Puttin' that degree to work!

Have you heard?  

I'm going to be a regular over at

 John Pyle 

 Photography's BLOG! 

I am finally getting to put some of my college knowledge, as well as a few of my quirky opinions, to use.  

Can you believe he trusts me to write on his blog? 

 One brave man...one. brave. man. I say.

Go check it out and tell me what you think.

Peek in my kitchen window

I'm slightly fascinated with other people's houses!  Wouldn't it be fun to go from house to house, peeping in and taking a look at the way other people live? Okay, maybe I am sounding creepy now...

Here is my kitchen.  You can look...I won't call you creepy.

Bumbo seat, in the seat and don't you love my puke green towel that I didn't see until now

Milk glass and white ceramic...divine!

My seafoam Martha Stewart canisters and beaded board backsplash...Martha may be high maintenance but I sure do love her stuff

I'm convinced that hardwood flooring is the best thing that could ever happen to a home

Every kitchen must have an oversized fork and spoon, otherwise it just isn't a kitchen

More milk glass...eep!

The Caleb special.  I was looking for my eraser last night to do my homework and I couldn't find it anywhere...opened up the dishwasher this morning and lo and behold....that little stinky head

Little Guy

On the days that Caleb doesn't have school, we usually spend the day at home together, watching "tunes", coloring and napping.

  I love this time with him.  

He is in a good two year old stage right now....I say that so cautiously!  

We are constantly going through new phases and stages with Caleb, some good and some bad.  The hitting stage about did me in but this year his teacher's said he is such a sweetie and he hasn't had one issue with hitting.  I am praying that it stays this way!  

He so cuddly and lovey. 

 He still likes to wrestle and be rough but thankfully he has learned how and when to do that! 

I am trying to enjoy every moment with my little guy now because I know one day, too soon, I will staring at him from the back, his book bag on his back and his lunchbox in his hand and he will be heading into kindergarten...all day every day :(

  Then one day I will stare at him as he walks into his college dorm room and then one day day he'll walk down the aisle....booo hoooo, now I'm crying!

Okay, okay, I will stop being so sentimental...

For now, he is my little man and I love the all day play times we get to have.  I will enjoy every hide and seek game, every kiss and hug and every boo boo that only I can fix...seriously, daddy's kisses apparently aren't good enough when it comes to boo boo's!

Etsy Tips!

I have recently been asked if I have any tips for people who are interested in starting their own Etsy shop so I decided to go ahead and do a post on it!

Here are my top tips on starting and running your Etsy shop.  I am not an expert but I have learned a few things through the years that would have been very helpful had I known from the git-go!

Soooo, here goes:

NUMBER 1

The most important one, in my opinion, is to make sure that whatever you decide to make stands out from the crowd.  It has to be different from everyone else's, otherwise there is risk of your products just blending in with the crowd!  For example, if you type in "onesie" there are literally thousands of onesies that are super similar.  Not that there is anything wrong with onesies, it's just that they tend to be a little easier to make so a lot of people make them.  Hopefully I am making sense.  I have tried tons of different "things".  Everything from onesies to baby hats, pants, ladies wraps, tanks, etc.  But my best sellers have always been my ceramic mugs and cups...simply because it's a unique product and not the easiest process to make them so they stand out.

NUMBER 2

My second tip would be to list at least one thing every day.  This makes a huge difference!  It bumps your item up on the search bar and gives you a few seconds of front page exposure.    I have found that it is better to list at least one item every day than it is to list 25 items all on the same day.

NUMBER 3

Start a blog!  I can't even tell you how much my blog has re-directed people to my shop.  I've had my blog for 3 1/2 years now and it has right around 300 followers.  It's been a slow and steady growing process for me.  Some blogs seem to grow from 100 followers to 1000 followers overnight and some blogs, like mine, are slow and steady truckers...lol!  I try not to bombard my blog with my etsy stuff, but I do try to throw a new product in there every 1-2 weeks.  In the meantime, I try to do posts that are interesting but you can't always grab everyone's attention all the time so I have learned to just blog what I enjoy blogging about and let the chips fall where they may.

NUMBER 4

My shop really started picking up business when I started advertising on other blogs.  I didn't do this starting off, so this may be something you will want to wait to do but there are tons of blogs out there who have a good amount of followers (usually I look for blogs with at least 800+ followers) who have great prices on advertising...anywhere from $10-$20 a month.  You get to put your shop button on their blog and it gets you tons of new visitors to your shop!  The key is to make sure you have a good shop button that will grab peoples attention.  If you visit candacetodd.blogspot.com you will be able to see some good examples of really cute advertising buttons and Candace has great prices on her monthly ad's!

Hopefully I haven't overwhelmed you... I know this may be a lot to take in.  I have been doing my Etsy shops since 2008 and I am still learning new things every day!  

Running the shop takes just as much time and creativity as creating your products!  It is fun though and can be very rewarding.

