crafty fanny

my new home!

Hi friends!

I am thrilled to announce that I have a new home on the internets...introducing...

{drumroll, please}

the new official www.craftyfanny.com!

And I have a new blog too! Check it out, and be sure to update your subscriptions (sidebar link) to continue getting my new stuff delivered to your email or reader!

Ah! Fun! Yay! Um, what are you doing still over here? Get to the new site yo!

it all boils down to being brave

Hi friends!

I've been a little bit absentee these last couple of weeks, but don't y'all worry, I've been living it up out in the real world!

But, if you are missing my brilliance and wisdom, I wanted to let you know of two posts that you shouldn't miss:

• I wrote about owning it last week over on Spring. Y'all know this is my favorite thing to talk about, so get on over and read all about it!
• I also posted on the Courage of Kindness over on Kind Over Matter. I really love this blog and love that Jenn and Amanda are creating such a community of kindness. Good, good stuff!

Oh, and I thought it would only be fitting to showcase the rewards of my own bravery this past weeked.

Are you ready for it?

Cause this is good stuff...

Y'all. This weekeind. I met The Avett Brothers!!!!

(This pic is my favorite cause it captures how I'm probably telling him that no, he is that awesome, and he's realizing that he has to shut me up with a hug. It worked)

Right?!?!?! Are you freaking out too right now?!?

Let me just say, all those boys are some of the nicest people out there. They were so sweet to me, their "Can I just tell you how awesome you are and how much you've affected my world?" fan.

And had I not been brave, I would never have talked to them.

Lesson of the week: Be Brave. Do it. And watch the magic unfold.

PS. If I'm a little absent this week, it's cause I'm working on my new website!!! OMG! And I'm going to show you very, very soon!!!

Declare Yourself Awesome

Have y'all heard about the Declaration of You yet?

Wait?

You haven't?

Ok, so you know how I'm always saying that you have to own it? That everyone in this world has something special in them, something that makes them crazy unique and one of the secrets to living your most happy life is to embrace that special sparkly part of yourself and be who you truly are?

Ladies and gent ('cause really, does more than one boy read this blog?) here's the news of the year: there is now a whole e-course to help you own it!

Um, can we just sit with that for a minute? An e-course to help you own it? To teach you how to find those sparkly parts of yourself and embrace them? Even if they aren't what your parents/boss/partner/friends/acquaintances/family members think that you should be focusing your life around?

This is gonna be good stuff, my friends!

And...wait for it...the course is being taught by Michelle Ward and Jessica Swift!

{cue lovefest}

Y'all know how much I love Michelle already, but I don't know that I've publicly swooned over Jess yet. Cause I've been busy. Busy doing things like working with both of those ladies on Spring! Busy doing things like working with Jess on my new website design (soon, folks, very soon!! But sooner if someone wants to come over and write all my copy for me! hehe). Busy doing thigs like getting so freaking excited about this e-course!!

Seriously. Registration opened yesterday and I'm already signed up!

And you should join me! It will be so fun...like a soul searching exploration of our selves. And don't worry if you're a little shy...you already have at least one friend to sit with at lunch! Me!! And, trust, I'm crazy-fun in the lunchroom!

New print: Grow

Happy Monday, my friends!

I wanted to share a new print in the shop with you this morning: Grow. 

I love how the flower seems to be growing through the muddle and in spite of it. I think this would be a good thing for all of us to remember.

friday's confession: I'm a goober

Yes, you heard it here first: I'm a goober.

No, really, I am.

Goober, goofball, joker, whatever you want to call it, that's what I am.

And I'm owning that, because it's one of the things that makes me me. Authentically me.

