Ok, so I lied

'Reflection'

LOL. I said I was going to do a decent post on Sunday and here it is Tuesday and I'm just now getting to it. That's sooo sad. I've decided to set up a shop on DaWanda which is basically a European version of Etsy. It's not associated with Etsy in any way but it sells a lot of handcrafted indie stuff like Etsy. I just have to list everything in euros and centimeters - it's quite fun actually. I know I've said it before but I love my job! It makes me very happy :) :) :). I was so not happy at my last job. Working from home is an excellent fit for me.

'Sunshine on my Shoulders'

We got some gas for our grill finally so we've been grilling like madmen the last couple of days. Do madmen grill? Hmmm, I'll have to ponder that one. I have some chicken breasts marinating in lime juice, olive oil and various other seasonings - they should be awesome.

My bf gave our doggies baths yesterday. I'm looking at them outside my window right now laying in the dirt LOL. Oh well. We rearranged furniture in our living room the day before yesterday too. I'm sooo happy with it. Except that I moved our big bookcases and then remembered that I painted around them instead of behind them. That's so funny. So I'm really needing to paint now. I'm so bad about half-ass doing something as far as my house goes. Not with my business however, just my house. Cleaning, painting, you name it. I'll halfway do it thinking I'll get back to it tomorrow (or in a minute) but then I never get back to it. Then I look around my house wondering how half my rooms are half painted LOL. I have such big plans for my house though. We're going to be here for a long time. Especially since Richard and I are both working from home now. We would be working in Knoxville if we weren't and the commute (about an hour one way) was our only draw back to this house (yes, even with all the plumbing issues lol). Now the commute is a non issue and we're actually using one car now too. It was kind of by default since one of them broke, but it's working out great for us. We are feeling like we are contributing to the health of our planet by not driving every day :).

'Good Morning Sunshine'

'Just Bringing Pretty Back'

'Fresh'

'Rain Drops Keep Falling on my Head'

What a morning!

' Sunday Morning and I Never Want to Leave '

Our flooding kitchen/laundry room/bathroom dilemma continues... When I got back from mom's last night, the plumbing still wasn't in functioning mode. We ended up having to get the septic tank pumped out (it was just put in 4 years ago) which cost mucho dollars of course (on Memorial Day? are you kidding me?). Anyway, I left to go to mom's, leaving Richard and Bones with the septic guy. Got home that night, there's still issues.

It turns out that the tank was full of water due to fill lines being done incorrectly or something like that. Plus there was an obstruction in the pipe. So we rented a 100 ft pipe snake this morning and ran it through the pipe to the septic tank. It was super disgusting lol. The downstairs was stinky ~ wow, I'm not even going to go into any further detail. TMI, I know. My daughter's boyfriend Nicky helped us tremendously. If you ever read this Nicky ~ THANK YOU.

'Curvy'

So, enough of our house issues lol. I still love my house. It's like a child that you really really love even though she misbehaves sometimes lol. Naughty house, we're just going to have to make you do better. Hopefully we won't have to deal with anything like this again for a few years.

'Shall We Dance?'

I sold some art today. Finally, I've had a long dry spell in my shop somehow. It was like I got several sales all at once and I was thinking that finally everything was coming together on Etsy but then no sales for like 15 days. EEEK. scary. But I've had calls from 2 galleries this month that want to exhibit me and a permanent spot from June to November in a Farmer's Market/Craft Market in Knoxville. The Farmer's Market thing was juried, I couldn't exhibit without prior approval. Ditto for the galleries of course. So all that's come together for me this month during the time I wasn't having any sells. That's funny how things work out like that isn't it? I think I just need to sit down and write out my progress this month and see how it all comes together in the big picture instead of focusing on my lack of sales at Etsy. Hmmm, I'm going to do that. It should be interesting to see how my art sells in the real world as opposed to the Etsy world lol. I'm looking forward to June, to seeing how it all goes.

This is what I sold today :

'Love'

Wow, I hope I didn't sound whiney in my post today. Like poor me with my plumbing problems and lack of sales. I didn't mean to if I did lol. Just a day in my life, things don't always smell like roses LOL.

A long day

"After the Storm"

My sister got her Bachelor's Degree from UT today and will be going for her Master's next. She's going to be a teacher. You go, Olivia! We went to her graduation today which meant a super early morning (up at 5 to leave the house at 6 and be at her house in Knoxville by 7). It reminded me of the bad old days at my former job and the ungodly hours I had to get up. 5 am was actually sleeping in when I worked there lol. Oh I miss it~ NOT.
So we had her graduation this morning and then we all went to mom's in Sevierville for a big to-do celebration. All of Liv's friends and her husband's family were there. My sister came in from Nashville. My mom cooked a ton of food, it was awesome. The weather was perfect and a good time was had by all.

