two thousand and what?!

Two thousand and eight? It's almost here and as usual I'm shocked. I've never been one to reflect much at this time of year but this year I'm feeling nostalgic, empowered and hopeful.

It's been a good year.

Yes, I have had my individual struggles and we've had our struggles as a family. But my family - Chad, Lars and Jette - are so awesome and loving make everything worthwhile.

It has been an amazing year watching my babies grow. Lars turned 3 in September and Jette turned 1 in August. They are starting to get along more like I imagined siblings would at this age which is making life a lot easier around our house these days. Jette has lots of new words and is looking so grown up. Lars is so kind and thoughtful and hilarous but has a definite stubborn 3 year old side. Chad, who is a talented artist and an amazing daddy, is starting to dive back into drawing after years of putting it on the back burner. This makes me so happy. I can't wait to see what 2008 brings for all of my family.

It has also been a fun year of vacations and friends. I feel so lucky that I was able to travel and spend time with family and friends this year. Some of the highlights were vacationing in Denver with my BFF Jessi and spending a long weekend in Florida with my mother-in-law and 2 sisters-in-law. I also got to spend some time with Jessi and her baby Max when they visited in November. It was so fun to see him interact with my kids. It was hard to see them go!

And finally it's been an awesome year for Space Oddities. I looked back at the small goals I made for 2007 - which included doing 2 craft shows, 100 sales on my etsy site, and starting to do consignment. I am thrilled to say that I met and exceeded those goals by a lot. I admit that I made small, attainable goals because I knew that I would be overwhelmed if I made ridiculous ones. I have a full time job, 2 small children, and a husband who works the shifts opposite mine. So to try to do too much is exhausting. But my tiny business is part of what keeps me going. I am totally passionate about making the things I make and because of that I know that I will only continue to build my business.

This year I made over 230 sales on my etsy site. I participated in several awesome craft events including Renegade Craft in Chicago, 3 High Noon Craftacular events in Madison, the first WIST trunk show, and even a sci-fi convention (Geek-kon.) I was also lucky enough to be part of the Etsy Trashion Trunk show at etsylabs in Brooklyn. I started selling my wares at a local boutique (Glitter Workshop) and have had inquires about more consignment and wholesale opportunities. I got to appear on live TV to promote a local craft show and talk about my work. I bought a gocco and started collaborating with my husband to make fun designs for shirts, totes and notecards. I met some super nice local crafters through shows and through etsy. I also started this blog. Thanks to every single person who has supported me this year - from etsy sales to friendly hellos at craft shows to blog comments - and everything inbetween.

So all of this being said. I am finished reflecting and ready for a new year. This year I plan to think big. I know that I can only do so much, but I also know that I'm not getting any younger. If I want to make my crafting a full time gig some day I need to take it as seriously as I can. This year I want to find balance between my day job, my family and my crafting as much as that is possible. Here are my goals.

personal/family goals

1. join a csa in the spring (it was weird without it this year!)
2. get my house organized
3. go on a date with chad once a month
4. not use credit cards, ever.
5. spend one on one time with Lars and Jette each weekend
6. bake and cook more
7. take pictures every day
8. pay bills on time!
9. seriously job hunt within my company
10. kids: both totally toilet trained & sleeping in own rooms

space oddities goals:
1. get organized/do a better job of keeping records
2. 350 sales on etsy
3. work toward a more cohesive look/branding for my items
4. start a retro babywear line
5. start a men's line of screenprinted clothing

I will mostly likely be adding to this list. But it feels good to start somewhere. Happy New Year everyone! I wish you all the best in 2008!

Front page!

My owls in love onesie made etsy's front page today!













I only wish I could have gotten a full screen shot on my awesome computer monitor at work. But...I am also glad I'm not at work. Ha! Thanks to RunAliceRun for making such a pretty treasury!

boo hoo

I miss my kids a lot today. They are so fun lately. It kills me to be at work instead of at home with them these days. At least I know they are having fun with daddy. I can't wait to get home from work tonight so we can make a gingerbread house or something.

I was just browsing the storque on etsy and thinking about making my way over to blog. I knew what I wanted to write but hadn't totally gathered my thoughts. Then I stumbled across this article about cheating on the handmade pledge. Ha! This totally cracked me up. And here is why...

I love buying handmade. I signed the buy handmade pledge in a second and did buy most of my gifts from local craft shows, on etsy, or just made items myself to give as Christmas gifts for my family and friends. Of course nothing works out perfectly and on Christmas eve a large order of coffee gifts that I ordered kind of late still hadn't been delivered to my house. So on our way out of town on Christmas eve I stopped at Target to get some improvised coffee gifts instead. As I was rushing into Target I ran into my fellow WIST friend Cari from mud and mint. We said our kind of rushed hellos and good-byes and went off in our separate directions (it was Christmas eve!) As I was walking off with my son to find a gift for Grandpa I had to stop and totally laugh at myself when I thought back on the interaction from just a minute before. It went something like this…

Cari: "I just stopped in to get blah blah blah for blah because yadda yada blah…." (I'm putting blahs and yadas because the specific things aren't the important or funny part.)

