My New Purple Witch Owl

I was asked to design a logo of a purple witch owl and this is what I came up with. I am so happy with the way it turned out. Hope she likes it.

I Scored this Awesome Hutch Today and Need Help

I scored this awesome piece of furniture today and I just love all the details. The glass is rounded in all the windows, the drawers all lock with this awesome key and the top drawer folds down into a writing surface. The drawers are all assembled with tongue and grove so it makes me think it is a well made piece of furniture. It also weigh a ton. I tried to do some research on the company or the piece to find out a little about it and had no luck so if anyone has info or can share how to find information I would really appreciate. Thanks so much

Handmade Greeting Cards by Gwynn's Gifts

Here is the newest set of 3 cards I created available at http://www.gwynnsgifts.com/

How to Make a Birthday Card

A Gift from Grandpa

Today as I am gathering my stuff to leave the house my eyes caress the familiar photos of my family and I miss my dad and my grandparents so much. We have their pictures all over our homes because I wish for my boys to know them. Perhaps they wont remember there presence but I hope the stories I tell will stick in their mind about these great people that came before them and helped shape the person they call Mom.
Both of my grandparents and my father passed within 2 years of each other. This was the first time in my life that death had taken someone so close to me. I was at the hospital when my grandfather took his last breath surrounded by his wife, daughters and grandchildren. I was an incredibly moving beautiful moment. He had lived a long and happy life. He had been married to my grandmother for 63 years and his time here was done and we all knew it. For as sad as it was it was also a huge relief to know that he had finished with the body that was causing him so much pain.
My grandmother lasted almost a year without him. She was beautiful and brave and when she decided she was done here on earth we brought her home to spend the last days with us. This was another sad time but I was so happy she could stay with us in our home were she was surrounded by the people she loved.
Just moments after my grandmother took her last breath our home phone rang. It was her pastor calling. She said she had just gotten our number on her pager and she called right away. We told her that grandmother had just passed on but no one in the house had paged her yet. There hadn't been time to do anything yet. It was very strange moment and we all decided it must have been grandpa watching over us and helping out. To this day there is still no reasonable explanation so why be reasonable.

Flower Delight Series Newest Paintings

I am trying something new with my paintings and am doing a flowers series. I am really pleased with the way they turned out and plan to do some more with different color variations and backgrounds. It felt really good to step out of my box and try a new look. I did these with pens and watercolors.

Beautiful Cloak from Local Artist

This darling cloak was made by a very talented mother of five. It would be wonderful accent to any Easter outfit your little one plans on wearing. Her shop also had adorable cloaks for the barbies in your little girls life. You can see all her items at http://www.purpleowlwitch.etsy.com/ She is new to the Etsy scene so please stop by and show her some love and support. Thank you

Its the End of Something Big and the Beginning of Something BIGGER

Today is the first official day I am without my family consignment store. I turned in the keys over the weekend and filled up my storage with all of the stuff I just couldn't live without. I feel like it is the ending of something that was really big for me.
I bought a children's consignment business last year because I thought it sounded like a lot of fun and a great new experience. I had no prior knowledge of retail and my only knowledge of consignment was from personal shopping experience. It was an absolute blast. I meet so many nice people and had so much fun going threw new items people brought in. I had fun doing the displays and deciding on sales. I worked six days a week and I worked really hard from the time I got there to the time I went home. The hard work never bothered me. I enjoy working hard at something. The entire year I didn't get paid. The store covered its own expenses until about October of 2008 and then it started to go down hill. Sales were really slow and I couldn't figure out a way to change that. After a couple of months of no sleeping and being completely stressed out my family and I decided it was time to close the store. I had gotten an evening job and was doing the store all week. When the decision was made I felt a huge weight lift off me. I always feel better when I have made a decision and can go forward in that direction. I just spent the last two months notify all my consignors, getting things in order and saying good bye to everyone. I believe I will miss all of the wonderful people I met more then anything. I have made many new friends and learned lots of new things. I feel sad and happy all at once to have closed that chapter in my book.
Now I plan to spend time with my kids and hubby, paint a whole bunch, plant a garden, fix things around my house and just enjoy being me. I am only going back to work part time and I feel everyone will benefit from me being around more. I have all these great ideas for things to do with my kids this summer and all these fun projects to start. I also plan on cooking a whole bunch and learning a new skill. I just haven't decided what. I hope that our company Gwynn's Gifts will get back on track and I can take it to the next level. I am just plain excited.