You are my...

I love that Etsy has added a Vacation Mode. I'm tempted to go on "Vacation" just to try it out. A lot of shops are temporarily closed right now- and that's wise if you had a busy Christmas. I had a good holiday season this year but will be taking an actual vacation mid-winter. I'll save the learning experience of Vacation Mode for that.

My hope is that today I'll be able to come out with two new cards. I printed them last night & have them prepped and ready to go this morning. I'm even up, drinking my coffee and furiously typing away at 6 a.m. because I'm so giddy about having new items for the shop! Next week I'll introduce new designs, too. Definitely *not* in vacation mode over here.

Other than the drawing, scanning, cropping, printing, cutting, scoring, packaging, mailing that goes into the card making aspect of ouou, I've been changing around my freebies once again. The winter, spring, summer, bunny tags I made last year are perfect little give-aways... and after some awkward packaging phases I think I've found the one I'm sticking with. Now all I need is a new set of Moo cards and I'll be golden.

Happy Etsy*versary

my workspace last year

Step 5~ Don't Despair!

Hi all. Today is my 1 year anniversary on Etsy... or (since I'm not on Etsy right now) as an Etsy artist. I only just happened to recognize this while fiddling with my account this morning before leaving for work. Sure, I started thinking "...wow..." about how far {we've} come since last year, but it also made me feel sentimental and reassured about the decision to reopen.

Although the shop is not quite up yet, things are coming into focus in that arena. I bought envelopes and supplies and had a few days to try out some new designs. This year I don't yet have a desk, or a printer, so many things seem precariously balanced, but the same sort of leap was needed last time around. Celeste and I are talking about visiting the Holiday craft fairs in town ~ Portland is a hub of crafting ingenuity. If any of my readers are in the area at the end of the month, my coworkers and friends are participating in the Sunday Best Holiday Sale--- go check out their wonderful blog and be sure to stop by the sale itself!

Otherwise the company of my big sis, snoozing twin nephews, and Return of the Jedi are cheering me up this evening and helping me to shake off the remaining jitters. I hope everyone out there is looking ahead to a bountiful Holiday season, a super crafty weekend, or maybe just some sunny days. And, may the force be with us, everyone! :)

"An Illustrated Life"

More exciting news this week: OUOU has it's first ad space! Due to the incredible generosity of the mind behind pikaland.com, we got a cozy spot among some really incredible artists out there! I'm still buzzing from this!


Pikaland: An Illustrated Life (this is based on a Japanese word, how perfect!) has been launched by the lovely crafter behind re:makeables. Inspired by such sites as Illustration Friday, Pikaland gathers together illustrated arts from all over the web and offers concise introductions to their work.

I find the choices already showcased to be really remarkable. Pikaland highlights the joy of living an illustrated life, the fun of drawing, painting, takes the focus away from sales to simply the pleasure of discovering new artists! I'm really honored to be a part of it, and excited to see what is to come!

The ad was a new thing for me in several ways. I went to college for illustration but am not in any way a graphic designer. When I first was being shown how to knit, for example, it was so frustrating not to hold my right-hand needle like a pencil. Ooh! So frustrating! This is how I feel given a font I need to apply, rather than draw. All thumbs. Seriously.

Above you see one of the several ad spots I tried in the beginning. I ended up going around to the websites I love who have ads along their sides, and from their example... simplifying. There she is on the right---> the finished one. I'm really tickled by this, and plan on practicing a few more to get more comfortable with placing fonts.

So, those are my introductions for today. Because of the Poppytalk Handmade table there are a bunch of new designs in the shop this week! Even a Valentine that to me is just so PA inspired- lots of people in these parts have these lamp posts on their walkways in their yards. That was really fun to draw. Signing off for today, impatiently awaiting tomorrow's Lost, I hope it is warm where you are! :)