My Etsy Shop Is Open! (Plus the Name of the Giveaway Winner)

Let the bells ring and the birds sing.  After weeks of preparations and months (maybe years) of thinking about it, my Etsy store is about to open!!!

At the top is an image I am including in my Etsy prints.

I created this painting as a gift for my younger sister Nancy a few years ago.  I asked Nancy if I could borrow back the painting in order to make a print from it for my Etsy shop.  She said 'yes' right away. Sisters are like that. We are different in some ways but share many similarities too.  We are both sensitive, creative people. We love colour, nature, music and beautiful things. We are devoted to our families. We each have two daughters. In fact, our eldest daughters were born just one day apart.  We live six hours away from each other.  We email each other often, whether about good days or bad days.  When we do get together we have fun. When I'm with Nancy, I am assured of at least one laughing fit (you know the kind--you laugh so hard that your stomach hurts, there are tears running down your face and you can't get any words out, but it feels so good).  Nancy has had an Etsy store for the past three years.  She designs beautiful jewelry and I wear her things just about every day.  She really encouraged me to think about selling my artwork on Etsy, so if I'm here today opening my shop, I need to say thanks to her.

I have another sister too.  My sister Karen has special needs.  Despite our differences and a 19-year age gap, we are incredibly close. Karen and I share a love of music, animals, films that require kleenex and the colour purple.  We know that if one of us is feeling bad, we can count on each other for some encouraging words. Karen is the sweetest person I know.

My own teenage daughters haven't felt so close in recent years (the beautiful photo below was taken when they were about 9 and 5), but lately I can see their friendship starting to blossom. That makes my heart happy because having a sister as a friend is a beautiful thing.

(If you'd like to see my sister's jewelry you can click here or just click on Wallis Designs in my blog list.)

What an incredible amount of work it has been getting everything ready.  The photography alone has taken me days.  I hope I get faster and better at it!  I will continue to add images to my shop in the weeks ahead.  Check back often.  I am offering a 20% discount to all customers during the first week to celebrate my opening.  The coupon code is noted at the top of my shop page.

Thanks to all of you for your encouraging words over the past few weeks and for the lovely comments you have left for me.

We have been silly and used random.org again to draw the winner's name from a very small number of entries. :) My daughter just called down the stairs to say that Margie Oomen, owner of the beautiful Resurrection Fern blog is the winner of my giveaway!  Please contact me and let me know which of the two framed prints you would like. Congratulations and thanks to everyone for taking part and leaving such nice words. ♥