Me: "Oh I am here because blah blah blah didn't come in the mail so I am picking up blah blah blah for blah."

Am I the only one who in retrospect thinks this is kind of funny? Maybe I am just easily amused? I just love that I subconsciously defended my shopping trip to Target to my crafty friend. Ha! It was so cute and it totally made me smile. I picked out my gifts and felt a little less defeated knowing that I wasn't the only crafty lady out at Target on Christmas eve.

And as far as the handmade pledge goes…yes, I totally cheated. But I did more shopping on etsy and at local boutiques/craft shows that I have in any year previous. So my evaluation:::success!

robot love!

Chad and I decided to make robot shirts for all of our nephews for Christmas. We were planning to have a little get together/gift exchange with my brother/sister in law/kids tonight but still hadn't finished the shirts this morning! By some miracle we were able to get the shirts finished (not heat set! but mom will finish that up, thank goodness!) I think they turned out so cute! The boys loved them and I even printed one for their dad (my brother) and for my son as well. I had a few onesies left in my stash and decided to print those as well. Just three! So those will be added to my etsy shop soon.

Tomorrow I'll be working for part of the day and then we're off to Chicago to celebrate with Chad's family. Happy holidays, everyone!

Hellas Kitty blog blurb!

Check it out! Hellas Kitty got noticed on Merx Latina et Graeca blog - a shopping resource for lovers of Greek and Roman culture. How cool is that!

shopping spree!

Last night I was up until 3:30am shopping on etsy.com. I filled my cart to the brim with gifts for every last person on the list. Yes, I'm a last minute shopper. If half of the gifts arrive before Christmas I'll be happy. But it was so much fun! I only have a few things left to buy or make. Chad is working on a robot design so we can screenprint robot shirts for all of our nephews. That plus a few random food type gifts and I think I'll be square. Yay!

I've been busy packing/shipping out etsy orders and trying to update and list new items in my shop when I can find the time. It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks!

I think we're going to take the kids to see Santa tomorrow. We've been talking about it forever. I would feel so bad for Lars if we just blew it off! Oh and Christmas cookies!! Lars helped me whip up a batch of sour cream sugar cookie dough today but it was too soft so we are leaving it overnight in the fridge. so that will be a fun mommy and kids thing to do tomorrow. Maybe daddy will shovel while mommy bakes. Ha! Love it!

I just set up my table for a holiday sale event at the building I work in. Each person got a 17 foot long table…! Wow! I don't even know what to do with that much space. I started and just used about 1/3 of it, then decided to spread out my cards. I have to say that it looks weird. I think I like my stuff all bunched together. But if I didn't spread it out the table would look totally bare! I am adding my tote bags and shirts to the table tomorrow so hopefully it'll look fantastic by the time I'm done.

So now I just have to hope that some people stop by to shop! If you're in Madison, come on by! The event is called Holiday in the Halls and it is at 525 Junction Rd. (west side near Target) from 10am-4pm. I'll probably only be set up from 10am-1pm, but there are lots of other vendors. Yay!

new.

i am just too beat to post a thing lately! here are some new items:::lord of the rings magnets and owls in love tee. yay! i've been adding lots to my etsy shop, trying to keep up with shipping orders and making new stuff when i can find the time. i am kind of over christmas stuff and totally ready to start making VALENTINES stuff!! making valentines is my favorite thing in the whole wide world. no lie.

Star Wars!!

New in my etsy shop this week: Star wars pin sets! Lots of them. I have added almost all of what I have left and then I am hunting for more comics this weekend so hopefully I'll have a fresh batch next week. These sets are one of a kind and are made from images saved from old comic books. They make great gifts - especially stocking stuffers - for any star wars fan. These can also be made into magnets. Awesome! You can see my star wars pins along with other fun comic/sci-fi/superhero pins HERE in my etsy shop!

I can't make myself go to sleep before 2am lately! Seriously, not good. I have to wake up for work before 6am to make it in time. Ugh. Okay. I am going to package up some etsy orders and will myself to SLEEP!

Lady Shirts!

I finally found the time to screen print a batch of lady shirts! I have added our Owls in Love design here in my etsy shop and will soon be adding more designs. All shirts available in a wide array of sizes. I'm also still working on man shirt designs so hopefully you'll see those SOON.

Snow, Shoveling, Screen Printing...

Well, I was stuck in the house most of the weekend. Chad worked on Saturday and the kids and I stayed home and cleaned, played, and watched as the snow covered everything outside very quickly. Then sunday we shoveled for what seemed like forEVER and let the kids play in the snow. It was exhausting and fun!

I spent some time screen printing onesies this weekend. I have some fun new colors available in my etsy shop including olive green, rosy pink and bright blue. Fun stuff for little ones!

Have a great week everyone!