Saturday, 29 November 2014

Blogmas

Hello there!
I am pretty excited to come back to writing this blog! I have been busy, busy, busy writing and painting and just general life. (Yes, I know, that happens too).
I had never set out for this blog to be anything, so I wasn't too disappointed when I let this slip on the wayside just a little lot.

Anyway, carrying on. I have decided to do a blog/vlogmas. I am undecided whether or not to do either or both yet, and I am certainly not prepared, but I am pushing forward and moving ahead.

Only 2 more days until it starts! Look forward to seeing you then!



Friday, 1 August 2014

New Designs on Etsy!

Well, I am busy filming all of my activity of the day for my 1st of every month videos, but I thought I would quickly share an update that I am in the middle of on Etsy.

I am putting a lot of new designs up on Etsy as we speak!

Mountain Men-Original Design etsy.com/shop/missowlb

Baseball (can also do basketball, football or soccer ball!)

M&M's. Can do all the colors and they dont need the face on them!

Ben 10! 

Origami! Can do a lot of other animals as well :) 

Bones www.etsy.com/shop/missowlb


So there are 6 shoes that will be up by the end of the day and I have about 22 designs that are ready for shoes but haven't made it on yet, so you can expect a lot in the coming months! 

Love to all! 



Currrently...

I saw the idea for doing a currently list off of Pinterest (Go follow me on Pinterest!) and instantly fell in love with it!! So, here is mine for right now! I will eventually get some cute graphics and stuff for it, but that will have to be at a later date :P


Currently...
DATE: 31/7/14  TIME: 11:52
1. Listening: Right now, I am listening to Tip Toes by Jayme Dee. As soon as it stops, I will be listening to the crazy heavy wind and rain outside. 
2. Eating: Nothing! Which is weird, when I am in my studio, I am usually eating some sort of chocolate! 
3. Drinking: Solo! 
4. Wearing: My Video Game High School merchandise! (Hello, comfy pants and warm jacket!) 
5. Feeling: Oddly creative and in a writing mood, which is weird for midnight! 
6. Weather: See answer to number 1. Rain, rain, rain and cold. 
7. Wanting: Some good video editing software! Any suggestions? Comment below!
8. Needing: Not much at the moment! I am pretty content, at this very minute. 
9. Thinking: Thinking that I better hurry up and finish this before my laptop restarts for updates! 
10. Enjoying: The time by myself in my studio, despite it being cold! 



Love to all! 


Thursday, 31 July 2014

End of the month musings.

It has been so long since I last posted!! I have sat down to write posts, and then either worked on some art instead or worked on a few of the writing projects that I have got going on instead. But here I am! I am actually sitting down to write to you all now.
It's the last day of July today, I cant believe how quickly the year is flying by already! It's absolutely crazy, not just because I have started getting Christmas presents organised for my friends and family.
The weather has definitely reminded me that it is still only mid year with this winter being especially harsh on everyone. Only 1 month to go, until hopefully it starts getting sunny (for more than 2 days at a time!), flowers start to grow again and I can start wearing dresses without worrying about if I need to wear stockings underneath or whether or not to bring a jacket.

During summer, I always say I cant wait for winter to return, but during winter, I cannot wait for sun and warmth. I have a slight Vitamin D deficiency and being inside all the time, where I cant get any sun on my skin or actually have some sense of feeling in my fingers and toes can drive me to the point of near insanity sometimes.
I find on the sunny days that we get occasionally, that my spirit improves, I have more energy and I am excited to try new things. I have gotten better over the years, but usually during winter, I just want to shut off from the world, lie in bed all day, and ask that no one disturb me, but alas, that can't happen in todays society. I am pretty lucky not to have a main job, where my winter sadness can overcome people around me, but it can still affect my family and, in particular, my boyfriend.
But we trundle through life, don't we? Our moods and our lives go by in seasons, just like the weather, and I am glad that this is only three months of sadness, just so when the happy times come, I can really appreciate them.

We just need to open our eyes to the happy moments and the generous moments that are coming to us and be willing to take the opportunities that are arising before us every time some one tells us no, or we get sick, or a car breaks down, or someone speaks unkind words towards you.
For example, one month ago, I had just $9.56 to my name. Then 2 weeks ago, myana and pop gave me (and my sisters each) $100. It came at absolutely perfect timing. Then, my boyfriend found out he had passed all of his final exams and that he had now graduated. I then got an award for my volunteer services in the community.
All this was after my car broke down twice and then needed replacing, stress from T's exams, 4 bouts of sickness between us, me getting angry customers on Etsy, me slowly running out of money, and problems with friends and family.

