Art on the go

Last week I introduced a new item on the Etsy site and I sold my first one today! I had just happened to be designing a new kids version of it as well at the same time. Here's my 3 year old son, Andrew graciously modeling how well the travel chalkboard fits into little hands. Give him this little chalkboard and a bowl of parmesan goldfish and he's good to go!


And if you're so inclined for more product shots, click here.

On mommy blogging

Last month I was contacted by a local writer for an upcoming interview on Columbus moms who blog, thanks to a referral from Christina. My first reaction was "Oh man, I'm going to be quoted and I'm going to say something totally stupid..." but I really wanted to participate. (Plus, FREE PR!) Well, as it turns out, my paranoia was a bit exaggerated and the quotes she used were just fine. Although I sound a bit like a walking poster child for mother's guilt. And I stop to think, why do I sound that way? Because truth is, I thought I overcame that issue, but I think I still carry some guilt with me for being a working mother. And what is that emotion really... guilt for working? Men don't seem to suffer from this at all. The emotion is truly ironic, because truth is, we're doing well by our kids by showing them the value of hard work and setting a good example as a woman that we can do more than just master domesticity, which I think will in turn benefit my sons when they grow older and choose relationships with women. I don't imagine my sons will ever end up expecting any woman to cook and clean for them, which is an extremely important lesson. But alas, all that is far in the future, and for now all I seem to say is, "I can't play checkers with you right now... we'll go on a bike ride later... no, I can't go get ice cream right now..."

So while I don't really blog much about the daily grind of my motherhood anymore, it's still there in the back of my head. I think I've vented plenty on the subject in older blogs and this one on occasion that I don't really feel the need to put much emphasis on it anymore. But there's a great community out there of other women bloggers going through the same thing, at the same time. And it's always been very reassuring. I started blogging back in 2006 as a way to deal with the emotions of weaning my last son, which was an extremely bittersweet time: blissful for not being tied down to breastfeeding anymore, but sad in knowing that this was my last child and therefore I would never be doing it again. I found a great community who understood exactly what I was going through.

Thanks to Susan Owens for the article in Columbus Monthly. It's about as close as I'll ever get to Dooce: my name on the same page as her picture!

Columbus from the pavement

Yesterday we all went as a family to the Columbus Art Museum to catch the last day of the Charles Burchfield exhibit, and then went exploring around the city a bit. Having been city dwellers for quite some time before moving to Ohio, my husband and I really like to get out of the suburbs and hit the dirty pavement once in a while. While Columbus is by far the cleanest city we've ever explored, it has some interesting nooks and crannies when you just walk the streets taking in the sights. Here's some I found:

Stay for the Buffe

I was back in the motherland again---Zanesville, for those who are not familiar with my posts about my parent's hometown---for a family reunion this time. After a long day of catching up with relatives I hadn't seen in years, my mom, me and the kids were exploring the downtown searching for this old paddle boat that I used to ride on when I was a kid. It's called "The Lorena". I loved riding that boat when I was a kid. Me, a Jersey shore kid, and I thought this paddle boat going down the Muskingham River was the coolest thing.

Anyway, a short walk from the Lorena was a little area of shops and a small train-car themed restaurant. And it gave me yet another classic shot of Zanesville:

And so this is one of the reasons why there was a women's lib, I suppose

My husband asked me once, "Why in all these commercials they make the guys out to be like such baffoons?" Considering we both used to work in the commercial broadcast industry we kind of know the answer, but nonetheless, the male character portrayed on TV these days on sitcoms and commercials is most often a bumbling idiot, and the wives are usually the superior characters.

The following Volkwagen ad from an August 14, 1964 Life magazine edition may provide the answer in a sort of advertising karma way. Us wives, we were the baffoons in the 60s.

I can't help but scoff at the tone of this ad. The "dumb wife does it again..." Probably written by some pipe smoking art director on Madison Avenue, similar to one of the misogynist characters on the TV show, "Mad Men", as this ad was written during the era the show portrays.

Oh us dumb chicks, window shopping again and not watching where we're going. Tisk tisk. Thanks to Volkswagen our husbands won't get so mad at us.

Oh how we've come a long way.

Yay! The zinnias are blooming

The kids and I planted these from seed around my mailbox in June and figured they would take all summer to bloom. I'm so excited that in the past couple of days the buds have started to pop open! I just love summer. My favorite season of all.

And let the buying commence

There was some advice that was provided to me and a friend at a local craft show once as we were talking with a fellow vendor about our Etsy shops. Here's the simple advice: list something daily. And this is good advice coming from someone who has had 845 sales on her site, as opposed to my, *ahem* 17. And I believe in it, because I've experienced the proof. I've been a little lax with listing new things and feeling a bit indecisive about where the business is going. As it turns out the answer is a little more complex than I may want it to be. The simple answer is: do what sells. But the business may very well need multiple personalities in order for me to sustain a future to make this my career. While my crafts are the most items that have sold, it's a bit of a turn from what the business plan was from the beginning. But hey, go with the flow right?

Anyway, back to the Etsy advice. I have been listing like a crazy woman yesterday and today. Wedding coasters, custom trivets, art trivets, and more coasters. The kids were away with my sister-in-law for the day/night yesterday so it gave me a little peace and quiet to really concentrate on some things. It's amazing what you can get done without kids around! I can't wait until Andrew goes to school full-time! (*sigh* 2 more years to wait on that one. When I think back to before I had kids, I have no idea what I did with myself on a daily basis).

So now, please come back to me, listing karma. I've listed like a mad woman. Now let the buying commence.


This is a new listing: a custom trivet.