((YEAH!!))

I spent a lot of time tossing and turning last night, and after awakening at midnight I gave up on trying to get back to sleep and finally got up around 1:45. I was surprised to find email in my box with an etsy order and payment information for one of my journals! The buyer is the woman who made our mobile.

This is the first sale I have made since I restocked my etsy shop, but I spent a LONG time last night looking around on the site for bird themed home decor items, and marked as a favorite one of her new mobiles. I guess that prompted her to look at my shop and I made a sale! Of course, I bought from a couple other vendors, too... I ordered some tiny crocheted flowers and a batch of vintage clock hands. It was about an even trade for money through Paypal...

As for the birds, there were 1250 pages of items with a bird theme--over 125,000 items.  I favorited several, but haven't bought anything yet.  It was enough to make me want to take up painting or drawing or something where I could create my own bird art.  One thing that was a recurring theme from several different shops was vinyl wall decor similar to the Uppercase Living I used to sell.  I found several really neat looking trees and tree branches with birds on or flying away from them. Different vendors had different color choices and design options, and it will be really hard to select just the right one when it is time to order.  I plan to put it in the guest room on the dark purple wall by the bed. I have lots of ideas for that room, but I don't know if I can carry them all off--or more to the point whether they will look like I want them to once I try!

I decided on the birds and flowers theme for decorating Zoe Cottage after I noted that my current journal and my new address book (above) both have bird papers on them, my favorite motif lately on any paper has been birds, and when Mickie was here last week, I oohed and ahhed over her bird stamp. When I shopped at a nearby gift boutique recently, I bought a box of six small white porcelain birds, and was drawn to several other bird-related items while there. I apparently like birds! Of course I have always loved flowers, but I don't want the whole place to be all flowery, so adding in some other nature themed items will help it to have some continuity without being too boring.

I have asked Dave to think about building some bird houses, and even came across some old license plates to use as roofs for one or two of them. Of course Hobby Lobby has hundreds of cute bird houses, but there is something special about one you design or build yourself.  Poor Dave's list of "can you make this?" projects is growing by the day... may as well employ all that high-dollar equipment out in his man cave, right?