New Year, New Business Model

Hey friends! I wanted to provide you all with what to expect from Mama Hess Painting in 2017 and a quick overview of 2016!

Looking back on 2016.... it was my best year yet! I sold a total of 376 signs (between Etsy, Facebook, and live sales)! Wow! You guys are amazing! Thank you for your support! There are still a few signs available at 50% off - those particular signs will be on sale until they either sell out or the end of January.

Stats through  Etsy

Looking ahead to 2017!!

Since we received the exciting news that we have been matched with our fifth daughter from China things are going to be a bit different for my sign painting business. (If you want to read more about our daughter you can read that blog post here!)

All orders in 2017 will be ready to ship or *almost* ready to ship (meaning a small personalization will be added before shipping or pick up). At this time I will be unable to take custom orders. If that changes I will be sure to make an announcement. If you have suggestions of what you'd like to see me paint feel free to comment on my Facebook and Instagram photos! I'm happy to take your suggestions though I can't make guarantees that I will paint everything suggested.

All signs will be available through my Etsy shop found here: Mama Hess Painting

I will likely add signs a certain day of the week to the shop. That day has yet to be determined but will be announced through my Facebook page and my Instagram.

We will likely be traveling to China to bring our daughter home in April or May. Based on that rough estimate I will probably stop painting in April. We will be in China for two weeks, then our daughter will need surgery soon after her arrival in the US. At this time I cannot say when I would reopen the shop.

Basically, if you want a sign from me in 2017 you will need to make your purchases between January and April. The profit I make is all going towards our adoption expenses so my family is continually grateful for your support.

Cheers to a delightful 2017!

xoxo,
Mama Hess

Now What?

Friends. You have all humbled me. Yesterday when I posted about our Home Study in my hands I was hoping you'd share in my excitement. And you did! And you all went SO far above and beyond that I was literally brought to tears.

Unless you have been through an international adoption or know someone who has, you might not know what comes next. Now that we have our completed, notarized copies of our home study we file for immigration. Then we wait up to three months for that to process. We will also need to have a special appointment made for biometric fingerprints (I don't even know what that means, but I'll tell you when I do).

From there we are mostly done with our side of the paperwork. We will need to pay $4,250 before our dossier can be sent to China (maybe July/August?). That cost will cover the paperwork that our agency has done for us, along with the fee for the agency processing our dossier paperwork.

I know it may sound cliche, but we really do want you to pray for us. As Matthew 17:20 says, "He replied, "Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

If you think of us, please pray for the mountains to move! I can't stress enough that your contributions are literally changing the life of a child. The life of our little girl. If you feel led to help financially I have several options for you.

1. A direct donation through our YouCaring page : Bringing Home Little Sister

2. A kind, and generous friend has offered a portion of the sales of this "HOPE" necklace to our adoption. Again, you guys blow me away! Ordering info can be found on the image below. 

3. Mama Hess Shirts! (Gotta give a shout out to FoxDuck Printing who made these super comfy shirts for me!) Shirts are $16 and exactly half of that will go towards our adoption. Again, I was surprised at the response I received and am nearly sold out. I can order more if people are interested. Sizes that are available as of 4/15/16 are: (Womens) 1 small, 1 medium, 2 larges, and 1 XL. (Mens) 1 small, 1 medium, 1 large. Please contact me through my Facebook page to get your size.

 

Notarized Home Study copies!!

So friends, that's it for now! I will, of course, keep you updated on the progress of the remaining paperwork and as we get closer to being matched with our daughter!

Lots of love,
Mama Hess

Painting goals for 2016

I have a confession to make. I am a terrible sales person. One of my first jobs was as a photographer at JC Penney. I was okay (not great) at taking the photos. I was decidedly awful at selling them. Also, just a word to you parents out there. Please be nice to your photographer.  **Side note: two of my sisters also worked at the portrait studio and one of them is extremely talented and runs her own photography business. Find her work here!**  Many a parent made me cry with their harsh words when I was a teenage photographer. I decided that I would not go into a profession where I had to sell anything.

Ha. Hahahaha! My job after that was working as a waitress at Olive Garden. Of course, managers want you to sell more (more appetizers, more alcohol, more higher priced items). I did better with job here since it involved talking to people (no trouble there), but I was the least pushy person when it came to selling anything.

