Goodbye, 2011

Hello there.

This is my first blog post. I'm not deluding myself into thinking that anyone would be interested in my ramblings, but I need an outlet for my crafting and some personal frustrations. So, internet and blogosphere, here I am. I have no idea what to put, so I may just write a little about everything.

5 facts about me:

1. I love my husband more than anyone or anything in the world. We've been married for 2.5 years, together for nearly 7 years, and I love him more each day.
2. I have a Bachelor's and a Master's in voice performance. I haven't truly sung for a while, and I desperately wish to get back involved in singing at ISU. I am trying to get a voice studio started out of my house, as well.
3. I love my furry children. (Chandler and Joey=darling kitties; Milo=rotten but adorable beagle) I will unapologetically post pictures of them doing something adorable (sometimes this does mean sleeping adorably) whenever I see fit. :)
4. I make jewelry. I buy jewelry. I love to wear jewelry. Basically, if it's sparkly, I love it. Chris always says that if we're having an argument, all he has to do is flash my wedding set in front of my face, and I'll be sufficiently distracted.
5. I love to craft, whether it is with paper, beads, boxes, glass... basically, anything that I can make prettier. If my hands ever stop working, I do not know what I will do.

(I guess this could count as a 6th fact, but oh well.) My husband and I have been trying to have a baby since July of 2010. Needless to say, it's not been going very well. I don't have a daily job anymore (I worked at a jewelry store from May of 2010 to September 2011), and so I've been pouring myself into my crafting. I find it to be my goal in life to make beautiful things; that being said, my crafts are beautiful, but my house is messy.... the two statements seem to be polar opposites. :)

I had been toying with the notion of starting a blog for a while, but I didn't think anyone would care to hear my thoughts, wishes, dreams, hopes, and I'm pretty sure my friends get sick of listening to me talk about crafting, not to mention my husband. (He's definitely got the "ooh that's pretty" combined with the "I'm going to pretend to be excited about this so she'll let me get back to my Xbox game" face down pat.) I finally decided today, December 31, 2011, that I am going to use this blog as a vent for my creativity and for my life. I think it will be good for me to get some of this off my chest.

In August of 2011, I began making "My First" baby scrapbooks. I've been fairly pleased with my little business on Etsy; my cousin/best friend bought a scrapbook to give to her friend at her baby shower, and that advertising has generated a respectable amount of business.

For example:

I love creating baby scrapbooks. I never used to like cutesy stuff, but I'm slowly gaining more and more respect for "cute." Perhaps it's because of my own maternal yearnings.

While my interest in the world of anything baby has certainly increased over the last year, I have always loved weddings and anything to do with weddings. Planning, researching, and crafting my own wedding was an amazing experience, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I decided this year to take my love of anything and everything romantic and wedding-related and translate it into wedding decor for my Etsy shop. 



For example:

Just looking at these makes me want to get married all over again. Oh, if I had known then what I know now... my wedding would have looked much better and more coordinated. (Or as my BFF says: "matchy-matchy." She doesn't subscribe to my love of color- and theme-coordinating everything.) I've often wondered what it would take for me to become a wedding planner, because I think that would meld my love of crafting with my love of weddings quite nicely, but I have a feeling that our fairly rural area would not utilize such a service, so I've never really pursued it. 
 
Another effect that I'm hoping this blog will have on me (in addition to getting some frustrations off my chest and giving me a place to show my crafty creations) is learning to take more pictures. My wonderful husband bought me a nice Nikon camera for my birthday, and it seems like whenever there is a prime moment for a photo, my camera is out in the car or the battery is dead. So one of my New Year's resolutions is to take more pictures. Actually, now that I think of it, I may start doing Project 365, which requires one to take at least one photo per day, so as to capture every day life, not just "important" days (birthdays, Christmas, etc.) Now that I think of it, I want to make a record of my New Year's Resolutions:


1. Take more pictures! At least one picture every day.
2. Play the piano (outside of teaching voice) for at least 1 hour per week.
3. Clean at least one messy area of the house each day, even if that means just doing some laundry. 
4. Put real effort into gathering voice students. Ignore my feelings of shyness, and put real effort into advertising and networking. 
5. Taking a long walk at least 2 times a week with the dog. 


There, I think that should be enough to keep me busy. I also need to make a resolution to not talk so much, but I think that would be broken about 2 minutes after midnight tonight. I'd like to promise that my future posts will not be so wordy, but I'm not sure that that is a promise that I can keep. :)

Until next time, 
Emily.