I’m so excited to be one of the sponsors for this fabulous Mother’s Day giveaway from Rebecca Cooper! You can check out the details on her blog to enter for a chance to win!

Good luck!

I’ve got big plans and big things in the works for bluebird chic this year! Thanks for growing with me and my company!

I have removed all of my edits from this blog and will be installing a new template with updated links, pages, and much more! I look forward to sharing the new look with you soon!

One fun thing to share – I have contracted and will training an administrative assistant this next week. She’ll be helping me out with the little things that need to be done so that I’ll be free to do more creative stuff! Yay!

For the Handmade Artisan Soap giveaway from Rachel at The Daily Scrub, random number generator chose #8, Susan Christy! Congrats, Susan!

And for the Paper Haus blog hop, random number generator chose #25, Debbie! I’ll be in touch today for your mailing info to get your prize pack out to you!

Congrats, everyone! And happy St. Patrick’s Day!

I have a special guest today sharing a bit about a new business that she’s starting! Rachel from The Daily Scrub is giving away 3 bars of her lovely soap to a lucky winner. Comment on this post with your favorite soap from her shop to enter for a chance to win!

Rachel happened to send me a bar of the tropical waters and lavender soaps. I loved the scents – it was strong enough to be pleasant, but not overpowering.

Here’s a little bit about Rachel, and how she started making soap:

I started making soap seriously about two years ago after attempting it off and on. I have always gone to markets and bought handmade soap. I have always loved soap for some reason, and ever since I was a child I have collected soaps and pretty paper. My Grams would bring me soap after her trips here and there. I guess you could say I was quite the collector.

One day a couple of years ago, a vendor at our local farmers market offered to teach me to make soap. She was preparing to move as her husband had gotten orders from the Army. She wanted to share the art of soapmaking with me before she left. She said that someone had taught her and it felt right to pay it forward. So, after a brief lesson I came home, researched extensively, and began creating. At first my creations were very simple, but then they became more elaborate and artistic. I have always been creative and love to paint, sew, crochet, and do papercrafts (this is how I found Leah’s blog). I put my artistic self to work in my soap creations. Finally, it was a way for me to create a beautiful piece of art that could also be useful.

I aim to make each and every batch unique and different. I love color, swirls, and want to put my special touch on every bar. I know that I am drawn to beautiful things and love to feel pretty, so I seek to create a beautiful artistic bar of soap that make my customers feel lovely each time they use it.

The Daily Scrub is a creative outlet for me. It’s a family affair. My husband built me the molds and displays I use and he helps me to cut and wrap each and every bar by hand. I love being able to help my customers find the perfect bar for their skin, find the perfect gift for their friend, or find the right bar to match their home decor.

She’s also offering free shipping on your orders through the end of the month if you use the code BLUEBIRDSHIP at check out.

You can catch up with what Rachel is up to on her blog: www.dirtdivadynamo.blogspot.com

Stop by her facebook page and follow to see the latest news on her shop!

Welcome to the Paper Haus Spring Fling blog hop! We’re hopping and sharing project inspiration and all kinds of free goodies to celebrate the launch of the latest issue!

Here’s a list of contributors that are participating in the hop:

PaperHaus Blog – www.thepaperhaus.com
Frank Garcia – www.hausofw.com
Ivana Camdzic – http://papergirlcrafts.blogspot.com
Trina McClune – trinamcclune.typepad.com
Jodie Lee – www.jodieleedesigns.blogspot.com
Lisa Gregory – http://what-a-beautiful-mess.blogspot.com
Stacey Young – www.staceyeyoung.blogspot.com
Maiko Kosugi – www.maimaipiano.blogspot.com
Fun Stampers Journey – http://www.myfunstampersjourney.com/category/blog
The Piece by Piece – www.thepiecebypiece.blogspot.com
Corri Garza – http://www.buglvr.blogspot.com
Shellye McDaniel – http://www.shellyemcdaniel.com
DeeDee Catron – http://umwowstudio.blogspot.com
Audrey Yeager – http://audreysreflection.blogspot.com
Sabrina Alery – http://www.sabrinaalery.blogspot.com
Patricia Roebuck – www.roebuck-adventures.blogspot.com
Jess Mutty – www.scrapgoo.blogspot.com
Anna Sigga – http://annasigga.typepad.com/scrappalicious
Susan Tutt – http://susanscrapbooker.blogspot.com
Rommel Okuma – http://risqueerabisque.wordpress.com
Bente Fagerberg – http://paperandglueheaven.blogspot.com/
Izzy Anderson – http://writesnapscrap.blogspot.com
Jennifer Grace – http://jennifersjumbles.blogspot.com
Christina Heeren – http://christinaheeren.blogspot.com
Gina Rodgers – http://gingerbread.typepad.com
Lori Hairston – http://www.lorihairston.blogspot.com
Paper Issues – http://www.paperissues.com
Peg Hewitt – http://pegsplaytime.blogspot.com.au
Georgia Heald – http://startingtoscrap.blogspot.com.au
Leah Crowe – www.leahscraftylife.com
Jodi Baune – http://www.dancingintherainjb.blogspot.com
Heather Leopard – http://thespottedleopard.blogspot.com
Diana Fisher – http://designbydiana.blogspot.com
Kate Vickers – www.scrapsation.com
Sarah Andreotti – www.vintagepearstudio.com
Leah Farquharson – http://www.bluebirdchic.com/blog  <<<<— You’re here.
Cathi O’Neill – http://celticknotted.blogspot.com
Missy Gener – http://www.missygener.com
Marilyn Rivera – http://marilynrivera.blogspot.com
Julianne McKenna – http://julestheblingprincess.blogspot.com
Vivan Keh – http://contadinak.wordpress.com/
Jelissa Mei – http://jelibeanz.blogspot.sg/
Sara Zenger – www.sarazenger.blogspot.com
Emilia van den Heuvel – http://few-favourite-things.blogspot.com
Linda Brun – http://favoritspotonearth.blogspot.no
Lisa Duke – http://theshabbyhorse.blogspot.com/
PAPERHAUS FACEBOOK – www.facebook.com/thepaperhaus