I closed my shop for a month, feeling completely overwhelmed by it all, and not coping with all the orders I was getting and not being able to complete the orders or they were being regarded as not satisfactory. (It's open now!)
And instead, I focused on painting a lot of canvases, and put all my spare energy and sadness into the artwork. I felt I could just shift the world away from the problems I was facing and for the few hours I painted, that was all that mattered.

I'm slowly (very slowly) working on talking about how I'm feeling and instead of hiding behind 'work to do' excuses, so I can feel better in the end.


Well, I hope my ramblings have let you into a little piece of me. I hope to post more regularly, especially post things of my projects I am currently working on, and an upgrade is certainly coming up in the plans!
Please let me know what you think, and remember I am active on all areas of social media, so feel free to talk to me! I love having conversations with you guys!

Love to all!


Monday, 13 January 2014

Miss Owl B Shop discount!

It's coming up to the love season again! Yay! One month away! 
Because of that, I have got a sale in my shop, double yay! My boyfriend and I don't really celebrate Valentine's Day as I like to hope that everyday should be a day that we show how much we love each other, but I do love some specials! I will have some Valentine's Day and Australia Day designs coming up in the next day or so, so look out for them! 
Enjoy! 





Friday, 10 January 2014

Advertisement opportunity for Small Business owners!

Hello!
I have been very busy over the last few week or so, trying to get everything organized as the new year rolls over.
One thing that I am SUPER excited about is my new magazine! It will be a small magazine that will go out to all of my buyers and also available for purchase separately. It is going to include some discounts for my shoes, interviews, details of behind the scenes at Miss Owl B, a catalogue of things I am selling as well as things in the works.One thing I would love to add to it is some advertisements for some small businesses.
So!
If you are a small business that is needing some extra help send me an email! aimeeowlb@gmail.com
You can also be featured, and we can do a small interview over e-mails and I can add you to the magazine. You will also get 2 free copies and a discount for a subscription to the magazine.

Here are my prices!
-Small (up to half page) advertisement: $5
-Large (between half and full page) advertisement: $10
-Interview and feature: $15

Just make sure you can sell around the world, as I live in Australia. If you dont sell here, its not much point :)

I look forward to your emails!

 

Sunday, 22 December 2013

New books in the works!!

Have you ever read the beginning of a book and really wanted to know what happens next??
I did that today, except with the beginning of a book that I had started to write 2 years ago.

I was going through all of my old documents saved on my computer and came across these 3 stories.
I remember writing them, but I have no idea what was going through my head when I wrote them, and as I sat here reading them all, I realized that I really wanted to know what happens next! It was as if I was reading some one else's work!

I was excited to find them, and now I can work on them a little! My brother-in-law is a writer, and is currently editing his 4th book, has ideas for a 5th, and is constantly talking about it. I am loving hearing all the talk that goes into these books and works of art, that I am desperately wanting to create one myself!

I am pretty sure that my blog is going to change a little bit over the next year, and my content is going to change a decent amount, to change with how my own personal tastes change. I will keep in touch of how the progress is going, because I have a feeling that I am going to be quite obsessed with the thoughts of these books, as it grows over the next couple of months.
Anyway!
I am off to hopefully do another thousand words!
I should be doing one last post before Christmas with all of the Christmas decorations and what my studio looks like around this amazing time of year. :)

See you then!


Saturday, 21 December 2013

Creating 2014 Goals

Hey guys! We are back in business! I have had a tough 3 months trying to get my business of it's feet and actually doing something for me, and I am so, so excited with its progress! We had our first market last Sunday and while it wasnt a massive success, it still helped us out considerably. My camera, while still not clean, is working again, so I am trying to take some more photos...I just need it clean now!

So seeing as the year is close to finishing and after christmas is usually a time that I dont want to be writing blog posts or doing anything except working off all the food I ate, I have decided to write my 2014 Business Goals now. I will review them in a couple of days to see how it is going, and if I need to add anything, but I am liking how they look.
I have written them in the back of my 2014 business diary, so I know where they are every time I need them.
I am expecting that 2014 will be mine (and Miss Owl B's) massive year, so I am preparing early!

