Three By Sea

Some (Free) Wide Sarcasm Sea Holiday Cheer

I love Christmas, but all the holiday PC does sadden me at times. Life used to be so simple- you wished someone a Merry Christmas and it was taken as a gesture of cheer and goodwill towards its recipient. Then one day, uttering "Merry Christmas" somehow indicated you were small-minded and intolerant of others' beliefs. Which then caused a backlash by folks who, offended by the generic "Happy Holidays", would ONLY say "Merry Christmas" to drive some non-existent point home. Apparently we need to add more rum to the eggnog, get over ourselves, and find our sense of humor again.

Somewhere along the way we forgot the intent behind these sentiments. Last time I checked, "Merry Christmas", "Happy Hanukkah", and "Happy Holidays" were not code words meaning "F.U." I'm also pretty certain that none of the various religious and cultural celebrations taking place this season involve egging your neighbor, punching strangers, or making little kids cry. In fact, most, if not all, of the seasonal celebrations embrace generosity, gratitude, and goodwill towards others.

So in that spirit of generosity, gratitude for my readers, and goodwill (with a dash of humor) towards others during the holidays, here is my gift to you from Wide Sarcasm Sea-

These greeting cards are yours FREE to download, print, and send to everyone on your list. Well, everyone with a sense of humor. Click here to download cards.

This PDF download includes a page of each card design (they print two to a page), as well as an envelope template. I recommend printing on cardstock (at least 60lb.), which is readily available at most local office supply stores. Printing tip- turn off any borderless printing or page scaling options when printing, as they tend to skew the way the pages print out.

Merry Christmas,
Nicole

P.S. These cards are free for you to use and give to others, however, reselling or using them for commercial purposes will earn you a lump of coal in your stocking from Santa and bad karma throughout the year. ;)

Santa is Just the Middle Man

Who needs Santa to bring you things when you have cuteness, charm, and a mother who isn't about to say "no" in front of 50 Ikea shoppers?

This is Mr. Elephant-

 

Poor Mr. Elephant was living a crowded, miserable, and uncomfortable life in a big wire bin near the checkout line at Ikea when my son, Jack, found him. After introducing Mr. Elephant (which is damn near the size of Jack himself) to EVERYONE in line within a ten foot radius, it became quite apparent that we were not leaving this joint without "adopting" Mr. Elephant and bringing home to join our family. I mean, unless I wanted to look like "Mean Mommy" who hates children, elephants, and all that is good and pure in the world. (And I'M the disciplinarian in our house!)

What can I say- being an only child has its perks. Like being able to sucker your mom a bit easier than if there were four of you in line with her (I was actually one of five). And I can't be mad about it either. Jack loves Mr. Elephant.

For the past week, Mr. Elephant has slept faithfully next to Jack at naptime and at bedtime, and has even taken a few car rides with him. I guess these two really were meant to be together, and who was I to keep them apart...

Take care,
Nicole

Mele Kalikimaka

So Christmas in Florida is a bit different from Kansas, which is where I grew up. The chance of us having a white Christmas here are a snowball's chance in, well, Florida. With the current weather, we'll probably be in shorts on Christmas day. I can't say I'm all that upset about it. I grew up with the snow, the ice, the wind, the cold temperatures, and frankly, I'm over it.

I will admit, however, that holiday decorating is somewhat of a challenge, as the traditional green and red color scheme is a bit too dark and heavy for such a bright, sunny place. Christmas takes on its own tropical twist here, sometimes to the point of tacky, but always in the spirit of fun and good cheer. One of my favorite things about Christmas in Florida is the palm trees wrapped in lights.

 

Those palm trees wrapped in lights are the inspiration for my holiday gift tags- 

 

There are flat "To/From" gift tags, as well as folded "Mele Kalikimaka" tags, and they are my Christmas gift to you. Print them out and add a bit of tropical island Christmas cheer to your gifts. Click here to download.

Mele Kalikimaka & Merry Christmas to you!
Nicole

Just Walk Away...

A funny thing has happened lately...

Feeling rather uninspired for some time, I finally made the decision to walk away from everything for a bit. I quit writing blog posts that felt dry and forced. I quit forcing new design ideas that I wasn't enthusiastic about just for the sake of creating new items for the holiday season. Remembering that it's the journey that ultimately matters, I changed up my routine. I switched my focus from producing back to creating. I've let things happen as they will.

So what's happened?

Blogging less often has led to more subscribers. All but ignoring my Three By Sea shop has led to a steady increase in orders. I know it's the holiday season, but these orders have all come when I WASN'T running a sale. It's like the more I pushed, promoted and blogged, the more it's worked against me.

I'm not saying that doing nothing is the way to success. Rather, I am finding that you have to let things happen naturally and in an authentic way. The more you try to force things, the more energy you end up wasting. Energy that could be put better use creating.

Take care,
Nicole

(photo credit- Beach Walker, originally uploaded by ridersinblack1970.)

