Better Late than Never... PS on Facebook!

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What? Christmas Already??

We're already deliberating over here over what we're going to be dressing up as for Halloween. (Well, the kids are as I'm not much of a dresser upper, even though I married into a very Halloween-y family... Thankfully they love me anyways!) We can do that because it's now September, just a month prior to October. It's totally on schedule, right? But Christmas? Surely not... I really didn't just see Christmas ribbon and ornaments decking the halls of our local super store, did I? That's a tad early, and a bit coo-coo, if you ask me. I mean, the temperature still pretty much triple digits most days.

I guess I've got a bit of the crazies going on too because I made (a version) of our Christmas card already! I guess it's not too crazy, seeing that's what I do, but if you look at my track record our card is generally the last one I get too. Last year, I actually had to send out a "Happy New Year" card because I was so delinquent. I decided to take our vacation photos and get after it. I'm also excited to try out some new shapes and designs I'm considering offering this year. So here it is... Let me know what you think!

A funny, telling, little side-story: We took the kids to the beach one night in coordinating outfits with the intent of taking some photographs to hang on the wall. Our expectations were high and we let the kids know exactly how we wanted them to act. We were a bit intense, if we're being honest. And you know what? They. were. terrible. They were goofing off and not following our directives. We were grumpy. And gripe-y. And disappointed. But you know what? The pictures turned out great. I really couldn't be happier with them. Their little personalities showed through. They were acting like their little brother and big sister selves. He was pestering her, and she was in her motherly (bossy) big sister mode, directing him and positioning him. If I were not in such a tizzy, I would have seen how precious this evening was. We got back to the condo, looked at the pics and promptly offered our apologies to the kids. Then we headed to Dairy Queen for Blizzards!

We definitely should have toned it down. No direction needed.

Lesson learned.

New in the Shop

I wanted to share with you a few new items I recently added to my Perfect Sentiment Etsy shop:

I made a colorful new Fruit of the Spirit print. I'm loving the rainbow spectrum at the moment and decided to use it on my favorite scripture. It's a downloadable pdf file of a 5x7 print. With it, you get 2 bookmarks ready to print as well.

If you love the bookmark, but don't want to print it yourself, I'll mail you the readymade bookmark with a bright ribbon.

I also updated the "please knock" signs with a few more designs. I'm serious when I tell you that this still saves our precious nap time! Just hang it by or over your doorbell and nap time will continue as planned.

And finally I decided to offer a few printable Christmas card options for you. It's a simple way to get a custom card on the quick and inexpensive.

Check it all out and let me know what you think!

Tis My Season

I just finished my first Christmas card order of the season! Makes me so excited and really gets my creative blood flowing. I'm excited about my 2010 holiday designs!

It also makes me bit anxious too... I know I talked about this before, but I am so not a business person. I love to create. I don't love to market myself. I get so excited to email out a digital sample to a customer. I do not like to charge money. I am all about the details for my products. I drop so many balls when it comes to taking care of business. Case and point:

I just spammed my entire Perfect Sentiment mailing list by mistake. Those sweet folks who elected to receive updates from me just got an in box full of 6 of the same emails from me. ARGH. I don't feel entirely comfortable sending out a "choose me" newsletter, but I step out of the ole comfort zone a couple of times a year. I spent the better part of the evening setting up my holiday version, and then I sent it out s-i-x times. Ooops.

I gotta work on the ins and outs of being a business-woman (Ha!) and mom-preneur (a fun new term I heard recently). In the meantime, I'm having fun creating my newest product, the notepad.

One is a custom pad for moms. I got the idea at a recent birthday party where one of the gifts had a tag on it with the multiple choice boxes for each kiddo. I thought a notepad version would be a good thing to have on hand to jot down a quick note to send to school. The other version is a ready-made little guy with a unique quote on each sheet. I'm going to try these out at my booth at a local craft show next week. Then they might just show up on myPerfect Sentiment site and my Etsy shop.

Right now I'm going to try to stop cringing at my spamming mistake. I'm sure it will pass.

T G I F !

Photoshoot Flop

We ventured out this weekend to take our Christmas card pictures. It did not go well. At all. The kids looked cute, but that's as far as we got toward a successful picture...

It was freezing cold.