Throughout those Olive Garden years I was in school for teaching. Where I didn't have to sell anything.

So you can see how shocking it was to find myself owning a teeny tiny business. Where I sell things. I strive to let my products sell themselves. I hope you never find me a pushy salesperson. I doubt you will, since I tend to despise those people. (No offense to those of you who are "good" salespeople, it's just not my thing.)

However, one thing that I realized is that my signs can't sell themselves if you don't know they exist. Which brings us to the point of this post. 

Facebook has been key to the building of my business. However, this past year they made some changes, that, from a business aspect I get. They need to make money to run their business, so instead of allowing free advertising which is what they had done in the past, they now would like you to "boost" posts to get people who already like your page to see your posts. So if you have noticed that you see less and less of pages that you "like" this should not be surprising. But there's some good news! You can make some adjustments to change this.
1. You can "like" and comment on the pictures I post. This tells the Facebook algorithm that you want to continue seeing my page.
2. You can go to my Facebook page
Make sure you "Like" my page. Then under like, click "Get Notifications". Also from this screen you can select "See First" instead of "Default". This SHOULD allow you to see all my posts. (see photo for help)

I know not everyone is on Instagram, but this has quickly become a favorite for me. The feed is a lot cleaner than Facebook and you follow who you want to follow and you see the things they post. I just joined Instagram a few months into 2015 and it's been a slow-growth for me, but I really like it and see a lot of potential for MamaHessPainting here. Following me on Instagram is really simple.  <<------- a="" click="" there="">


And of course, there's my Etsy Shop.

Lots of ways to stay connected with Mama Hess Painting this year.  

Some goals for 2016:
1. Do 3 to 4 shows. (Last year I did two)
2. Build the wedding/vow renewal/love section of my Esty shop. I have SO many ideas for this section.
3. Take better photos of my signs
4. Stay joyful

Number four may seem silly, but when I'm really really really busy, painting can feel like a job. It's good for me to keep in mind that so often my signs bring joy on people's happiest days of their lives (weddings, babies, new homes, etc.) and bring comfort on their hardest days and provide inspiration on the days between.

Looking forward to a beautiful 2016 with you all! Thanks for coming along and enjoying the beautiful ride with me.


xoxo,
Mama Hess

A Book Review & Some Fun Year End Numbers

Everyone needs a break from time to time. Christmas is the busiest time of year for me as the owner, designer, and artist behind Mama Hess Painting. After I finish all my Christmas orders I force myself to take a break from all custom orders until late January. And an amazing thing happened. I read a book!

I know this is seems like a small thing. And in all honesty, I have read lots of books this year. However, most of them are children's books. Maybe sometime I'll blog on the best kid books I've read... but not today. Today is reserved for a special book. A book written for adults. Like actual grown-ups. And I read it silently, not aloud to sometimes squirmy kids.

The book is called: The Puzzle: Some Reassembly Required by the one and only Katherine Devlin Flood. (To purchase the book simply click on the link provided in the title.) A portion of the book's synopsis is provided below, then I will give my personal insights on the book.

"Life was set on a comfortable path, until an awful night in June, 1985. College was almost done. Kati had so many dreams, and aspirations for her future. Suddenly, all of these pieces of her life were trampled and crushed by an awful car accident. The Puzzle; Some Reassembly Required, covers the time from this awful event to her marriage - the incredible breakthroughs along with the heartbreaking setbacks. The pages of this book will renew your belief in hope. Miracles do still occur! Learn to believe in your capabilities, rather than predicted expectations."
Quote from lulu.com 

Without giving too much away, I want to share some of my personal reflections on Kati's book. **Spoiler: Kati survives the awful car accident.**  As previously mentioned, I haven't read a "real, grown up book" for quite awhile. The ones I have started haven't held my attention long enough to finish (or I got too busy). I couldn't put this book down. Kati writes with such honesty and humor. You will love her grit and determination to live her life as fully as possible despite her traumatic brain injury. She has a wonderful way with words that really make her story come alive. I am not a medical doctor. In general, I feel like when I'm at the doctor (even for simple things) the words go in one ear and out the other because I just don't have a frame of reference for the words they say. So it is with much appreciation that Kati does not dwell on medical terminology. She does give some really good information early on in the book, but she doesn't continually bring up words that only people who have been in her situation can understand. It makes her book accessible for all readers.  **Caution: the accident scene is very descriptive and hard to read.**