Back to the goals.
I am a list girl. I love writing lists, I love reading lists, and I especially love checking things off lists!
because of my list obsession, I write lists with a lot of things on them so that I can check more off.
I have written all of my goals in short, easily attainable goals.
Now that doesnt work for everyone. I know someone who likes to have 1 or 2 giant goals and keeps aiming towards them.
If their goal was 'Quit my day job.' mine would be 'Earn $5000' 'Make double the sales in Etsy' 'Figure out a budget' etc. I make my goals much more specific.
Well, I finished them all off and they are written in the back of my diary, and all ready to be used!
I am going to start my personal goals for 2014 soon. I needed to be on holidays first :)

Well, I just thought I should tell you I am back :P I am working on the scripts for some new YouTube videos! Videos are something I want to start trying out in the new year, and work with a slightly different medium to what I am used to. All part of the creative 2014! I want 2014 to be as creative and 'me' as possible.

I have been reading over all my old stories and poems and am super keen to get back into writing again. I have so many book ideas that are just bursting at the seems, I just have to put the effort into writing them!

Well, I am going to head off and get some work done on Christmas presents! Oops! Damn working all the time!


Thursday, 31 October 2013

Preparing For Rain


So, I took a month of blogging to really catch up with everything that I needed to get done and to really figure out what was important in my life right now, but I am back! 
I thought of so many blog posts that I was desperately ready to start typing and editing and posting, but that wasnt what the month was about, so I wrote the title down, and briefly what I wanted to mention and then let it go for a bit longer. 
I took 3 weeks off work recently, my boyfriend (Tom) and I went to Sydney, we had our joint 21st, I fell horribly sick in 2 ways (as my break from work was ending, unfortunately!), my best friend was in Adelaide for a total of 3 days before having to go back to Queensland, and I only got to see her very briefly, I got a load of sales on Etsy and Tom's parents have gone to Fiji for 2 weeks, so we are housesitting! It has been crazy, crazy times. I have so many photos I want to show you guys, as well as many I want to take, but my camera is actually slightly broken at the moment, so I am waiting for that to get fixed and then can get back into that. 

Now onto the main point of this post. Preparing For Rain. 

Has everyone heard the story about the 2 farmers who both desperately needed rain? Only one of the farmers went out and planted the crops and prepared the soil. Which one of the farmers trusted God to give him what he needed? 

I am not married. I do not have kids. I am currently getting ready for those things to happen, I know what I want my future to look like and I am getting that all organized now. I know a lot of the things I want are going to take several years, so perfect time to start! I would like to share a few of them now. 

One of the main ones that I want to do is have my future little children speak Spanish. I speak/write it intermediately and I read it very well. I learnt it from years 8-12 and I am currently taking night lessons in it as well. I am getting ready for something that I want to pass on to my children in 5 or so years, when I have kids. Spanish (and language in general) is something that I am hugely passionate about, so I am quite committed to learning all this. 

Another children one is that I would love to home school my children for primary school. But I know as soon as I say that I am going to home school them, that I will get some bad parenting looks or comments on the whole socialization debate. How am I currently preparing for this? Research, research, research! I am getting information that I might need in the future, as well as motive for wanting to teach my little ones the curriculum they need to thrive in this world. 

If you follow my Pinterest, you will see all of the wedding, baby, Spanish, marriage, future things that I have! I am on Pinterest a lot, which I definitely use as the dream board for which it was intended. 

I like to think that I am preparing my future for the life that I want to live. 
I hope you guys are all living how you want to be, or are starting to work out how you really do want to live.
How are you preparing for rain?

I hope everyone is having an amazing day/night! 
I would say happy halloween, but I am not a huge fan of halloween! (Yay, cheap chocolate!) 

xxx





Wednesday, 9 October 2013

Update

Well guys, I am back in Adelaide and it is cold, rainy, windy and dark. Perfect weather to get everything done inside! We had an awesome time in Sydney; perfect, sunny weather, great food, great company, and lots of walking.

While its nice to back, I think I want that weather back! But you know, orders to do, paintings to paint, cleaning to do.
Tom and I have our joint 21st party coming up, so I am very much looking forward to showing you some of the DIY decorations and processes behind some of what we have done! Everything is looking awesome and I am so excited to share all that we have done. :)
There is so much stuff to show you with that, so I can't wait till it is over, so I can tell you about it!

See you soon!




Thursday, 26 September 2013

Sydney!

Helloo out there!

I am off to Sydney for a couple of days (yay! holidays!), so won't be around for the weekend, those who have ordered shoes in the last couple of days, I will get them done as soon as I get back and then they will be on the way! :D

Tom and I are going on what I have been calling, 'The Bookshop Tour' of Sydney. We don't want to do any of the tourist-y things, so it is going to be markets and bookshops that we have never seen before! I am pretty excited about that.

Well, I will get back in touch as soon as I get back, after that I still have 2 and a half weeks of holidays, so pretty excited to get updated on everything!

