Welcome, 2012.

Happy New Year! After making my planner last week, I started brainstorming a few goals for 2012. But first, I wanted to look back through and reflect on the my 2011 Goals.

I went through the 5 goals for my blog and shop from last year to do a final look at how that went and what I can adjust for this year. You can see a poster I created of last year's goals here.

1. Develop and Create 15 New Products for the Shop. I created 9 new products for the shop and am happy to have made that many. I didn't include a few products in this list simply because they were just paper packs (Christmas), a new version of paper rounds (Christmas), or all different sets of flashcards (School, Winter, Christmas, etc.).

2. Redesign the Blog. Done. I absolutely love my new blog layout. I love the 3-column format and my new header.

3. Keep Inventory Up to Date. I did better with this the second half of the year, but there is always room for improvement.

4. Organize Studio/Workspace (Supplies, Records, Shipping). My supplies and shipping materials are fairly well organized. My records are all on my computer in my etsy account and email, but this area still has room for improvement. Maybe a spreadsheet? If you are a shop owner, what do you do to keep your records all nice and organized?

5. Get More Involved in the Blogging Community. I feel like this is the goal I worked on the least :( With the amount of time I have to keep up my business and blog - the time it takes to be an active blogger, as well as shop upkeep, I really had limited time to pursue working on this goal.

Ready to dive in to 2012.  I will be sharing my 2012 Goals later this week after I have solidified them. Have you made goals for 2012?

* Don't forget to enter the giveaway for a planner I created and put together last week. I will be announcing a winner later today.

weekend wrap up and a new look for the blog

Happy Monday! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend :) Ours was spent with friends, family and eachother. Lots of laughs, lots of food, lots of pictures, lots of family time and lots of snuggles. And we got our Christmas pictures taken by my sweet sis. We finally have a great family photo of the 4 of us :) I won't share it here until after we send our Christmas cards out, but she also took some of my hubby and I (see below), and some solo shots of me to use here (my new header and side bar). Great to have some current pictures of my family :)

I also (finally) was able to switch over to a new blog layout- a goal I have had for myself this year. Yay! After tons of sketches, brainstorming, and finding inspiration on some of my fave blogs, I'm super excited with how it turned out. My apologies if you visited this space last night, there were some crazy layout issues going on ;) Please bear with me as I have to resize photos in each post to fit in the now smaller blog post space. For now, most of them bleed into the right column. Working hard to fix as many as I can as fast as possible.

I am excited to announce that The Creative Place blog will begin having sponsors soon. More on this in the near future. I will also be sharing blog stats, sponsor info and a promotion related to sponsor space :)

Below are some pictures from our Thanksgiving weekend.

New in Shop :: Mini Jotter Journals

New in the Shop today: Mini Jotter Journals for the holiday season! A cute little mini album or journal to keep thoughts and memories for your holiday season. Write down fun or funny quotes and memories, paste in a picture or momento throughout December and you have a cute little mini journal of the season! Stash it away with your Christmas decorations and have fun looking through it next holiday season. Or keep it on a coffee table or in a decorative basket to look through throughout the year. These make GREAT stocking stuffers!

Approximately 4.25"x5.5", Kraft cardstock covered with gorgeous Christmas fabric. 8 sheets of paper sewn in (so 32 "pages" to write on). All journals are available with found paper pages (ledger, graph, writing, etc) or blank pages. 

I will be listing some non-holiday fabric ones in the next day or two, so stay tuned! :)

New in Shop: Autumn 2011 Art Journal

Now in the shop: An Autumn Art Journal. A fabulous journal or album to capture the 2011 Fall Season. 28 pages to document your season, including different patterned pages and cardstock, 3 pages of Kraft paper with the months printed (September, October, November), vintage pages (vintage dictionary, vintage sewing pattern paper) a confetti window (check out my shop for details and other windows), linen cloth, a transparency, a Hambly Studio overlay, stamped shipping tag, envelopes and other pages. There is a sturdy piece of chipboard at the back.

This cute journal comes with 2 binder rings, a mini brown paper bag and journaling spot, a set of Autumn Mini Flashcards (including the words: Autumn, September, October, November, chilly, snuggle, school, pumpkins, enjoy, leaves), and two decorative peel and stick labels.

