Becoming a Catholic

Have I told you that I've been working on becoming a Catholic? It's true. Chris is a devout Catholic and the kids have been baptized Catholic. I grew up Christian, but without a religion in specific. And that's been fine by me. I've forged my own relationship with God and have found so much peace and comfort through Him on my own. But over the past several years I've found myself wondering about my purpose. What am I here to do? What are my gifts and talents for? What is the plan for my life? These are mysteries we all live with but the questions have been tugging at my soul. I felt such unrest! I kept thinking maybe I needed a new job, or a new house, or a change of scenery. I never felt all the way fulfilled. But after a particularly hard day, I realized that I was missing a stronger relationship with God…the kind that comes through a community of others who share and celebrate the same beliefs. I spent the better part of a year or more researching religions and reading everything I could about different faith groups, their traditions and histories.
I realized, after my research, that your faith is what you make it. And that has made all the difference. So, I decided to join the family in celebrating within the Catholic faith. I've been learning about it for well over a year now and I will be Baptized, take my first Communion, and have my Confirmation at the Easter Vigil Mass this year. I'm so excited about it! I'm looking forward to ways I can share my gifts and talents with others and my children through Ministry. I'm so curious to know how God wants me to help others in the best way. I'm praying about it and know an answer will come in time. I have plenty to do in the meantime!
I must say, I've come to really appreciate and respect people and all their different beliefs. It is fascinating to see so many people looking for ways to make it peacefully and purposefully through the lives they've been given. I even have several atheist friends who have their own ways of finding special meaning in their days here. I'm so happy we have the freedom to believe how we would like to. We can care for one another no matter what our beliefs and that is a special privilege. I'm hoping to share more about how my faith journey has been changing my life for the better.


Here is Cardinal Sean O'Malley declaring us Elects.


Here's Chris and Me at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston for the Rite of Election.

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Etsy Success

I got interviewed for an article on pricing on Etsy. Today it's on the homepage and I was quoted and everything. I'm thrilled and excited (and grateful!).
Pricing my items has been an ever-evolving process. Creating hand-made means you take on all the overhead for supplies, time, shipping and marketing efforts. It also means you put your level of expertise into the mix. The customer gets something made of quality, love, care and attention. In the end, you hope someone values what you make and sees a little of themselves in it.

And just because, here is a photo of Noah feeling proud of his animal parade.

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Denise Carty Photography

As I mentioned last week, my brother-in-law's wife Denise Carty took all the awesome photos for my branding for me and my Me & Wee shop. She is a very skilled photographer and is so laid back and easy to work with...we had a lot of fun setting up our shoot! She is very talented particularly in the area of portrait photography for children, families, etc. but she has a particular gift and favor for photographing newborns and pregnant moms to be. She is very skilled with lighting, soft effects, and creating that peaceful sweet shot that only comes once and will last forever. She has two kiddos of her own; so she knows all about baby-wrangling, routines and schedules! And she offers a lot of great photo products like fancy albums, canvases and high-end photo finishes. Her professional retouching is another added value...newborn skin can look very purple and she takes care of it all!  If any of you are in the greater Boston area or particularly the South Shore, I would consider working with her for your special portrait needs!



You can view her newborn and maternity portfolio right here (so cute!)
Check out Denise Carty Photography right here.

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Holiday bonanza!

I can't believe I didn't post favorite pictures from the past holidays we had!
So, here's a crapload of pictures from Halloween 2013, Thanksgiving 2013, and Christmas 2013.
Now, I can rest assured these photos or on the blog for our future perusal. Phew!

Halloween 2013:
Paige wanted to be a "pegasus unicorn." Of course, in true New England style, she had a winter coat on below her costume so she looked like a marshmallow with wings and a horn. A cute marshmallow.
Paige proclaimed she wanted Noah to be her trusty dragon friend, so we agreed (since it would be cute.)
 














Thanksgiving 2013:
Speaks for itself! That bow-tie and vest kill me.









Christmas 2013:
Cute jammies, cute church outfits, anticipation...what's not to love about Christmas fun and kids?