I had the great joy of meeting Kati, now 30 years after her accident, during a Bible study this past September. You notice Kati for several reasons. First, the obvious, physical reasons: she walks slowly with the aid of a cane. Then you notice Kati because, well, she's Kati. She has a great sense of humor and personality. Sometimes it requires a little more time to talk with Kati as her speech was affected as a result of her TBI. This doesn't mean she CAN'T talk! No, my friends, Kati talks. And I think in general, our culture (and me, personally) aren't good listeners. So I'm learning from Kati. I'm learning not to rush through things. I'm learning to listen. I'm learning to slow down. From reading her book I've learned the importance of being there (physically and emotionally) for people who are going through challenging circumstances.

There are really only two things I wish would have been included in Kati's book. First, her age at the time of various events. I know she does mention the years a few times and I know she listed her age at least one point in time, but for me I think it would have been a little helpful if her age was given right at the beginning, and then mentioned a couple more times just to keep me on track of where she's at. (The book covers the seven years following her accident.) And the second thing I would have liked to have seen are pictures of Kati at different stages following her accident and during her recovery. I've never published a book, so I'm not sure how complicated or expensive it is to add photos, but I think that it would be helpful for the readers to see Kati throughout her reassembly. Kati writes so well that it is really hard to picture her in those times where she is hooked to machinery, unable to talk, unable to walk, but able to hear and comprehend.

I highly recommend Kati's book. Kati is also currently in need of funds for a helper dog. I know Kati would appreciate any support. You can donate directly to that by visiting her GoFundMe account found here:
Helper Dog Support for Kati

Or you can purchase: The Puzzle : Some Reassembly Required.  

SOME FUN YEAR END NUMBERS from Mama Hess Painting.
If you like numbers, keep reading. If not, disregard the rest of this blog except the part where I say, "thank you, from the bottom of my heart!".
If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram you have already seen this picture, but I think it's worth sharing again.

This image shows the amount of views, favorites, and orders I received in my Etsy store this year, 2015. To put that into perspective, I will give you last year's numbers. On Etsy in 2014 I had 6,778 views, 232 favorites, and 53 orders.

The total number of signs I sold in 2015 were 342 (including Etsy, Facebook, and live events). Some numbers that I don't have tallied are other things I sold, such as mugs, coasters, and cords. (Some of those things ARE included in my Etsy orders, but I don't have exact figures on those other items.)

I can hardly even comprehend those numbers. Three hundred forty-two signs in 2015. I truly can't thank you all enough for your support. I am so excited for what 2016 will bring. I have so many ideas floating around while I'm on break. I'm not sure how many I will actually have time to do for you all, but I am really excited about the new year.

So I end the year saying, "Thank you!" Thank you all for your kindness, for your generosity, and for your support of my tiny but growing business. I joked at the end of 2014 about a ridiculous goal for 2015. The goal was completely smashed. I thank you all for that. Can't wait for 2016! Talk to you all in the new year!

XOXO,
Mama Hess

FLASH SALE

Let me cut right to the chase then give you the story afterwards.

I have two CUSTOM listings that I am marking $10 off for one day only. Monday, October 26, 2015 in the morning until 11:59 PM the following two signs will be reduced. All sales must be made through Etsy. These signs may take up to 8 (EIGHT) weeks to be finished depending upon the volume of orders. They will all be made and ship/be ready for pick up prior to Christmas. If you want to pick up your sign use the code PICKUP at checkout on Etsy. PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS CODE IF YOU ARE NOT PICKING UP!!! In the drop down menu I listed the most frequently purchased colors. If you do not see the color you would like simply choose "other" and in the Notes to Seller box at check out write out the color you would like instead using the color sample chart that is pictured in the last photo of the listing.

1.) Regularly $40+tax, this one is marked to $30+tax. (Click link below for full information)

Personalized Mark 10:9

2.) Regularly $35 reduced to $25. This is a STEAL!!!

Order this sign HERE!