Hope you guys are having a fantastic day/night and I will be back in no time.


I love all of you...


Sunday, 22 September 2013

Today...

THIS WEEK:

Watching: 
The movie, Goddess. Who doesn't love a bit of Ronan Keating or Magda Szubanski being that little bit naughty. Also, yay, musical! 

Listening:
One Direction's first album and Matthew Morrison's latest. We all love some difference.

Reading:
Fiction: Still reading Anna Karenina by Tolstoy. (Damn, its tough!) Also, Wild Designs by Katie Fforde (favourite author right there) 
Non-Fiction: Eating the Sun by Oliver Morton and A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle

Loving: 
Long phone calls with a new friend, holidays!, my little garden (gives me so much joy watching it grow!), trip to Sydney in 3 days, great new opportunities!

Not loving: 
Having a lot of mosquito bites already, Spanish classes finishing for the term, technology problems, people not being who you thought they were



Tuesday, 17 September 2013

Not forgotten!

Just a quick pop in to say that I have not forgotten you all! I am still around, I just have been very busy!
I will tell you all about it as soon as I have a break in 3 days!
Love you all!



Wednesday, 4 September 2013

Hard to believe...


It is a bit of a crazy week this week! I worked double the hours I normally do, it was Fathers day, my dads birthday, my cousins birthday and my friends mom's birthday this week, it's my boyfriends birthday tomorrow and then election day on Saturday. Crrazy! 
I have been doing quite a few craft projects the last few days, so I am looking forward to posting those within a few weeks. I have 2 new shoes to upload onto Etsy and at least 4 more to paint! 
Tom and I are having a joint 21st party next month and I have got so many craft projects and decoration ideas that I really need to get started on! Bring it on! I love being busy, it makes life fun. :) 

With what has been happening recently, my blog has been the one suffering, but that is okay. Every now and then, it is important to look up from the computer screen and focus on what is going on around you. 
I just keep writing the word crazy and then deleting it, because when I think about what I have to do this month crazy is the only word that comes up! 

Well, I had best be off doing something else. 
Hope you all have a very lovely day/night!

Love to everyone! 

Monday, 2 September 2013

Fathers Day!


First of all, happy Fathers Day to all the fathers out there!! and secondly, happy spring!
I have had a very busy couple of days. First I went volunteering on Friday morning, then had work, then slept, then had work again, then had my beautiful little cousins 18th birthday party (eep! 18 already!), and it was fathers day and we had joint 18th birthday/fathers day lunch, then fathers day dinner for the other side of the family. Craziness, but so much fun. I love how close my family is! Makes life more enjoyable when you can spend it with people you love :)

I wanted to post a quick post saying that the next week is going to be crazy, so probably wont get to post much, but I am working on it. I am also working on changing to my spring theme for my blog, and I am in the first draft. Not so keen on it, but I havent had much opportunity to fix it yet!!

But while the weather is so amazing, I am spending more time outdoors with my family (which means yay outing posts!) but means less time on here with you lovely people. :)
I have been getting quite a few shoe orders now, so thanks to all those lovely people! Getting busy on those very soon.

Alright, It has been a very tiring and social weekend, so I am ready for sleep! My eyes are closing just typing this. Goodnight, lovely people!



Thursday, 22 August 2013

Running late!

Hey guys!
I am running so late today! I start work very shortly and havent even started doing what I wanted to.
I thought I would just quickly share a poem I wrote the other day!

'If I open my arms and pretend to be a tree,
Why am I not one?
If I fall and spread my arms like a bird,
Why won't I fly?
How can I use my imagination, 
When I only know how to be human?
Oh, to become a child again, 
where boxes made of cardboard
is a treasure trove of the possible.'

Just a very quick one today! I will hopefully be posting some stuff tonight, but I don't actually know how that will go in the end...I am only human! :)


Oops! slash Outing!

So, I do feel like a bit of an idiot.

I didn't upload the link for my Etsy shop. I was seriously in such a haze that day. So much to do. Anyway! Here is the link!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/missowlb

I'm silly. I know.




Alright! So I have been dying to go to this cute little shop, that I found on facebook, for a long, long time. I decided the other day to head there today as a little present to my self (we all deserve little treats!).
If you live in Adelaide, head to Cross Road Collectables. I loved it just from seeing pictures of it and loved it even more when I visited it. It happened to be absolutely pouring with rain today and the wind made it even more harsh, but my boyfriend and I braved the weather to go (Yay, for nice and dry inside!).

One of the rooms full of old/vintage/secondhand books

More books!

