Toooooomorrow, Tomorrow, I Love Ya, Tomorrow

Our shop officially opens tomorrow (more details then).  This week has been product photos, styling, & more product photos...& then listing everything in the shop!

I bought some flowers for photos & I may have gotten a little distracted from the product photos for awhile because I just loved the clean white background, mason jars, & bright flowers.

(P.S. This one makes a great lock screen.)

Can't wait to show you everything Rachel & I have been working on.  We hope you love it as much as we have enjoyed making it all, & we'd love to hear your feedback!

Doing a Good Work

Disclaimer: I promise everything here is not going to be about our shop.  That's just what I have going on right now so it's usually at the forefront of my mind.

Yesterday was a stressful day.  I feel like all day long, people were telling me that what I want to do isn't possible when I know that it is.  I called to talk to several local printing places & every one of them was discouraging & didn't really give me any real answers.

Last night Grayson got home from work later than usual.  He's had a lot of really busy days lately because an app they've been working on for a year is releasing today.  Even after all that, he came home & while I made dinner, he immediately started working on scanning & printing just to see how our scanner/printer would do with my paintings.  He adjusted settings & tweaked for hours, & it still just wasn't really what we were looking for.  He ate dinner in about two seconds while still doing all of this & researching what other shop owners do - professional printing place vs. investing in a really good printer & doing it yourself.  This went on for hours.

In the middle of all of this, I got an email from someone I don't even know that was so encouraging & had good things to say about the sneak peek of our shop that I posted yesterday.  (Thanks, Amy!)  We decided to just quit thinking about it last night & research some more this week & maybe go printer shopping this weekend. 

This morning, I woke up to several posts on Instagram that I felt like were just for me.  (I think this means Jesus loves Instagram!)  She Reads Truth is currently in a study on Nehemiah.  I haven't kept up with it lately, but today I felt like I needed to read it.  I usually work in the mornings, but today I'm working a weird shift & don't have to go in until later, so I sat down to read it.  Nehemiah is one of my favorite books.  The whole story is about rebuilding & restoration.  Amidst hardship, Nehemiah persists, & says "I am doing a good work & I cannot come down" (Nehemiah 6:3).  He kept pursuing what he felt God had placed in front of him.

Grayson & I have been going through the One Year Bible this year, & we usually read at night rather than in the morning, but we're a little behind so I was reading one to him this morning while he got ready.  Today we were in 1 Chronicles 29 when the temple is being built.  After Grayson left for work, I wanted to read those verses again, more slowly.  I opened my bible, & it opened to that very page.  Back in January, I'd stuck my birthday card from my mom in my bible, & apparently that's the page I put it in.  I felt like it was the same story here.  Hardship + endurance = more glory for God.  1 Chronicles 29:10-20 is David's praise to God.  The passage ends with other people praising God in response to David's praise.  This is ultimately what we want.  We want to bring more praise, more glory, more fame, to God.

I want to have every bit of this in writing.  Whether we open our shop in a week or a month, whether we sell one thing the first day, or fifty.  Whether this shop lasts 6 months of 6+ years.  I'm doing a good work, & I cannot come down.

Introducing...East West Design Co!

I haven't posted much in awhile because I've really just been going to work & whenever I'm home, working on a new project...an etsy shop!

For awhile, Rachel & I have talked about "our etsy shop" that we'll have one day.  It was always one day when I move back to Georgia, or one day when we live in the same town.  A few weeks ago, Grayson came home from work & I was showing him something I'd made that day & he asked why I don't have an etsy shop now.  

Well...good question.  The more I thought about it, the more I felt like God was saying "why not?"  I really wanted to wait until we were in a house where I'd have more room to work than I do in our little apartment.  Or until Rachel & I live somewhere without an entire country between us so it'd be easier to work together.  But those limitations are no hindrance for God.  I was the one who thought I needed to wait, not Him.  I thought about it for awhile, & I couldn't shake the question of "why not?"  I didn't have a good reason not to.  So I started talking to Rachel about it & she felt the same way.

So...in the next few weeks, our shop will be open!  We have everything made, just going through the hassle of figuring out the best way to do prints & shipping, & then photographing & listing all of our stuff!

We're doing prints, cards, & maybe a few other goodies here & there.  Here's your sneak peek :)

And a few that Rachel has been working on...

I'll definitely let you know once the shop is officially up & running, but for more previews, follow along on Instagram.

Sunshine On My Shoulders Makes Me Happy

Last Friday Grayson developed a cough that just got worse & turned into a full-blown bad cold (or maybe flu?).  I managed to not get it until Tuesday, but being sick & living with a sick person will sure wear you out.  I've never been one for fevers & don't even remember the last time I had a fever, but after 3 days with a temperature, we were both glad when the weekend rolled around & we were feeling better.  I told Grayson I needed some sunshine & to see the ocean!  He was happy to oblige.

Highlight of Grayson's weekend life: spotting a whale...while driving down the road.  He's claimed to have done this before, but this is the first time he actually got proof.  He was over-the-top excited.  :)