Janna Wilson

A few of my favorite things right now...and a tweet tweet!

I love circles.  I just discovered this easy peasy circle cutter. LOVE.  Lucky girls at IU are ALL getting one!!!  WOW!  Thanks Deb!

I love seeing the bottom of laundry baskets :) ahhhhhhh.

Leaves are turning...cooler nights, big moons.

Love Sunday afternoon naps with my little guy.

Lovin this little hooter...she's takin up residence in my new studio space.

 

...been wanting to do some painting, finally just did it!  I love how it turned out!  Her name's Hootie Who...can you imagine? LOL!

I also did this one for a bday gift for a little friend of Abby's...

 

It's actually much neater in person!!!  Looked really sharp!  (all hand painted/blinged).  I think I might do some of these for the Whimsy Shoppe (coming this fall hopefully)?  The girls my daughter's age go wild for zebra and peace signs! 

Oh, I'm a twitter-er now!  LOL! JANNA_WILSON is my "handle"...I'll be tweetin soon!

In other news...I have bangs.  Yes, that is about as exciting as my life gets right now!  LOL!  I feel anew!  Nothing like a slight change (that my hubs never notices, men! hmmphh!) to make you feel different and fresh!  Maybe I'll post a pic later to prove to my FB friends that I really am a good bang-cutter!  Anybody need a trim?  LOL!

Off to bed...more tomorow!

It's raining it's pouring...

...but that didn't stop me and Cash today!  We delivered the girls to school and the went to visit a friend.  It felt good.  Adult interaction, catching up, a good laugh...so good.  Cash got to play with three beautiful little ladies too!   So cute!

It's nap time...I sat down to check emails quickly...but then I thought I'd write a little blog.  For those of you that are my local friends-- my move upstairs (see previous post) has been a good opportunity to purge out a lot of supplies that I don't see any need for.  I really am a minimalist.  :)  For a short time, I've got the sale going upstairs in my soon to be space, before I commence to bring it all together, paint, decorate, etc...  I'm "open for business" Friday night and Saturday so if you interested in some great deals...contact me to come and grab some bargains.  It'll be fun!

Back to my new space and so enjoying the echo in my was craft space...now empty dining room downstairs.  I am so grateful for my baby sis who helped me all day yesterday move my stuff.  We got a TON done...
(here's a phone pic of the room)

...hopefully it won't be yellow for long, I like yellow, but want something calmer for this space.  You can see part of our SALE here.

So now my creative thoughts are immersed in

Finishing details, tweaking projects, kitting, shipping, and just gearing up for the trip next month!  Look for t-shirts to go on sale next week!  Even if you're not coming...this t-shirt is fabulous...you'll want one! :)  Because isn't all inspiration really UNLIMITED!?  I think ....yes!  I'll share the link next week!  Stay tuned.

Here's a peek at one of the layouts I'll be teaching...

I'm totally lovin' purple and plums lately...so sophisticated.

Well, better get back to work now.  Just wanted to say thanks for my friends that have called, emailed and commented on my last blogs.  It means a lot.  I'm so lucky.  I'm on a roll here bloggin like three days in a row, aren't I?  WOW!

Blessings to all...jw

Bittersweet...and fabulous!

Well, this week has brought some changes my way...prayers are always answered, I believe, not necessarily in that order that we pray them nor do our answers come in plain sight, but nonetheless, I know they are answered in God's good time.  Most of the time, if you are paying attention, you will get and answer AND a lesson.  This week, I've experienced this...more obvious answers...which is a good thing. 

What this means is...my load is now lighter, I can breathe a little easier.  I'll no longer be working two of my dt gigs (Fiskars & Scarlet Lime), which is going to make a big difference in what time I'm investing in working.  I feared letting go...but my lesson is...if only if I would've trusted enough, had faith enough...I would have saved myself weeks of fret and worry.  Noted, God.

It also means that I am more focused and can attend to my family and decide what's next for me, if anything.  Got Crafts is something that I've wanted to put a lot more into, but haven't had the time.  I have some "dreams" of late that involve designing some home decor pieces and even furniture!  Yes, I do set my sights high, don't I? LOL!  For about the last four years, I've had the wild hair to open some kind of shoppe...who knows!?  I have a fabulous imagination...I have a mind set that I can do anything if I work hard enough and I've pretty much accomplished every goal I've set out after in the last five years.  I don't mean to boast, but it feels good to look back and make some mental check marks...many of you have been riding this wonderful wave with me...so you know how it is.  But it's time for some new goals...first and foremost...my goal is to get right.  I saw this quote on Becky's blog from some months back...it is medicine to my heart...

when our schedules become overloaded, we start skimming relationally, cutting back on giving the time, energy, and attention that loving relationships require. what's more important to God is displaced by what's urgent.

busyness is a great enemy of relationships. we become preoccupied with making a living, doing our work, paying bills, and accomplishing goals as if these tasks are the point of life. they are not. the point of life is learning to love-God and people. life minus love equals zero." rick warren.

These pretty much sum up my life recently...and I'm certain the Good Lord led me straight to them...thanks Becky.

So right now, my focus is the kids, getting them back to school tomorrow and getting back into a routine --cooking dinner, maybe a little housecleaning, and pursuing some "want to do's" that I have only dreamed about...definitely relocating my workspace upstairs starting tonight.  Feels good.  Refresh...this is the word I keep going back to.  F5.

