ShopOhMandie.com

So I finally did it. I finally bought my very own domain name. I am now officially http://shopohmandie.com/. Woo!

I thought that to take my little business to the next step I'd better grab a URL while it was still available, although everything else having to do with maintaining a website is a venture that I plan on taking taking super slow and learning as much as possible about.

I haven't figured out how to host my site yet, or whom to do it with, however, but I did buy the domain from http://godaddy.com/ for only $10.00 and some change, all in all an amazing investment!! Their page builder was super confusing, so I ended up just forwarding my snazzy new website to a format which I'm familiar with, using blogger. (That and I wanted to link this blog in and make it all super cohesive)

There's no shopping cart system yet, nor do I know if there ever will be. With etsy I have a built in traffic system which is perfect for me. There is a little bit about my shop philosophy and such so if you feel so compelled, click on the links under my blog banner and explore all things Oh Mandie.

My little shop is growing, and it feels quite fine :)

Morning Smiles

The dew sits in tiny droplets atop the ferns

The sun begins to rise

A child stirs

The pitter patter of small feet dance across the linoleum floor

Dandelions awake with the mornings light

A robin whistles a happy tune

Eggs sizzle in the pan

All around us the earth is waking
The morning smiles in sweet belly laughs

Yawns

Rubbing sleepy eyes fresh from the passing evening dreams

Time moves along

It Could Hardly Be Considered "Work"

Its Saturday, the weekend. Although really for me the only difference between a weekday and the weekend is that I don't have to put Brayden on the school bus at 7:30am or get him off at 11:20am. The closest thing I get to a weekend are the Thursdays and Fridays that my husband is off and there is another set of arms to pick Gage up or to play Go Fish with Brayden. My days run together ... time in general seems to slow down or speed up so frequently that I often lose sight of what is really going on.

And I love every single second of every single minute of it.

I don't work a normal 9 to 5, but rather sunrise to sunset. I don't dread Mondays or long all week long for a paycheck. The only commute I make is from the house to the mailbox and I get paid in hugs and kisses. Its a charmed life, that's for certain.

Some days are harder than others. Even though I am essentially the boss, the kiddos I work for have their off days too. Some days are filled with tears, scraped knees, and spending more time in the corner than out of it. But for every moment of stress and hardship a simple smile or a sweet giggle is payment enough. The best part of all though, is the freedom to do what I love: be a mother.

On today's agenda: a possible walk to the playground, if we can dodge the raindrops that is, playing lots and lots of Uno, Watching Thomas the Tank Engine, and laughing .... a lot.

Enjoy your weekends friends, I know that I will be enjoying mine :)

A New View ... Again

Hello Friends!!

Happy Thursday! Yeah ... its 5am and I've been up for a bit now; the product of a late and long nap yesterday evening. The house is peaceful and quiet with the exception of the soft buzz from the overhead fan in the living room. Yeah I'm pretty sure that I like 5am, or at least today while I'm wide awake I do.

As you can probably tell I've changed things around here .... again. Its what I do :) It seems to be my constant struggle, finding that balance and cohesion in both my shop and my blog. Well that and I'm incredible indecisive.

I tried out the whole taking pictures on different mediums thing with the teacups (refer to this post to see what I'm talking about) and I like it to a degree. I think that the earrings look fabulous hanging from the vintage cups, and some of the jewelry as well looks amazing on the saucers, however, the overall color scheme didn't seem to fit well with the colors I use in my jewelry (particularly when paired with the journals in my shop) I have a tendency to lean towards blues and cooler colors in my designs, or so it seems.

So I've reverted a few of my main photos of my listings back to the simpler photo styles and I've left a few of them with the vintage china. I think that it adds a nice mixture to my shop. I've also picked up a few old books from the thrift shop with some really cool bindings that I'm going to experiment taking pictures with as well. But for now I've got a list of about 10 different items in my shop that I'd like to re-photograph ... if only the sun would come out.

The number one piece of advice I've heard in regards to selling on etsy is that your photos can always be improved upon .... so I intend to see if that is indeed true :)

Hope you all enjoy the new scenery 'round here!

A Little Rusty

I'm fairly sure that I've run out of interesting things to blog about at the moment.... so we'll just do this post as me screaming with glee because my super awesome Bubble Beret from softspoken came in the mail a few days ago.

Oh, and I look totally hot in it :)

Mr Brainwash

Lets just say that your online business was an awesome success. Your bills are paid and you have a bit of disposable money sitting in paypal. Whats the one big thing you reward yourself with? What is your goal purchase?

One day I WILL own a piece of art from Mr Brainwash. This piece in fact, or rather a print of, which runs for $100.00.

In case you don't know who Mr Brainwash is, go to his website! Number one, its awesome, with lots of fun things to click - that's the best way I can describe it. But in a nutshell he is a pop art graffiti artist.

A few more pieces of art for your viewing pleasure::

Whistle While You Work

I've been one busy bee the last few days with all of the holiday hoopla going on. Monday brought with it a sense of normalcy again, which for me meant getting back to work and putting my nose to the grindstone. So I have some new lovelies that I'll be posting in the shop soon.

Here is a bit of a sneak peek :)

I find it hard to make things without listening to music. I'm absolutely sure I'm not alone in that fact. I suppose its something about the emotions that an awesome song can provoke that drives me and somehow shines through in my pieces. What do you listen to?