I got home a few minutes ago and I'm posting in my blog! Is that dedication or what? You go Jennifer! Way to keep up with your blog posts! Wow, I'm actually blogging to myself, I MUST be tired. This is going to be mighty short, I just didn't want to get it all together blog wise and then lose it immediately. That would have been so sad lol.

"Evening Light"

Getting it all together (maybe?) lol

"Sunny Side Up"

Good Morning! Ok, I've decided the best way to get organized about daily blog posting is to have a routine. Get up. Get coffee. Check Etsy (briefly only....no wandering around from shop to shop checking out the new yumminess!). Post in blog. That's it, just do it Jennifer. It's not hard, it's just all about getting it done before you get distracted by everything else you're trying to do.

I've been putting a lot of thought into who I want to feature and I've decide to go with the shops that I've actually bought things from first. Things that I have touched, smelled, used, or otherwise seen with my own eyes. The things I fell in love with and would buy all over again. Having said that, my fist shop is Noirliliana.

I bought the most awesome moisturizer from her. I've been using it for a couple of months now and I will buy more when it's gone. I use it at night and in the morning or just when I want a pick me up because it smells so very delicious.

It's thick and moisturizing and comes in a convenient pump bottle. It has a beautiful citrus smell that makes you look forward to putting it on. I actually put it on 3 or 4 times a day the first day I had it just because the smell made me so happy. It goes great under make up and even gives me a slight tingly sensation when I first put it on. I have used probably every moisturizer out there including those by neutrogena, estee lauder, and clinique and this has them beat hands down. I love the fact that it has all natural ingredients such as rose bud tea, borage oil, wheat germ oil, essential oils of grapefruit, lemon, and orange, and a plethora of happy vitamins that are good for your skin. When I use all of my supply, I will definitely buy it again.

Noililiana also sent a freebie with her product, it was a sample of Lemon Candy Hand and Body cream.

The sample idea was a great one because when I place my next order, I'm going to order it full size. The smell is aromatherapy in itself. It makes you feel pretty and happy. It comes in a generous 8 oz size when you order it ~ compare this to the 4 oz you get from a lot of other places. 8 oz is large enough to slather it on as you please without worrying about it being gone in 2 weeks.

Noirliliana has other things in her shop such as face masks, liquid soap, body wash, lip balm, etc. etc. She even has some all natural cleaning products for household use. I'm planning on becoming more green in the next couple of months with recycling and using organic products for cleaning and her shop is going to be a part of my transition. When I try any more of her products, I'll post a review here. Go check out her shop :), it's definitely worth it.

Adjusting to my New Freedom :)

It seems like it's been longer than a week since I turned in my notice at work. I think I've been kind of shell shocked this past week, disorganized, generally optimistic, always grateful that I can get up after the sun rises :). I need to get focused this week, get a good schedule going and make sure I'm heading in the right direction. I think keeping a good attitude about finances and success and running my own business is going to be the key to it all. Anything can be accomplished if I believe in myself and my ability to make it happen. I've done some new art, I had a particularly creative day yesterday. My bf had the awesome idea of using canvas as a backdrop for my photos and I love how they turned out. It's opened up a whole new avenue of self expression. He also showed me a super cool photoshop trick that I'm going to have to master this week. I sold another photograph, it's one of a little robin family living on the tree next to our deck. They built a nest right there where we can watch them every day. There's 3 little baby robins in the nest :

I love being able to go outside and sit on the deck and watch. That's definitely a perk of working from home. You get to actually see your home in the daytime lol. Our yard needs mowing sooo bad. Richard tried to mow it today but neither of our lawnmowers would work. I guess we're going to have to get them fixed. I'm thinking we should just pay somebody to do it every couple of weeks since both of us hate mowing but Richard seems to be against it.

I'm getting ready to add cards to my shop, I'm just looking around for a good printer ~ I want one that uses recycled materials and I want to do my cards in like a square size. I just like square photos for some reason. I've not really found who I'm going to use to print them yet. Some of my photos would lend themselves very well to cards though. I'm going to sell some as sets and some as single cards.

I also want to add a matting service to my shop. I think a lot of people would utilize that. So those are my shop plans for this month. I'm going to start doing local craft shows also. There's a farmer's market on Saturdays at Market Square in Knoxville. I'm looking into setting up a booth there. It's just getting a tent and tables and mattes, etc etc together. It's a bit overwhelming. I need to make lists, that always helps.

I'm really trying to participate more fully with the Etsy Bloggers Street Team. Their blog carnival is tonight and I've yet to participate in it. I always remember to do it after it's passed. Tonight I am though. My understanding is that I just need to post on their thread with a link to my blog entry to show that I posted. They encourage you to do it weekly I believe is how it works. I suppose it's to keep everybody blogging :).

Here's my new art and I want to give a special thank you to Peachtree for being so supportive. Here's a link to her shop (and one of her gorgeous creations).

My new photographs are:

It would be a good idea if I blogged a little bit everyday I think, that way I could feature other artists better and it would give more variety to my blog. I already mentioned that in a earlier post didn't I? I'll get it together here sometime soon lol.