I Hate Black Friday

Black Friday I stayed home and slept. That sums up how I feel about shopping. I prefer the convenience of online shopping, and so I offer to you these Cyber Monday sales from my online shops-

From the Three By Sea shop-

All Download and Print Stationery Sets are Buy One, Get One Free. Be sure to type "TBSBOGO" in the Notes to Seller, along with which set you would like as your free set.

From the Wide Sarcasm Sea shop-

All Greeting Cards are Buy One, Get One Free. Type "WSSBOGO" in the Notes to Seller, along with which card you would like as your free card. 

Sale ends on Thursday, December 3rd at midnight EST.

Hope to see you soon!
Nic

Emily & Jacob's Poetically Photographed Home House Tour | Apartment Therapy Chicago

via apartmenttherapy.com

Love the placement of the table by the window and the lamp over the table rather than a chandelier. My fave thing is the bench seating on the back side. I need a bench for my table- bench seating is the epitome of laid back and relaxed dining.

Posted via web from Three By Sea

Gratitude & Creativity

During my garage studio clean up, I came across these two journals. The one on the left is a gratitude journal, and the one on the right is The Artist's Way Creativity Journal. The creativity journal has a quote and a question on each page for you to ponder and write about. I believe both of these were gifts. Gifts that I never got around to using when they were given to me, something that made me a little sad to realize.

Lately I'm feeling this need to evaluate my work and my approach to life in general. Days are passing, and I have little awareness of the moments that make them up. I believe when you become that out of touch with daily life, everything suffers- my family, my work, my sense of well-being, etc. And so I dusted off these journals, brought them inside, and started a new habit. Instead of staying up, working late into the night to the point of sheer exhaustion, I'm going to bed when my husband does. I'm writing five things I'm grateful for that day in my gratitude journal and answering a question in my creativity journal. It's helping me to settle my mind and prepare for a restful sleep. I can already feel its positive effects. I'm noticing what's happening around me more, I'm able to give more thought to what it is I want to do with my work. My son and husband are getting a more focused and tuned in mommy and wife.

Life is good.

Take care,
Nic

From Under the Rubble...

If you want to know how inspired or productive I'm feeling, take a look at how tidy my studio space and home is. The more cluttered my brain is, the more cluttered my surroundings become. Which causes my brain to become more cluttered, and well, you can see how this vicious circle turns into my own private hell. Perhaps you operate in the same manner.

Lately my work spaces had turned into crap holes. Yesterday I cleaned my garage studio space. For the record, the above photos are the AFTER photos! Note the uncluttered shelves (Sam's Club), tidy work sink (love that I have a sink in the garage), and clean work table (now I have room to make things). 

I also finally donated or tossed those supplies and projects that I don't need, don't like, or can finally admit I will never use. Honesty goes a long way towards decluttering and self acceptance.

FYI- if you have craft/art supplies that you no longer need or want, consider donating them to a teacher/school/daycare. Those cool, fun classrooms at your child's school are usually a result of the teachers buying the decorations with their own money. My sister teaches voluntary pre-K and is about to become the recipient of all kinds of supplies for her and her kids. She's thrilled at the free stuff, and I'm thrilled to be rid of the clutter.

And now that my surroundings have some order to them, my mind is settling and my creativity has room to play. So off I go to roam and explore.

Take care,
Nic

All We Will Ever Need- Freya Art

I'm so excited- the last of my birthday gifts arrived today!

 

It's "All We Will Ever Need" by Freya. I blogged about this print months ago and have wanted this print for so long, so when my stepmom asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I sent her the link to Freya's Etsy shop. I can't wait to frame it and put it up. It reminds me of Honey and I and our own little bird that some day we will have to set free.

The other thing I wanted to share was Freya's packaging. It was such a pretty envelope and it really got me thinking about creating a uniform packaging for my shops.

Isn't it all just as awesome as the print? I saw the envelope, and I couldn't wait to open up and see my print! The timing of this last birthday gift was perfect, as I just finished the last of my birthday goodies that I ordered for myself from Whimsy & Spice. Their Rose & Black Pepper Thumbprint cookies are addictive. They also have beautiful packaging too...;)

Have a great weekend,

Take care,
Nic

My Little Devil

This is me and my two brothers thirty years ago. We're wearing Halloween costumes my Grandma Pritzel made for us. She was a seamstress who could sew ANYTHING. In fact, she pretty much rocked on all the domestic fronts- she always had baked sweets on hand when we came to visit, kept an amazing garden that took up the entire back yard and fried the best damn crappie fish. She died of cancer when I was nine. I'm sorry that I didn't get to spend more time with her, but I think of her often, especially when gardening or sewing.

And this is my son, Jack. He's going as the devil, wearing the costume my grandma made for my brother Adam thirty years ago. I'm so excited.

I hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween this weekend!

Take care,
Nic

P.S.This was my son five minutes after I put the headpiece on him.

How long do you suppose it'll last Saturday night?