Miscellaneous Was a Word on My Fourth Grade Spelling List...

In other random pieces of information:

My cousins are finalizing paperwork for their adoption of two sets of brothers from Haiti today.  The earthquakes were terrible things, but I wonder if their adoption and my friend Stephanie's adoptions would have been finalized at this point without it.  Flowers from the dirt.

I have been throwing myself into work on my etsy shop after putting much thought into it's future.  Robb helped me identify some strengths and weaknesses and I set some goals. I am currently re-doing almost all of the photographs to make the store look more cohesive.  With over 300 items in the store and plenty waiting to be added, this has been an arduous task. When I finish that, I plan to pre-pack as much as I can to take away the burden of shipping. I have been shipping just one day a week in a big batch and I hate that day so much. As of last Friday, I started shipping every morning. Beating my postal-carrier's earliest pick up time of 9 a.m. has gotten me up and at the day and feels super productive.

Of course, that doesn't give me a lot of time in the morning to blog.

If I had any doubts about the productivity of all this work (and believe me, if you saw my studio you would doubt productivity) I had three BIG encouragements:

1. I was on the front page of Etsy in a treasury yesterday.  This only happens once in a great while for me.  Front page exposure is VERY good for bringing in new people to the store.

2.  I had an item featured in the STORQUE  twice in two weeks.  The STORQUE is Etsy's blog which also shows up on the front page.  This resulted in two good sales. What's more, the post on "Midcentury Modest"  may have just helped me further my own home design!

3.  I was contacted for an interview about my shop by a darling blog called Lune Vintage.  Go over there right now and have some fun.  She's like me only wicked cool and with lots more experience!

Now speaking of the front page, somebody else was on the front page of our local newspaper.  Charleigh-Brown-Eyed-Girl has an uber-cool Kindergarten teacher who made a center in their classroom into a Groundhog burrow.  Charleigh is a  wood Chuck indeed.  (get it? Cause we call Charleigh "Chuck" ?  Aren't I funny?)

Let's see...Haiti Adoptions, Etsy News, Charleigh, ....there's more....

You know that crazy house in Michigan that we still own?  We might have news.  Hold your breath. Or pray. Or rub your belly and pat your head. No...go back to praying.  I think that will work the best.  And hope with us.