Monday, April 21, 2008
Completely unexpected...
www.vol25.typepad.com
Hopefully that will be an easier link for me to pass around, and has really been needed since opening the new store in January. I am still getting everything set-up over there, but I am really liking it. I have BIG plans for some new regular postings, and am loving being able to configure categories.
This was something I have thought about doing for awhile now... I unexpectedly signed up today and kind of fell in love. :) So, please follow me on over to typepad.
Spring?
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Cotton Candy Promises- Now listed!
Also- Was taking a peek at a few of my favorite blogs, and noticed that my sponsor spotlight is running on modish today! Thanks so much jena!
I am going to sign off with a short post today, I need to get started on dinner before my husband withers away before my very eyes! :)
-jess
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Home sweet Home...
Our trip was a ton of fun, going was a little harder on my physically then coming back... but all in all it was nice! I finally got to spend some time with those nieces of mine. Too Too precious. :) Each very unique from the other, I think they played VERY well together though. While in Oklahoma our last night there, we were hearing rumors about the storm of a century rolling through. Needless to say, I was a little nervous. It POURED, the thunder woke me (which was a surprise since I didnt think I slept all night) up three times, and the lightning was constant all night. Fortunately they tell me Tahlequah usually gets missed by the tornadoes because its more hilly. It did ease my mind a "tad." But, the wind was still not a pleasant sound. :) We live more in the southern part of Washington, so we do not get the rain that Seattle or the coast gets... so my husband always laughs at me when I classify a little rain as pouring. Having been through a rain storm in Oklahoma now.... I understand him. :) JUST that night the river rose 15 ft. and roads we needed to take were flooded. In ONE night! Wow... anyhow I dont know if I will jump at the chance to travel to Oklahoma in April again. :) I liked it when we drove out in May, much better calmer weather.
Although we did have some nice weather in the high 70's when the above picture was taken. We had walked across the street to this park after eating at Sam and Ella's restaraunt. My husband on the left, and his brother had to do a little showing off... boys will be boys. :)
This is the restaraunt we ate at. Sam and Ella's. Say it fast and it sounds like Samonella's. I was a little confused at the name, but inside they poke fun at the name. Decorating with chickens everywhere. It really was some GOOD food. Pizza and sandwiches. I was teasing my husband, and said only in Oklahoma could a restaraunt be called Sam & ellas and be good. :)
On the way there I also got this SUPER sweet motel sign photographed. We passed it on our last trip out to Oklahoma, and I never got a picture. Regretted it ever since. Now that I finally have it I already have plans to digitally tweak it, and add some of my own sketching to complete a print. :) Look for that in the next couple of weeks.
So, anyhow... I did finish my road trip journal. I need to take pictures of it still, and will probably end up dedicating a post this week just for it. It was a little more difficult to keep up on it this trip. I think it was harder for me to sit in one position long enough to complete a page... so I am not as thrilled with it as I was with my last one... but oh well! :) I still love that it is done, and documents almost ALL of our trip.
Also- To anyone that knows me... you know how much I have DREAMED about finally going to an Ikea store... I have the last three years of Ikea catalgues, and believe you me... they have seen some wear. Pages bookmarked, scribbled, and countless wish lists have been made. But, I can now finally cross that off my list of places to go. Hawaii and Ireland will have to stay on a little longer I think. ;) On the way to Oklahoma we seen this ikea off the freeway just outside of Salt Lake City, I very nearly jumped out of the moving vehicle. I was begging and pleading to stop by there on our way home... when we passed a Cabellas just a mile down further... bargaining power. Now, I would like to think my husband would still have made time for us to stop in Ikea even if for just a quick walk through (if that is even possible) BUT the Cabellas sealed the deal, and an agreement was made. So, on the way back we stopped in salt Lake City for a night and was able to spend a few hours in Cabellas and a few in Ikea. My poor poor feet. Bummer of it all, we went to Cabellas first. My feet were so soar, but I was not about to let that keep me from Ikea. The store was HUGE, and a little overwhelming. We spent the first couple hours in the upstairs showroom, before I realized the downstairs marketplace was the place to be... Oh well. The NEXT time I go, I am going to be prepared! :) We are planning to make a trip to our Portland IKEA (3 hours away) to get Trin a new loft bed, and the soon to be arrival a new crib. I think it is the best way to make use of that little room. I am super excited about decorating her room. I am setting money aside now, and hope to have enough in 2 weeks. :) Thats my goal as of now. Wish me luck!
EXCITING NEWS~ The tuesday we left, I got an e-mail from poppytalk telling me I had been accepted to participate in the Mothers Day/Kids themed Market beginning the 14th (yesterday) I was SUPER excited... I mean I still am! :) My table is up and running, and the market this month really looks great. I mean it always does, but there are some of my favorite artists participating, and am thrilled to be included. If you have never taken a peek at the marketplace, now is a great time... *wink...wink*
Whew... what a long winded post! One more thing before I leave... I hope to list the Carnival prints tomorrow sometime. I still have a few more pictures I would like to take, but for the most part they shouldnt take me long. I am sorry to have drug it out so long, I really planned to list them before we left on our trip. :)
Well, thanks for bearing with me. We have dinner plans at a friends for the night, so I should best sign off. Hope you all had a wonderful warm weekend! :)
jess
Monday, March 31, 2008
We are Oklahoma Bound!