Part of the music room (old records, radios,
sheet music, cassette tapes etc)

Another part of the music area
So, I only took a few photos (I was too busy perusing) but it is just one room after another of old items.
The store is actually 2 neighboring houses joined to create this store that seems to go on and on.
When I told my dad about it, he joked that it would be one day be my house. Thanks, Dad.

All in all, A great place! My boyfriend kept mentioning how much he would love to come back. We bought a book of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare, A few Trixie Belden books (seriously, im in love again!) and an old  smallish sword, which I am quite looking forward to using to decorate, but I don't think my boyfriend had that in mind. Oops!

Anyway, its late now and I still wanted to get 2 more things done before bed. Third oops is the charm!

Goodnight/ good morning!














Tuesday, 20 August 2013

My Etsy journey

Hello, favorite people!

So, 2 days ago I mentioned that I was going to open my Etsy shop today and I have! I am so excited, because I have finally found my thing.
Over the last couple of years, I have really wanted to sell things. I loved the idea of selling my art or other hand made things. They problem I found was that I wasn't very good! I have mentioned in an earlier post, that I do a bit of everything, and I like to learn new things quickly, which means I don't generally keep things in my head :P
But painting shoes is better for me, because I can stick to it!
I would love for you guys to check out my options, and see how you like them!

Thank you so so much!


The Alphabet Weekends- Elizabeth Noble

Alphabet Weekends- Elizabeth Noble



Blurb:
Natalie and her sisters have known Tom and his family forever. They climbed trees together, scraped knees on the same pavements and shaped bonds that would last a lifetime.

So when Natalie's long-term love walks out on her, Tom's is the much-needed shoulder she cries on. And he dreams up an ingenious way to dry her tears; a series of Alphabet Weekends- activities which, if not fun, will nonetheless distract her- and what bigger distraction to get them started then A for Abseiling? And even as she plunges down cliffs, Tom hopes Natalie might see what's been staring her in the face all these years. His undying love for her.

But as they tumble from A to Z, their families and friends face broken hearts and tragedies of their own. Can the Alphabet Weekends unlock love in all its many and wonderful guises? And not only for Natalie and Tom, but for everyone they care about?

First Thoughts:
I loved this idea! Doing set activities for each letter sounded awesome! I was excited to see what they came up with. I hadn't read anything by Elizabeth Noble before, so I was curious to see how it would turn out.

Final Thoughts:
It was a lot messier than I originally thought it was going to be like. I liked it. I did, but while the blurb seemed to indicate that it was majority Natalie and Tom's point of view, it actually wasnt. It was in the end only a small bit Natalie and Tom and mainly focused on their relatives and friends, which I also liked. It was very interesting that, although Elizabeth Noble's writing style wasn't my favorite (I prefer Katie Fforde) I could get past it and actually be a part of the characters lives, and that surprisingly one chapter actually nearly made me end up in tears! (read: nearly!) That is unusual for me with a book.
I think, in my opinion, Natalie and Tom should have been minor characters and some of the others should be the major ones, but that is just all petty stuff and I actually really enjoyed the book!
If you are someone who really can't get over the less than perfect writing, then this book probably isnt for you. I did see another Elizabeth Noble book, but I didn't end up getting it, just because I wasn't too fond of her from this one.

I would love to hear someone else's view on it! Have you read it? Let me know what you thought in the comments :)


Sunday, 18 August 2013

Etsy Shop Opening Eve Eve

Okay! So while the title gives away my new surprise, i am so happy to announce that my new Etsy shop will be opening in 2 days time! Argh!

For those of you who don't know (I have been deliberately keeping it a secret for a while, so I will be surprised if you did!) I have started hand painting blank canvas shoes! I started making them for birthday presents for my friends and family and people have since then wanted to actually buy them, so I am so grateful for those who have wanted some! Even my Nana has pre-ordered a pair. I think that is pretty cute, also she reads this blog, so hey, Nana!!

Ones I finished last night! My boyfriends Poker shoes! 

My TARDIS Doctor Who Shoes

Thing 1 and Thing 2!

So, I am very excited about finally getting this off the ground! Today has been figuring out all the behind the scenes business-y stuff, so I am getting closer and closer to finally getting this open. My original open date was 3 months ago, and then 18 days ago and now I am finally not going to put it off any longer!

It's nice to feel like I can do something thats decent enough to sell, we will see how we go! :D

Thank you all for your support and I will see you at the grand opening of my store in 2 days! I am thinking a little online party is in order! 


Thanks so much, have a lovely, lovely day!