Versatile Blogger Award-Yeehaw!

Have I ever mentioned how much I love Blogland?

It's like it's own little world where you can easily find and connect with people of like interests.

Just recently, I met (always feel weird saying met, when it's not in person) Shannon from Espee Trading Co.

She is super sweet, and awarded me with The Versatile Blogger Award!

Not only does Shannon love to sew, she loves a farrier!

See, even though you may have never heard the word...

They Exist!

As a funny little side note, I will share with you that I am also a the farrier's sister.

Noooooo, my mother did not reproduce with my brother, also making him my dad...that would be sick, and wrong on soooo many levels. 

I am one of four children, and one of my brothers went to school to become a farrier and now does it as a side job. Whenever I ask him to weld something for me, he teases that he will not help in any way until I rename my business....

The Farrier's Sister

It doesn't have quite the same ring to it, nor does it play off of the farmer's daughter...which is where my real business name came from. Well, that and the fact that my Dad is a farrier.

You can read some of his guest posts here and here.

Ok, so now for the fun part. 

As part of the award, I am supposed to share 7 things about myself. 

1.)  I'm a list maker. The funny thing is that I rarely look at the lists I make once I have finished them. When my husband teases me about it, I remind him that it is the act of making the list that helps me remember and organize my thoughts :-) 

2.)  I am married to a Police Officer, SWAT team member, wonderful father, supportive husband, extremely handsome, highly intelligent man who I am VERY proud of....did I mention he is not too bad on the eyes?!?! 

3.)  As a young girl, I had a cow for a best friend. I bottle raised him from the time he was just a calf. One time, I brought him inside my parents' day-light basement...it was just the once, because my mom caught me (which is actually a story I will need to share someday).

4.)  My husband and I remodeled rebuilt a 100 year old farmhouse. It was 103 when we finally moved in. You can see read more about it here.

5.)  I have a fear of driving on bridges over water. No joke, my heart pounds, and if I don't remind myself to breathe, I catch myself holding my breath.

6.)  In high school, I broke and held the girls bench press record.

7.) I have been a procrastinator since at least the third grade. It was then that my teacher told me so. After he let me in on this revelation, he asked me if I knew what that meant...I didn't at the time. Unfortunately, he was right. Thanks Mr. Graham!

The next part of the Award is to Pass it On!

Christine Marie Studio

A beautiful woman, making beautiful jewelry!

Modern Prairie Girl

Laura Blair is an amaaaazing photographer, cowgirl and mama!

Teresa Sheeley

I have been lucky enough to meet Teresa in person, and she is a gem! 

(she too has a farrier in the family)

The Fancy Farmgirl

Tiffany is another cowgirl that I am happy to have met in person. 

She too is a fabulous photographer with kindness that exudes her.

Auntie's

Joy is one of those gals whose name fits her to a T!

She is a joy to be around, and has been making some must-have jewelry.

The Strawberry Patch

Miss Christy Donoho is a great example of the friendships that can be made via blogging.

Though miles apart, we have formed a friendship that is very special to me.

Christy is in the Junkin' business, and puts on barn sales with a colorful twist that is sooo refreshing!

Blackberry Farm

Kimberly Taylor (you may recognize her as Mimi Charmante), has a blog full of eye candy, thanks to her superb photography! The best part is that she is just as sweet as all of that eye candy!

A note to the award recipients:  Pick up the award graphic and place it in your post.  

Pass it on to 15 more bloggers(make sure to go tell them) and tell us 7 things about yourself!

Small Business Experiences-The Early Days

Going from stay-at-home-mom to, "I want to start my own business" was a life changing event for me. I had earned a BS in Social Science, and Psychology, and worked as a counselor to kids with mental illness, and was, at the time, learning the ropes of motherhood with my first daughter along for the ride. I had always had a creative edge (I even started off as an Art major in college), but had never thought of turning my passion for design into a business. My other love has always been children, but I had never thought further than combining the two...teaching art, or art therapy!

Since my decision to become a momtrepreneur, I have realized that a lot of what you need to know can quickly be learned from experience. That said, if you can learn from others' experiences...even better! Which is why I have decided to begin posting some of my own experiences. I have also found that it is scary to start your own business, to put yourself out there. It is especially scary when you are going into a business that is a somewhat unique.

