My First Post!!!

I've very excited to finally start a blog. I don't know if it's because I need an outlet to ramble about the many thoughts that whiz thru my mind or because it seems like all the cool kids are doing it. ; )

My hopes for this blog are:

#1—It will help people everywhere discover my website, www.lilygirldesigns.com, Lily Girl is a personalized stationery, invitations, etc website. By trade I am a graphic designer who has spent the last 6 years being a work from home mom. (My beautiful children are Ethan, 6, and Lily who just turned two.) My business name was clearly derived from my daughter's name, but it also incorporates my son's nickname for his little sister "Lily Girl". I've been doing freelance design work since staying at home (in my professional career I was creative director for a local publishing company) and I often had people asking me to create invitations for events, etc., so I decided why not come up with my own line. I LOVE coming up with new designs and constantly have ideas swirling around in my head! If only there was enough time in the day to create them all!!!!

#2—To help people discover my brand new Etsy site! http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6622534 (The name Lily Girl Designs was taken, dang it, so I had to name my Etsy store Lily Girl Paper, hope that's not too confusing!) Not only will I post my stationery items on the Etsy store, I also have some of my new creations; Hair Bows!!! Now that Lily has enough curls to support a bow I started making them myself! I'm one of those people who sees things and doesn't want to pay the high price because I know I can just make it myself. (Again, time issues, lack of time specifically, makes this difficult.) I have always loved combining colors and patterns to make pretty things so bows are a perfect fit!

#3—I finally have a place to share all the cool sites I discover while "researching" for my work. I look at all sorts of fun sites; kid's clothing, interior design; gardening, etc., and use the color combos and images I see to inspire my designs.

#4—I want to use this blog as a way to try to organize my thoughts, let people know about new creations, ramble about my challenges (which consist mainly of managing my time and balancing family, work, friends, etc.) and hopefully have people offer helpful suggestions for these challenges!

Well, that's enough now! Hopefully I'll be a dedicated blogger and find the time to post often!