Weekend Whirlwind

Back to work...:) Pretty much like every day I am loving my job. I am increasing sales each day which makes me happy! It might make Colin happier though, that is a toss up. It makes me think how grateful I am that I have the opportunity to be able to do what I want. :) Again just happy!

This weekend was kind of a whirlwind. We cleaned the carpets Saturday morning then picked up a friend of mine from high school (my parents best friends daughter and her husband). They were a surprise for her mom's 50th birthday. They live in Georgia and like us the last few years don't get to come home very often. Her mother shrieked and cried, it was a wonderful surprise and I am glad we got to deliver them for her. Luckily they get to stay a few days. She also brought me new buttons from Georgia. :) Colin helped my dad with a project he has been putting off since Christmas. I think my mom is really glad Colin helped so it was done correctly. My poor dad isn't as meticulous with my mom's projects as with his own. I am glad we were able to help since they have helped us so much this summer.

Before all of that we picked up TWO bushels of super spicy roasted green chilies for my dad. Our car still smells like them, I think I might need to air it out for a few days. My dad made some pork green chili for us before we headed home. If you ever need to drink a whole gallon of milk its when you eat his green chili, my mouth is still burning. A good weekend! Especially because when we got home I had orders in my email.

This week I am cleaning for our house guests this weekend and continuing to make new items for an open house jewelry show the 18th. Most of the new items I have been making have sold right away so I am not ready. That is very good and very bad. I just will have to hold off listing as many items online until after the party. Sorry no pictures today as I forgot to take the camera.

:) Increase

I have been busy working on advertising, search statistics, and other ways to increase traffic to my website this last week. It is slow, as it is all new information to me but it seems to be increasing orders. :)

Nothing makes me happier than when I open my email and it has orders or custom requests. I am learning new techniques to increase sales and I'm keeping my brain active beyond creating. Due to adding this research to my daily work I have been selling many of the new items I upload in less than a day. Yeah!

Currently I am also having my finance software customized to my business needs. Things are picking up and going well. Next I am going to look into craft shows here in Aurora so I don't need to get more city licenses.

Yeah for being productive and increasing sales. It's been a great week so far. :)

Wrap Up

I thought I would stop and share what I am up to and what we did this weekend.
I organized all the yard tools on one side of the garage. Luckily the walls came covered in peg board. If my car wasn't in the way the other side of this wall has hoses and then all the extension cords. Easy Peasy to find things now.....as long as we keep it this way. :)
This little room off the garage still looks messy but it is much better. Colin hung a shelf for his stereo and made a brace for all the extra wood in the corner. There is a snazzy new vice as well. The trash can was full from cleaning out junk from the previous owners so next week this should look better. These walls all have peg board as well. :)
Here is the fabric I bought to make a kitchen curtain to coordinate with my kitchen chairs.
And finally I filled out invitations for an open house jewelry show for family/friends that have wanted to see the house.

I have a long list to finish today and I am on a roll so I better get back to work. Have a great week!

New Vintage Button Bracelets

Just wanted to send a update that I added 9 new button bracelets to HandmadeObsessions this evening. I had a few more but decided I might need some new bling for myself to show off.

Here are the two I kept.....

There are several Black, Brown, and various colors added. :) Enjoy! I was also contacted by Faberuna.com to be featured. :) Hopefully I continue to stay busy and grow this little business.

Red Studio

I added a few more frames to my storage/display/artwork to complete the mix. But I just moved the small oval down from where it is in this photo.
The entrance to the room. Wouldn't nice white wood make it look better? This color looks great in my inspiration photo with white woodwork.
Still need a coordinating bedspread for this bed. I have no clue what I am even looking for though.

So maybe I went a little overboard on the red....I love the room when I am working in it but it is still a shock when you walk up the stairs. Either way it is MUCH better than the boarder and pale green, it is more me.

These are the finished walls. I still have one wall left. :( Right now I am planning on having Colin frame the HUGE mirror so it looks level instead of taking it off the wall. And I really want some white crown molding around the ceiling. That and painting the woodwork white, it may be awhile though. Who knows knowing me. I may get tired of it tomorrow and start painting....

Hope you have a great weekend!

Words need Prayer

The poor little guy trying to hide behind a chandelier. This little guy has been throwing up constantly for the last 2 hours. Not good, not good at all. I unfortunately am seeing all the bad signs in the "nice" spots I keep cleaning up. I was so happy he hasn't gotten really sick since we have moved....3 months of starting to feel more confident he is getting healthy again squashed.

I have a small stock of backup medicine for him as his condition reacts and gets bad fast, the poor guy threw that up as well. :( All I want to do is cry right now because I hate when Gunther feels terrible and I am helpless.