When I started out, I wanted to refinish sand, paint, and distress furniture. I saw the prices on pieces in the local vintage shops, and loved the idea that I could get a piece of furniture for cheap, work my wonders on it, and sell it for a profit....the best part-the buyer was getting a good deal too! The furniture at vintage shops are not only cheaper than buying new furniture, they are typically higher quality than a lot of the press-board stuff out there these days. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of information out there on the shabby chic furniture business. If I wanted to do this, I was going to have to figure it out on my own.

I started by visiting the local library and some book stores. What I found was a lot of information on how most people start a business. The problem here, is that I am not like most people. I am lucky enough to have a family of entrepreneurs, that have taught me some very basic, but very valuable lessons. My grandparents owned a successful tole painting shop out of the first floor of their 3 story home for many years. Their business model was much more simple than anything proposed in the pages of any Business books out there these days, but believe it or not...it worked!

It went a little something like this...you save your money until you have enough to buy something. Once you have made a profit, you pay yourself back, put some into savings, and some gets reinvested in the company ie. another purchase for the business. You build slowly, with patience, and only borrow what you can pay back at the end of the month. By doing this, my grandparents grew their business to be a successful one. It employed and supported both of them, and at times, a few others as well. They stressed the importance of minimizing overhead, which I believe to be another key factor in their success. All of these are things that I have attempted to mimic in my own adventures.

My first realization: 

Just because the literature out there repetitively tells you that you need a formal business plan, and a hefty bank loan, does not mean it is the only way or the right way.

All the Pretty Horses-My take on Equine Art

In looking for a piece of equine art for my own home, I learned a few things....

1. You need to first establish exactly where the piece will be on display.

2. You need to understand horses in order to appreciate good horse art.

and

3. Good equine art is hard to come by.

While scouring the internet ok just etsy, I found a handful of extremely talented artists, and I wanted to share their work. If you are looking for a piece to help set a certain mood in your space, I would strongly suggest perusing Carol Walker's etsy shop, Wild Hoofbeats.

 In my opinion, Carol gets horses.

What do I mean by that?

Well, take a look at these photographs and then go out and compare them to some other equine photographer's work. In the photo above, the horse is not just staring blankly at an open field...that's boring and doesn't evoke any feelings. If I had to guess, I would say that this horse was interrupted by a startling sound and quickly jerked it's head over it's front shoulder to investigate. It stood alert, quiet, and waiting for another sound or movement before it went on about it's business.

 As I poured over the endless pages of equine art, I found that there were a few things that made for what I call, "good horse art". While not crucial, I like to see movement. The photo above doesn't exactly have movement; however, the way the horse's forelock (hair in between it's ears) is awry, leads me to believe it just stopped running and possibly tossing it's head about like in the photo below.

In this shot, the horse itself is not all that attractive to me. 

The angle of it's head makes it appear to have a very narrow muzzle.

What I love about it though, is that the horses hair shows the force of the animal.

The muscles in the chest are flexed and this horse is probably snorting and kicking up it's heals!

This shot of a wild stallion is one of my favorites!

This feisty equine appears to have come to such an abrupt stop that it's hair was still in motion when the shutter was pressed. It's almost as if he was caught being naughty and stopped as soon as he noticed he was being watched...carefully looking at the photographer out of the corner of his eye.

Another great action shot!

The one above is another example of something I tend to look for...

See how the crest (top of the neck) is arched?

To me, this says power, and royalty.

I wasn't sure that photography was right for the location I was hoping to put my own equine art, so I continued my search. Luckily I was able to find a lot of other artists with horse pieces on etsy as well. The piece above is mixed media and I LOVE it!

The colors go well with the grey, white and black in my home. The mixed media elements give a modern twist to the somewhat classical shape of the horse, and the unique shape of the head offer a whimsical touch.

(also note the strong arch of the neck-perfection)

This piece can be found here.

While not right for my space, I do appreciate the beauty in the simplicity of the piece above.

Strong and soft at the same time make it intriguing.

