Poppy and Ivy

New Stuff is Fun

I was greated by BOXES of orders today.
Do I have my camera on me?
No...of course not. Well...I have the CAMERA, but the card is in my home computer! Drat!

Here is a list of my new goodies....

Smoking Monkey
Last Supper lunch box
New big oil cloth shoppers: Get Real & Madonna (classic art Madonna...not the performer)
Stink Bomb Matches (funny)
"Understand Your Mother Breath Spray" (funny)
Patron Saint of Parking air freshener
Savin' Up for Coffee (the last legal drug) coin purse
Arty wrist "cuffs

Have I mentioned that I compare my new store to a mullet?

  

It's "L" shaped and I call it "business in the front party in the back". The above shipments & new arrivals DEFINITELY fall under "party".  They are my FUN companies and I have to say some days those silly items are my bread & butter! Who knew?

I'll have photos tomorrow. It's pretty silly stuff.

And FYI, amazingly, that is NOT someone I know in that photo. :) Happy Wednesday!

Looking Back...

I love looking back every couple of weeks. I have been starting to organize photos for scrapbooks (a girl can dream) and I SO enjoy looking at "old" photos.

Late April 2006

 

 
 
 

Wow...in 2006 I had time to "play" in my house, go estate sale shopping, go outside with the kids to play around. That makes me think it's time to SLOW DOWN!

April 2007:
 


 
2007 was apparently all about the shop! Some softball photos were in there as well.

Today's fun finds:
I read Ali's blog and decided to use Scrapbook Pictures.comto order my first batch of photos for my "Organization 2008" goal. A lot of the people I met at my old job (scrapbooking store) used scrapbook pictures...and they are actually local to Portland. You can impose words, various frames, crop it all right on your computer and then they mail the finished product to you. I will let you know how it turned out. My experience with other on-line photo places has been orange faces and no clean lines...photos looked blurred. Yet I hate printing at home. My printer is good....it's just tedious.

I found a LOVELY new (to me) blog. I was salivating!

Chez Fifi


And I has some time to catch up with some other known favorites....

Lulu's

Notes from a Cottage Industry

Jane's Apron (oh! I owe her an e-mail for an order! The tax lady returned our paperwork and the 2008 Jane's Apron invoice had managed to get into my 2007 paperwork. Go figure!)

Rosemary

Jenni Bowlin

Back to painting furniture, makin' arty things for the store and cooking dinner. What WILL the family do with a homemade (by Mom!) dinner for the SECOND night in a row? Sadly, I don't think they remember that I cooked 99% of the meals and we hardly ever ate out the first 9 years of their lives! So sad. Thank GOD for local favorites ChaChaCha and Thai Noon!

Hope you are experiencing some spring weather. We Portlanders are watching the steady rain run down our windows...mixed with an occasional sun burst! Happy Spring.

Feelin' Crafty...

This Crafty Weekend at Mt. Hood was PERFECT. Weather was dreamy, drive was clear, the kids had a BLAST, the grown-ups had even more fun.

I came home ENERGIZED to craft, but alas....it all came screaming back at me. Dishes, laundry, gardening, planting my window boxes....THAT was my Monday!

Check us out.....

We drove: 
 
 
 

We crafted:

 
 
Becky's 6x6 book...
 
My 6x6 book...
 
A job I am working on....NOT my baby boy! LOL....
 
More of my "job"...not my daughter. Just ASK what my books look like. THEY are in shoe boxes, but after this weekend I am inspired and I have made a PLAN! (really)

 
I had some card making time. I NEEDED that. I have some special orders for some stores. They are NICE orders. No real guidelines...just Birthday, Thank you and general. And my shop cards are dwindling too. I need another 24 hours added to my weeks......

 

And the kids had FUN! And YES...they have CLOTHES on under the bubbles! This is the carpeted bathtub (below)...this thing makes me GIGGLE! Love it! Green carpet ROCKS!




 
 
And after all that playing and bubble time.....

 
They fell asleep WAY earlier than we expected!!!!!!!!

Our work space was HEAVEN to us...but the kids kept telling us "This place is a MESS!".
I think the dads set us up...they feed those little suckers some lines!

 
 
 
 
 
 
Donna Downey's book was my Craft Bible while I was up there. My friend Kate brought this with her. I am buying this ASAP. I looked for it today and couldn't find it, but I WILL. I like to keep my money local, so I am starting with small shops and moving on from there.

To bed I go. Good night and Happy Tuesday!

TGIF..really, really, really thankful

Oh....I have an actual FRIDAY Friday. I have the shop on weekends and I am closed Mon & Tue so MY "Friday" is Sunday. Got that?

