I worked on Holiday Craftacular plans for a little while today too and I am happy to announce that I am officially accepting applications. I should have info online soon but feel free to email me at naomi@glitterworkshop.com if you would like me to send you an application. It’s pretty neat that I only sent out the first round of emails about an hour ago and I already have a small stack of applications. It really is a sign to myself that my years of hard work are starting to show.

The girls just asked me what was for dinner tonight. Oops. Knew I forgot something…. I shall leave you for now with a couple of pictures I somehow forgot to post from the corn festival.

Happy September everyone!

This one’s a little blurry… the merry go round was merrily going round..

Luna was just being a goof all day. Now I see why they include those little diaper covers with baby dresses! They leave marks around her chubbily little thighs though!

On to dinner…

Today is Zoe’s first day of middle school. The sixth graders go back a day early so they get the whole school to themselves to get the hang of things a little before the rest of the kiddos invade the place. I really wish her an easy go of things. I remember middle school all too clearly and those most certainly were not the best years of my life. UGH. BLECH. UGH UGH UGH. BLECH BLECH BLECH.

On one hand I was hoping that we would have moved by now so they wouldn’t be going to their current school, but since we haven’t, it is pretty convenient that their school is across the street. They both can walk this year! No more waking the babies up from naps in the middle of winter to run and pick the sisters up from school. I just wish their school was a little more… I don’t know. Small? Personal? I don’t know. There is just something about their school that rubs me the wrong way. There are so many kids there that the kids that are pretty well behaved and decent enough students just get pushed along and never challenged and don’t really have much attention paid to them. I really don’t put too much blame on the teachers individually (although there are some teachers there that I do feel have made a poor career choice….) but I guess maybe like so many other things perhaps we need to be the ones to make the changes we hope to see. It is just so hard when it is your children’s educations we are talking about.

Well, hopefully this year will be a great one. I am going to go into it with an open mind and an open heart and I hope the girls will do the same. The babies are at grandma and grandpas today so I can work, Darby is finding a movie to watch for a little while (got up early to walk her little sis to school even though it is her last vacation day!) and Zoe is done at 1:30 so then it will be a little big kid time then MORE work, which will basically be my story until the Creative Connection is over with. I do have a potentially exciting appointment to go to this morning too… hmmm….. more details to come??? Hard to say… (oh, and NO it does NOT involve an OB this time around thank-you-very-much.)

xx’s oo’s and happy thoughts of back to school, crisp apples, pumpkin lattes, and cool breezes.

I have also been making apples and pumpkins and am hoping for a whole table of delicious stuffed goodies before the show.

It has been hard to get my work time in this past week because of back to school prep. I will have two heading to middle school next week! Yikes! Everyone has shoes and supplies (I think… gotta double check everything…) but we still need one backpack. Well, some sort of bag. Darby for some reason is very anti-backpack but all the messenger bags seem to tear. hmmmm…..

I have also been working on a secret plot to take over the world. Fine, perhaps not take over the world, but I am plotting. Or dreaming… I guess there is a fine line. I may have more details soon but you will just have to check back to see.

Off to glue more headbands. I have some fun fall designs I am working on including these.

How I love fall! Soon we will have Luna’s birthday to plan, then Darby’s. For now though I think I better go check and see what type of plot Ms. Zoe is up to. She keeps sneaking quietly into my studio and quickly hurrying past me into her studio. Very suspicious indeed! Let us see what she is up to…. hmmm, I guess I lack the secret password to get in. Any suggestions?

My sister in law took the wee ones in for some pictures for Henri’s second birthday so we have some adorable pics to remember the big occasion.

I didn’t have time to indiviually scan them all right now but here is a little collage.

All the children grow up much too fast but it seems with each one it just gets faster and faster. I suppose it’s because so much more is going on. I just really can’t believe that Luna’s first birthday is going to be here in just a couple of months. Her personality is really starting to show and she is becoming such a sweet girl. Well, she still is a daughter of mine which means she is a moody and a bit a of a diva, but sweet nonetheless.

Time for sweet corn fest! Ah, how I love living in Wisconsin. We actually had to DEBATE which cheesy festival to go to today. Love it….

There are two blogs that I love reading close to every day. The first is my dear friend Michelle’s over at Dainty Daisies and the second is Elsie’s over at A Beautiful Mess. Well, about a week ago Elsie came up with the idea of each person coming up with 4 simple personal goals that “will make your life more beautiful each day” that you can accomplish before 2011 and I thought it would be fun to play along. Michelle is also joining in so make sure to go over and see her goals!

Ok… here we go!

#1. Create one new product or product line for my business. I find myself being caught in the rut of making what I know will sell or just playing catch up on orders. While I do need, of course, to make what will sell, it is very important to create something new. This goes to the core of who I am as an artist and also gives local customers new merchandise.

