Etsy Love: School Bus Treasury

It's that time again:  back to school!  I'm so excited that this year, I'll be going back to college instead of back to teaching!  Whoop!  What a change.  My stomach does flip flops, but not in a good way, the churny kind of way, for all those teachers I already see parked in the school parking lot, getting things ready for the new year.  Thank you 8 pound 6 ounce baby Jesus that it isn't me this year. 

And God bless all you teachers out there, who are still fighting the good fight, many of my friends and family included.  I hope your school year is full of good kids that make you laugh, lesson plans that make you proud, many small moments that make you love what you do, and plenty of cake in the staff lounge. 

I don't think I'll miss having bus duty at the end of the day.  I do, however, like school buses themselves.  So much so that they inspired me to create my newest Etsy treasury.  What do you think?  Anyone else out there love school buses, too?

Go now! Check it out! 

And seriously, say 'thank you' to your child's teachers this year!  It will mean the world to them!

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A Day in the Life

A lot has changed for me in the last few months.  For five years, I was a teacher.  I would have had a pretty predictable career had I stayed, but I just wasn't happy anymore.  So, I decided to resign from my teaching job.  That's when this adventure began.  And it's all been happening pretty fast.

I registered to go back to school full time for graphic design and began taking online classes.  I joined Spoonflower and began entering designs in the weekly contests.  I started this blog.  I began editing photos and creating digital art.  I opened my Etsy shop, Boju Designs.  I joined twitter and pinterest and made a facebook fan page.  Recently I've started doing more DIY projects and joining link parties on other blogs. 

And that brings us to today!  It's been so much fun entering this new world!  For now, my days are free to spend them how I need to, and I'm taking advantage of it, because it will change in a few weeks when I go back to school.  So last week, I decided to log my hours to see where all my time went.  I'm curious if it's anything like your days as bloggers and/or online shop owners?

My Day:  Thursday, July 26

9:10-9:40- Wake up, shower, fix quick breakfast.  (I know, I know, I slept in.  Not setting my alarm clock is a luxury I take advantage of whenever I can.)

9:40-10:00- Check emails to see blog comments and new twitter followers.  Post my newest blog post on the Etsy blog team forum, visit other Etsy blogs and leave comments.

10:00-10:45- Check the Etsy treasury I made yesterday, look at other people's treasuries and leave comments about items I like.  Return to my blog and reply to comments.  Link up my newest project to a link party, check out some cool projects on other blogs and leave comments.

10:45-10:55- Check Spoonflower, vote in the newest fabric design contest, leave comments on my favorite fabrics. 

10:55-11:00- Try to join a twitter meet & greet, but twitter isn't working.

11:00-11:50- Look up a Photoshop tutorial on textures, try it out on some new designs.  Check the Etsy forums regarding font downloads, download new fonts.

11:50-12:05- Pack up the camera and other items, print Michaels coupons, write a "to find" list for thrift stores.

12:05-12:30- Queen Anne's Lace photoshoot in my neighborhood.

12:30-2:30- Head to Goodwill, find some goodies on my list.  Run by the bank.  Head to Michaels, use my coupons on some necessities for future blog projects.  Pick up lunch at Noodles & Co.  Think to myself 'this is a bad decision' after handing over $9.00 for a little container of noodles and an even smaller container of salad.  Head home.

2:30-2:35- See that twitter is working, quickly join the meet & greet.

2:35-3:15- Eat lunch.  Reassess my Noodles & Co. decision and decide that it was in fact the best decision I've made today.  Catch up on my newest Bravo show, Miss Advised.  I laugh, cringe, and 'aw' my way through.  But mostly I cringe.  Typical Bravo.  And I love it.

3:15-3:30- Back to the twitter meet & greet.  I see who has similar interests and follow them. 

3:30-4:30- Sketch ideas for new banner designs.

4:30-5:00- Check email, Etsy forums, and the blog.  Link up Boju Designs to a link party and tweet the party link.  Tweet my new wall art post link.  Visit other blogs from the Etsy blog team.

5:00-5:30- Edit photos, write and add a new listing on Etsy and then post it on the facebook fan page.  Take a break to check some of my favorite blogs.

5:30- Andy's home!  Kiss hubby.

5:30-5:40- Quickly check Etsy stats to see if my tags are working and to see what buyers are looking for.

5:40-7:00- Head upstairs to talk to Andy, watch an episode of House Hunters and Shark Tank together (our new fave).

7:00-7:30- Photoshoot for some holiday items (yikes) that I'm getting ready for Etsy.

7:30-7:40- Check emails, send an email, get ready to go to the YMCA.

7:40-9:00- Head to the Y with Andy, swim laps (our new thing).

9:00-9:15- Make a new page on the blog, check email and Etsy, tweet my newest treasury link.

9:15-10:30- Eat dinner with Andy (super late tonight for some reason), watch Shark Tank and Teen Mom.  (am I a sucker for reality t.v. or what?)

10:30-11:00- Browse Etsy forums, blog link parties, and Spoonflower.

11:00- Bed!

11:10- Have an idea for a blog post (my best ideas always come as I'm falling asleep) so I get up to jot it down before I forget!

11:15- Bed!

After writing this all down I've learned 3 things.

1.  I spend way too much time in front of a screen.  I'm glad this will change a little bit when I head back to school in the fall and take classes like drawing and 2D art, which will get me away from the computer more. 

2.  I am usually such a reader!  I need to make time in my day for that again.

3.  Everything I do in my day now is new to me and I'm enjoying myself more than ever!  I'm so glad I made the decision to leave teaching and start blogging and designing.  I love it.  I really hope to grow Boju Designs into a successful small business one day.

