Sunday, June 25, 2017

Vacation + Fantastic News!

If you thought my blog was quiet his past week it was because we were vacationing up at Itasca State Park in the NW part of MN.  My DH and I visited/stayed there twice some thirty five + years ago. We have wanted to go back for a long time.  We stayed at Douglas Lodge cabins when we were there before, this time we had our camper and stayed at Bear Paw Campground-a very nice place right next to Lake Itasca.

However, we wanted to go back to the Douglas Lodge area to see it again, it has changed a lot over the years. We thought we would immediately recognize the cabins we had stayed in, nope, didn't happen.



We did enjoy our time there so much last week, camping, kayaking, biking, hiking, and just driving around.  While kayaking one day near the headwaters of the Mississippi we saw a bald eagle.














DH walking over the Headwaters of the Mississippi. The left is Lake Itasca and the right the Head of the Mississippi.  We waded a ways downstream, even though it was a bit cold.






















These guys were plentiful all week long!  I couldn't resist, just look at his color!














This pair of Trumpeter swans were on nearby Mary Lake.




While kayaking on Ozawindib lake we spotted the largest turtle swimming that I have ever seen(except for sea turtles).  I thought it was a big rock in the shallows and then it moved right toward me,  he had to be the granddaddy!  At about 18" across, big old wrinkly neck and head.  Of course it all happened to fast for a picture.


While taking a hike we ran across several of these precious lady slipper. I have never seen one in person before, so pretty!




 The wilderness drive through Itasca State Park.  A much needed vacation for both of us. And now back to work on Monday morning. 
But first my fantastic news...I sold my first Etsy product-a quilt!!  So we left last Sunday for vaca and we get to camp that evening and I decided to see if the campground WIFI would actually work and I was pleasantly surprised it did!  So I am reading my email and I see Etsy sent me a congrats on my first sale!!  I was so excited that I could barely tell DH what happened, all I could get out was OMG, OMG!  Then I really wanted to do a happy dance, but thought the other campers might have thought I was a bit nutty, LOL  So I did an internal dance that lasted for hours! 

My dilemma was that I didn't have the quilt with me to ship, so after I remembered my Etsy password I sent my customer a note and hoped it would actually send(I've had problems in the past with that). So I fretted about it until I heard back from her and she was so kind and understanding and said no worries, enjoy my vaca and send when I got home.  What a sweetheart. And she only lives an hour from me. Thanks Darci!  So today off it went. This is the one she bought.
It has spurred me on and this week I am going to try to get a couple more listings out there. I need some beautiful sunny, windless days to do a photo shoot. 

I also visited a couple quilt shops up north, I will tell you about them in another post later this week.





22 comments:

  1. Beautiful photos! And congrats on your first sale!

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  2. Congratulations on your first sale . . . as beautiful as your work is, it will not be the last, for sure and certain :) This campgrounds looks marvelous, so pretty and love the wildlife.
    Have a happy week and do that happy dance . . . you never know who might join in and dance with you. Life is too short to hold in a dance or a song if it wants to come out.
    Keep Smiling!
    Connie :)

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  3. Sounds like a fun vacation, and how fun that you made your first sale! Yippee! I'll happy dance with you today while I sew :-)

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  4. Very pretty quilt and congratulations on your first sale!! Awesome vacation photos too. Have a great day!

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  5. It looks like you were staying in a little piece of heaven last week. So beautiful! Congrats on your first Etsy sale, that's pretty exciting :)

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  6. I'm so glad you had a fantastic vacation! The photos are gorgeous and make it look like a slice of heaven! Those Lady Slippers are just gorgeous. And congrats on your sale! It's always exciting!

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  7. What a fun vacation and awesome surprise!!Congrats!!!

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  8. What a beautiful place for a vacation, Vicki, and I loved your pictures! Thanks for sharing! Congratulations on your first sale, too! Of course that quilt sold - it's gorgeous!

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  9. The lady slipper made me smile. No, I have never seen one before. Sounds like an awesome vacation. That blue-green quilt is surely worth the wait.

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  10. How wonderful for you! Congratulations. And now a great excuse to make another quilt!

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  11. Congratulations on your 1st sale on Etsy!! I bet your autumn table runners would sell well on there, too.
    Sounds like you have a wonderful vacation. Good for you!!

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  12. Vicki, I am not one bit surprised about this fantastic news! It will be the first of many, I am sure. Your quilts are wonderful! Loved all those nature pictures from your vacation!

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  13. First, Congrats!! on selling a quilt on Etsy! How exciting. Your vacation photos are beautiful. It's so good to get away and see the beauty around us.

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  14. Congrats businesswoman! Hubby will be up at the Boundary Waters in July.

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  15. LOVE the lady slipper photo!!! Congrats on your first sale!

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  16. Hi Vicki!
    I am SO excited for you and your first Etsy sale!!! OMG - I just had my first one not too long ago. A real person, a stranger, someone who doesn't know you - is that what you were thinking? I did - LOL. I hope this is the beginning of something just great for you. I'll have to check out your shop and follow you and stuff. ~smile~ Roseanne

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  17. Congratulations on your first Etsy sale and what a beauty! Your customer will be thrilled with that gorgeous quilt.

    I love your vacation pictures. Nothing like camping in the woods and amongst all that Mother Nature has to offer.

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  18. Beautiful pics of your trip. Congrats on the sale of your quilt.

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  19. Woo hoo!! That's so great! It must feel very validating to know that someone loves your work so much that they bought a quilt! That one is super cute, too :)

    I really enjoyed all the critter photos from your vacation. Looks like it was absolutely lovely!

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  20. Yippeee on your first Etsy sale. Awesome quilt!

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  21. What a beautiful vacation spot. Congrats on your sale.

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