My Current Playlist
Kings of Leon - Sex on Fire
Ray LaMontagne- You Are the Best Thing
Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah
Fleet Foxes - Tiger Mountain Peasant Song
Iron and Wine - Fever Dream
Jason Mraz & Colbie Caliet - Lucky
Muse - Starlight

Easter Weekend Bliss

Hello friends! How was your Easter? Wonderful I hope. Mine was .... busy. Wonderful and blessed, but busy!

We started the weekend with church Saturday evening. Here is Brayden and I looking all spiffy and smiling goofy smiles thanks to the sun that was in our eyes.

After church the boys (Brayden especially) both reveled in the fact that it was a Saturday and they could stay up late, so I celebrated our late night and all of our Easter excitement by making some chocolate dream pies for Sunday. Brayden and Gage helped by licking the bowl clean and going to bed at 9pm instead of 8pm.

Easter morning was a blur. A candy filled, Easter grass strewn blur. Mike, unfortunately had to work and was long gone way before the boys woke up, so momma got the be the energizer bunny yesterday and run around with the kiddos before making a massive meal and having a house packed full of hungry family members.

Here are my two little bunnies.

And of course we ended the evening with an Easter Egg hunt, because apparently we didn't have enough chocolate floating throughout the house at this point :)

After that I don't know... it was 7:30 in the evening when I passed out cold from exhaustion. Mike bathed the boys and somehow put them to bed, despite the sugar buzz that kept them going and going all day long.

All in all it was a fabulous Easter that we were blessed to be able to share with family and friends.

I hope that yours was a wonderful one too!

Much Love ♥

XOXO

Seeing Green

I've come to the realization that there are two types of mothers out there in the world. The ones that have to constantly keep their kids clean and tidy (aka the neurotic ones) and the ones who laugh when a huge mess is abound.

I find myself as the latter of the two.

So this Easter as my son walks around with a green hand I'll be smiling :)
(And making obvious Hulk references!)

Wings and Whispers

I did a bit of a shop update today. I was feeling very whimsical and free, which is pretty apparent in my over abundance of recent butterfly listings.

Stop on by and take a peek ♥And for those who were waiting, I spoke with my doctor today and I am 100% cancer free! I meet with her on the 30th to discuss what to do next. But I'm healthy, so yay!

Peep Peep

14 Super Sweet Peep Cupcakes for Brayden's Kindergarten Easter Party
♥

Tonight's Agenda - Coloring Easter Eggs ... stay tuned!

Another Day

Well the doctor at the Breast Care Clinic said that from her experience that the ultrasound and the mammogram showed that my mysterious breast lump is probably just a cyst, but that she can't say for certain because a radiologist has to review it.

They will send the results to my family doctor who will hopefully call me sometime tomorrow and that we'll go from there.

A mountain of worry off of my shoulders ♥

Big thank yous to everyone who left me such amazing and kind words of support.

Grey Skies

I've been kind of a bad blogger - sorry about that. I don't really dive into personal posts too much here, so if that's not exactly your cup of tea, please feel free to click on :)

Its been so grey and cold here the last few days. The wind and the rain hasn't let up and we're supposed to get snow SNOW! on Monday and Tuesday.... there went my plans for taking new pictures anytime soon. But anyways it seems like when it rains it pours, quite literally. Life has been a bit grey for me as well lately.

About a week and a half ago I all of the sudden having sharp pains in my chest and along with a nice lump at the top of my right breast to match it. I assumed perhaps it was a pulled muscle and that maybe I had picked Gage up wrong. When the pain didn't go away and it because almost unbearable to sleep, take a deep breath, cough, or expand my lungs in any way, shape or form, I finally broke down and went to see my doctor.

Long story short, I have a marble sized lump in my breast that I have to go and get a mammogram for to rule out the C word. And it seems as though the time between now and then is standing at a halt.

My doc is pretty confident that's not what it is, however, and is probably just a cyst that will have to be drained or removed, but its suspicious enough to warrant getting it checked, especially seeing as I have a family history.

It probably is nothing major, but still I'm scared as hell. I'm not even close to being old enough that something like this should be a concern of mine, and yet here it is.

So take it from me ladies, feel your boobies no matter how old you are or what your history is because sometimes life has a way of creeping up on you

A Change of Scenery

The number one bit of advice that I've received from other successful etsy sellers is that there is always something in or about your shop that can be improved on, starting with pictures.

My photographs have always been simplistic in style, with the main focal point of them being the item itself with a soft and bright background behind it. As lovely as I think this is I have to admit that my little shop is starting to look a bit drab.

I collect vintage tea cups, something that I've done for awhile now. Each one is unique, beautiful, and oh so delicate - much like the jewelry I'm trying to find new ways to display. So with that said what better option for a punch of color and texture than tea saucers and cups?

I'm still a bit undecided on this, as you can probably tell by looking at my shop I've only switched a few of the pics around. I'm afraid of losing cohesion in my photographs, which is important when you're selling two vastly different items in one shop, such as jewelry and journals. ... That and I love some of the snapshots I've taken of some of my pieces and I don't want to lose em! But with a shop update looming (waiting for a sunny day!) I'm unsure how I should go about photographing my new pieces.

So what do you think?? Keep it simple, or go for the new backgrounds?