Bartlett & Craft

So for Lent this year I decided to concentrate on my productivity, or lack thereof.  As a sidenote, I am a Christian, but I am not the type that views Lent as being a religious practice, at least not every year.  I do view it as a good excuse to reflect on my life and figure out what I could do better.  And who knows, maybe this exercise will lead to more frequent communication with God and a better understanding of Jesus' sacrifice. Anyway, back to my story.  What better way to increase productivity than to get rid of the time wasters!  Some of my biggest time wasters seem to be the internet in general and facebook more specifically.  I would often refresh my facebook newsfeed every two minutes (not exaggerating) and there would usually be 2 or 3 new updates from people that I probably hadn't talked to in years, maybe even decades.  Do I really need to know what they are up to?  Nope!  So, I went through my entire 'friends' list and 'hid...

A friend of mine recently asked if I could design her wedding invitations for her.  None of these are the final design (I want to keep that a secret!) but these are some of the runners-up! I also created invites and posted them on Etsy.  Check them out here and here .

A few baby bows for my niece made from some of grandma S.'s lace, grandma J.'s buttons and a few odds and ends from my beads/ribbon box.  Can't wait to take pictures of them on my niece! made from grandma's lace made with grandma's buttons Made with grandma's buttons

 Some more baby shower invitation designs that I have done recently. click here  to purchase the 'Baby Baby' Baby Shower Invitations   click  here  to purchase the Baby Banner Baby Shower Invitations click  here  to purchase the Baby Mobile Baby Shower Invitations click  here  to purchase the Baby Clothes Baby Shower Invitations

Ok, ok, so I realize that it is April, and almost the end of April at that, but I wanted to write an update on my New Year's resolution for 2012.  I am hoping that I will make some kind of goal for my self each year to grow my online business (if you have checked it out yet,  click here ).  This year I made it my goal to work on my street cred.  That is, I wanted to work on making my shop more visible in the local area, to have a physical location, not just a virtual one.  While at this point I am not willing to take the jump to opening up my own storefront, I was willing to open up in someone else's shop.  So, I researched a couple galleries in the area, found one I liked and set up an interview.  And....I GOT IN! So, I am set up to having a gallery show for the entire month of June 2012.  I'm super excited and definitely nervous.  I am one that usually thinks of all the possible ways I could fail and often talk myself out of doing things ...

There is nothing like moving from side of town to the other to distract you from posting stuff on your blog.  But figuring that the new place has hardwood floors, lots of sunlight and a beautiful garden...I am NOT complaing.  Nope, not one bit. I just went outside today (brr!!) to take a few picture of the flowers.  I have not planted a single thing...and yet this is what the garden has brought forth since we moved in: They are the most wonderful shade of pink!  I am debating whether or not to cut them and bring them inside.  They would look so beautiful on the dining room table.

So I do this every once in a while, look through cataolgs, find things I like, and ask "Can I make that?" I found these candle votive things in the Crate & Barrel magazine and thought I would try my hand at it.  The possibilities are endless for what you could punch out of the black canvas.  I may have to come back to this one later... My version :) vs. Crate & Barrel candle vases

As promised, here are the pics of the terrarium.  I just added the berries today! Complete with moss, fungi, and squaw (sp?) berries!