Now the fun part. The story. Many of you may know that the past week my husband and I have been gallivanting in Charlottesville, Virginia, acting as though we haven't a care in the world, let alone four children! And why? We were celebrating!! December 17, Trent and I will be married for ten years. In honor of our tenth anniversary I am marking these two signs, which recognize the value of a committed, Christ-centered marriage, down by TEN dollars. 

This idea popped into my head months ago when we started planning our trip. Originally I wanted to have the sale on our anniversary, but that is the very end of the busiest time of the year for Mama Hess. (I mean, who gets married the week before Christmas?? Oh yeah, us crazy, in love kids.)  So, there you have it. A great sale for you and a fun way to encourage your marriage, or a loved one's marriage!  I can't wait to see the colors each of you choose for your special sign.

 So: happy {early} anniversary to us and merry {early} Christmas to y'all! Look for a blog post of our trip - hopefully soon!!

Another Break & a Break Through

I know what you're thinking. "Didn't you just take a break?" And the answer is, "Yes." And I'll beg you to forgive me for this unusual behavior. So, the last day to order will be Wednesday, October 7th. I will reopen Monday, October 26th.

Favorite photo from my last break.

I PROMISE this will be my last break until my regularly scheduled break from when I stop taking Christmas orders. I will take a break from the Christmas cut off (Nov. 30) until the end of January. This gives me time to make all the Christmas orders before Christmas, and then breathe a little and even create some new designs that I've been wanting to do. Early in November I have a craft show I'll be at for all you locals who want to come out. More details closer to the date.

AND - I will be offering a FLASH SALE on the Monday I re-open. It will only be on two signs, but you can customize them and they will be finished before Christmas. I am so so excited to offer these to you all, so check back. I've never done a flash sale before. Ever. So this is going to be really big. You will love it. I promise!

For those of you who like my personal updates I have a really exciting one for you. As you probably know, I am not just a sign painter, I'm also a homeschool mama. And this year has been TOUGH for us! I have one Kindergarten student and two second graders. I've been challenging my Kindergartner to push herself to read. She WANTS to read, and knows the letter sounds and can sound out words. However, she has had a hard time NOT sounding a word out. She will sound out the name "Pam" every time it appears, even though she just read the same word one page ago.

That little girl on the far left is now a reader!!

Yesterday, it clicked. It was the quintessential light bulb moment. It made sense that every time she sees the letters p-a-m in that order, it will say Pam. And the same with the rest of the words in the little book she was reading over and over. She was SO excited to run to her big sisters and show them that SHE CAN FINALLY READ! And the way they gushed over their little sister and her big accomplishment was beyond precious. Then she waited for Daddy to get home to reveal her BIG SECRET. She wouldn't tell him all through dinner what the secret was. After she finished eating she ran for her little book and read it to Daddy.

Of course, my dear husband who has supported me through all the really rough days we were having lovingly encouraged me to write this down. On the really hard days where I'm sure I'm ruining my kids' (and my) life, I can look back and remember why I'm doing this. I wouldn't trade this moment for all those hard days wrapped together. And such is parenting, isn't it? It's like those old ladies in the grocery store who are always telling you to cherish every moment because they go so quickly. And yes, even if the little old ladies are a little fuzzy on whether their child ever had tantrums, they are crystal clear on one thing.

It is worth it.

Back to School

One week down, 35 to go. But who's counting?

I can't think "Back to School" without thinking of Billy Madison. Sorry. It's just the way I was raised.

There's so much good in this video. Is it silly? Of course. But the truth is so many kids feel that same way as the head back to school. Even our home schooled kids had those fears and a little anxiety as they headed back to school or officially started school.

This year we have two second graders and a Kindergarten student. This is my first year needing to teach more than one level at a time. The first day back was last Monday, August 17. The teaching part went well, but the homework part was a nightmare for one of our kiddos. There was a lot of yelling (mostly on my part) and a lot of frustration (pretty evenly split between the student and me).

First day of School - started out so fun and sunny!!

A large part of the problem was that I had a recent huge influx of sign orders, and normally I paint in the afternoon for about 2 hours while the children have a quiet time. Quiet time has turned to homework time and this student wanted me to sit directly beside her as she did her work. I told her I had my own work to do and she needed to do her own work. What she heard was, "Painting signs is more important than you." I'm not proud of it, but it's very close to the real meaning of what my words said.