One kid stepped in dog poo.

The other sat in duck poo.

It started to rain.

We headed home to de-poo-ify, dry off and try for an indoor photo. No one was hip on the idea, especially the two-year-old. And if anyone was eaves-dropping they might have overheard a couple of parents who teetered between acting like complete clowns and spewing threats in attempt to elicit smiles. (Makes me laugh thinking about the possible stories behind the pictures on all of the Christmas cards arriving in the mail). It wasn't pretty, and as you can see it didn't quite work out. I'm trying to formulate plan B...

Hopefully Kristin's got her pictures ready because she'll be getting a set of Perfect Sentiment custom cards. Thanks to all who left comments. I appreciate it!!

Happy Tuesday!

The Show

So yesterday was tons of fun! Having never participated in an event like this, I didn't quite know what to expect. It was so encouraging. I felt like a legitimate business gal with a real business. (even though I still so stink at the business side of things... You should have seen me trying to price my products. I'm a mess.) It was so neat to be in a room full of creative women and seeing their craft. Check out some of the businesses that I was introduced to yesterday:

May Books

Anahata Wraps

Jany Lee Designs

Ave Gifts

Design Roots

Coco and Peanut Photography

And these were just the ones that I was able to grab cards from. I can't wait to go back through my program and check out the other sites.

Part of the fun and stress was planning my table layout. I was worried about how to make it look good on very little money. I scrounged around the house and borrowed from friends and family. My favorite find was the sewing machine drawers to use to hold my notecards. (Thanks Mom and Molly!) Here's the gist of it:

And here's my booth neighbor and a peak at her photo jewelry. You might recognize her from her blog, Kotori. We were both sporting the cutest little vendor aprons that she made for us. (Can't believe I didn't snap a pic of this: Boo.) Apparently you can make one "quite easily" by following her DIY, but I prefer the DIFM method (Do It For Me: Thanks Tonya!).

All in all, it was a wonderfully exhausting day. I'm feeling quite ready for the weekend, and some relaxing, and that bottle of wine. Hope you have a great weekend too!

It's Time For a Soiree

I'm off peddling my goods today. If you're local, stop by to say hello. (Email me for details.)

PS Printables In Use

It's been fun seeing pictures of my family rules and menu planners all framed, hung and in use. Here are a few pictures that have been sent my way.

{Loving them on Amy's bright green wall: So fun!}

{check out that super cute use of chalkboard paint!

And I just realized Tonya's got a diy up on the same type of thing.}

{She asked for the recipe section to be added... such organization!}

{This neat arrangement as seen here.}

Two of these are custom sets, using their own personal rules. I took the one with the Bible verses , modified it to go along with the standard set, and made it available in my shop. I've just got four printables available over there right now, but there are lots more in my head (just have to find the time to actualize them). Leave a comment here if you'd like your choice of a menu planner, calendar, or a set of family rules. I'll randomly pick someone and email your choice straight to you.

So I guess this little post turned into a giveaway:

Leave a comment as to which printable you'd choose if you were to win.

Who knows, maybe I'll giveaway a couple.

I'll let you know on Monday!

Showing Some LOVE:

Place your Valentine order by

February 1st & receive a 10% discount.

Gotta LOVE that!

(Just mention the blog when ordering.)

Valentines Valentines Valentines

Perfect Sentiment Valentines are officially here!

2x3.5 Lolly Pop Tags... Just insert a candy treat!

COMING SOON: VALENTINES!

Check the website soon... I'll be updating it with some way cute valentines!

Ring in the New Year with a New Year's Greeting!

Are you lamenting the fact that you didn't send out Christmas cards this season? Not to worry! Send out a New Year's card! January is the perfect time to send out a greeting to your loved ones. (or those folks that somehow got left off of your Christmas card mailing list this year... how does that happen?) Any of my holiday Greetings can be modified to be a New Year's card.

Take a look these samples. The first one is the Holiday Scroll card with a few modifications. It works great as a New Year's card ( and take a look at how flippin' cute those girls are)!

Did you get a great family picture during the holidays? This next card used a family picture from their December wedding.

Just pick your photo and the design you like, and I'll do the rest! Here's to starting the new year off right. Happy 2009 to you and yours!