But tomorrow I head up to a friend's Mt. Hood house for a Crafty Weekend. We auctioned off spots at the school auction, but only our friend signd up. LOL....whatever. We have BIG plans and I have visions of crafts dancing in my head but I KNOW I am just so excited for a free weekend and girlfriend/kid time. It's all of our children and then the three moms. And we have PROJECTS for the kids and ourselves.

Annnddd....JOHN has been in Omaha for 5 days and flies home tonight. All of you single moms...you have my admiration. So many balls to juggle. Make a breakfast, make a lunch, drive to 8:00am drop off, make next breakfast, make next lunch, 8:30 school start, walking group (I got in 28 miles so far this week!!!), opening shop, working shop, closing shop, dinner, homework, walking dog, groceries if needed, laundry, special orders, cleaning, sleep.......then it started all over again. Whewwww.......I might weep when I see him.

I received more Archipelago candles. These are all the biggest hits. Love the votives. Nice way to "test drive" scents before committing to the HUGE glass jar. They burn clean and last forever.
 

 
 
 


Here are some great vintage finds. I have been busy:)
 
 
 


I can NEVER pass these little planters up. I think they'd be the best as baby shower gifts filled with cotton balls & q-tips.

 
Here are some of the shells we gathered in Maui...I have them at home and here at the shop....just to remind me of our GREAT trip. I am still missing the sun. It's trying to peek out right now....but I am sure it's followed by a rain shower.

 
I opened the door up.....I NEED some fresh air and sun! I crave it right now!

Oh....love to see my boxes that Maria from collage ordered. They looked so lovely all lined up...
 
 
Happy TGIF to you all!

Baggin' it up....

I was asked by the owner of collage, my neighbor at my first store location, to make goody bags for Art & Soul. Maria is the "store owner", for lack of a better title, of their Virgina retreat May 1-5. Maria is a GO GETTER. She's had her eye on the prize since opening her store about 4 years ago. She is even in the process of opening a second location. I think the primary reason she is so successful is that she WORKS her store. She is one on one with the customers on a daily basis. She knows what to order because she is there to listen to what people are looking for. She is always up to date on current trends...and it's paying off! So exciting. Her working so closely with Art & Soul is just another step along the way of a very successful path.

I was happy to oblige with the goody bags. It meant that my two days "off" were working days, but it was fun. I got to take inventory of my ephemera (uuhhhh.....I might have a "problem") and actually I find making bags rather therapeutic!

I often buy bags of collections at estate sales and really only "need" half of it and I hate the idea that the rest is going to waste! I bag it by color, theme, etc. It's like a puzzle!

I wiped the shop OUT of all bags for Maria, so I will be restocking those this weekend. Sorry local folks. I have some regulars who love those darn bags! I can't keep up!















I am bringing them all to Maria today. Oddly...I will kind of miss them! They look SO good all lined up. I'll take a picture of that. I was a little bit proud of myself I have to say! It looked SHARP!

Happy Wednesday!

Fantastic Finds Monday

 WHAT a haul!!!.....this is MY kind of day off! I did as much scoring for my home as I did for the shop. My night will be spent cleaning up and processing these goodies for the shop.











I purchased the pillow.....not the chair! If ONLY I could have found THAT at a thrift store or estate sale!

Happy Monday!

It's Not Easy Being Green..or is it?

April 22nd is Earth Day.

To honor our Earth and whatever freakity, deakity thing we've done to it to make the weather so WEIRD....I offer you 20% off of anything green. The sale is the 18th-20th. Yes....I know I miss Earth Day...but I'm closed that day!

All of us at Lower Fremont are having some sort of event, special hours or various tomfoolery--rumor has it Splurge even had champagne--dang! The day I went home early!

Come on over and check us out!

Alive, Kicking, Brewing & Thinking

This week has been YET another "What just happened?" week in my life.

I will start that I am alive & kicking. I am, I am.

I have been conducting a house/shop "Spring Cleaning" which is ironic because it's about 45 degrees during the day and 34 at night (we had nicer weather back in February!!). Are we really into the middle of APRIL? In Oregon. What the heck?

This feeling of regrouping, managing space and cleaning areas feels very similar to "nesting"...but it's just a strong case of spring fever...believe you me!

Brewing.....I have definitely been brewing.

There is a retail blog that connects to a shop advice blog that I have always respected and turned to in "ummm...what now?" moments. I read it in little bursts here and there. It offers quite a bit of advice in regards to trends, ideas, events and more.

