When Ben went to Washington DC on business a few months ago, he brought our daughter back a shirt with an image of a rocket ship on it, and in big bold neon letters the words “I DREAM BIG”. I loved that shirt and couldn’t stop looking at it. It made me so excited for our kids’ futures, for all that they might dream about and work for and do. It also made me realize that there were a lot of my own dreams (both big and small) that I had been putting off for one reason or another.

I want my kids to see the world as being full of endless possibilities, I want them to believe that they should put their hearts and souls into the things that they love, and that no dream is too big. I don’t want them to get hung up on fears and worries and doubts. I want them to put those things aside and push forward, even if it means setting foot into the unknown. And even with all of these big hopes for my kids, I’ve somehow let myself get hung up in fear and worry and doubt. For years now I’ve been thinking of opening an etsy shop to sell the things that I make, but I’ve always been worried. What if nobody comes? What if nothing sells? What if I TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY EMBARRASS MYSELF?! That’s the big one. That if I open a shop and it fails I will have embarrassed myself. How silly is that? I want to make sure that my kids know that failure is just a step on the pathway to success (or that success really is a journey and not a destination? does this post have enough motivational cliches yet?) so I’ve finally decided to lead by example and do something I’ve always wanted to do…

And so begins my etsy shop, Permanent Riot.

For now I’ve stocked it with watercolor paintings and hand-painted ceramics because I’m on a total and complete painting kick. In the future I might sell crocheted doodads or childrens’ clothing or who knows what. My goal is to have a creative outlet and a way to give a good home to the things that I can’t help making. I love that now that I’m past the scary unknown phase it’s given me a reason to get up and paint in the morning. My shop has only been open for a few days and I’ve already painted more in those few days than I had in several months prior. I love having a reason to create.

I started out with just simple ombre quotations but have been more and more excited about getting back into detailed paintings, something I haven’t done in years. I can’t wait to make more of these.

Here’s to a new adventure and a brand new shop. I hope you’ll come and check it out!