New in Shop :: Bits and Pieces Scrap Packs

These Bits and Pieces Scrap Packs are now in the shop. These are scrap packs chock full of bits and pieces, perfect for arts and crafts projects - scrapbooking, cardmaking, collages, adding whimsy to a journal, etc. Packs include 35+ pieces including items such as scrap fabric, papers, buttons, ribbon, labels, confetti, clothespins, paper rounds, pins, felt, rubber stamps. stickers and much more. Each assortment is packed in a resealable clear cello bag: approx. 4.75"x6". Each pack is different and is sure to make you smile. 

on my desk.

Currently working on a blog re-design. Jotting and drawing ideas. Working off of a test blog. Hope to have it up and running in the next couple weeks. Am excited to finally switch to a 3 column layout. :)

Confetti Windows :: New in Shop

So, remember the intro to my December Daily last December? I had tons and tons of Christmas-color hole punches from punching journals and wanted to incorporate them into my journal. I love, love, love how it turned out - I have not ever seen anything like them (after searching all over the www) and recently decided to make more - and they are now available in the shop. Custom sizes and color combos are also available.

These super colorful "windows" are perfect to add texture and whimsy to your art journals, mini albums or scrapbooking pages. The confetti moves freely in the window, so it is always changing the look of the page. The paper punches include vintage papers, new papers, old magazines, scrapbooking papers. All punches are from leftover scraps of paper - so they are being "recycled" into this fabulous confetti!

The windows come with no holes punched in the side, so you can punch them to fit in your journal or use clear adhesive to adhere to a page. They are completely transparent, so you can see bits and pieces of the image or page underneath.

New in Shop :: Jotter Journal

New in the shop: A lovely little Jotter Journal I whipped up the other day. This cutie measures 4.5" x 8" (closed,9"x 8" open) and has a sewn paper cover with a fun doily, and an eyelet and twine closure. Also included is a graphite drawing pencil and a label to put on the front. The journal is full of new and found papers - perfect for jotting down summer fun thoughts and memories :)

Random Catch Up Post

Happy Monday! And Happy Memorial Day to those in the U.S. A random catch up post today. Lots going on around here. My hubby finished up the super crazy semester (yay!). My sweet youngest son seems to be through the colic, pretty much 3 months to the day and it was like day and night-he's much happier and more smiley now. Thankful :)

Still planning and documenting in my Idea Journal. Am loving the pictures some of you have uploaded on flickr. If you would like to share a picture of yours, please go here.

My sweet blog-land friend Katie of Gadanke sent me this super cute {The Little Things} - Listing Thankful Thoughts Journal. Thank you Katie!! :) It is absolutely adorable and I am working on filling it up. It is great to write down all that I am thankful for, and to be prompted to remember/realize things I am thankful for that I hadn't even thought about. More on that later.

I found this recipe for Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread on pinterest and am a fan. A huge fan. And so is my hubby. And so is my Jimmy. Like, it might be a problem - this bread is that good. I ran out of eggs and couldn't make any more yesterday (although you can probably count on me getting more eggs at the grocery today... and making another loaf... or two or three).

Have been planning and rummaging around in my blog - working on labels for posts at the moment. Part of one of my 2011 Goals for my blog and shop.

So about those seeds we planted. Yeeaaaah. Not so much. We ended up buying tomato plants from a local nursery, as well as a jalapeno plant, green bell pepper plants, and herbs - basil, parsley and chives. We (my hubby) made one huge planter box and we filled it with potting soil (no weeds or red clay dirt to contend with). The plants are thriving. I am proud to say that we have 3 super cute tomatoes growing so far. I cannot even describe the pure joy of watching these grow!
And the herbs. They are out of control. I'm having to cut and pinch them back almost daily. Love being able to step out on the back porch and pick out fresh herbs to use for meals.
As far as running goes. Running today. Took a brief (but too long) break after having a massive neck problem from sleeping on it wrong ;) Was way out of commission for almost a week. Could.not.function. Still having trouble with it (3 weeks later?!) but am thankful that I can move.

Working on a few tutorials (I know, it's been way too long), and will be sharing those soon. I will be sharing some more from my idea journal tomorrow. Have a fabulous day!

Spring and Summer Art Journal :: 2011 Goals

One of my 2011 Business and Blog Goals is to release 15 new items in my shop. Today I listed item #1 - an Art Journal.