We set up a post challenge over at Spring this week: What makes you authentically you? so here's my list including the good, the bad, and the ugly:

• I'm a goober (see above)
• I make myself laugh on a daily basis. Seriously, I crack myself up all the time.
• I would like to live in France someday.
• Or just inside an Anthropologie store.
• I am a crazy super fan-girl of The Avett Brothers.
• Giraffes make me swoon. Especially baby ones.
• I want to get married in a barn and dance all night at my wedding.
• I use inappropriate humor to diffuse awkward social situations.
• I am really loud.
• I like karaoke a LOT despite being a horrible singer.
• Champagne at breakfast is one of life's greatest pleasures.
• I fight waking up every single day, but am slowly discovering that I actually am a morning person.
• I have a scary ability to simply ignore mess and clutter and just live my life around it.
• Words of affirmation and quality time are my primary love languages.
• I talk to my dog all day long when I'm alone with her.
• I have an amazing vision for my life that I'm slowly working towards.
• I am insecure.
• I fake confidence until I feel it.
• I love shirtdresses and would wear one every day if I had enough of them.
• Musicals make me crazy. Even bad ones, like Lestat, the Musical.
• I sing a LOT.
• I laugh a lot.
• I smile all the time and don't realize it.
• People have told me that I'm the most cheerful person they know.
• Some people don't get me and think I'm crazy.
• I cry a lot too.
• I love to cook.
• I don't love to clean. In fact, I sort of loathe it.
• I am an artist.
• I'm finding my style as an artist.
• I still have a whole lot to learn.
• I want to make a lot of money in my life so I can spend it all traveling and eating amazing food.
• Watching people play pac-man makes me anxious.
• I'm a worrier.
• When I'm stressed out or nervous about something, I get insomnia.
• At my last day job, I had insomnia for months.
• I almost went to business school for an MBA.
• I'm so glad I didn't go to business school.
• I love children and will have one of my own someday.
• I am fiercely loyal to the people I love.
• I have a tendency to be co-dependent and take care of everyone around me first.
• I love taking naps. If I was President, I'd mandate daily siestas.
• I think our time here is too short to live lives that don't make us feel sparkly inside.
• I want to bring joy into people's lives.
• I think everyone in this world is beautiful. Including you.

Wanna play along?

friday's confession: I'm letting go of the selling.

That's right: I'm letting go of the selling.

But not really (gobuystuff!), it's more that I'm letting go of my focus on the selling. I think that's better.

Here's the thing: I had a Labor Day sale a couple of weeks ago. Everything was 40% off. What a deal! What a bargain! Can you believe it?

Can you believe that I didn't sell a single thing?

And, it's just so freakin' anticlimactic, this selling online thing. You do something SO EXCITING like launch a sale. And then you wait. And then you think, oh I shouldn't just sit and watch my email all day. I should do something fun like go outside and play with my dog.

But you can't.

It feels exactly like waiting for a boy to call.

And when he doesn't call, it feels shitty. Even though I know I'm doing what I should be doing, and I have trust in my vision and my process and my art and I'm just at the beginning of my journey and all that stuff, it still hurts when the boy doesn't call. 

*Sigh* I know that I should tell myself the same thing that I would tell my sweet, beautiful single girl friends who despite being awesome, just can't get the boy. 

When the time is right, it will happen. 

And I know it's true, cause I already got the boy. Now I just need the sales.

So here's my plan: I'm letting go of the selling. Not letting go, really, cause ultimately I'm attempting to run a business, but I'm taking my focus away from it.

It's like when you're single, you can't go out for the night trying to meet a boy. That just leads to trouble. It's almost inauthentic. You will only actually meet the right person when you just go out for you. To have fun. And when you're being you, you'll attract the person.

That's how it works, right? At least that's how it's always worked for me. And like I said, I got the boy. And he's a good one. Like the best.

So the selling is gone from my mind. Now it's about being me. Making art. Grabbing inspiration. And doing it.

And I'm trusting that the sales will come.

Deep Breath.

Go.

my random bits, aka, my balls!

Ah...We've finally made it past Mercury's freakin' retrograde! Doesn't it feel so good?

I woke up yesterday with a raging headache, but after an Excedrin migraine and a pot of coffee (a combo I don't necessarily recommend since it left me feeling like I might jump out of my own skin) I felt so jazzed about the coming months I could barely contain myself. Surely this didn't have anything to do with my insane morning caffeine intake, right?