Does this sound at all like your days as a blogger/ Etsy shop owner?

Is there anything else I should be doing to support/ promote my blog/ shop?

Do you have a daily schedule with certain times set aside for specific things, or do you do a little of everything here and there like me?

I would love you hear your ideas and suggestions!


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New Fabric Designs

Gymnastics Love fabric for the Olympic themed design contest this week at Spoonflower



Planes fabric for the aviation themed contest starting Thursday at Spoonflower

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Thrift Store Find turned Guest Room Decor

Yesterday, after seeing this awesome project, and also table top decor like this one,

I headed to Goodwill to search for glass items. 

Here's what I came home with.

I paid just under $4 for these guys.  Then I picked up a sprig of flowers at Michaels for $1.

And used some wire cutters to cut off little branches to be used in each vase.

Next up is to find an old tray to set them all on. 

And probably add pretty scrapbook paper to the bottom of it. 

Simple, and inexpensive.  What do you think?

Linking up to:

My parents are coming to visit this weekend!  LOVE!

 

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Etsy Love: Little Elephant Treasury

I was browsing through Etsy yesterday and just couldn't resist creating a treasury full of little blue elephants.  Seriously, how cute are little elephants?  They've always been one of my favorite animals, I think maybe because elephant starts with E, like my name :)  Is that weird?  Ah well.

Which reminds me... remember those horrible ice breaker name games?  The ones where you have to say your name along with a word that starts with the same letter of your name?  Then you go around and have to remember and say everyone's name and word?  Oh man.  My stomach honestly starts churning just thinking about the phrase "ice breaker."  Yeeeeeee ohhhhhhh.... Wow.  I can remember the only words that I could EVER think of that started with E were elephant, egg, and eggplant.  And now you can see why I was so cool and popular in middle school.  Nope, I'm definitely not a quick thinker when put on the spot.  I totally freeze up.  And this is why I can't think about ice breakers anymore.  So, on to the sweet little elephants (that have nothing to do with social situations)!

You should head over to Etsy to check out these items!  Pure love.

 

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DIY Tissue Paper Wall Art

Want a project that takes very few supplies and not a lot of moolah?  Try this tissue paper wall art!

Here's all you need.

I picked my tissue paper up at Party City for about $1 each.  The decorative one was around $2.  I chose yellow and gray because those are the colors of my sister's wedding next summer, so if she likes the way this turned out, she can use it at the reception. 

The steps for this project are really easy.  First, you need to cut out squares from the tissue paper.  Mine varied in size from about 1 inch to 2 inches square.  You can see I kept the paper folded over and cut strips first, then squares.  That really helped to save time. 

Once I had cut squares out of one piece of tissue paper per color, I started putting them on the canvas with mod podge.  This step is also called "mod podge your face off." 

(Sidenote:  I have always called this "modge podge" but I recently looked at the bottle and it's actually called "mod podge."  Whoa.  This blew my mind.  How long have I been saying this wrong?) 

Sometimes, less is more. With this project, I found that more is more. The more I layered, the better it looked. You can do any pattern you want, but I wanted to group my colors a little bit. 

The last step was to line the edges with the decorative paper.  I chose a wedding-y pattern just in case it shows up at the reception somewhere. 

Total cost of this project?  Less than $10 with coupons and sales.

Total time spent?  Probably an hour or so, along with some wait-time in between mod podge coats.

My verdict? I like it, but I don't love it. I won't be offended in the least if my sister doesn't like it. I think what I don't like is the gray- it's too dark for the yellow. The gray was also technically silver, so it was kind of metallic, which made the blending not as pretty.

I would love to try this again with different colors! I have a package of pastels (light pink, light yellow, light purple, light blue), which I think would look great together for some nursery art, but since I don't need any nursery art yet (sorry, mom), I didn't use those colors. Maybe I'll try it for my next friend who has a little babe :)

If you DO have kids, I think this would be a fun project to do with them!  You parents know better than me, but I would guess that depending on their ages, they could go from just helping place the squares, to doing it all themselves.  And how cute would it be if you cut out letters and put his/her name on top? 

If you try it, let me know!  I would love to see your versions- especially ones with a better color scheme than mine!

Linking up at:
Someday Crafts
Beyond the Picket Fence
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating
AKA Design
Simply Designing
Homemaker on a Dime
The Dedicated House
My 1929 Charmer



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New in the Shop Today

Hi everyone!  Today is my Etsy shop's one week anniversary!  I have been listing new photos and digital art since I opened, and now have 20 items in my shop!  I'm way excited.  I would love it if you checked it out!

Here's my newest photo. 

The fabric background was designed by me!  As I've mentioned before, I have been creating fabric designs at Spoonflower, mostly for the weekly contests, but I've also started creating my own.  I would like to turn this design into a fabric line and put it for sale on Spoonflower.  It would be my first! 

In other news, there's been lots of excitement over here:  our air conditioner broke!  Yowza!  Yes, it's been in the 100 degree range out here in Iowa, and our house peaked at 91 degrees.  I just love it when my forearms stick to the desk while I type, don't you?  And sweating while watching TV?  And trying to fall asleep?  Reminds me of the college dorms in August... which we all want to remember, right?  The only difference now is that we are just not equipped with fans anymore... we only have one small little guy.  Remember how many fans we had in college dorm rooms?  Two big box fans in the window, at least one other in the middle of the room, probably one at each desk and maybe another by your bed?  Or was that just me?  Oh memories...

Oh well, all is good now.  I guess I should be counting my lucky stars that a luxury like air conditioning was the worst of my worries. 


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