#2. Create one original painting. This can be any size, on any medium. I love to paint and used to have grand dreams of painting in my studio in Greenwich Village. When I graduated high school and briefly attended the Milwaukee Institute of Art this was going to be my focus. Well, these dreams gave way to painting nursery walls in Madison, but I still love the feel of a brush in my hand and I think it will open my creativity up.

#3. Walk a wee bit each day. I know, this sounds silly. We walk every day! Well, working at home and occasionally having days with lots of work hours and few Mommy hours, I can spend countless hours plopped in the basement listening to Pandora or watching Netflix while making bracelets or crocheting. I am grateful that this is my income, but days go by when I forget to just walk to the end of the street and watch the seasons change or listen to the birds. I am not going to say ‘walk a mile’ or even around the block… perhaps just to the park and back (the end of my street).

#4. Take a few minutes every day to just say thank you. There are certainly moments and days when I don’t feel like I have much to be thankful for. My kids are fighting / crying, my bank account is again in the red, the house the filthy, I haven’t said four words to my husbands except ‘pick up milk please’ in two days…. but you know what? That is all just crazy. Sure, there are always going to be weak moments when you just want to throw up your hands and say ‘I quit!’ but then there are the moments when all the kids are asleep peaceful, or playing wonderfully together, or they thank you for making dinner or your husband smiles at you across the chaos of the dinner table and it makes you want to cry because it is the same beautiful smile you fell in love with so many years and so many diapers ago. Whoever it is that I pray to quietly in my worst moments, I will also remember to thank.

I do have a fifth goal but for now I will keep this one to myself. It is a bit of a pipedream and I do not think would fit into the simple goal category but is still one that I love to think about….

Thank you Elsie for having a beautiful, inspiring, blog!

The Craftacular consumed me entirely for the past few weeks so I guess I have that excuse! I do have to take a minute to pat myself on the back. A lot of times we (me particular) downplay all that we do. We tell our friends, spouses, family, ‘Oh, it was no big deal, I just planned a huge dinner party, or gave birth, or cleaned my whole house.. etc. etc.’ and make it sound like it was all effortless. Well you know what? The Craftacular was a HELL of a lot of work and I am proud of myself. I can absolutely say that I feel at the end of the day that I did the best I could and that is definately saying something. Of course I did have an immense amount of help from Jerome, vendors, volunteers..

I didn’t really get any great pictures either because in true Naomi fashion I was running around like a mad woman, and we had Darby and Zoe there, but the lovely Rosalie Gale from Unanimous Craft wrote a superb review of the show HERE.

Again, thank you to everyone for your support!

Moving on with my life… I think today shall be full of sweetness.

a piece of pie.. or perhaps a wee cocoa?

Yes, I am busy updating my Etsy and Lollishop and getting ready for the Creative Connection Event. My mom and I leave in less than a month and for such a huge event and I am no where near prepared. I need to book a hotel soon also and with NOOOOO money… *sigh sigh sigh*… did I mention I just updated my online shops? hint hint hint.

But, today is a Wednesday, and Wednesday’s are fabulous, just because so I shall make the most of it. There are a few errands which must be run, an Etsy order to ship, a wholesale order to hopefully finish and sheets to wash, (thought it was a good idea to try to ‘cuddle’ with Luna when she woke up at 4… first time in months her diaper leaked. ugh.) the holiday show to start planning… nah. That can wait a few more days.

Here’s to wishing you a fabulous Wednesday as well!

It has been the good kind of busy though where at the end of the day you can honestly look back at what you accomplished and be proud.

Henri’s party was great. The weather cooperated, the birthday boy was in a pretty good mood and I had even gotten most of the food prepared the day before so we weren’t going too crazy that morning.

Henri is definately at the ‘I do NOT want my picture taken age, but I did my best. Here are a few from the party day.

First is ‘Mom, I will not look at the camera’

Next is the prince being pulled in his wagon by some lovely ladies.

Here is a shot of our ‘cooler’ which is obviously a green turtle sandbox. Yep, we are a little on the trashy side!

Then we have the cake, which I stayed up all night making (umm, not)

Underneath the six inches of frosting were 30 cupcakes. Cupcake cakes are definately the way to go, especially for little kids who have very little patience.

Here is Luna being dipped in the pool by our friend Meg. Again, a wee bit of our trashiness comes out in the big blow up pool on our patio. Oh well… the kids love it!

With the party behind me I am moving full force to the Craftacular. I am incredibly nervous since this is the largest show I have ever planned but I also feel very confident that I am doing my best. I have been trying to get some creations done but my studio has been taken over by goodie bag donations! We will be giving away bags to the first 50 shoppers of the day as well as all the vendors. Here’s a little peek at just a taste of what may be in your bag…

The canvas bags were a splurge but I think it will be great for shoppers to have them at the show and hopefully save on some bag expense for the vendors.

I have gotten a little work done this week on my inventory including some new critters. Here’s a glance at a few new friends that will be escorting me to the Craftacular.

That is about five days of crocheting and yes, I do have a blister from my crochet hook. Ouch. My goal is to have twice that many by next Sunday as well as some coasters and the regular barrettes, magnets, etc..

