Home Office Peek

My home office has gone through many rearrangements in the past year and a half. I'd been meaning to share the latest one since the addition of a much prettier window treatment earlier this month, but June has been packed with a flurry of activity, that I'm only getting around to it now.

The curtain panels are from etsy seller Exclusive Elements.  I'd been coveting yellow chevron ones for a while and hers were on sale, so I finally ordered them.  I think I sort of messed up with the measuring as they barely cover the width of the window, but they are 100 times better than the curtains we had before (pictured below), which were left by the previous homeowners. 

the terribly blurry photo does not help its case

my little helper

It's a little difficult to get good photos of my workspace during the day as the window does not allow a ton of natural light in, but I like how it looks as the sun is going down. 

And as the sun sets this Friday evening, I'll wish all my Canadian readers a Happy Canada Day Long Weekend! Be back soon with more sneak peeks of our ever changing home... next up, Whitney's big girl room!

Stripes & Glasses

Stripes and glasses have been a prominent theme of late... as you can see by some of the newest things in the shop.

 Owl Father's Day card

Pirate Kitty Goes on a Sea Adventure Art Print

Bookish Clever Kitty Art Print

Striped C is for Cat Tee

More things coming to the shop soon. The last several weeks we've all been recovering from a rather nasty cold so it's been kind of slow going. And now Whitney just picked up another bug, so it may get quiet again around here.  Wishing everyone a healthy and happy Weekend!

Catsparella Giveaway

I was contacted by the sweet Stephanie of Catsparella a few weeks ago to do a giveaway.  She wrote some lovely things and now there's just one more day to enter this kitty-licious giveaway.

Hope all the mothers out there had a wonderful day yesterday!  I had a restful weekend, but now feel like I'm coming down with a little cold.  So I'm off to lie down for a wee bit before Whitney wakes up.

Birthday Cards, Mais Oui!

Birthday cards are finally in the shop! French versions will be available soon.  You could say I was somewhat inspired by my parents' recent trip to Paris. Maybe someday, Matt and I will get to visit the famed City of Love.  Au revoir for now!

Hoppy Easter!

In honour of the holiday, I'm having a little Easter sale in my shop today and tomorrow until midnight Easter Monday. 20% off all regular priced merchandise in the shop. Just enter code:HOP2IT at checkout.

Duplo & Doubles

Ever since my sister gifted Whitney with 2 sets of Duplo, it has not only become part of her daily vocabulary, but also part of the daily routine for Whit.  Her day is not complete if she has not built a house or tower.  A lot of the time on her own, but usually there is a request that mommy or daddy play with her.  

On another note, the other day, while Whitney and her daddy were doing a google search for pictures of her Auntie Audrey, they found this beautiful painting (below, left).  It's entitled Audrey with Teddy Bear by an artist named Xi Pan.  I couldn't help but gasp when they showed me the image, as it bears a striking resemblance to Whitney.  That bear she's holding could be her beloved pink kitty cat.  Matt calls it the painting of Whit, but of course it's not her since it was done even before she was born.  There are a handful of other paintings with children by the artist, but mostly she paints women, either nude or clothed.  I recommend checking out her work.

Confessions

I've been debating about posting about this for the past several weeks, but finally just need to get it off my chest:

A few weeks ago, I was considering giving up on my business.

Seriously.

I was feeling so rotten about it.  Lack of sales, retailers returning stock to me, and dwindling funds made me question the legitimacy of my business.  Not only my business, but my path in life.  If I'm not making enough to help support my family, is this really my calling?

But it's not as if I went into this line of work for the money.  And thankfully, my mister has a full-time job that allows me to keep doing what I'm doing, so most of the money I make goes back into the business or else covers things for Whitney and occasionally goes towards some household bills.

Let's face it, though.  My full-time gig right now really is being a mom.  Take today, for example.  We booked a nanny to look after Whitney, since Matt is busy working on a film and I had hopes of getting in more than 3 hours of work.  But due to unforeseen circumstances (a car accident - no major injuries, I think), the nanny couldn't make it and my plans went out the window.  I could have made a stink about this.  Instead, I see it as a sign that today was simply meant to be spent with Whitney.

These years with her are so precious - though they don't always seem so - and I need to remember that I won't be able to get them back.  She won't always want to spend this much time with me.  

So, what it basically comes down to is that I have to remember not to be so hard on myself.  I am a full-time mom, running a part-time business.  No matter how much money I make, I don't want to lose the love for what I do.  And I am NOT giving up.  It just may take me a bit longer to get to where I want to be.

On the bright side, I finally designed some baby congratulations cards, currently available in my etsy shop and also at Kid Culture.

And I am looking to expand my list of retailers this year, particularly in Canada, so if anyone has suggestions for cool shops to approach, please do share.  Thanks for listening.