She is accepting blog addresses to create a big "forum" of business owners. Brilliant.
Her "catch", which I respect, is it has to be 90% business.

I COMPLETELY understand this rule.

I do.

But let me tell you about this weekend.

We had a SUNNY, lovely Saturday but with very little business. I wrote it off to tax season...I truly wasn't too concerned.

After work we ate dinner outside at a local restaurant. (Only four days later, we have the heat on inside back up to 70 degrees!). We met up with more friends for drinks later in the night. LOVELY night.

We came home at about 12:15am....the night air was unbelievable and while I was getting the kids to bed (they'd fallen asleep at a friends) my 13 year old daughter started this keening, howling noise. I completely wrote it off to "attention getting tactics"...but I asked what was wrong. She couldn't answer and only proceeded to get louder, bent over crying, grabbing her tummy.....VERY unlike my quiet daughter.

By 12:45am we were in the E.R.. She was doubled over, crying when they touched her...it was very scary. They conducted blood tests and an ultrasound. She vomited in the middle of it all. (She's done that 3 times in her LIFE). Her face was WHITE and eyes were red. I just flashed back to her being a 2 year old in the E.R. I was at a loss for words and numb completely. I was alone...my husband was at home with our son. I have spent far too many visits in the E.R. in the past with various family members and I forget how small you feel. How your fate is all tied up in dots and lines on a monitor and "results" that feel like they take HOURS to come. Every foot fall outside of our curtained room made my heart skip another beat.

Fast forward......No worries......All is well.

They believe she had a stomach virus. We arrived home at nearly 5:00am and we both fell asleep in her bed. She was sick 2 more times throughout the night and moaned the entire time in her sleep.

That E.R visit set me back from writing up a postcard mailer, a special e-mail for a new marketing company I am on board with, balancing my check book and figuring out where I am in placing orders.

And I am 100% okay with being behind on all of that....my daughter is healthy!!!

But it made me think about a small business blog being 90% business related. My home life 100% effects my shop life. More than 10% of my family life spills over into how my shop is run, when ads get written, when furniture gets painted and moved in, when I can sit and place orders, when I can do a shop "flip" to freshen things up.

So, the last 4 days was spent doing quite a lot of thinking, adjusting and wondering.

All good, all introspective.

We all need that pinch once in awhile.

A friend of mine said "In those types of moments you realize that 45 minutes ago my life was pretty darn great!". So true.

So...my blog will most likely NOT be accepted by the Blog Master and that is just fine. It stings a bit--it's great exposure--....but I can deal with it.

It's like that poem we all had in our baby rooms and bedside tables in the 80's and 90's...."100 years from now....it will not matter how much money you have the bank, how big your home is, what car you drive...but where you are in the heart of a child"....

2008 version.....
"100 years from now....it will not matter if you are on the small retail business blog roll of a well-respected boutique owner...but that you let your daughter throw up on your pants in the E.R........

Happy Thursday to you all!

Pictures

       

My Mojo was in the clouds!

  I woke up today and tried to figure why I could hear my kids downstairs.

I remembered it was a Teacher Planning Day....and that we were all going to meet a potential new Pug dog today. Well...new to us.

I laid in bed, stared at the ceiling and wished I didn't have to work today...but that I could hang around in jammies and finish up home projects. I laid in bed for 30 minutes devising plans in my head to allow me to stay home.

I finally gave in, opened my blinds, and there before my very eyes was SUNSHINE!

Sunny, gorgeous, blue skies, birds singing....ALL GOOD!

I had a new bounce in my step, gathered my clothes, went downstairs and before I even got the coffee cup to my lips, I KNEW....I'd found my mojo!

I have not once STOPPED moving in the shop today. I finally processed TONS of jewelry, more clothing, an order came (Cat-a-Pults, Potato Guns and monkey band-aids....) and I got it all put out, recycled boxes, swept....ahhhhh.  It's now 7:15 and I still have the front door open and I am STILL working! I was 'closed" an hour ago....but HECK! I have energy!

We met the pug. I knew they snorted...but I can't get that noise out of my head. The little buddy never stopped. It was a SWEET girl though. Sammy. 7 years old. I have so many reservations. I know I never want a puppy EVER again. That was rough. But 7 is kind of old. It's older than our dog Lucy! Advice? All my husband keeps saying is "Ewwww...Pugs are ugly". That's no help. (And there is a place in Pug Hell for him).

Here are some end result photos...what a day, what a day....





And I had some visitors that loved the new stuff...especially the fake mustaches!




That's all folks! Happy weekend to you.
May your mustaches be full, slightly crooked and very goofy....