So that's enough about deep stuff for now...it's back to fun and games!  Check out what me and the kids did today...

Fun stuff!!! Yeah, that's me with no makeup :)  And no, I can't skate, though I don't fall either!  LOL!  I'm the official ROCK for everyone else! 

The crafty juggler evolves...

Okay, by now you all know that I've got no less than 50 irons in the fire at all times, right!?  LOL!  I've been describing my life these last couple of months as one big hot mess!  I've been working a ton, creating lots of neat stuff and brainstorming for future adventures (dreaming).  Summer of course, is fun and crazy with the kiddos being at home...it's always a circus at our house...three little clowns running around and I'm the juggler!  So the other day Sara tells me she hates my job because I work all the time. :(  Of course, we mothers continually feel guilt don't we...guilt that we need to help provide financially for our family, guilt that we have to work and spend time away from our kids/family, guilt that we are not being the friend that we should be because life is just on the fast track...the reality is we all juggle our responsibilities to our best ability.  And for me...I say A LOT of prayers to help get me through each day.  Every once in a while, we'll drop a ball...I think even professional jugglers drop a ball, right? (hopefully)  But we just pick it up and keep trucking...life goes on. 

Though lately, I really have wanted to stop and evaluate.  What's important?  What will I regret?  I know that Abby's only 8 and I regret working too much the couple of years before she went to school...so you'd think I'd learn, right?  With the kids gearing back up to go back to school, I'm thinking ahead and trying to be reasonable...re-evaluate all of my comittments.  The beauty of what I do is that I can work from home, but many of you that are in that situation know that working from home is sort of a catch 22...you have the convenience and freedom to work in the midst of your household, but you could potentially ALWAYS be working...that seems to be my problem, even if I'm not physically creating/working I am mentally working all the time.  My current craft workroom is my formal (however informal it is ;) dining room which is accessed from my kitchen and entry of the house...it's a pass through.  It can be shut off but of course it never is.  It's always pretty much a big beautiful chaotic mess and crafting catastrophe!  It definitely interferes with the feng shui (and no, I really don't even know what that means) of my home.  And more importantly...it means Janna's CRAFTY space is always OPEN for business.  As someone that is so blessed to work from home...sometimes, I wonder if a real job isn't better in some ways.  When you flip the light off and leave your office, you are done...you walk away from work and you can then devote the rest of that day to your family.  So, I think this is what I need.  My life evolves constantly...so I'm going to evolve to try to make this work at home thing a better situation for both my family and me.  I'll be moving to the second floor...so if you come to my "shoppe", you'll find me up the stairs and to the left, down the hall through Sara's bedroom in our bonus space over the garage.  It's going to take some work, but I'm moving if it kills me!!!  This space has much better lighting and is roughly the same square footage as what I have now.  We've been using it for storage mainly, but soon, it will be a craft workroom that I can turn the light out on, shut the door and say see you tomorrow (or later tonight after the kids are asleep ;).  I think it will bring some sense of normalcy to our home.  There's only one problem...my work table island that Scott built me will not fit through the door of the room.  I'm praying that we can widen the door...seeing about that today. 

So stay tuned...advice always welcome from you other WAH mamas.  :)

Also coming soon...

And a bit of summer fun and sunshine before I sign off...

Read about this wet and wild project and MORE from other talented Fiskars designers...HERE.

Inspiration Overload!

Lately, my mind is going in 1000 different directions.  There's so much I have to do, need to do and want to do!  Family, work and some fun all rolled up in one big hot mess!  LOL!  Speaking of MESS...I've got a big one in my craft room, on the kitchen table and in the storage room!  I've been purging and cleaning and well, it's getting worse before it's getting better!  Thankfully, the girls are helping.  We are having a tag sale soon --I told them that if they wanted to help set up the sale, that we could take the money and put it toward their school clothes and supplies.  They really like the idea of making their own money!  It's a great project to keep them busy too!

I have no less than 50 projects I'd just love to get some time to work on!  Sara has been busy making some beautiful flowers that she wants to start a little boutique with me...I can't wait to show you more!  (She's working on our business cards as I type :) She's so me!  I've been sewing bags and have plans for some other items.  I hope to be able to share more about these soon.  I'm excited about this fall...seriously!!!

If you are coming to Inspiration Unlimited...you know that this week starts the project peeks for the classes at the event!  This is fun...because we teachers are just as excited to see what's up as you students!  COOL!  I'm teaching a layout class and a stamping sampler mini class!  I can't believe this trip is coming in less than two months!!! OMG!  Where has this year gone!?

It's time for Scarlet Lime!  The August projects have been posted...I LOVED the kits this month!  One is masculine and I had fun with that too--with the Cash pages...check it out

As always --it's such a joy to get my hands on that Scarlet Lime stuff!  Christy never ceases to amaze me in so many ways.  If you're interested in a kit club that will keep your creative juices flowing, inspire you each month and always surprise you with fresh picked goodness...check out SL.

One more little tidbit to share...check out the sketch of the month at Fiskars!  You can see it on the front page or read/see the sketch and details here.  It's a fun design for a summery, swimmish, splashity layout! 

Better get to that piled up scraproom now and quit procrastinating!
Have a blessed weekend!