Fall Flowers

Why is it that the flowers look the best just before the end of the season? Just look at these Hydrangeas! Even the Geraniums are looking terrific,even though we almost had a frost last night! It won't be long before winter is here.

Almost a year!

My Etsy shop, will be 1 year old in December! This has been quite an interesting year, as I have been trying to juggle my etsy shop with my "real job" and with my family life.

My current "real job" is that I am a registered nurse in NY. I work in a very busy Pediatric Endocrine Practice 4 days each week. It is a very interesting field of medicine. I have been an RN for 35 years.

I watch my 2 1/2 year old granddaughter, Kate, one day each week. I love watching her.

My daughter is expecting her 2nd baby girl in November- coming right up!

My desire is to build up my new business (which includes the Etsy shop) enough to cut back a bit on my "out of the home" job. The dilemma is this: in order to build up my inventory and work on marketing, I need more time available. Less time at the "real job" means less money to make ends meet. Less money to make ends meet means I have to work more at the "real job" And so it goes, round and round....I am fairly certain that there are many Etsians that are in the same pickle!

I have 2 grown up children- Kristen (and her husband, Jay) and Brian ( who has a lovely young lady, Lesley) and let's not forget Kate.

I have an awesome husband, Ed, who has been quite supportive of me and I think he really appreciates most of the items I have made. (that's Ed up there in the corner) I don't think I could spend the amount of time I do sewing with any other husband. It was my birthday last week- can you believe that Ed and Kristen gave me a new sewing machine?? And my son sent me a very generous JoAnn's gift card!

Now that is support!!

Move over Annie, it's time for Madagascar!

So, as a follow up to the Mamma Mia post, our Kate has since learned the soundtrack to Annie, and sings "The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow" at any given time.

But it seems like her interest has about a 10 day cycle, now that we think about it! Kate has moved on to "Madagascar" now and sings and dances along to "I like to Move It, Move It"!

Or maybe it's her Mommy and Daddy's 10 day tolerance! Whatever- we love the entertainment!

Mamma Mia!!!!

I have not been a very good blogger. I know this is true when I read all of the wonderful blogs being written.

So, here I am on a Saturday night, sitting in front of my laptop, searching for fabric to make a handbag for my daughter, Kristen. My search took me all over Etsy, Facebook and the world of blogs. Sometimes the blogs I see are so intimidating, as I always have a hard time thinking about a topic.

And so, I repeat, here I am on a Saturday night with not only the laptop, but our television in front of me. Which brings me to my thoughts: Mamma Mia!!!

The movie, Mamma Mia, is on cable for the first time. Now I have watched this movie countless times! Probably, 3 times in its entirety and about 93 times is fragments. And I know these ABBA songs better now than when I listened to ABBA back in the day!

The reason? The reason is my granddaughter, Kate. And, Kate is 2 years old! Kate is a happy little girl who has an uncanny love for movies with great music (or animals). Kate was first interested in the Buddies movies- you know- Air, Snow and finally Space Buddies. She then discovered Disney and the like: King (as in Lion), Panda (as in KungFu), Bolt, Monsters, Inc. She enjoyed them each immensely. Then she saw Mamma Mia for the first time. Oh, goodness! She must have watched it a hundred times.
She knew the songs, and had all the moves, even using her sunglasses as a handheld microphone. She entertained the family with her little performances. We each had the soundtrack in the car to listen to her sing along!

We flew to Charlotte NC in May to visit her Uncle Brian and her Aunt Sue. Who would expect that a 2 year old would sit quietly in the plane seat the whole way! The only noise I heard from my seat, 2 rows ahead of Kate and her Mommy and Daddy, was Kate laughing and singing Dancing Queen, Super Trouper and Honey, Honey! Just pure enjoyment!

Yes, we were concerned that she might not need to know about the adult content in the movie. But she is 2, for goodness sakes!

Sadly (?), Kate is just not that into Mamma Mia anymore. She had moved on to Keck and Keck 2 (Shrek and Shrek 2). Loved Princess Fiona and was always talking about the dragon (don't know the name). They, too, have been knocked down a peg or two. But now,happily, Kate is into Mary Poppins (she loves when the nannies blow away and sings Let's Go Fly a Kite).

Watching Mary Poppins conjures up my childhood memory of seeing it for the first time on my birthday when it opened 45 years ago at Radio City Music Hall. That was when films were the main attraction there, other than the Rockettes.

We predict that the musical, Annie, will be taking center stage in the near future, as Kate has been introduced to it this past week. Variety is the spice of life, after all. This variety is, of course, for the preservation of Kate's parents, my daughter, Kristen and her husband, Jay.

I don't want you to think that Kate is not exposed to children's music or to children's books. It is surely not the case. I think her all time favorite is still BaaBaa Black Sheep with Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. (And did you know that they are really the same tune?? As is the Alphabet song?) And she loves Clifford the big red dog! Below, is Kate!

This week, I have been teaching Kate the Spaghetti version of On top of Old Smokey. I never loved the Smokey version. And Kate clearly appreciates the humor in most anything, so a Meatball rolling out the door is right up her alley!

Who knows what next week will bring!

To the right, is Kate, with her Mommy, Kristen at the Outer Banks, last summer

Facebook Fan page URL

Here is my current link to the fan page of my Facebook pages
http://www.facebook.com/pages/SweetPeaFabrications/90548729925

As soon as Facebook allows, I will have a more concise url!

Where does the time go??

I have spent so much time trying to set up a facebook account that I have not blogged in more than a week. My goal was to do an entry at least weekly. Well, for now- I am just adding my facebook link! It is the link to a regular facebook "friends" page, not the business account I had hoped to do in the first place. I do, however, have a business page with a slowly growing # of fans.

Would love to have more fans!

http://www.facebook.com/janisPkipp.

As a post script, I should thank Cheryl'sPurpleCow for giving me the kick in the butt to try to make a blog- so thank you, Cheryl!

Here are the links to her shop and blog: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7093969 www.cherylspurplecow.blogspot.com

It's a New Day...

So, I have a new listing!
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=26076709 You can see it right here on my blog! What fun to make!
I finished and shipped my largest order this week! Felt great.

Don't forget the EtsyBABY 2nd Annual Customer Appreciation Days going on now through June 15. Free Shipping on all my Wee Wubby Sets.