A Lot of Changes in the Past Week

Well, I did it. I quit my day job. I'm going from being a photographer for a photography company to being a freelance photographer. Wow, huge change. I've still not adjusted to the fact that I don't have to get up at 3,4, or 5 am anymore. I can get up whenever my eyes pop open and I can focus totally on my photography and selling my artwork on Etsy and wherever I can around here. I'm really going to have to start focusing on that aspect of it. I found out that artists can set up booths at the Farmer's Market in Knoxville every Wednesday and Saturday, that it's only $20 on Saturdays and $15 on Wednesdays. You have to apply to do it but that's definitely something I want to explore further. I'll have to get my art framed and matted though, I don't want to sell the photographs by themselves. So once I get several together, I'm going to apply.

I'm so excited. I feel like I have a whole new life starting now. I'm so glad I did it now instead of waiting. I was really unhappy there. Although working there certainly forced me to be more confident and I learned my way around Knoxville and surrounding areas. Those were certainly benefits. And I really like everybody I worked with. I'm going to miss that aspect of it. But that's all I'm going to miss. The time was right for this.

So now that's all behind me, I'm going to have absolutely so excuse for not posting in my blog LOL. I've been focusing more on summer art lately. Here's what I've listed:

So we have the beach and the meadow. I really love the one with the waves crashing. It's called "A Sense of Calm Washed Over Her". I love the warm grays in it. It's how I feel right now after leaving my job. Calm but at the same time excited about what the future holds :).

Busy Week

Busy, but I have no excuse for not posting. Is procrastination an excuse? Nah, probably not. Well, let's see. I had Friday off work and now Monday (tomorrow). So 4 days in a row...awesome! I've gotten more focused as far as what I want out of my life the last few days. I've decided my day job is going to be a not so fond memory some time in the near future. By the end of summer at the latest. My art is doing really well right now. I was invited to set up a booth at Riverfest this coming Saturday. Riverfest is apparently a shin-dig being organized by a real estate company in Florida to highlight everything our area has to offer (by 'our area', I mean TN). There is a high end developement on the river and they're having several local artists set up booths, a band, food, etc. and they're bring all their clients in to tempt them with this gorgous real estate. So hopefully there will be some people there interested in buying art to decorate their new bare walls :). I just got an email from the woman organizing it a couple of days ago so right now it's a huge scramble for me to try to get everything together that I need to get. I send my art to the printer when somebody orders it, I don't have frames, mats, anything. But I want to sell my art framed and matted when I sell it at a booth or a gallery or whatever. The problem is our mortgage is due at the moment and I can't afford the mortgage and the art. I've ordered the prints but it remains to be seen how I'm going to pay for it all when I get the frames. I just have to trust that the money will be there, that it will all come together. I know it will. I sold 4 pieces of art in my Etsy store the last 3 days. I'M SO EXCITED!!!! I feel like I'm on my way, the universe is bringing it all together for me. Has anyone read "The Secret" ? Somebody gave it to my boyfriend and I'm reading it for the 2nd time now. It's full of interestingness. It's a life altering book. It just brings it all together for you :).

I've done a whole dandelion series of art. I'm in luv with dandelions right now. I actually sold one of them today in one of my larger sizes (happy, happy, happy). Here's all my new photographs:

I guess I HAVE been pretty busy the last few days lol. I talked to my mom the other night, she's all excited about the Riverfest thing. She's excited about me opening my Etsy store period. I've finally found my niche, the thing that I'm good at that makes me happy. I'm looking forward to it all :).

New Series of Springtime Art

I'm adding 3 new pieces of art to my Etsy Store today. One I uploaded this morning and I'm uploading the other two this evening. Somehow I scored 2 (yes 2!) days off in a row. I was so excited :). So I've cleaned a little house, cleared out the messiest closet we have and planned some new artwork.
I'm calling these the springtime series. They're light and airy, very cheerful.
I think they're the perfect anecdote to the winter weather we've been having. I'm in TN so we're mostly having clouds and cold rain but I saw that you guys in Ohio and Chicago are getting a lot of snow. I think it's the same front...we actually have a chance of snow from it tomorrow.



I'm back to work tomorrow unless we get that snow and schools are shut down. I can't really complain though because the schools were closed last week due to the flu. Work was cancelled on Thursday and Friday for me since the schools I was going to be working at were closed. So that on top of Monday and Tuesday off due to my work schedule, well, I can't really complain about going back tomorrow lol.


I'm looking forward to getting some frames for these and putting them on my wall. I'm planning to upload some photos in my Etsy shop of my artwork framed and matted just so anyone who's interested in buying can get an idea of what they'll look like on the wall. I'm also lowering my prices....the 12x12 size of these prints look really awesome hanging in multiples of 3 so lowering the prices will make them more affordable if anyone wants to buy the whole series.