So, without further ado, here are the random bits and pieces I'm working on, or, as I like to call them...my balls:

{hehe, get it? Balls?! As in balls in the air?}

• custom printing options for the shop. I am so very excited about this and will roll our my first design this week! 
• a non-birthday party for Maggie (she turns 1 this week)!
• a new website with a fresh new design! I'm working with the amazingly talented Jess Swift on this! Cause she's awesome! 
• a new monthly newsletter
• development of what is sure to be the best present ever! For reals, y'all! I'm going to try to get on this this week...stay tuned!
• fun changes over at Spring including great new opportunities for guest posts and inspired life spotlights...which I'm sure all of y'all would be great for! 
• did I mention I'm Mati Rose's new intern? omg you guys, working with her is so super fun and inspiring!
• more cooking! and cooking videos for the blog! I've actually been attempting to write my own recipes (super hard btw)
• research for a super-secret-but-don't-worry-you'll-be-the-first-to-know project I have up my sleeve
• oh, and all the normal life stuff of work, painting, making cards, friends, family, blahblahblah

Phew! Are you still with me? Can you see why I've been so anxious for communication to become normal so I can get on all this?

Stay tuned friends! We're gonna have some crazy fun months coming up!

Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!

passion counts.

A few weeks ago, Michelle asked the following question to her readers: Do you believe in passion?

Friends, I implore you, if you are doubting the existence of passion, please watch this:

What I love about this video is that you get a really great angle on the band while also being able to see the crowd. The crowd that is in love with these guys on the stage. The crowd that cannot help but to be swept into the musicians' own passion for what they're doing.

There's the word: passion. And if you try to tell me that true passion doesn't exist in this world, I'm going to call bullshit.

I'm going to call bullshit and then say this: if you are doubting the existence of passion in this world, in your life, if you are thinking that you are incapable of finding something you're passionate about then you're doing it all wrong.

If you haven't found your passion, you just haven't found it yet.

My advice: start living differently NOW. All of those things you always do because you've always done them? Stop. Do them differently. RIGHT NOW.

All of those things out in the world that you're curious about, but surely would never try: like archery or salsa dancing or painting or rock climbing or hiking or sailing? All those things? Go do them! Find a class or a group or a friend and get out there and start living your life.

If you don't have your passion yet, make it a priority to find it. And then get on it, because you might have to try out a lot of really fun stuff before you find that one thing that makes you feel so alive, so sparkly, so in love with life and with yourself that nothing can touch you.

And then come back and let's talk about if passion exists!

Asian Superman & My New Bike

Have I told y'all before how Tim is a superhero? He really is. He's like the Asian Superman. Seriously, I think that he might *actually* know how to fly but is just keeping a low profile.

I bring this up now, because, as I mentioned before, he picked me up at work last week (about 36 hours after getting stabbed in his eyeball) with this surprise-early-birthday-present for me on top of his car:

'Cause that really is how he rolls. Tim is one of the most awesomest people I know!

Her name is Dorthea. She's beautiful and I love her.

This bike fits so perfectly into the vision of my life I have for myself. Tim just got me one step closer. And I love him for that.

friday's confession: I need a plan.

I need a plan.

I mean, I have a plan. I have this vision of my life, of where I'm going with myself. I know where I'm heading, what I'm working toward. So I've got that. Goals, visions, etc.

But the plan? I think it's a little lacking.

When I was working with Michelle, I did a Myers-Briggs assessment and found that I am an ENFP. This means, my friends, that I am all about the BIG PICTURE. And I am. Big picture. All the time. I have about 100 big ideas rolling through my head. I'm always thinking about the books I'm going to write, blogs I'm going to start, things I'm going to do, create. Retreats I'm going to lead. All of these big ideas.

And I could spend my whole life coming up with big ideas. My challenge is actually figuring out the little steps needed to make all of these things happen...without losing steam and moving onto the next big idea.

So, I need a plan. I think I need to go spend some time at a cafe writing down my plan. Really figuring out the steps I need to take to make all this amazing stuff happen for me.

Do you have a plan? When you need a plan, what's your favorite strategy for coming up with one?