assistant, directing me to where he could not reach but wanted to. With a child's eye, pointing out all the wonders of nature: a beautiful stick lying in the grass; a bug buzzing around a decaying piece of fruit on the ground.

Little Birdie (as I call her) was not unsure of the taste, one little "sample" and "ma ma" (more, more) was her favorite word of the day.

For the artist in me there was inspiration everywhere: The plump shiny red fruit; the odd angles of the old branches heavy with weight and time. The pealing red barn and the emerald fields of growing goodies. What a morning.

What are your favorite simple pleasures of summer?

Thanks for the Mention

Thanks for the mention in a recent blogpost by Lark Crafts. It never gets old when someone admires your work enough to write about it and share it with others.


Thank you Lark Crafts and Beth Sweet.

New Shop Under Way

My dear blogosphere it has been a while. The summer is underway and that has led to a flurry of activity in my home and in my shops. I hope you are all enjoying the sunnier weather and have a calendar full of picnics, graduation parties, and summer vacations.

I promise to have some more Illustration Friday posts, daily pics, and other musings soon. For today I wanted to announce my new shop: Sweet Feet Designs on Etsy. This shop is dedicated to children's items. I have been thinking a long time how I wanted to integrate these types of items into my current shop: Blue Leaf Boutique but decided it really needed a home of its own. For those of you that follow me, know my kiddos are everything to me. There always inspiring me and creating for them is such a treat. I just wanted to share my creations with others too!

Check it out! More items will be added soon!