Well, if I cant find time to post tomorrow... Have a great week everyone! Wish me luck!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Hello Wednesday!
Slightly off topic, but Sharla from rarebirdfinds has written a review on vol25. It looks great, and I was so happy to see it today! :) Blog exposure of any kind is always exciting, especially when its a big one, I love to read... like rarebirdfinds.
Also, I have been working on that carnival themed series... still not 100 % done with these. I do still plan to make a few changes. The ferris wheel poster doesnt look just right to me yet, so some more work is needed. :) I thought you may enjoy a peek still. I am also still trying to think of a name for the series! I printed them out, and stuck them in these simple frames I have... after taking these pictures I realized they needed scooted over just a tad to the left, but rather then move them, I just decided to complete 2 more. :)
One of them is already finished and pictured below. I think it may be my favorite... the other is still very fresh in the works... but it will be coming! :) I intend to wait to list them until I have ALL of them completed. This way I will not waste time updating the listings when I complete a new set. After all, I am almost done! :)
Also- There is only 2 days left to take advantage of the 25% off sale. It will expire friday at midnight. As always thanks for stopping by, I hope you had a great weekend!
jess
Thursday, March 20, 2008
A few new works, and a great feature!
and continued on with a remake of an older print "listen"
Both of these prints are inspired by actual older buildings around my small town here in washington... I do have a few more in mind to work with and add to this series... which by the way, does not have a name yet, something that really needs done!. All the prints in this series will all have two things in common, possibly three.... older buildings, color coordination, and they will all have a sprinkling of these same little black birds.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Green wishes... and a little luck could win you...
Happy St. Patricks Day! I made these cupcakes last night, and frosted this little guy today in honor of the green holiday. However... keep in mind this is no "ordinary" cupcake... it is the magnolia bakery's cupcake recipe. I normally gravitate towards chocolate cupcakes, but after reading the vanilla vanilla cupcakes were the more popular ones at the bakery, I gave in and made vanilla cupcakes. I was *not* dissapointed. They are really really yummy! I have been craving cupcakes something fierce the past few days, and finally made a batch from scratch. I admit to normally buying a chocolate cake mix, and baking them as cupcakes instead. Which are still very good... but not as good as these were. :) I also made their frosting recipe, which isnt actually a buttercream frosting, but still really yummy! Here are the recipes:
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This week you have the chance to win an 11x14 print of your choice and a postcard sampler pack from Vol25. Vol25 offers a wonderful array of prints in the size of your choice.
(Psst..they are having a 25% off sale right now too!)
To enter:
Go to Vol25 and find your favorite print
Then come back to Rare Bird Finds, and leave a blog comment for this post with your favorite piece (either a link or the title is fine) and your email address (your comment will remain unpublished and therefore confidential).
How do you leave a comment for this post? Below this post you'll see the word "Comments (0)" (yep, it's blue). Click on that link. If you came here from a link it will just say comments. It doesn't say confirmed when you post your comment but we will get it.
Do not send emails to Vol25 to enter.
Winners will be chosen on March 23rd.
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Sounds super easy? It is! :) I Will keep my fingers and toes crossed for you!
Friday, March 14, 2008
25% off discount now active
I am going to leave you with one more post before signing off. This offer was just posted today on decor8! vol25 is now offering a 25% discount off your order total. The discount does not including shipping, and EXCLUDES print sets.
Advertising on decor8 has been my first advertising venture. Creating my very first ad banner was a learning experience, and I was so proud to finally teach myself... well, I almost taught myself. The internet has SO many tutorials, it makes teaching yourself how to do something SO easy. I definately take it for granted...
Happy Shopping, and have a great weekend! :)
-jess
Making they're debut...
Also- stuffysmiles if you want to let me know via etsy conversation which button set you would like and your address I will get your buttons right out in the mail to you asap! :)
They arrived!
sneek peek
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Do you squidoo?
So thank you to nostaligicnugget, I finally made time to sit down and set up my very first lense on squidoo. I think the first time I heard about squidoo was through the etsy forums. It seemed a little overwhelming at the time, and I never did sign up. I needed a gentle nudge and some spare time to get it set-up. There are a few things I would still like to learn how to change. Surely I can make my pictures a little bigger? But all in all it was super easy and very self explanatory. :)
Well, I am off the computer for now. My hubby is off work for the day, he came home about an hour ago. It was pouring, and not too much fun to work in today. So the crew took a vote, and decided to take the day off. :) Which is fine by me! I am going to cuddle up on the couch, with my clipboard in hand. Maybe I can get a few sketches done today.
Have a great thursday!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Three's A Crowd
New Items listed: 612,641. In January, there we 575,174 new items listed, so this is a new record and an increase of 7%. In February 2007, 148,422 new items were listed. Wow — 312% more than a year ago!
New Users: February saw 75,458 new users join Etsy, up from 68,013 in January — an 11% increase. In February 2007, 22,392 new users joined — a 236% increase.
Friday, March 7, 2008
New print set!
"the secret to becoming who we wish to be begins with believing you can become who you wish to be"
Seems pretty simple, but I think so many of us easily forget this. Another favorite quote I love is "we tend to search for happiness when happiness is actually a choice." I cant remember where I seen that quote, but it has always stuck with me. :)