Day 2 - sitting within touching distance as Abbey does schoolwork.

That evening I took a step back and evaluated my priorities. Do I enjoy painting? Yes. . Do I love homeschooling? Yes. Do I love my daughters? Yes. And then I needed to think about what I can change to still do all of these things (if possible). Most important on that list are my daughters and homeschooling. I enjoy the other things as well, but if I have to sacrifice any of those things on the list, it will be the painting. In order to still do the things I like best some changes need to be made.

Day 5 - getting into the groove and loving these quieter moments of the day.

1. I need to go to bed earlier. I've set myself a time limit on how late I will work during school nights so that I am a better teacher and a better mom.

2. I need to be willing to give up that chunk of afternoon time for painting in order to help my daughter gain confidence in her ability to work independently. We have compromised on this. I allow the children one hour FIRST to watch a movie. During this time I will write e-mails, respond to messages, create designs or paint. Whatever doesn't get done in that hour has to wait.

3. I need to extend the lead time from order to completion. Previously I was telling customers 1-2 weeks, but my goal was to get all orders completed in one week. However, since I'm not exactly sure how many signs my new hours will allow me to complete I have increased my time from 3-4 weeks from order to completion. As I get into a better routine this may look like 2-3 weeks or it could increase from 4-5. It all just depends on the volume of orders.

Please don't feel guilty about ordering. I WANT you to order. I LOVE painting. I'm still just so grateful that you all are so trusting in my ability to create something beautiful. And I'm excited that many of you are willing to wait three to four weeks to receive something I have made.

I would love to hear how you all fit in all the things you love? What do you have to give up to make your schedules work?

Shop Announcement and some Recent Custom orders

Friends, there are so many joys I have with this adventure of working from home, doing something I absolutely love. However, the one struggle I am facing recently is the skill in walking away from work. My workspace is in our "eat-in kitchen" (cough, cough).... okay, and slowly spreads to the homeschool room, the living room, the garage, and the office. And usually there is a stack of signs lining the entryway of our house waiting to be picked up. And often lining my server (turned paint cabinet). And you just never know when you might find one drying on one of the bar stools, or on a humid day you might find one (or three) lying on the living room floor under the ceiling fan.

I normally take a scheduled break immediately following Christmas. However, this year I am feeling the need to have a break a little sooner than that. Last year back to school time was a slower time for me, so I chose these dates to attempt to more naturally coincide with that time of year.

****** The last date to order so that your sign will be able to be made and shipped/picked up will be Friday, August 28, 11:59 pm. After that my shop will reopen on Saturday, September 12. If you need your sign before those dates or in the next week after I reopen please order early. Thank you all so much for understanding!!!******

AND NOW! The fun!

 Customized Mark 10:9 with first names and wedding date. Shown in black and white. Sign measures approximately 12"x24".

 Custom phrase done on pallet wood. Shown in bridgeport gray wash and charcoal lettering. Sign measures approximately 16"x20".

 Custom phrase. Background is distressed black over dark walnut stain with cream lettering. Measures approximately 17"x24".

 Custom stamped baby onesie.

 Custom phrase for above a girl's double bed. Shown in black, white, and pops of coral blush. Sign measures approximately 36"x12".

 Custom verses for a Texas wedding. Mark 10:8 and Mark 10:9 done in coordinating fonts and colors. Shown in Cabernet stain and magnolia white lettering. Signs measure 12"x18".

 Custom phrase for an Etsy customer. Shown in gp purple and magnolia white lettering. This little sweetie measures about 9.5"x12".

I hope you all enjoyed looking at these as much as I liked making them! Thank you all for you continual support. It's a fun journey!

A Cord of Three Strands

^{I've been thinking a lot about marriage these days. Mostly new marriages since "wedding season" has come upon us in full force. Nearly all of my orders are related to weddings. I originally painted this sign as a belated wedding gift. I painted the braided rope directly onto the sign.} 

 

^{It's only natural that I would think of weddings as I paint signs like this. I love these verses from Ecclesiastes chapter 4. Read them in the HCSB version: 
11} Also, if two lie down together, they can keep warm; but how can one person alone keep warm? ¹² And if someone overpowers one person, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not easily broken.