I feel guilty as currently a friend from high school is losing his little girl due to an inoperable brain tumor and I am whining about our dog. Diseases suck all the way around. It makes me sad that life works in these mysterious ways. With Delaney I know all we can do is to pray her suffering isn't terrible. Pray for guidance because we don't have the answers and need help along the way. Pray because everyone you know can use a prayer for small or large reasons.

I am stepping off my soap box now to try and concentrate on life moving around me. Sorry for the downer of a post.

Unfinished Projects....

Today so far is productive. :) I have got the boarder removed and all but one wall in my craft room cleaned. I definitely need at least one more gallon of paint, the walls are sucking the red up.

I FINALLY started finishing the reupholstering of my second captains chair as well. Its about time is all I have to say. My goal is to have both the wall painted and the chairs done on top of my list of jewelry for a show in 2 weeks. It's a good thing Colin is leaving Wednesday so I can work at night too, I always feel bad if I work when he is home.

I also have a huge armchair hanging out that I need to reupholster for my mom. I figured she needs something to replace the chairs she gave us for our kitchen. This should be a busy week.

Color!

This is a sample photo of the boarder around my craft room. See that nice mirror? Its about 6ft long and not hung level. Everytime I hang something level I notice it more and its driving me NUTS! The boarder around the ceiling that is also hung level wasn't helping.
So I armed myself with my spray bottle and plastic scraper and got to work on one of the problems. Of course I had to paint after that as they painted around the border.

So far I only have the closet and one small wall painted as this room has more stuff in it than the rest of the house combined. It took three coats :( but I am loving having some color in my work space. See how nicely organized the closet is now!
It looks more pink in this photo than it really is. I'm really glad I didn't chicken out because I really like it so far. Now I just need to get some strong friends help me take the huge mirror off the wall....Colin want's no part in my mess. Hopefully I can get one more wall done by the end of this weekend. :)

Spray Paint is my Best Friend

I needed some wall storage to hang my finished jewelry stock. This idea has been floating around in my head awhile now but I haven't had time to make it come to life. A trip to the thrift store, one roll of cork, and a can of spray paint later.

I still want to add more frames but the ones I would like are not cheap until Saturday so I will wait. Hopefully they are still at the thrift store, I figured they are not likely to walk away before Saturday. Please note that the AWFUL border around the top of the wall is leaving my "studio" very soon. It is being replaced with a cheery color. :) And the mess on the bed is all being marked down for a jewelry show August 21st. So like normal my working space looks like a disaster, that should mean I am getting lots of work done, right?

Hope you are having a great week! Ours has been great, yesterday we had a monsoon come through. The parched yard loved it but one of our maple trees lost 2 big branches. Thankfully they fell inside the yard and didn't fall on the fence. :) Other than that we have been pretty relaxed and glad the heat is subsiding so our house stays cool.

Another Chance to Win a Silhouette, from Kimba!

Remember how I posted the other day about that sweet little cutting machine? Well Kimba at a Soft Place to Land is also giving one away! Yeah! More chances to win one!

Here is the skinny for her:

Check out Kimba's blog, she has FIVE ways you can enter to win the awesome Silhouette Machine. If you have no clue what I am talking about read my last post.

Oh and I thought of a new project using this snazzy machine. Labeling all of Colin's toolboxes with nice big vinyl letters so we can find things.....he asked me if I could label them anyways. :)

Go check out this Giveaway!

I really should be cracking down and working my fingers to the bone but first I have to share this. The few readers that I have I think might all enjoy this Silhouette machine and the awesome giveaway they are letting Infarrantly Creative share with her readers.

I borrowed her picture to show you what it looks like. Go enter yourself in her giveaway for this pretty neat little machine. I personally really want one for the vinyl cutting/letters for glass etching. I am dreaming how organized my house would be.....

Update

Just thought I would share a quick update....

-Produce is coming out our ears from the garden, my poor Aunt and Uncle are surrounded by more produce than they have ever gotten out of the garden (a min of 5 zucchini a day). I shredded 5 this morning and froze in 2 cup bags to save for delicious bread this winter. Yummy! The rest of the week I need to figure out how to cook squash and zucchini so Colin will eat it.

-The 1/4 steer in our freezer is delicious! I am so glad we decided to buy that much meat all at once, and it has made my grocery budget go down. :)

-The paper copies of all my Colorado business licenses finally arrived in the mail. I am 100% legit! Now I just have to clarify my software for taxes, that is the first thing tomorrow.

-I made a list of jewelry to make for a new show at end of the month. I need to get cracking....:) I work better when I am swamped anyways.

-I called the call steward with the theater union Friday so hopefully I start getting some hours with productions in town.

Oh and my camera finally arrived fixed so I can get back to posting new jewelry. A broken camera and website don't work well. I think I will ask for another camera for Christmas so I don't have this issue. Poor Colin had to go to work because he is behind so I am trying to be even more productive today. Have a great Monday!