Here’s a tiny peek at the tutorial that I contributed:

A bit of inspiration for today:

Leave a comment on this post for a chance to win a full set of the Modern Romance papers from Webster’s Pages:

Comments will be open through Thursday, March 7, 11:59 EST. If you’re interested in seeing my other papercrafting, but click the link in the sidebar! ^_^ Have fun hopping!

{casual fridays}

One of the really cool things about growing a business is learning to feel your way through new experiences. My business is growing – in ways that I dreamed and hoped, and I’m learning to schedule and organize things in a way that I didn’t have to do before.

Part of that for me has been being ok with scheduling time to work on new products for the shop. It’s really important to keep things moving – and I’ve got plenty of new supplies lying around. But when it came time to assemble them, I felt guilty if I had any orders in queue. Not cool. Because if my business is growing in a positive way, I’ll always have orders waiting. So my supply pile grew, and not a one was being made or listed. #fail

{a little bit country}

So I made a deal with myself – three new listings a week until everything is listed. No new fabric purchases until all of the current ones are listed. I’m as big of a sucker for supplies as any craft lover – I see something that catches my eye and justify purchasing it, because hey, I have to reorder this other fabric, and well, while I’m shipping…

{walk by the pond}

 It sounds like such a small thing, but it accomplished a lot for me.  For starters, I was getting overwhelmed. That made me shut down a bit. Not good. Making a plan got me up and moving. The plan gave me permission to work on my new projects, because they’re important to my business, too.

{a cherry on top}

So, guess what has happened now? I’m getting new listings up, and orders are still going out like clockwork. Maybe not within a day, but always within three days, which is my goal.

{salt & sand}

It has revitalized me and my love for what I’m doing. And kept me from feeling bogged down. It’s awesome.

And now you’ve seen all of the latest listings! I do have a disproportionate number of polka dot patterns at the moment – only because I’ve had requests for them! I have so many other patterns that I love that are ready and waiting – and I can’t wait to share them with you!

Side note: My other blog is currently blacklisted by McAffee, and I’m working to get that cleared. I have checked in with several people more knowledgable than I  on the website stuff, and the blog has NOT been hacked, and does not contain any dangerous links. So if the warning warning pops up, you’ll now what’s going on. It apparently has to do with one of the google server IP addresses, and we’re working on resolving the issue.

Thanks for your patience! Happy Valentine’s Day!

And I’d love to make two other people happy with this kit – instead of seeing it sit in my closet. ^_^ The kit includes everything that you need to make the mini – including inks, thickers, embellishments, so much yummy stuff. AND a full color printed handout with large photos of each layout, so that you can easily assemble it yourself.

To enter to win one of the two kits: just post a comment here between now and 11:59 EST on Saturday, February 16. You can get additional entries by sharing the post on facebook and tagging bluebird chic, or on twitter and tagging bluebirdchicllc.

Good luck! We’re off to the races today with our boys – they’re racing their pinewood derby and sailboats this am! ^_^

1. moccasins  2. power yoga {lost 3 pounds last week!} 3. carmel macchiatos  4. shoot the moon polish from Sally Hansen

I’ve been spending a lot of time organizing and working on new product styles for the shop, getting the boys resettled into a good school routine, and clearing out clutter. I’ve also been doing a lot more contract work in the scrapbooking arena, and that’s been fun! Oh, and can’t forget working with a designer on a new branding and website! Yay!

Speaking of clearing out clutter – I’ve been going through things and have found 2 of these kits left over from a super fun mini book workshop that I did this past summer at The Scrapbooking Studio! I think I’ll be posting a giveaway this weekend. Here’s a peek:

I seriously loved this mini. It’s so chunky and packed with stuff. The kits themselves even come with a printed handout that includes large, full color photos of each page, to make it easy to assemble.

Anyway! I’ll be sure to get that post up for everyone to comment on and share for the giveaway this weekend! Hope your week is going fabulous!