Welcome Back to me!

WOW! What can I say-the time has flown. It is fall once again, my favorite time of year. I am spending my time dreaming of Pumpkin Spice latttes and curling up underneath my Snuggie! No seriously, it has been an intense few months since I last wrote. I started a new job as an Independent Sales Rep! I work from home and make my own schedule. I am loving it, but it is a lot of work. It is very rewarding and I am starting to reap those rewards, thakn goodness. My boyfriend, who was out of work for 6 months, got a new job and is loving it! Talk about a load off of my shoulders!
In the meantime, I was not able to keep up with my blog and with my Etsy shop. I am sad to say that my Etsy shop closed because I did not update it and renew my listings. I only ever sold one thing off of it. I need some suggestions from you, my loyal readers. Should I take the time to restart it and try once again? I love what I do, my frames and wreaths, but I have stockpiled a ton of them and quote frankly I can't afford the time or money to continue manufacturing when I am not selling them. Any tips that you all have would be much appreciated.
Hello once again- I hope you all have had a wonderful few months and I look forward to getting back into the blogging as well as hearing about what you all have been up to!

Iced Tea Day

June 10 is Iced Tea Day! That fabulous drink that we southerners enjoy super, super sweet! It is so refreshing in the heat and so addictive once you take sip! Take some time to enjoy a glass today- perhaps while you are in the midst of a creative burst of genius!

Lee Lee's Sweet Ice Tea - a Fine Art Print by Heather L. Young--  FLYoung Studio   @   etsy.com

Alive, Alive, It's Alive!!

Yes! I am still alive! What a busy few weeks it has been. I am hoping that life will start to get back to normal, although I am not sure that will be the case.

I have gotten my studio painted! All we have left to do is paint the trim and hang the new ceiling fan! We had a cookout for Memorial Day with 30 of our closest friends and family. It was a huge success.

I had been on such a high from my first sale on Etsy and since then, it has been downhill. I did not receive any feedback from my customer which I was really hoping for. I need to get back on the ball. I have several new pieces of completed work that have just been sitting there waiting for me to photograph and put online. It is my own lazy fault :(

In good news- I am still going strong on Weight Watchers and I am  19.2 pounds lighter! I am so excited and inspired to keep going and meet my goal. I feel so much better already about myself. I am not uncomfortable all the time which is great! Keeping up the hard work.

I recently also had a job offer which I am strongly considering. It would be a great opportunity for me to go down a new avenue in my career and has the potential to make a lot of money. I also would get to work from home and be my own boss. This is fantastic to me as I tend to work my best and my hardest when I am on my own and working independently. I will definitely let you all know what I decide.

I am also taking up a new hobby. I have always wanted to take a painting class. I mean, I took drawing and art history and 3D art back in college, but none of the emphasis was on painting. So I signed up to  take a class at the Virginia Museum of Fine Art. The class is called Introduction to Painting and it starts tonight. Goes every Wed for 8 weeks from 7-10. I am extremely pumped about it and am hoping it will help to relax me.

Thanks for hanging in there with me and reading about my life and all the upas and downs! Please visit again soon.

Hallelujah!

So- life has just been busy and crazy and all that jazz for the past several weeks. I am pleased to say that Jason and I are back in good health and that I am down 9 pounds thanks to Weight Watchers!! Weigh in day again today and hopefully I will make my 5% goal and add some more to that total!

In other goood news- I am pleased to finally announce that I have made my first sale in my Etsy shop! I was really starting to get frustrated and found myself not putting in that extra effort to post my newly created items. Now I want to get up and running again! I am ready to finish my studio- this is the week! And I am going to start back to my photos of new items. I need to get pumped again and hopefully sell some more items!

I spent the weekend cleaning up the house and planting new flowers for our screened in porch. We have a cookout coming up in a few weeks for Memorial Day.We have been busting butt to get so many projects done in time for the cookout. There is so much to be done!

I am just on cloud 9 because of my first sale! Wish me luck please and say some prayers that the streak will continue. We could really use the extra money right now with Jason being out of work. Hoping you all have a wonderful Monday!

World Hypertension Day

April 17 is World Hypertension Day. For those of you who suffer from High Blood Pressure due to those additional pounds or due to your family genes, today is the day to get yourself checked out and make a change to do something about it. For your health and for your future. I have high blood pressure on both sides of my family and have been fighting a battle with my weight for years now. I am on medication for the issue to save my life. It is terrible for your heart to contain the strain from high blood pressure. See your doctor today so that you can continue to be creative and live an amazing life!

Gold and Amethyst Heart Necklace by    TheEarringBoutique @  etsy.com

Back in the land of the living

Good morning Bloggers and welcome to Hump Day. It has been some time since I posted, about a week I believe. What a week it has been. My boyfriend came down with a nasty case of the shingles and then I came down with a horrible head cold and cough. I have been sick since last Thursday and am still fighting to get well. Today I actually feel as though my heads is once again connected to my body, but I am going to head to the doctor this afternoon if I can to make sure there is not something else going on. I have not been this sick for this long in some time.

I certainly hope that the rest of you are having a better week. I can say with a large amount of certainty that I have been re-evaluating several things in my life. I have taken some time off from my crafting mainly because I couldn't hold my head up long enough to create anything and I didn't want to sneeze all over my newly painted projects and make them germ infestations. I hope to get back into my studio tonight after a new haircut and color to jazz me up and refresh me. I can't wait to sit there and have someone wash my hair. I fall asleep every time! Anyway- I will be heading home to an empty house while J goes out for a night with the boys. My studio will be waiting, and no I still have not finished painting it. Started the priming and that is as far as I got.

On another bright note, I started Weight Watchers a week ago and went for my first weigh in this week. I lost 6.4 pounds in my first week! Talk about being pumped up! I am really enjoying writing down all of the things I eat since I am an organizational fiend and this gives me something to fuss over. It helps me to get organized in my new way of eating and living (no it is not a diet!). I am looking forward to the progress that I will make and I can't wait to see what I look like when I meet my goal. I turn 30 this year in November and I am determined to be a hot momma when I reach that milestone!

I will be back to 100% soon I hope and life will get back on track. I hope to get back to posting daily like I was and to keep you all posted on my crazy life.
Hope all is well!

Cinco de Mayo

May 5 is Cinco de Mayo! Who knew or really cared for that matter that today represents the Mexican victory over French forces in the Battle of Puebla back in 1862? Apparently this was a very unlikely victory. For most of us, however, this is considered a holiday for drinking la cerveza! Have a ball and celebrate it as you like. Use this festive day as an inspiration, with the bright colors and symbols, to create and design something beautiful. Drink to your hearts content and enjoy this fabulous Cinco de Mayo!

Cinco de Mayo, Handmade Miniature Talavera Tile Ring, Sterling silver, size 7   by  ShrunkenCatHeads  @  etsy.com