Every Friday I’ll indulge my order-crazed brain in a list of randomness. Welcome to my Friday Fives.

Hey, guys…guess what?

My Etsy Shop turned one last week!

Can you believe it? I can’t. (Where are the cupcakes?)

It’s been quite a year since I made that first announcement.  I went into it with pretty low expectations. I knew that with a full-time job I wouldn’t have the hours dedicated to make this my top priority, so other than putting up my prints on pinterest, I haven’t done much to market the site. And yet, to me, it’s done pretty well. I’ve had over 60 individual print orders, 7,000 views, orders shipped across the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Australia, and hundreds of “likes” on the page. It’s been hard work at times to juggle everything, but I wouldn’t change a thing.

Let’s celebrate with a promotion, shall we? Happy shopping!

Order by March, 13, 2015 and receive 20% off using the promo code PEAS1!

Here are a few things I’ve learned along the way:

5.  Julia Child’s Estate is No Joke

Apparently Julia Child’s estate owns everything she ever said. I learned this when an attorney contacted me asking that I remove my Julia Child quote print from my site before any legal action was required. Uh, ok, you don’t need to say anything else. It’s too bad, because she had some beautiful quotes that everyone should have on their walls. (My sites’s offending quote? “A party without cake is just a meeting”… all rights reserved for the Julia Child Estate.)

4. I Need to be Creative

When I was still working at USU, this shop was my special place. I would come home, make prints and feel inspired and fulfilled. Especially after looking at spreadsheets all day. Now that I’m back with NWS, I’m around creative people and projects all day, but it’s still fun for me to dive into this in the evenings a few times a week.

3. New Friends are Good Friends

Etsy is a community and I’ve met so many great people (and repeat buyers) through this entire process. It’s fabulous. We’ve shared travel stories, become Facebook friends, and emailed back-and-forth for days. These are good people and I’m happy to be part of this online hub.

2. People Love Themselves Some Star Wars

My top selling print? This Star Wars nursery print. I had to print them in bulk because I had so many people order them. Not complaining, but….really?

1.  This shop…

This is proof that you can teach an old dog new tricks. This is the kick in the pants I needed to do something for me. This makes me want to be creative all day. This allows me to look at prints in magazines or online and say “I can do that too.” This makes me want to dream up new prints and make them a reality. This makes me wish I had an extra 10 hours each day. This makes me think of my grandpa and his business. This makes me wish I understood more about graphic design. This makes me happy. This makes me hesitant to do our taxes. This makes me want to learn more and more. This is…wonderful.

Thank you for being part of the Pea Patch with me. <Insert all the feelings.>