We’re all glad its over. For various reasons…

For those of you who have asked for tips and tricks and advice regarding starting an Etsy shop— you might want to follow us on Pinterest. Not only are there pretty pictures to look at, but I’ve got quite the collection of resources for you to dive into!  I’ll be sharing them more in depth on the blog in the future, but if you want to jump in now–go for it! 

Click the picture to check it out! 

Rather than post adorable pictures of my little petting zoo today, I’m going to send you over to Tatiana’s blog instead. Her handsome lug of a cat (Dylan) just left this world unexpectedly. Her heart is broken so please hug your kitty, send a good thought, or leave her a comment of encouragement. 

(Photo borrowed from Tatiana)

This is one of my favorite things we’ve ever sold. Someone custom ordered it and it was right up Joe’s alley because he loves to combine wood AND metal in the same project. I want a variation of this for myself someday. 

I love that a dragonfly landed on one of the branches during my little photo shoot.  

 I don’t think I did a single thing to help create this one, so I don’t have much to tell on that end, but I do have a little behind the scenes story from the day I took it out to photograph it. 

Caption from instagram: 

“So I just jumped into a drainage ditch and broke my shoe. It’s 104 degrees outside (literally) and I’m not sure how I’m gonna climb back out. BUT I got the PERFECT picture for a new Etsy listing! hahaha”

And my comment later:

“I made it out alive! I had to go up barefoot and the concrete was blazing hot, but I lived! It was practically a scene from an action movie…”

 See folks, running an online business isn’t all about sitting on your butt getting paid to surf the internet…there’s adventure out there too!

This is one of my favorite collection of words ever. I found it on a little corner of the internet called Dear Baby. Whenever things are painful or dark for me, and I feel lost and without purpose or reason, and I just. can’t. shake it. off.  I re-read these words. I haven’t needed them in a while, but I’ve felt the urge to pass them on a couple of times lately, so I figured I’d share them here. Maybe they’ll help someone as they’ve continually helped me. 

“The Ceaseless Enlightenment of a Once Gray Girl

take one small thing that you love.
anything.
the color of your room.
eggs for breakfast.
his shirts in your laundry.
or the dalai lama billboard on the way to work.

take that one thing.
and squeeze it like a sponge.
every ounce of that sweet hum inside you.
let it change everything.
find it’s way into thoughts of people who’ve hurt you
wash over all those times you failed
and your bruised knee.

and on it’s own,
it will began to grow.
like a speck of sand in an oyster
that one little joy will turn into two and three and four hundred reasons to open your eyes every morning.

that’s really how it goes.
it’s just being willing to let the light in.
however slight or dim.
just allow it to be in you.
sometimes it’s your only defense against
everything in this world that’s ready to take you down.

In life, sometimes the only things you’ve got 
are yellow walls and roadside messages for peace.
Let them in.”

-Written by Melissa of Dear Baby

Received a lovely email from a customer recently! 
(Photo credit- Dona Harlev)

“I just wanted to say THANK YOU for the amazing “LEA” you made for our daughter’s Bat Mitzvah this past weekend – it came out SO great and looked wonderful at her party! Here’s a picture – it was a winter theme with purple accents and the letters looked fabulous!!!”

Seeing something we made “in action” is super rewarding! I love hearing the stories behind the things we’re asked to create.

Kai: I’m waiting patiently to play with the kitty!

Khloe: I’m waiting impatiently for this dog to go away… 

I officially registered!

Joe and I are thrilled to announce that we’ll be participating in Sit. Stay Art! again this year.  You can read last year’s recap here: Sit. Stay. Art! 2012

“Sit Stay Art is an art exhibition/sale and reception. Local artists have been called to create works using shelter pets as their inspiration, and the works submitted will be on display and for sale at the event. Adoptable shelter pets will be present to meet attendees in person, and attendees are invited to bring their own pets as well.” -www.sitstayart.org

The proceeds from the sale of our art pieces will go to Pets and People Humane Society.

“Pets & People Humane Society is a 501(c)3 non-profit, no-kill humane society that rescues adoptable cats and dogs from municipal animal control facilities across the state of Oklahoma on the day they are to be euthanized.” -www.petsandpeople.com

Joe has chosen Krypto the dog as his muse for this year’s art piece. To find out how you can adopt Krypto, CLICK HERE. 

I picked Spirit the cat as my muse. To read more about how you can adopt her, CLICK HERE. 

My mom has adopted a rescued dog or two from Pets and People, so the event was really special to me already—but this year it holds even MORE meaning, because our new dog Kai was rescued from euthanasia by Pets and People too!  We’re really hoping to be able to take her to the event, and I’ve already been shopping around for a pretty bow for her.

Let the creating…BEGIN!!

At least we aren’t boring.

We’ve been attacking lots of fun little home projects so I’ll have to give an updated house tour soon! 

Happy Weekend!

P.S. What’s your decorating style? Yes, even those of your don’t officially decorate have one–you just have to come up with a funny name for it. Go!