Summer Break / Monthly Calendars

Hello everyone,

I know it's been a little while, but if you've been faithfully following my blog, then you know that I've been dealing with some personal matters. I've had to make some pretty big decisions in a fairly short amount of time - and deciding what to do with this blog has been one of those decisions. I have decided that I will be taking a little break from the blog for the rest of the summer in order to have more time to spend with my kiddos during their summer break. I will probably design a few new products during the summer, but I will not be updating this blog very often. I have also decided to return to school in August to finish up an Art Education degree! I am very excited about this particular decision. I have come to the conclusion that being able to get a teaching position would be a great thing for me and my kids. My work hours wouldn't differ too much from their school hours, and I would have all the holidays off to spend with them. Not to mention that I would be eligible for some great benefits that I am not eligible for right now as a freelance designer... such as a pension!

Monthly Calendars

I know that the monthly calendars have been very popular and many of you look forward to them every month. As much as I really would love to keep creating them, I simply do not have the time right now. I would, however, like to keep posting a calendar every month... so I am considering holding a monthly design contest in which YOU GUYS get to create the calendars and submit them for consideration. If you are a fellow designer this could be great exposure for you. Those monthly calendars get a TON of traffic. I welcome your thoughts and suggestions on this matter. Feel free to comment below. I will work out all the details in the coming weeks.

Fundraiser Update

Also, thank you to everyone that has purchased a BGJ product so far as part of my little fundraiser for the tornado victims here in Oklahoma. I have decided that the earnings will go to Red Cross-Oklahoma since they are able to directly give funds to those families that are in the most need. I think the money would be most helpful if given to them. You still have until the end of this month to purchase a BGJ product and ALL of my earnings will go directly to Red Cross-Oklahoma. I'm looking forward to sending that check to them! :) If you need more information on this, please see my previous post, "Together We Are Strong".

Until next time, Happy Summer from me and my kiddos... :)

Together We Are Strong

As I've been watching the coverage of the tornado destruction that is only a few miles southeast of me, I've been wondering what I can do to help. My heart goes out to my friends who have lost their homes, their  pets, and even the lives of their loved ones. Honestly, I feel rather helpless. As my kids and I were huddled in our below ground shelter yesterday all I could do was try to keep the kids from being scared. I did a rather good job of that, actually! My three year old daughter came out of the shelter thinking that we had been playing a game and she was wanting to go back into the "cave" to continue our "adventure". When I turned on the TV to see what the damage was, my heart sank. I knew it was bad. Even today, the news only gets worse. I was actually off work for the day because I was due in court to battle for custody of my kids. So, essentially I experienced two storms yesterday. One in court, and one at home. I came out of both storms intact. I won custody of my children and the tornado decided to keep moving more east than northeast. Since I was off work, I was able to pick my children up early from school before the storm hit. The weather newscasters had been predicting tornados all day, so I knew it could get bad. I can't even imagine what those parents are going through that had children in those schools that were hit. Thankfully, my kid's schools were not hit, but are lacking water supply right now, as we are at home too. I was blessed twice yesterday to weather both my storms, and I feel I need to do something to help out those who are in need, so this is what I am going to do: ALL of my earnings---as in 100%---from any of my online stores from today through the end of next month will be donated to help the victims of yesterday's disaster. I am currently researching where the best place to donate will be, or if there are any specific relief funds that are currently being created specifically for these people, but I promise that every last little bit will go to those families in need. I will gladly accept any suggestions that you may have.

My stores:

http://www.zazzle.com/bohemiangypsyjane

http://www.zazzle.co.uk/bohemiangypsyjane (UK shoppers)

http://society6.com/BohemianGypsyJane

http://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/bohemiangypsyjane

May 2013 Desktop Calendar

Here is the desktop calendar for May! Sorry for the delay, it's been such a crazy week!

To download, simply click on the image below to enlarge it to its full size, then copy the image over to your computer. Enjoy!

New...Bohemian Gypsy Jane Fabrics!

Okay, so I'm really excited about this. I've been wanting to turn some of my designs into fabric for quite some time and I finally got around to converting some of them into seamless designs for fabric just a few weeks ago. I finally got my proofs in the mail yesterday and I approved them all for sale this morning. For now there are only 4 designs, but I will be adding more in the future!

Here is the link to my new Spoonflower store!

http://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/bohemiangypsyjane

Spring & Summer Color Palettes

It's time to brighten up our color palettes for Spring and Summer 2013! Gray will continue to be a popular accent color through these seasons, and shades of coral and turquoise will still be popular. Keep a look out for splashes of emerald, although I don't think it will reach the popularity that tangerine tango reached last year. But, all in all...this is the time of year to start having some fun with color! Try using a few of the trend colors as well as mixing up some of your own combinations! I made a few palettes to share... feel free to use them or be inspired by them!

April 2013 Desktop Calendar

Here's the desktop calendar for April, 2013!

Click on the image to enlarge the calendar to its full size, then copy the image over to your computer. Enjoy!

April 2013 Desktop Calendar