Be Patient -- I'm new!

This is not the first blog I've started, but it is the first blog I'm hoping continues to grow.  My name is Shannon and I am a closet crafter.  My day job is as a testing coordinator at a A.C. New Middle School in Mesquite, TX.  "What is a testing coordinator?" one may ask.  In a nutshell, I am the education counterpart of a wedding coordinator.  I make sure every student has the correct test, the correct accommodations, an answer document, and a place to take every state- and district-mandated standardized test.  Oh yeah, and then I have to gather all of the data when every test is finished and put it in a readable format for my principal.  All this for approximately 1000 students.  Glorified paper-pusher and data analyzer.  Fun, Fun, Fun.  In addition to this, I am also a coach.  In addition to that, I am a wife and mother of 3.  I'm a bit busy :-).


Back to the term "closet crafter".  I have NEVER in my life considered myself artsy or crafty or creative. I have, though, always admired those who are these things.   Concrete-sequential, everything has a definite answer, black-and-white, clearly defined parameters -- that's me.  For whatever reason, though, I decided to decorate a journal/scrapbook back in the spring and things have never been the same since.  I spent my summer opening tyvm, my shop on Etsy, and improving and perfecting my craft.  I realized I DO have something of a crafty side (tempered by my "perfectionist" alter-ego), and that that crafty side allowed me to relieve stress . . . and has started to turn into a little bit of extra money.  Who knows where it will take me, but I'm glad go!


I plan to use this blog to share some of the things I do in my shop and on  Etsy, but also to showcase some of the items I create for friends and family that never make it to my shop.  As far as pictures go, keep your expectations low and you won't be disappointed -- I am learning how to take them, how to edit them, and finding the time to do all of this is a challenge all its own.  I'm also learning the ins and outs of web tools such as widgets (what??) and all of that good stuff.  Here is my first attempt at inserting a widget.  It's of the latest treasury I created on Etsy called Picture This! - wish me luck: 

Enjoy my fumbles and follies, and I hope you follow along and enjoy the ride!