The next four I am sharing because of their color value.

This is where it helps to know exactly where you want your new artwork to be in your home/office. 

 image here

 image here

 image here

image here

 I leave you with one of my favorite finds of the night.

Colorful Horse

A stunning watercolor piece that just so happens to be done by a local gentleman! 

Such a small world...honestly, this guy probably lives less than an hour away!

Lindsey's Leather Lovin' & a Birthday

I have a thing for leather.

It's timeless, smells good, natural, durable and timeless...

What's not to love?

I recently found out about Emily Rosendahl.

She has a beautiful line of leather goods that make me drool!

 If only I had known about her when I was still lugging a diaper bag around, I would have definitely sported the one shown above. It's so cute, that I've even played with the idea of having another baby so that I have an excuse to buy it!

Check her out online: 

Emily Rosendahl Leather Goods

The pouch above is by Lovejoycreations

Not only is it attractive with it's antiqued leather and turquoise accents, it is a steal at only $24!

Another etsy find is by Moxie & Oliver.

This seller has a ton of super cute leather goods.

These leather cuffs are by Lipstick Gypsy and they are wonderful!

I had the pleasure of meeting Robin at The Farm Chicks show last year, and she is the kindest woman around. You've got to check out her etsy shop!

This very special birthday morning has gotten off to a wonderful start (I'm choosing to ignore the fact that as I type this, my oldest daughter spilled milk on the carpet in the bonus room). I am also looking past the fact that even though I am not a morning person, and woke up to my youngest yelling from her crib, at the top of her lungs, "Mama, Mama, I go potty!"

What I did get, was to snuggle my baby in bed for few minutes of pure bliss.

I then got to reheat a cup of yesterday's coffee (yes, fresh is best, but I'm being positive here) and savor a bite of chocolate fudge. Mmmmm!

Birthdays are special to me.

I believe they should be celebrated.

After all, we never know just how many we will get.

I'm thankful for mine, and all of the people who celebrate it with me.

Some people dread a Birthday, see it as a reminder of getting older...

That blows my mind!

Come on folks, if we aren't getting older, we are dead, and being dead is much less fun!

Today I am 31 years young, and will claim every single one of those years with pride. 

Each one has been part of the recipe that  has made me who I am today. 

I am...

a strong woman.

a proud mother.

determined.

happily married.

creative.

adventurous.

messy.

spontaneous.

happy.

thankful.

family oriented.

grateful.

a lover of the past.

excited about the future.

a private person.

honest.

healthy.

blessed.

addicted to coffee.

a fabric hoarder.

vertically challenged.

loving.

a farm girl.

family oriented.

a dreamer.

31.

Lindsey Brooke Frankus.

Ok, so I probably missed some descriptive words, but these are the first ones that came to mind. 

Wishing everyone a Happy Wednesday!

On the Eleventh and Twelfth Day of Christmas...

Eeek!

A great big heartfelt apology to anyone looking for the deal of the day yesterday!

We had some very special friends in town, and I spent the day in my pj's baking Christmas treats!

To make up for my mistake, I am combining yesterday and today's deals and making any flask in the

Shop 

30% Off

Use the discount code CHRISTMAS at checkout to receive your discount.



On the Tenth Day of Christmas...

On the tenth day of Christmas, The Farrier's Daughter gave to me,

25% Off

(Grey & Yellow Ruffles Cowgirl Canteen™)

This offer is good only on today's featured flask.

Offer begins at 12:00am December 10th and ends at 12am December 11th.

Purchases can be made in the Shop

Use the discount code SALEDAY10 at checkout to redeem.

Not sure this one is just right for that special lady (or yourself)?

Check back daily, as there are 2 more days of deals!

On the Ninth Day of Christmas...

On the ninth day of Christmas, The Farrier's Daughter gave to me,

25% Off

(Coral Lace Cowgirl Canteen™)

This offer is good only on today's featured flask.

Offer begins at 12:00am December 9th and ends at 12am December 10th.

Purchases can be made in the Shop

Use the discount code SALEDAY9 at checkout to redeem.

Not sure this one is just right for that special lady (or yourself)?

Check back daily, as there are 3 more days of deals!