Checking In

Well Hello!  Ohmygosh, another few months have flown by.  I have to keep telling myself that it’s actually October — I’m still in August.  (Ok, who am I kidding, I’m still in 2005 or something LOL.)  See, here’s proof – does this look like October to you?

My zinnias were so pretty this year that I had to take a picture.  I planted mostly pink ones and I’ve loved not having so many different colors.  The flowers are definitely starting to fade though, so when I need to jolt myself back into October, I just have to walk outside.  It’s been so beautiful this year — I hope the good weather will last a little longer.  We had a visit the other day from this sneaky little guy — he’s definitely getting ready for winter.  I had to run him off before he decided to bury that nut in my seat cushion.  So far, they haven’t destroyed the cushions this year, but it probably won’t be long.

I feel like I’ve been really busy in the few months since my last post, yet I feel like I haven’t done much.  I spent most of August and part of September working on a new website for my little fabric shop.  I decided try to move things from Etsy — their fees are just so high and when you throw in advertising fees, I actually had a few listings that were costing me money.  I like being able to offer items at a discount, so I moved to a new website where the prices can still be lower.  For now, the Etsy shop will remain, but with higher prices to try to offset the fees a little, and with a smaller selection.  The new website also has some fun features that Etsy doesn’t have, for example, you can create a “design wall” where you can view all the fabrics that you might be thinking about purchasing together.  When I’m shopping online, I love to be able to see everything on the same page so I can tell if I like it together.  You can also shop by colors, themes, supplier, or type of fabric (knits anyone?)

Also, a new website meant I needed wanted a new logo.  I had seen some cute logos on Instagram done by cerigwen_shop, so I contacted her to create a new logo for me.  She was so easy to work with — she created several options and then tweaked the final one I selected.  I love that big pink thimble — if only sterling silver were pink LOL!

Just as we were finishing the new website, we had a little family getaway to our favorite place in Utah.  Both boys, DIL, and the grandbabies went and we had a wonderful time.  It was the perfect time to be in the mountains — the beautiful trees were just starting to show their fall colors.

We did a lot of hiking, which is a little challenging with three babies who are 4 and under.  The kids were SO good though!  I’m sure it was all that fresh mountain air (it looked really smoky and hazy from the California wildfires, but it was heaven to us.)  And luckily, we had one strong adult for each baby, so no one had to walk when they were tired.  (Although, no one offered to carry meee-e LOL.)

We always took a picnic lunch on our hikes, and on this particular hike, we were having a little picnic in a meadow and a really nice guy came by and offered to take our picture — such a fun surprise!

Now, we’re safely back home and starting to think all things fall. I’m still plodding along on too many UFOs — all with not much progress to report. Hopefully I’ll finish something up soon — I’ve seen a ton of new projects that I’d like to start, but I’m trying to be good. Not making any promises though ….

Happy Fall!
XOXO,
Anna