To Missy and Garret and all Who Love

My daughter is 17 and head over heels in love... engaged and planning on getting married in 2012... Missy, I love you more than anything and hope you are always as happy and in love as you are right now!

Duct Tape Talent

The talent here goes way beyond the duct tape... so many beautiful items here and the colors are amazing!

Everything in this shop is made from duct tape.. which I always end up making a big mess with so it is even more amazing to me that they can make such beautiful, bright, colorful, fun stuff from this magical tape.

I LOVE these rings... they are big and fun and different! I have added one of them to my must have list for sure.. I just have to decide on a color.. trying to decide between the lime green and the rock one there are also beautiful heart ones! You can also buy a pdf on how to make one for yourself... pretty sure this is NOT a talent I have.. but you might want to try it.

They also have wonderful stuff for your hair, and for your arms!

Please take a minute to go explore this fun shop, QuietMischief I hope it makes you smile as it did me.

~Michelle

Share Your Links

I want to share a great group with you that is on Facebook. I am still learning how the group things work but so far am loving this one. It is called Share Your Link and is a great fun way to do some easy and free promoting of your shop or site.

Right now there are about 200 people in the group, hoping to get a LOT more.. so please join and get your friends to join. The object of this group is to get as many people to see your items/shop/site as we can, and when we all help each other it can be so easy. Hardest part is not buying every cool thing that you see popping up in the group.

So here is how it works... you join the group... easy as can be... just click on the Join button.

Next I would suggest checking out the "docs" on the right hand side (and linked below) and reading through the "how to's and tips" and then adding your facebook and twitter links to the "docs" for them. Great idea to follow the list of people that have posted their links before you.

Next check out the posts that people have posted in the group.. find a couple (or a lot but at least two ) and share them.. either on your facebook or on your twitter ( be sure to add the hashtag #sylink on twitter so we can easily retweet it ) When you share something.. be sure to leave a comment letting the people know you shared it.

Now you pick something of yours that you would like to share... one a day.. you post it to the group... be sure, when posting that you click on "link" and then add your link there and attach then write in whatever else you would like to say before sharing... if you do not add your link this way then we do not get a "share" button so that we can share your item easily.

Now you sit and watch as the views come in. I can not believe how many more views I am getting on all of my items.. not just the shared ones... and emails and sales... this has been the easiest and most fun way to promote the shop that I have tried yet. This is with only 200 people in the group.. can you imagine what is going to happen after you join and get all your friends to join... we get a few thousand people in this group and it could be a whole new sale world we are walking in :)

If you have any questions then feel free to ask... there are a lot of helpful people in this group. There is group chat, where you can visit with other people in the group and/or ask questions.. you can ask on the wall itself... or you can even message me if you want or ask here on my blog.

Hope to see you there soon :)

~Michelle

Riding Island Transit

This post may seem silly to some.. but I was so proud of myself and I had a fun day so I wanted to share. Growing up I used to ride the local buses all the time.. I lived in a small town and there was nothing to do in town so I would hop the bus to the big city. When I was 15 I Started going to college in Seattle and I would spend 2 hours each way on the bus with a lot of time to kill in town as the buses did not run very often to home. For Three years I did this.. then I moved to the city and it was a lot cheaper and easier to just ride buses than to find parking.

Then I had kids and I moved out of the city and started driving everywhere... never to ride a bus again.. or so I thought. Now I live out on the island.. have two nice jeeps I can drive... and I make the kids ride the buss all the time... island transit has free buses and they are nice and clean and friendly... they run pretty often.. every hour.. and go right past the house and into Stanwood. Why would I spend the gas money and the time to haul my kids around at their whim when they can ride the bus for free. I did it for years when I was their age.. no reason they can't.. and they do.. only one of them has a problem with riding the buses and well.. he either rides them or gets his mom ( not me ) to drive him around... she seems to like being at his beck and call for most things.. her choice.

The other day I had a doctors appointment, for some tests ( that went wonderful ) and Dave wanted to take me since sometimes we are not sure how things will go and there have been tests that afterwards I would not be good to be driving home. He could have taken the Motorcycle to work and then I could have meet him somewhere and then we would have two cars in town and if things went crappy I would have been stuck driving home... so he just took the jeep and figured he would come back home and pick me up. He is so busy at work these days that he can't really afford to take any time off... and so I called a couple of friends to see if anyone was going to town.. then it dawned on me.. why don't I take the bus... no reason I can't... so I threw some stuff in a back pack and off I went.

Almost to the bus stop...right there at the back of that stop sign across the street.... beautiful day... having to fight myself not to go to the beach

Here comes the bus..yes it is a short bus... I got on and there was one other kid on the bus... a guy about 12 years old.. very friendly and nice mannered... the bus driver and the two of us ended up talking about the dogs we have owned and do own and it was a very nice visit. He got off the bus and then a lady and her cute little girl got on. I visited with the bus driver a bit more until we got to Terrys corner where we get off of this first bus ( which makes loops around the island ) and we get on the one the goes back and forth from Stanwood to Camano.

When I climbed off the bus my daughter was sitting at the bus stop waiting for her bus that goes back to the house and her work. I think she was pretty shocked to see me getting off the bus.. I loved it! There is about a ten minute layover here.. none of the island buses leave until the Stanwood one gets here so that everyone can be sure to make their connections. Daughter introduced me to a couple of the bus drivers... they are all so very friendly and helpful.

I got on the bus for Stanwood and there were a few people with me on that bus.. maybe 5... a couple of teenage boys, the mom with her tiny daughter, and another woman. Off we go for Stanwood.. picked up one or two more people.. and then I was dropped off at the Grocery store in town where Dave was waiting for me.

There goes the bus....I got to visit with some fun people and shock my daughter and saved Dave about an hour of his time... and it cost me nothing. Did I mention that not only are these buses super clean and friendly but that they are free? I am pretty sure I will be making many more visits to town this way.

Thank you Island Transit

~Michelle

Crossing Fingers for Spring

Today was just beautiful... went to physical therapy and then stopped for a minute ( two hours ) at the beach... the tide was out really far and it was warm and sunny and beautiful! I am hoping this means spring is really here.. even though some neighbors not too far away had snow.



Now it is 7 pm and we are working in the shop with the door open and the sun shining in. Not even cold enough for sweat shirts :) *fingers are crossed for spring*