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Winter 2014

It looks like this pretty much constantly here in my yard. This winter has been a nightmare here in New England. It's been the usual snow (blah) but that's not a big surprise. It's the temperatures that have brought on the hard times...it's been 8 degrees many days and highs seem to constantly hit 20 degrees at best. What the what??????!!!! I've got cabin fever in a big way and feeling so jealous of the parts of the country that get to enjoy spring. sigh.

See this picture below? It was 5 degrees when that was taken. Winter, you suck! (I said that in my best Maine accent by the way)

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A studio of one's own

 

 I mentioned in yesterday's post that my sister-in-law Denise came and took some branding pictures of me and my studio space. You can see the pictures in the "About Me" link at the top of this blog underneath the photo of me painting. I love my studio space in this new house...I have room to move around, lots of natural light, HEAT (I used to work in the basement at my old house), and atmosphere with all my decor how I want it. My painting desk is actually our old kitchen/dining room table. I need a lot of surface area for my supplies while I paint. We found the table at a local discount furniture store. There's an area not pictured where I have my computer, printer, and all my production stuff (paper cutters, adhesive machine, card scorer, and cutting mat) organized.  I also have a kitchenette where there is a sink and cabinets for storage and cleanup. Having a designated area to be creative and comfortable really makes a difference in my productivity and outlook. If you can find the space, I highly recommend creating a little nook (at least!) that is just yours where you can organize and put all your favorite things together in one spot. It feels good to have a spot of your own!

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Back in the Saddle Again

Hello!
Boy, my head has been spinning since last summer when we decided to move. I feel like the tornado of activity has finally slowed to a stiff breeze! I've spent a lot of the past several months caring for the kiddos (and many many small illnesses they've had), working on developing my art career, and trying to balance everything I want to do. Truthfully, I haven't done a very great job but I have to give myself kudos for 1. trying my best and 2. caring a lot about everything I do.




My goals for the kids have been to 1. keep them alive 2. help them thrive







It sounds funny to write it out like that; but those are the umbrella goals and so far, so good. I spend a lot of time with them and have been working to pay attention to what they each love to do as well as figure out where they might need extra help in terms of skills or emotional/spiritual development. I then work on a little plan to help them along (without them knowing!) so I feel like I'm mothering with deliberate purpose.  I'll have to share more about it here in this space now that I'm "back in the blogging saddle"  so to speak.



My goal for my career has been to 1. develop my work and explore my interests and my style
2. Develop a brand so that I have cohesive marketing efforts 3. expand my audience 4. sell more work.
It's slow going with this one, but it IS improving! I've shared my new work here and I think it is all coming together quite nicely. I've also been working on getting myself out there in social media. I love using Instagram (you can follow me! @meandwee) and I find it's a fun and easy way to collect inspiration, fun moments with the family, and share my works in progress. I also joined Twitter (you can follow me! @meandwee) but I'm having a harder time with that one. I'm just so visual that I have a hard time staying engaged with it. I mostly just share my instagram posts there. I think I just need more practice. This newfangled technology these days!!!! LOL!
I've also become pretty active on the Me and Wee facebook fan page...it's a mini blog and it's easy to share my works-in-progress and little tidbits about what I'm doing in real time.
With all that said, I'm working on making new friends and contacts in the online world. It's not easy for someone like me who tends toward shyness...but at least I have my quirky sense of humor on my side!



I've also been working a lot on my branding lately and my brother-in-law's talented wife Denise Carty came by and took business portraits of me and my workspace (she's a wonderful photographer! She does amazing newborn photography...word to the wise if you are anywhere near the South Shore of Boston). I'm thrilled with how the images came out and I plan to show you most of them this week.
My shop sales have improved slightly with the extra efforts I've put in. I'll take it! I hope to one day make a decent income from my art so that I can help support the family in a financial way and even give more abundantly to charities we care about.

So, those are some of the things I've been focusing all of my energy on lately. Have you been working on any major life things? You can share in the comments if you want! I like to hear that I'm not the only one chugging away at something. Does anyone even read this thing anymore? I swear I'm going to be posting with more regularity going forward! I just needed to get through the crapstorm that was moving and getting settled. See you soon!

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