Time to get to work! Did I mention the Craftacular is in eight days??? YIKES. I keep thinking I have a couple of months…… send me some energy, crafting speed and maybe a good dose of relaxing, please!

I haven’t had much time to go thrifting or antiquing lately but I have scored a few goodies, all of which are now up on my Etsy page.

Check out these fun finds!

In Craftacular news, the banner, yard signs and day of show cards all came in the past few days and I am starting to feel like I may actually be prepared for the show. Well, at least on the organizer side of things! I certainly may not have anything to sell though. Phew… these days are just going by toooooo fast!

I am really excited about the large postcards I ordered for the day of the show. There is a map on the front with the corresponding booth numbers and then a complete list of vendors and their websites on the back so customers can mark their favorites and visit their work anytime!

It is also exciting to get the mail these days. Every day I am getting more and more wonderful donations for the goodie bags. Here is just a tiny sampling of what may be in your reusable canvas tote if you are one of the first shoppers on August 15th.

Speaking of goodie bags, I have to go make up the bags for Henri’s party tomorrow and get started on some food prep. We have had a ton of house showings lately so at least the house if cleaned, but there is still a ton of work to do. And, of course, as Zoe reminded me yesterday ‘Henri won’t even know it’s his birthday’, but I will so lets have a party!

xxoo

Anyway, getting on with this.

Last weekend Jerome and I headed to Mt. Horeb for the annual Art Fair and it was fabulous! There was a decent turn out of shoppers despite the insane heat and for not feeling I had very much made, I sold a lot. The Star Wars coasters were a big hit as were the new storybook necklaces.

Here is a booth shot. While I was downloading this picture I noticed how many banners I had out. It’s pretty humorous that people were still asking the name of my business!

I also made some great purchases. I always set my sales goal in my head and when I surpass that (well, if I surpass it, although luckily I usually do!) I allow myself to roam around and buy goodies from other artists.

I can’t find the cards to either of these artists but here are some pics. The first one is a handmade paper arm with la luna on it as well as a butterfly which signifies release and also has a very deep meaning to me since the loss of our twins. The second is a Giclee print I bought that made me dream of the land we hope to own and the third is a framed print I bought for my mother as a pre-thank you gift for coming out to work with me at the Creative Connections event in Minneapolis. The print is called ‘Fox in Violets’. Well, her business is named La Zorra (the fox) glass works, and Violet was her mother’s name as well as her oldest granddaughter.

Speaking of violets, Ms. Violet helped me at the zoo a few weeks ago with the little ones and it amazing to see her holding Henri when I remember taking her to Art Fair on the Square when she was his size! Time moves waaaay too fast, regardless of how long the days can seem.

Now I have moved into the whole crazy let’s plan a a birthday party mode. Yikes!! Last year my mom was here and did all the work (I had been in the ER all night the previous night..) but this year it’s all me. Also, almost no one has RSVP’d so I truly have no idea if I have like fifteen coming (those who have RSVP’d) or about 40 coming! hmmmm.. Well, either way I’m confident it will be fun.

Then, it is full speed ahead for the Craftacular. I am soo excited. I feel really good about all the time, money and energy I have put into this show and I can honestly say when the day comes that I did all I could. I do need more volunteers though so please, if you know someone who can help out, even for an hour or two, let me know!

My wine is empty and it’s time to maybe work a little (or not) but Luna has some big news to share with you all :

Yep, it took her nine months, but she finally has a teeny tiny little tooth coming in!!! Yeah!! She is so ready for real food.

I also couldn’t remember if I shared this with you all yet, but sometimes things just seem to align in odd ways. For instance, in my studio I have a license plate from NM that my mom had laying around and gave to me years ago. Well, after Luna was born I was sitting in my studio and happened to look up where I have it propped and noticed that not only does the plate my birth year 1975 on it, but it has the name ‘Luna’ on the top. I’m not sure if that is a town, or why that is there but isn’t that something? Some how the world knew she was coming to us.

Now, for anyone reading who is not a mom, you may be really bored with this next part but I am having this total internal struggle with trying to do everything and feeling like I am not doing anything really well. I mean, I want to have a business (preferably a store again some day), organize shows, vend at shows, raise four perfect kids, feed them all homemade natural foods, have a nice clean house, perfectly manicured yard … I could go on and on, but at the end of the day I am exhausted with a to do list that just moves on to the next day. I know, I know, no one can do everything, but how do YOU do it?? Are you a stay at home mom who works at home? Are you a mom who has a full time or part time job or do you just take care of your kids?? Just looking for different suggestions at how you may have found a way to do this. Any suggestions or comment would help!

Oh, that’s right… my wine is empty!

Hope to be back Tuesday for some thrifty Tuesday finds…

xxoo

Thanks for checking in everyone. It does help me to want to post things when I know you are out there reading.

I will get more of a post out later, but just wanted to stop by quick..