 I've recently had several request through my Etsy store for a version of this sign but with an eye hook so the couple can braid a cord during their wedding ceremony. Here is one I just completed and will be shipping to Georgia in the next couple of days. **A Cord of Three strands in my Etsy Store.**

Painting these signs has given me an awesome opportunity to pray for the people who will receive them. Most of the people who will see these signs and touch these signs and braid these strands will be people I will never meet. As many of you know, the divorce rate, even among Christian couples, is staggering. It's devastating. As a child of divorced parents I know what it feels like to have brokenness in something that is supposed to stay whole.

It has really been on my heart recently to pray for marriages. For my own marriage, for those just starting out, and those struggling. I don't even pretend to know the particulars in others' relationships, but I like to believe what Ecclesiastes 4:12 alludes to: two people (in this case a husband and a wife) and Christ. With Christ as the third strand in our cord, I believe it is not easily broken. I understand there are challenges that go along with marriages. There are financial burdens, stressful careers, homes to care for, children, dishes, messes, laundry, dinners, church commitments, etc. Life has only seemed to get busier the longer we are married. But there ARE ways to keep Christ right there with us. It is possible to stay connected to your spouse in the midst of busy lives. 

I just want to offer a little bit of encouragement to those of you out there who are married to make an effort to love on your spouse today. Go out of your way to show them that you love them.

Comparison

Three weeks ago I found while scrolling through Instagram this Theodore Roosevelt quote shared by @goldenpaisleyshop .

Comparison is the thief of joy. Doesn't that sound like it should be in the book of Proverbs?

Those of you who follow me on Facebook or have purchased a sign from me in the past year will know that I stamp all of my work with a stamp made for me by 2Impress which reads:

I think it is nearly impossible not to compare. I find myself constantly looking at the art of other people and think "I could NEVER do that!". And yet here is an artist, GoldenPaisleyShop who does beautiful work that I admire, and even she falls into this trap of comparison.

This past weekend I had the opportunity to be a vendor at a beautiful outdoor market. Nearly all the vendors had some sort of signs. And it was so easy to find myself judging the work of others and constantly comparing myself to these other artists. Most of the vendors were selling painted furniture, and even hearing the chatter amongst other vendors each one had a little insecurity about their own work when compared with all these other vendors.

So how do we get past it? I think just being aware of how easily our joy is stolen as a result of comparison is a good place to start. Since it's something I've been thinking about for the past three weeks it was a little easier for me to try not to compare my work with the others around me at this event. I was able to celebrate over each item sold for myself and each vendor at the event. Because the reality is, these women put a lot of time into their work. And each piece was beautiful in it's own way. And my style might not be the right style for everyone, and that's okay!

Friends, don't let comparison steal your joy. Nice words, Teddy R. Nice words.

Time

One of my most frequently asked questions is: Where do you find the time to paint?

One of these days I fully intend to give you a "day in the life of Mama Hess", but for now this little snippet will have to do.

I love to paint. Truly. I love it. I make the time for what I love doing. I have two portions of the day which are devoted to my little painting business.

One part of the day is my girls nap/quiet time. This time is often interrupted with homework questions, so it's not as devoted as I would like to be. Baby Caroline usually starts her nap time between 1 and 1:30 pm. She usually gets up between 4 and 5 pm. She's an angel. I leave the older girls room between 1:30 and 2 pm. They are supposed to be in their room until 4 pm, but they usually end up coming downstairs to do homework around 3:30. This leaves me approximately 90 minutes to two hours to "work". But let's be honest, half the time I'm checking emails, wasting time on Facebook, and replying to messages about custom orders. If I'm lucky (or more purposeful) I get right to work on creating designs or sitting at my table to paint, spraying the clear finishing coat on painted signs, and adding hooks to the back of completed signs.

Caroline falling asleep in my arms.

The second portion of the day that is reserved for painting is in the evening after the girls are asleep at night. I like to start around 9 or 9:30 pm and depending on my work load will work anywhere from 11 pm to 2 am. And I will admit, there was a time when I got deeply involved in my work and lost all track of time. It was 4 am when I went to bed that night, I mean, morning. I typically leave my phone upstairs on silent during this time so that I'm not distracted by messages, Facebook, Instagram, and all those good things. I do not stay up that late every night. I always try to go to bed at a good time on Sunday nights, and on a rotating schedule of every-other night. I get too tired during the day if I stay up that late every night. I also will end up taking a short nap after I read to the older girls during their quiet time to make up for a really late night.

