New Digital Prints!

From Mid-February to Mid-March, I took a short break from my Etsy shop to recoup from the holiday rush. I worked on some household projects (aka laundry) and did a bunch of sketching! I added over 40 of the new designs I sketched to my shop last month! 

Most Popular State in 2016 Goes to....

So I am one of those rare breeds (and no, I'm not talking about being a ginger). I enjoy being creative, but I also enjoy order amongst the chaos (even though my giant laundry pile would say otherwise). Some people refer to this as being both left-and-right-brained.  I tallied up a bunch of facts about my orders. I do this in hopes to recognize trends within my products, and how I can take that knowledge to become a better seller to my customers.

My New Year Started In February

On January 1st, I was getting so jealous of everyone's posts about their resolutions and goals for the new year. I was still buried in etsy orders from the holiday season for the entire month of January. As of last week, I am DONE with holiday orders. I am very excited to talk about my super fun plans for 2017. But, before we do that, let's review the highlights of 2016.

Remember when I'm supposed to be blogging?

I talked about in my goals post how I wanted to be doing a blog post 3 times a month. I thought this was a challenging goal, yet achievable with some effort. Little did I know the next several months would be my most successful (read: busy) for my Etsy Shop and I would have zero minutes to spare. Or at least that's how it felt.

New Designs and My Inspiration

I have 23 new printable art listings! Yay!

New Things! ...Well, sort of

I ordered some new things this week, and posted some new listings. I also get to check a few things off my shop goals list, yay!

CaiterbugCoast2Coast: What did I do? What did I draw?

Hey Guys! I'm back from my trip!

Gosh. Two weeks is long time to be away from home. At least for me. I love my day-to-day life in Seattle.  I missed my husband, my puppy, my friends, and my business.  However, I did get to see some pretty great people while I was gone, so that made it worthwhile. 

Scripture Prints: Request List

In the near future, I will be going on a 2 week long trip to the East Coast. I am super optimistic that I can use this time away from the shop to my advantage. One of my 2016 goals is to double my inventory of printable art. This means I have about 70 prints to make.  I think this time away (with a lot of plane rides) is the perfect time to get a large chunk of my sketching done. 

A video posted by Caitlin Christine (@mrscaiterbugshop) on Feb 18, 2016 at 3:41pm PST

A Print for Bri

You may have seen my posts on Facebook several weeks ago when I found out my friend Brittany was in a paragliding accident. It happened while she was vacationing in South Africa with her two best friends, Lauren and Ashley. 

2016 Shop Goals and Personal Goals

Hello all! It's been a while. I feel like last time I wrote a real post was when I had just listed some of my first Etsy products. One year and 288 sales later, we have some catching up to do. MrsCaiterBug's Etsy Shop has gotten more business than I ever expected. Now that I have some e-commerce experience, I really want to push my shop even further and create goals for the next year. 

My 2016 Planner!

I'm writing this post for 3 reasons:

1. It has forced my to put my goals into words, and therefore they are more thought out.
2. Sharing my goals with you all will keep my accountable.
3. It fulfills one of my goals of blogging more - Is that cheating? haha.

What am I doing with my life?

Great question.  

I've been searching for an answer for almost two years now.

Most of you know I don't have a "real job" out here in Seattle. I've been pretty hard core with the job search for a little over a year now. I've sent out countless applications, had some great feedback, been on several interviews, but nothing has come out positive. I've tried to be pretty "whatever, that's life" about the whole thing, but it has been hard on me. I have times where I'll get down on myself for thinking I am a waste of my (2) college degree(s).

I celebrated my 24th birthday this month. Which reminded me that the window is closing between now ----> and when Tom and I want to start a family in a year or two or three.  Maybe a job in my field isn't in the cards for me, and I am okay with that. My conversations about this with God go something like, "That's fine. I don't need a real job. But, if that's not what I am supposed to do, what is? Give me something I can pour 100% into."

He is answering me in a way I wasn't expecting. (Isn't that always how it goes?)

I have a lot to be thankful for, and lately God has been reminding me of people he has placed in life to help me through this weird time. 

Custom Embroidered State Pillows: Examples

Here you can view detailed photos of the Custom Embroidered State pillows.

Visit my Etsy shop and start a conversation with my for any questions. I'd love to chat!

Coming Soon: Embroidered State Items

I wanted to give you all a little preview of what some of my upcoming Etsy items will be, and hopefully get some feedback before I take them public on my shop.

I love sewing. I especially love embroidery. And, that got me thinking, "Why don't I have embroidered items on my shop?" I would love to spend more time hand sewing, but I am running out of things to embroider for myself (so I need to be able to give it to other people, haha).

Hair Bows! - With a Preview of Upcoming Posts

The point of this post is really to show off the awesome GIF I made. 

Several months ago I made a bunch of hair bows from some left over fabric. They are now available for purchase on my Etsy shop!

At this time, I don't really have a tutorial on how I made them. However, I do have an upcoming post on some bow pillows that use a very similar construction technique. Hair bows would be a great introductory lesson to machine sewing. 

Here is a preview of what's to come in the next few posts!

Broken Ironing Board turned earring holder! 

Bow Pillows with embroidered detail.

Monogram wall art.

Houndstooth bolster pillows made from a body pillow.

My completed yoyo quilt :)

Thanks for stopping in! 

Laterbug, Caiterbug.

Hokusai Reproduction Painting

For those of you that don't know, I went to school for Art Education and Computer Art & Graphics Programming. So while graphic design and digital art are my main loves, my art education training gave an appreciation for other mediums as well. I especially love painting and printmaking. So it is no surprise that this post is about a print I did a painting of. 

Lets Start At The Very Beginning

According to Maria, it is a very good place to start.

For this first post, I want to establish some content you readers can except and what I see for the future of this blog. Disclaimer: I am not a strong writer. However, I love sharing my creative ideas and thoughts with others. After making a move across the country, away from many friends and family, I've found it difficult to find a creative outlet where I can be in community with other people (You can only do so much through FaceBook and Instagram). This blog will be a place of all things creative, and also serve as way for my (oh-so-far-away-and-much-missed) friends and family to keep up with my daily adventures (and Star Wars references). Below are some topics I plan on blogging about: