Divinely Swirled Treasury by Sampler Village

Recently, I contributed some tags for a couple of sample boxes through Sampler Village. If you aren't familiar with sample boxes, they are quite amazing. It's an opportunity for a buyer to purchase one box that includes samples of goodies from many online stores that specialize in handmade items. I bought a box in December and it included candles, cookies, lotions, cupcake toppers, wine glass charms, lip balm and more. So for a very reasonable price, I was able to try out products from several different stores.

As a seller, I provided samples of my tags and cards which were distributed in sample boxes and mailed. It's a great way to get some exposure and all I had to do was supply a few samples.

Sampler Village was started by Traci Porczynski in 2009. She spends many hours and expends a lot of energy helping promote handmade sellers. I am thankful for the work she does! I hope you will take time to visit the Sampler Village blog for more information.

I'm also a member of the Sampler Village Etsy Street Team. Traci compiled an Etsy Treasury for some of the Team members and she picked some of my tags. Here it is:




Thanks Traci, for all your hard work!

Figuring Out a Plan of Action

I always thought I was an organized person, until I became a stay-at-home mom. Now, I am faced with chaos where ever I go: dirty laundry, dirty dishes, messy bedroom, messy family room, toys in the yard, leaves on the deck, clothes and towels on the bathroom floor and loads and loads of craft "treasures" as far as the eye can see in the craft cave.

(uh, here's an aside...I call it the "Craft Cave", because it's a room in the basement that has no windows. I love it! I know there are advantages to having windows in one's craft studio and someday maybe I'll have that. But for now, I'm just thrilled to have a space to call my own).

I'm also challenged in the areas of planning ahead and setting goals. I've come to appreciate the fact that life is a lot easier if these skills can be mastered, so I'm trying very hard to work in that direction. After all, the more activities, projects and people you add to your life, the more you have to be on top of things or you'll just go crazy and it won't be any fun, right? It occurred to me last night that I have committed myself to three art fairs within the next 8 weeks plus an art exhibit in June. If I don't get a game plan, I'll be showing up to these events with a little card table with some cards, a couple of magnets and a few prints. I'd really like to have more of a variety than that!

I have wanted to expand my "product line" to include some hand painted wooden items (boxes, candle sticks and wall hanger-peg-thingies). I tend to get overwhelmed then I can't focus enough to start or finish any of my "brilliant" ideas. So last night, I decided that I will spend the next 8 weeks working on getting new items to take to the art fairs. Then I'll use my submissions to the Thursday Sweet Treat to make new prints, magnets and cards. If I follow through, I should have plenty of new items to keep things fresh.

I feel a little better now, since I have a plan of action. Keep your fingers crossed that I will consistently work toward that goal! With this post, I'm including my latest Sweet Treat entry. The topic this week is Vibrant Chaotic Rainbow. Be sure to check out the other submissions on Thursday, you won't believe the incredible ways people interpret the topic. You'll see some really wonderful art!

New Drawing

I just wanted to post something colorful, since I haven't done that in a few days. This is a colored pencil drawing that I started quite awhile ago, but didn't finish until recently. I'll probably work on it a little more, but not much.

That's all for now. Have a great day!