Studio 4:13

Day 8

A piece of advice you have for others...

Stop striving for perfection!  You're missing out on all the fun while you're trying to make everything perfect.  Good enough is OK!

Day 7

The thing you're most afraid of...

There's lots of things I'm afraid of, although the fear of them don't rule my life.  Like heights, extreme heights.  Like visiting the former-Sears Tower in Chicago, entire glass wall looking out to below?  No thank you.  Claustrophobia, being too closed in and not able to breathe.  Bugs with lots of legs - spiders, CENTIPEDES.  Hairy yucky fast-moving can't-kill-em centipedes!

Sensitive things like embarassment.  Something happens and everyone just looks at you and noone comes to your rescue?  Hate that.  Other people's opinions of me.  I remember when I went back to college to become a surgical tech and some classmates invited me out to a happy hour and one woman told me I was a goody two-shoes and EVERYONE in class thought so.  Mind you at the time I was back at school I was 29 years old, this woman was in her late 40's, and in my confusion (and sadness - I remember leaving and crying in my car cuz hey, i'm sensitive) I thought gosh, everyone thinks that of me?  And, why is a goody two-shoes a bad thing?  I loved college and what I was learning so I paid attention and asked questions.  Guess who got a job out of the gate and who didn't?  Mmmhmm. 

But what I'm most afraid of is how my kids will turn out.  Have I ruined them with too much yelling? Not paying enough attention?  Poor diet habits?  Will they have good values when they reach puberty and are able to say no to things they're not ready for?  Are they making life-long friends?  Will they know how to talk on the phone or write a letter instead of texting and zoning out on a device?  That is my fear, am I bringing up my children right.

Day 6

How do you answer the question "what do you do?" if you couldn't answer with your job? 

Do crafty projects alone.

Do crafty projects with my kids.

Spend too much time online.

Garage sale.

Thrift shop.

Read.

Go to bible study.

Enjoy small town life.

Day 5

Profess your love for another blogger - why and what makes them great?

That was easy - The Hollywood Housewife.  It's the way she writes.  Most blogs I follow deal with craftyness or home decor projects, but I follow Laura Tremaine because of the way she writes.

Go check her out. Now.

 

Day 4

Favorite quote and why you love it...

Ok, day four was 4 days ago, I'll catch up I promise!  It's fun to be doing this challenge because at least there are topics to work from.  Some days I have lots of topics in my head (that I never find time to blog about) and other days I sit and stare at the blank screen.  On with the show...

You can check out my board on Pinterest.  I'm always pinning inspirational or funny quotes here for possible future use in my sign-making business.

This is not a quote I go around saying daily or have memorized or anything, but it's true, and I like it.

Day 3

Things that make you uncomfortable...

tight pants

small shoes

keeping my mouth shut when the Lord is telling me to

new social situations - the INTJ in me is ok at work meeting new people, attending meetings with those I've never met before, but going to an event where I don't know anyone gives me anxiety.  Even moreso if there's noone there that reaches out to me.  Turn that around, and if I'm the host, or I know people at an event that others may not know, I will definitely introduce them into the conversation because I know what it feels like

My list was longer but I realized there are things that give me more of a pissed-off feeling than uncomfortableness - maybe that will be a topic later on this month :)

Day 2

Educate us on something you know alot about or are good at is the topic of the day, and I don't know if I know a lot about snow, but I sure see and live with a lot of it!

It's May 2nd, we're in the middle of spring and we got 14" of snow in our town while a half hour away my parents are telling me they have nothing!  Sounds like this will be a distant memory come Monday.  Oh wait, I've said that before...

 

 

Day 1

The story of your life in 250 words or less...

Born in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1974.  Parents divorced when I was 5.  Mom and I lived with her parents, Dad lived with his.  Mom remarried in 1984, my sister was born in 1986.  Dad remarried in 2010.

I have always enjoyed being around my elders, maybe because I grew up with them always being around as my parents lived with them.  I loved their stories, the history, and learning from them.   I have a love for all things old, or should I say "nostalgic"?  I love finding treasures at garage sales that take me back to my youth.  I love talking about "remember when" memories.

Now I am married with 2 children in a small town in Western Wisconsin creating new "remember when" memories!

Blog Every Day Challenge

31 Days of Blogging Challenge starts tomorrow.  So glad I found out about this one today.  I haven't blogged in months and if I'm going to keep paying TypePad, I better get at it :)

See you tomorrow! 

Help!

I was losing my creative mojo with all of the business-y aspects of a handmade business - online marketing, creating enough to keep the shops stocked up.  Ever try to force creativity?  You can't.  Well you can, but you end up hating your end product usually.  So what's a girl to do?

I knew I needed a better online presence, and while my day job is in technology, I didn't want that to become my night job too.  Then I had an epiphany - hire that technical stuff out!  And that's where Sarah from Opening Doors MN came in.  She took my style and turned it into a fabulous website, www.studio413online.com!  But not just that, she also took care of my shop and blog banners and business cards so I could have one cohesive look to all areas of my business.  LOVE that!

So if you're new to this handmade business thing, or new to the marketing pieces that go along with it, I suggest hiring it out.  (And I really recommend working with Sarah!)  Because you'd rather spend your time creating than frustrating :)