From Clutter to the Birth of Olivia Madison
Wow, can you believe that my closet actually looked like this! I am almost ashamed to share this picture, but this is just the reality of what was going on in my life. No, I'm not a hoarder or a junky person, at the time that this madness happened, LIFE HAPPENED!
When I say "LIFE HAPPENED", IT HAPPENED! At the time that the closet looked like this I was teaching full time and I was sickly pregnant with Olivia! When I decided to clean it out, a mouse popped out of the closet and at that point, I wasn't going to return to that closet ever! If you know how rowhouses work in the city, we are so closely connected that things can travel through the walls!
Anyways, I was booted out of my original ART and CRAFTS closet, when I gave birth to my son, Alex (the precious little face you see in the picture above)! Man, I really do remember that space! I had all of the room that I could use to layout all of my things and have extra storage and now I'm in this small behind closet! Oh well, at least I handed over the room to baby boy! The sacrifices of a mom!
So back to the story, I let my closet sit like this for about a year because I had given up on the fact that I would ever do my cards or wedding invitations again! I had lost hope because I was so sick with my pregnancy with Olivia and when I did have Olivia, I wasn't able to do anything because I was so busy and tired!
Things started to change when I started my blog with Olivia and started to realize that I wasn't taking care of the things the Lord has blessed me with. That meant me not taking care of the body I was blessed with, my house, and myself spiritually. I was depressed and hopeless. I needed a change!
So I changed the way I ate, my personal relationship with the Lord, how I exercised, when I went to sleep, how I organized my days, I dug into the Word of God, encouraged women to take care of their bodies and follow their passions and use their gifts, and many more changes! These changes helped me feel a whole lot better about life in general to the point that I wanted to start picking up my card making again!
This brings us back to the 1st picture of the cluttered mess from my closet. My counselor (yes I see a counselor and there is nothing wrong with that) held me accountable to cleaning my closet as well as my older sister Shannon. Accountability is very important if you are facing challenges in your life! It was time to face my fears of mice and get back to what I'm really passionate about and that is MY CARDS!!!!!! So it took me 2 days to get the closet reorganized and it only took $8!!!!! I still want to add more things for organization sake, but I did pretty well! I realized I loved organizing things like I did when I worked at Pier 1 Imports (one of my dream jobs I had)!
Once I got my closet uncluttered, I was able to have a clearer mind and I was able to be creative again! I felt a burden lifted off of me! I wanted to be in the closet all the time just to create things. This leads me to the fact that as of January 2017, I will be opening up a store called Olivia Madison Card Shop (it will probably change once I go through the LLC process)!
Olivia Madison was inspired by my own Olivia! As Olivia gets older in age I want to give her as many options as possible as far as careers. If she wants to run this business with her mom, then she can. If she wants to do other things, then she can! As long as she is doing what the Lord has called her to, then mom is ok with that! Having Olivia has filled my heart with so much joy and unexplainable love! So if you see a heart on some of my cards/bookmarks, its because of the love I have for my daughter!
Olivia Madison is a store that I envision selling wedding invitations, wedding favors, wedding table cards, wedding consultation, bridal party gifts, cupcake toppers, paper goods like bookmarks, thank you cards, encouragement cards, diy bridal decorations. I am focusing on weddings because I have had previous experience as a wedding coordinator, a wedding consultant, diy weddings, wedding invitations, and so on. I love when two people become one! This is something I'm passionate about and I truly love it!
I plan on working with my family members/friends and their gifts to tie in everything like my brother, Willie, does wedding photography, my sister, Shannon, does photography, art and art parties, my sister in law, Keya, does wedding cakes/cupcakes, my sister, Anita-L'Pree, does business planning, my mom, Anita, for booking traveling as well as Lucretia (my friend), and many more people. Why not collaborate on gifts, isn't that what the Lord has called us to!
I pray that my daughter and son will one day join me in this journey! I will adding items little by little in my etsy shop: www.etsy.com/shop/OliviaMadisoncards until I officially have a website.
I'm so excited about this journey and I pray that you keep me in your prayers as I continue to build this store! I have learned so many things just having Olivia in my life and she has truly blessed me and my family! Thank you Lord for my baby girl!