A super cute mixed paper art journal ready for spring and summer. A great place to document the spring and summer season, a vacation or holiday, this little book is full of beautiful papers, new and found. Papers include decorative wax papers, found papers (including vintage sewing pattern paper!) and envelopes, a doily and tags, a Hambly overlay and gorgeous Martha Stewart paper- this little book is fabulous. Size is 4"x6" with a distressed cardboard cover including a ruffled moda fabric tag. The back is a super thick chipboard. 21 interior pages and 2 binder rings, so pages can be moved around or flipped.

How's that going... 2011 Goals

How are your 2011 goals (resolutions, etc.) going? Day 19 of the New Year and I'm still excited about my 2011 Business and Blog Goals. Determined to keep at these goals.

+ Slowly (keyword: slowly) working through my craft studio and workspace, getting rid of excess I don't need or am not using (giving away). I've found a bunch of inspiration via pinterest and am jotting down ideas about different ways to organize areas of my studio and workspace. Images from here, here and here.+ I am also working on some new products for the shop, but mostly these are still in the idea-in-my-head and notes-jotted-down-here-and-there stage. Ideas and hints? Flashcards and journaling spots. Vintage Inspired. Everyday Idea Books, Art Journals, whatever you want to call them. Supplies? Just need to get going on this new product stuff. I feel like I keep thinking and talking about it, but don't really follow through. Must.follow.through.

+ I am trying not to get overwhelmed with all of the fabulous inspiration on the www I come across - I keep thinking to myself "Oh I should do that" or "This would be great in my work space"... I need to follow through on the goals I have made and not continue to create more and more ideas to overwhelm... especially with a new little one almost here. I do, however, like the idea of incorporating simple ideas into my goals such as a few of the fabulous ideas I've found (most of these are on my pinboards... LOVE pinterest).

+ I love the idea of getting an Idea Journal (different than my binder that holds my calendar, recipe planning, notes, etc.), and having it be specifically for ideas, snippets and such (like organizing paper scraps in this image - via decor8). Hoping to get out and find one this week.

+ Also loving this good way to keep track of ideas (and keep my space organized at the same time) - Idea Boards on bhg.com via pinterest- The ones currently hanging over my computer are completely full of odds and ends...from years ago. Must start over and collect fresh ideas.

Business and Blog :: 5 Goals in 2011

Happy New Year! After a somewhat impromptu hiatus from blogland, I'm back and ready to dive in to 2011 :) I've seen a lot of "Goals for 2011" posts and wanted to share mine for The Creative Place blog and shop. So I made it into a nice poster size that is being printed at a local print shop. Will be hanging it in my workspace as a reminder and motivation as we start this new year.

These are my business and blog goals, and while looking at the list seems a little daunting right now (especially with a little one on the way...soon. read: +/- 7 weeks!), I'm excited to work towards these goals and accomplish as much as possible. It's helpful to have them set out in front of me (literally).

Business and Blog :: 5 Goals in 2011
1. Develop and create 15 new products for the shop. I have so many ideas swirling around in my head that I have been writing down, taking notes, sketching, and gathering supply ideas for. Ready to put it into action and get them developed and into the shop.
2. Redesign the blog. I like the look of my blog right now, but am ready for something new. Ready to redesign the header, the side bar, figure out the pages at the top (how to make them centered and a different font) and possibly create a 3 column layout.
3. Keep inventory up-to-date. I struggle with this the most in my shop. Sometimes I have inventory all ready to ship out (like a paper pack, etc), but most of the time it is putting the order together as it comes in. This works for some people, but is definitely super stressful for me - having to stop everything (in my home) and gather the order together to get ready for shipping. I need to plan and make inventory gradually and build up supply as I go.
4. Organize my studio/workspace. Enough said. No really. I got these super cute document boxes for Christmas, so now I have no excuse. I need to get my shipping area more organized, keep better records of incoming orders and expenses, and I need to purge a lot of my supplies I'm not using and find them new homes. Simplify.
5. Get more involved in the blogging community. I read several blogs frequently. I want to start commenting (usually I just stay in the woodwork) and being more involved in blogland. I know I absolutely love when you comment, and I want to do the same for others. I also need to make sure I use my business/blog time wisely (ie not wasting time online when I should be working on shop stuff, getting a blog post ready, etc.) - thanks Randi @ I Have to Say for the reminder to include this in my goal as well! :)

So what about you? Do you have goals for 2011? Business goals? Blog goals? Personal goals?