Jan Avellana | Hazelnut Cottage

to be a bold swimmer...

“long have you timidly waded
holding a plank by the shore,
now I will you to be a bold swimmer,
to jump off in the midst of the sea,
rise again, nod to me, shout,
and laughingly dash with your hair.”

~walt whitman, song of myself

proud member of stackoholics anonymous.

 

i had to grin when i read about seth apter’s new post about being a stacker (not stalker :). so, here is one of the many stacks of stuff—upwards and sideways—that i have in my leetle studio. want to play along?

visit seth’s blog and add your name to the growing list of stackers! :)

lessons from the road.

i opened up shop on etsy under the brand name “hazelnut cottage” nearly 5 years ago. my boys where much littler then...my older one was just about 2 1/2 and my younger son was about 3 months old. time has truly flown.

as my business (and children) grew, so did the demands of my daily life; the lanudry, the dishes, the homework, the new school routines...a growing retail and wholesale indie business that began on my dining room table and has spilled over into every nook and cranny of my unbalanced life. and since my plate never got any larger, i found that in order to keep going, i had to stack things higher and higher, until each tower of “stuff” began to wobble and shift with even the slightest breeze.

well, this week--the week before i am set to launch my new etsy shop and website--is the week the piles began to topple over. i’m still here, but have reached a point of burn out. oh, i saw it coming, from a looooooong way off. i saw all the signs, but stubbornly chose to look the other way, insisting all the while that i couldn't possibly have an emotional meltdown because i had so much important stuff to do.

so as counterintuitive as it is, and perhaps, as foolish as it might seem on the surface (especially now that i am launching this new site), i am pulling back. i just can't go at the rate i was going. i was running myself into the ground and i just can't do it anymore.

i am going to work less, a lot less. i am going to stay offline more. i am going to sleep a whole-heck-of-A-LOT more. i am going to eat better and i am going into 'agressive self-care' mode. and instead of so much striving and fleshing it out, i am learning minute by minute to trust God more. learning to let go, to unclench and learning what it means to rest, to really rest in Him. so much of the reason i strive is because i have financial worries; real concerns, so i honestly don’t know how these new changes will play out in my life. all i know is, if i don’t make these changes yesterday, i won’t be around for very long to see (or worry!) about any of it

...deep breath...this requires one baby step at a time...

“He says, “be still, and know that i am God...” ~psalm 46:10 (niv)

tadaaaahhhh! my brand new website is now open!!!

oh what the heck...drumroll please!!! :) there is so much (so much) happening behind the scenes here that i felt myself getting anxious and utterly self-absorbed, so i decided to go ahead and let some steam out!

here is my brand new website! tadaaahh! i am at www.janavellana.com

the grand opening of my **BRAND NEW ETSY SHOP** happens next week monday! :) yippeee!

sneak peek mondays: 1 more week! EEK!!

 

“God

aches

with you in sorrow

and

grieves

with you in tears.”

“You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.” psalm 56:8 (nlt)

{ original mixed-media 9x12x1.5 canvas and 8x10 print }

+++++++++

:) one more week and EEK! this print and others will be available in my *brand new etsy shop* next week monday! :)

leap after leap in the dark...

“the artist never entirely knows. we guess. we may be wrong, but we take leap after leap in the dark.” ~agnes de mille

i don’t know where i’m going, and i only think i know where i’ve been. this is scary stuff, this making of a life. the only real guidebook i have to go by is the invisible yes of the Holy Spirit, guiding me, calling me forth. here, on the verge of going public with these growing mixed-media passions, my fears shout out to me: “don’t try!” they say and, “this will never work! no one will like your stuff!” and, “you can only do this one thing now, you are committed and you can never change your mind about your artistic direction!”

and the truth is, who the heck knows if it will “work” or not?! i surely don’t, and i won’t know if i don’t try. in the meanwhile, i am learning to trust that my best chance at making this life a full-time endeavor is to start with being real and making things i love, trusting that as i step out into life, God will indeed direct my path. that’s really all a girl can do.

(well, that, and eat lots and lots and lots of chocolate and other assorted sweets. ;)

hugs,

and the winner is...sneak peek mondays: 2 more weeks!

{ fear and hope, 8x10 inspirational art print }

***last week i announced a giveaway of this brand new print that will soon be available in my etsy shop and online on my new website. today, i am announcing that EVERYONE WHO LEFT A COMMENT gets a surprise! the winner of the print for the giveaway is...***

robin norgren!

congratulations robin! :) please contact me and we’ll iron out all the details!!! :)

FOR EVERYONE ELSE WHO ENTERED, i am going to forward you a SPECIAL DISCOUNT CODE to use in the new shop any time during the holidays!

simply email me at my new email, janavellana [@] yahoo [dot] com :) and i’ll forward the code to you!

thank you to all of you from the bottom of my heart for your love and support on this new creative venture! i will be stocking it with new and yummy surprises from now until christmas. i can’t wait for you to see!

me in red yarn ponytails.

a bit of randomness for you today.

i remember taking this picture, back when i was 6 years old and in the first grade at kaahumanu elementary school. it was a rainy day, and my sister had the honor (task) of dressing me. i remember that it was a big deal because i had to wear pants because of the rain (we often wear shorts and t-shirts here because of our normally warm, mild weather).

what you need to know is that this flowery, oh-so-1970’s top had a matching pair of red polyester blend pants. not easy for a tomboy like me to endure. trust me; i was not happy. and to add insult to injury, my sister—wanting me to look “good” for my school pictures that day—put my hair up in ponytails and finished off the look with thick, braided (matching) red yarn.

and this is why i am sitting with my arms crossed, taking my first grade school picture. it was taken under duress, even though the photographer somehow got me to smile and also show my two missing front teeth.

my older son is seven now. he looks so much like me (poor thing)! it’s amazing after all of these years, the things i remember with such vivid clarity. i wonder what he will end up remembering about his youth...

hoping that you are having a wonderful labor day weekend. :)

(p.s. it's not too late to enter to win the free print i’m giving away! just leave a comment...tell us a fear or hope you have and you’re in! :)