Fighting the grey, inspired by color!

The weather is w.e.i.r.d. today.  I don't watch the forecast, but prefer to let the weather just happen, well, naturally, so I'm not really sure where this is headed, but it is definitely a little odd.  The winds last night were wicked, and warm!  Now today it is blustery and warmish and wet.

And grey.  

Pennsylvania seems to do grey best.  It is my big day off from the shop, and a little sun would have been a lovely gift, but alas.  It's harder to motivate when the picture outside my window says, "Stay in, drink some tea, move slowly..."

I may adjust my plans to drive to Ikea for new shelving.  Travelling with Finn for an hour is daunting enough on a pretty day.  I just took a peak at the front page of etsy (perfect rainy day obsession), and it is the absolute remedy to all of this grey!!  

What do you look to for inspiration on rainy days?  What gets you moving?  Finn and I need a little push!

if at first you don't succeed...

Ok, so let's try this again.  First of all, let me just say that keeping up with this promise to blog more is always more difficult than it sounds.  

Second, thank you to those who read and commented on my last post--I am super surprised and excited to find that someone out there is listening!

Third, it is very late (early?) and I have shamelessly spent my evening catching up on all of my Google Reader subscriptions, and it has been tremendously satisfying.  My "to-do" list is simply GIGANTIC, and anyone who spent any time with me in or out of the shop in the past week or so would tell you that I have been a complete basket case about it.  So, it makes NO SENSE whatsoever that I just frittered away my Friday night accomplishing absolutely nothing practical whatsoever.

But it was bliss!

Tomorrow, I will be back in action and facing my work/home demands with a LIST in hand, and a lighter spirit.  For tonight, I will leave you with some cuteness I found along the way...:

The cute items above are all courtesy of Rock Scissor Paper, who I have added to my ever-growing wish list for Hello Bluebird!

A new year, a fresh start!

I was going to title this post "New Year, New Me," but, beyond being cliche (hard to avoid--New Years might be THE most cliche holiday of them all!), I'm not really sure I can live up to that statement.  No matter how many times I have reinvented my circumstances, the same old ghosts keep following me--disorganization, overzealous, too many big ideas, short on time and focus, still avoiding the gym--you know, those pesky resolutions that we all tend to make year after year and then abandon in the chaos of our real selves a month (or sooner) later.

Well, not to be even more cliche, but this year is going to be different!  Does that mean that January hasn't brought a renewed spirit of getting our home and creative lives back in order?  Of course not.  I have spent the past week or so making and printing lists, tackling the loose ends of 2009, forging a plan for how to face 2010.  My husband and I are laughing at ourselves for being so, well, typical, but we can't deny that, if nothing else, having a week of vacation as a family really gave us a rare chance to breathe and put some things back in perspective.  We even had a family meeting.

I read a great post at one of my new favorite blogs, Simple Mom, that recommended establishing "goals" instead of "resolutions."  Semantics aside, I appreciated what she was trying to express.  Goals are concrete objectives that we can put down on paper, formulate a short- and long-term plan, and measure and tweak as we go.

So I welcome 2010 and celebrate the chance to regroup and reinvent, but with a realistically cautious outlook.  I want to take the time to reexamine our family's values and hopes, and form a plan that will, in the end, work toward building a life that suits us, warts and all.

Over the next few weeks, it is my plan to blog more regularly about our vision for our creative family and lifestyle, and about the baby steps we are taking toward making those ideas take shape.  I would love to hear about what your family mission is.  What goals, big or small, do you have for 2010?  Let's make it a year worth talking about!

Well, my goodness...

...just LOOK at the trouble starting this journal has caused!  I have gotten so caught up with this crazy creative life that I haven't even had time to do any posts!  I'm in it with both feet, now!

Speaking of which, I am so so happy and proud to announce the Grand Opening of our brick and mortar boutique and gallery, Hello Bluebird!  We have spent the entire summer working on our space (you can see photos of our journey here)and gathering artists and a million other little things--it has been an incredible journey, and I have never been so scared, exhausted, exhilerated, proud and humbled all at the same time.  It is a strangely satisfying blend of extreme emotions, not unlike giving birth to my two beautiful children, which I think may be a clue that we are finally on the right track here!

We had our "soft opening" a week ago, so I have been at the shop everyday since, with Finigan as my best helper (did I mention no more daycare, either? no more dayjob...we're in this for REAL now!).  Is it easy to have him in the shop all day? Heck, no!  But he is a very good boy, and, in the end, I am truly enjoying getting to see so much more of him than when he was in daycare.  This just seems so much more "real"(again, notice how I didn't say easy...!).

The customer response has been so wonderful.  Since we aren't "officially" open until Thursday, we didn't do any advertising or even hang a sign until a few days ago, but the people who have wandered in from their lunch dates or the Sunday morning farmers' market  have been SO complimentary, and the best and most amazing thing is that they have actually bought a fair amount of stuff!  We are off to a GREAT start.  I am so blessed.

The best customer comment I could have asked for came on Sunday, a day that we weren't even going to be open: (this girl lives in Philadelphia, a great indie city!): Oh my gosh, I love this store so much.  I wish we had a shop like this in Philly!

:)

Trunk Show in the Trees, part 1

With so many crafty adventures in my life all at once, I am falling way behind on updates!  However, I do need to use this post to travel back to last weekend: We hosted (and survived! and enjoyed!!) our very first Crafty By Nature market on Sunday, June 7th!  You can see I am posting a few pics here for fun, but you can view the whole gallery of shots taken by my sweet girl, Eden, here. 

June 2009 Crafty By Nature/ Blossom Boutique

It was the most gorgeous, perfect day, spent sitting in a wooded antique market surrounded by wonderfully talented vendors and kindred spirits.  Who could ask for more?  Well, ok, maybe more sales would have been nice...But, all in all, I think the traffic was decent for the first time out, and we are already working on ideas for how to make the second event even better!  I was a bit of a nervous nellie most of the day, obsessively abandoning my booth mates to check on the other vendors.  I wanted to be sure they weren't feeling too discouraged or secretly packing up to sneak away (or worse!), but I think most of the artists understood that this was the first of many attempts, and that the market will grow over time.  Honestly, I feared that the most difficult hurdle would be gathering talented makers and good products, but we were blessed with 15 booths full of great things for all ages and tastes!  I am looking forward to a season of sweet memories and many new friends.

And maybe a few good sales, too--just for good measure. ;)