Gonna Be Seeing A Lot More of Me!

Ahhhh has it really been a week since my last post?!  For shame...  Life as usual has been a little crazy...  But next week I am FREE!!!  Free for eight glorious days from my day job.

This week I have been granny squaring it up!  Crocheting is fantastic, I mean who doesn't LOVE blankets and scarves and BRIGHT BRIGHT rainbow colors?  I love crocheting because of really how simple it is.  There is really only one stitch in crocheting and depending on where and how many times you repeat it, it turns into other magical stitches!!!  I am loving granny squares because I get a sense of accomplishment after every one.  Even though it takes like 120 to make an entire blanket each little square itself is a finished product and I am an instant gratification kind of girl sometimes!

Have the 2 people who read this little Blog checked out the LEP yet?!  The League of Extraordinary Penpals?  It is SUPER fun!  Seriously check it out!  We are having a party right now that involves invisibility punch and intros, too silly, here's mine!

Hello! Good morning? I feel as if maybe it's a little too early for invisibility punch.. Oh well! Down that hatch it goes, hmmmm tingly. 

Anywho My name is Sara! I love owls and photography. My secret (ok not so secret because really I am a HUGE dork and fly my dork flag high) is reading and or consuming Young Adult Fantasy Fiction! Yes, I will be thirty this August and will be having a roller skating party to celebrate, 1980's kids style!

I also have a Blog, Simply Sara Jean and an Etsy Shop WillowMucksShop where I sell handmade Smash Book Travel Journals!

I would also like to share that I have now had two glasses of the punch and it rocks! So now I feel free to admit that I am a Washi Tape and Ephemera addict.

Cheers!!!

What A Lovely Gloomy Day

Looking at these pictures you might think I am somewhere up north. But alas I am not. I am home in southern CA and it is wonderfully gloomy outside.

I absolutely love the sound of rain.  The way it sounds different yet the same on everything it comes into contact with, creating a beautiful melody. It so is wonderfully soothing and comforting. I love the crisp chill in the air and the cast of gloomy light through my windows on mornings like today. It brings me a sense of great calm. It also makes me want to curl up on my couch and read a great book and never come back to reality!

But a girl can dream and hope right?! Maybe just a little lounging and reading...

Quick Shop Announcement!!!

Here Ye, Here Ye!

There are officially 20 New Journals now available in my SHOP!!!  Just waiting to go to lovely homes and on fantastic new adventures.

High Pitched Girlie Squeal!

Here are some photos of what I've been working on today! It's a whole new type of journal. Album. Scrapbook. Smash book!

I kept coming across these wonderful journals on Etsy that were made using an entire book.

The pages are bound together in bundles with added journaling,photo spots and embellishments!

Which is like getting to decorate the cover but on every page! Which is always my favorite part.

Figuring out the best way to bundle the pages was a little tricky and took some experimenting but I came up with a few really good techniques!

Whatcha think?

My How January Flys

I've been journaling about this brand new year have you? I started mine a little later then the first. It's the self sabotage'r in me. My journaling hiccoughs tend to be I find it hard to be honest in my journals. I don't want to record the gloominess, only the good. So it can be hard. Getting myself to write about what I'm really feeling. But. I'm getting better! Practice makes perfect. I just have to let go. And so I shall (fingers always crossed!)

I AM SO IN!

How about you?

It's the LEP (League of Extraordinary Penpals)  It is the brainchild of Laura over at Please Deliver To and Julie from Penpal of The Week!!!  It is a monthly mailing penpaling group!  Which also includes besides the awesomeness of sharing letters with group members but a whole slew of other mail related goodies every month!!!  Go check it out and sign up!

Poking My Head

Out of My Shell!!!

My passion these days is really trying to start a little business of my own.  When I was little I always said that I wanted to be an Entrepreneur.  I didn't particularly want to take over the family Drug Store but I did want to work for myself!  The family business closed years ago and somewhere along the road of growing up I forgot about  that I Love Lucy themed Cafe my ten year old self dreamed of opening.

Growing into an adult and thinking about real goals that would enable me to still enjoy my day but make a real dependable living lead me to pursue a degree in English, mainly because I love to read and I though if I could show others the wondrous world of literature as an English Teacher then life would be good.  Well its been ten years and I am still sloooooowly working on that goal...  But, school is expensive and I am a full time working mommy and wife who has officially run out of financial aid for school (pout).

So here we are, it is a new year, 2013 and I am still waiting for my Hover Board!!!  And Flying Cars (though that would really be terrifying considering how bad some  drivers are).  And where the heck is my Replicator?!

So this is where I find myself in the new year.  Thankful that my Little Etsy Shop seems to do a bit better than the previous month and that of course is AWESOME!  And really all I can ask for.  My journals are now being carried in a local Handmade Shop and hopefully very soon you will find them in TWO shops here in Little Ventura CA.  This year I plan to apply to the Renegade Craft Fair and hopefully others.  But I have to remember to be brave and break out of my little shell.  Sometimes it's hard to motivate yourself and put yourself out there (what if someone belittles what you work so passionately on)?  But that is my number one goal for this year.  To really work on this "being my own boss" thing while doing something I LOVE.

What are your goals for this year?!

Cheers!!!