Every now and then, I put my shop on "Vacation Mode" because I just need a breather...this has been very beneficial to me because it gives me some time to re-boot and get my creative juices flowing again.

If you have noticed, my Etsy shop (retrogalusa.etsy.com) has been on vacation mode for a couple of months.  This is the longest break I have ever taken!  I originally closed it because we were moving but I decided to keep it closed a little bit longer because I just started school and I need time to adjust to a new town and a new schedule!  I am hoping to be back after the fall.

These are my top tips! Feel free to comment and share any other tips you may have for us!

Art Class

It's officially here...my first day of school! 

It wasn't too bad actually.

Probably because my first class in a drawing class and I enjoy those kinds of classes anyways.  

I finished my first assignment while Caleb was at Mother's Morning Out and I have 3 more to finish before Monday! I'm hoping to finish at least two tomorrow so I don't have to worry about them this weekend.

Speaking of the weekend, I can NOT wait for Friday to be here! 

We are going to take Caleb to the pool Saturday.  It's a splash park actually and I am really hoping he likes it.  I figure it may be our last pool time of the summer...bummer.  But I must say, I am already anxious for fall.  My mommy brain is going a million miles a minute trying to think of Halloween costumes and fun pumpkin ideas.

Not every thing is completely honky dory around here though.  We have some shady neighbors next door. 

Of course out of the entire hood' we have the strange people right beside us.  

There is one older lady who owns the house...she's probably 60? Then there are three 30-50 year old men who are ALWAYS there! When I say always, I mean always!  They sit out on their porch smoking a cigarette and drinking beer...in the middle of the day.  

Obviously none of them work.  

We are collaborating with the "fun" neighbors across the street to try and figure out what's going on in that house...and we may not want to know!  Last week, they caught their miniature, home-made smoker contraption on fire...they pulled the meat out (which was covered in flames) and started yelling, "Water! Water!"

I was hoping someone would call the fire department so they could come out and "investigate"...but no such luck.

I guess it could be worse, right?  

In all reality, it's pretty entertaining...3 grown men and an old lady.

Back to the weekend.  I am excited because I'm making sweet orange rolls Saturday morning for breakfast and I get to spend some time with this love boat...my one, true, nerdy hunk!

Toodling Around

Being Silly

Hello World! It's me...Caleb!

Taking morning walks, enjoying our front porch

Sneaking in some sewing time while the little one sleeps

What have you been doing this week?

Have you had a good cry because your baby started school?

Did you get to enjoy some alone time?

Are you reading a book you can't bare to set down?

Have you had a snow cone?

We have...maybe more than one :)

Today I am in old shorts and a tank top with no make up.  I kinda like it that way today.  Nothing to do, no where to be.  Just me and my buddy spending time with each other.

Not every day is like this so I will soak it all in.

Hello, it's me

I'm still here...just in a blogging jam.  

We have been staying busy but I just haven't thought of much to blog about lately and my lack of motivation to "get crafty" is gone at the moment! 

I am sure I will find it somewhere, but until then I am letting my hair down for a bit....until Thursday when I start my first class for GRAPHIC DESIGN school! 

Yippeee!  Between now and then I am jamming all of the relaxation as possible in because once Thursday morning hits, school time is ON :-)

DIY Coral Wall Art

Art is so much cheaper (and more fun!) when you do it yourself...and you don't have to be an "artist" to create your own!  I decided to paint a coral painting for my bedroom.  Here's how you can do it too...

I started by purchasing a blank canvas (mine is 24"x30") and a little bottle of acrylic paint in the color I needed.  Then I looked up pictures of coral online until I found one that tickled my fancy.  If you don't want to do coral, the sky is the limit! You can do just about anything you want!

This took me a good two hours.  I waited until Caleb went down for a nap and then I pulled out the paint, turned on some music and made a little latte...I had fun :)

Firsts

Caleb had his first haircut this past weekend.  My mom gave it to him and it turned out so cute!

I ordered my first pair of zenni optical glasses....only $40 total! They have some even cheaper than that too!  Seth and I both agree that we like them now but it's probably going to be one of those things I  look back on and say, "What was I thinking???"  Kind of like those huge purple and clear and rose colored plastic framed glasses our mom's wore back in the 80's and 90's...

Today was also Caleb's first day at pre-school in our new town.  He didn't even bat an eye when I dropped him off...and he was still smiling and jabbering about everything he did when I came to get him.  I'd say it was a super successful first day of school!

VERY proud of his "fershy" coloring page.

Slouch Shirt

For once, I actually used a pattern and decided to sew myself a "slouch" shirt.  I tweaked the pattern a little bit and I am pretty happy with my final product.  I am looking forward to wearing this in the fall. I love it because you can wear the sleeves up or down and you can wear the tie high, low or in the middle...lots of options! The best part is that the entire project (including cutting out the pattern) only took about 1 and a half hours to do...I'm planning on making a few more!