I almost always reserve Friday nights for a Redbox and wine time with my husband. Often he sits with me on week nights as I work and keeps me company until he needs to go to bed if I'm working late. He also washes all our dishes while I paint. Every night. He is a complete gem, and I wouldn't get as much work done if it weren't for him.

Time is something that is hard to come by. I really believe that you can make time for what is most important to you. It helps that I really love painting. It would certainly be harder if it were something I didn't enjoy. Also, I try to find ways to simplify the ordering process. This is not always possible but I recently spent a significant amount of time working out colors. I was having a bit of trouble getting colors right on signs which required me to go back and work on them again. I do that willingly because that is what people are paying me for. They want something that is going to fit just right in their home, and trust me, I totally understand!

I just finished my color chart yesterday.

I'm pretty excited about it. The only thing that I couldn't accurately represent was the stain colors that I offer. I would have liked to have stain samples on my paint sticks, but the paint stick absorbed the stain in such a way that I did not feel it was an accurate sample of what it looks like on the wood I typically use. That being said, I have done many signs in each of the colors I offer, so it is easy for me to pull up a photo with each of those stain colors.

Etsy offers this beautiful "Zoom" feature, so if you have trouble reading the color chart I would recommend visiting This Link, scrolling to the last photo and hitting zoom in the bottom right hand corner.

I hope that helps answer your time question. I thank you all so much for your orders. It has been so fun for me to create beautiful things to hang in your home. I'm honored.

Mother's Day is on the Way

It's hard to believe that Mother's Day is right around the corner, I feel like we just celebrated Christmas!

Last year was a very busy time for me making signs that were sold through my Etsy store. I wanted to give you all some ideas for moms, and give you a gentle reminder of an order deadline. :)

MOTHER'S DAY ORDER DEADLINE - if you need your sign shipped, please order by Sunday, April 26, 2015!!! If you are local and want to pick up, please order by Tuesday, April 28, 2015. I'm currently at about a 7-10 day lead time, but I have some commitments coming up where I will not be able to work as much.

Not everything is listed in my Etsy store yet. I'm working on a small amount of inventory for us (yes, this includes me) last minute shoppers.

First up - this Jen Hatmaker quote has been my most popular sign on Etsy. At the time of this writing I have one ready-to-ship/ pick up listed in my Etsy store.

This exact sign is available here.

 If you want to customize this sign in your choice of colors, or look at a few other samples follow this link.

This sign for a laundry room/nursery is also available now.

You can find this one also listed in my Etsy Store.

This sign can be customized here.

Those two signs are currently what is trending in my Etsy Store. These makes great gifts for a husband to give to a wife. Ladies, the Etsy links seem to work well for men. Be sure to tell your husband what colors you like.

If you are shopping for YOUR mom, now that's a different story! I have a variety of signs specifically for Grandparents. The two I'm going to share with you have many different options, but none of these are listed in my Etsy Store. You may contact me on my Facebook Page : Mama Hess Painting.

Current prices for these signs are $30 (without clothespins) or $35 with clothespins. These signs are approximately 8"x24". You can customize colors and number of pins. Clothespins can be painted or stained to match your colors. I currently have two signs available.

1. Shown with a black background, cream "grandkids" and gray "make life grand". It currently does not have any pins attached but that can be done if you desire.

This sign is available now!

 2. Grandkids - Fearfully and Wonderfully Made. Shown stained "golden oak" with black lettering. This sign has twine securely attached for you to hang your clothespins from (this allows for more space and is flexible if the number of grandkids continues to grow!)

This sign is available NOW.

This sign can be customized without any pins, with pins attached directly to the sign, or with the twine.

THIS IS SOLD! This is to give you an example of what the sign looks with the clothespins attached.

Thank you all so much for your continued support of my little business! It's truly a joy!

**All PA sales are subject to a 6% sales tax. Prices are subject to change as time progresses. Please contact me via private message on my Facebook Page with any questions.**