{Mama + Biz Owner — Using the spare time you’ve been given to glorify God, part VII plus a Red Letter Words giveaway!}

This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to our winner, comment #82, Jess of Follow the Journey!!! Check your email Jess! xoxo

Red Letter Words is our XL sponsor this month and we’re so happy to have them. Dee is the designer + enthusiast behind the canvas art shop {including prints, candles, gift sets, even fabric}. And this successful artist is also a mama to four kids… 4! As I enter into motherhood and evolve how I run my business to encompass my budding family, I am inspired by women like Dee. Read on for Dee’s interview in our new/continued “Mama + Biz Owner” series!

In fact, Dee is a dear friend of mine. We usually see each other a few times a year — at conferences or in Michigan {where I’m from/she currently lives}, and so just last weekend I got to hug her. We spent some time together on our journey home from Pennsylvania and let me tell you, it was a real treat to sit next to her on the flight. We talked about personal stuff and biz stuff, and I returned home to California seriously rejuvenated. The art Dee creates and shares via Red Letter Words is a true reflection of her heart. I’ll let Dee take over from here ;)

MEET THE DESIGNER// Hi, I’m Dee — wife to Tim for 19 years, mom to Katy, 15; Christian, 13; Max, 9; and Lily Grace, 7. I am a heart artist. A creativpreneur who visually shares timeless truth and beauty through art so everyone can know God’s heart and embrace their worth. You can find me at RedLetterWords.com, on Facebook, Twitter and on Instagram (@redletterwords).

When I started working on my art I didn’t start out thinking about it as a business but rather as a fun hobby. I really just wanted to incorporate scripture into decorating my family’s space and to share my faith through art with those who came into our home. It got to the point where friends of friends and their cousins, sisters, mother-in-laws, etc. wanted a print. So at the urgings of many, I started an Etsy shop. Totally out of my comfort zone but with that step out God took it from there.

Red Letter Words came after I had all my kids. My youngest, Lily Grace, was three when I first started on Etsy.  I found myself having little pockets of time between naps and school pick-ups/drop-offs to design. My prayer was that whatever spare time I was given I would use it to glorify God and I have been able to do this through my business.  As my kids are growing, though, I find myself saying “no” more often to work projects, conferences and traveling without them. I would rather spend that time with them — I will always have art in my house and my life, I won’t always have my kids in the house.

via Red Letter WordsI keep myself organized and inspired by writing everything down in notebooks — and I mean everything! Grocery lists, people to contact, goals, print ideas, prayer lists, design sketches. Entire product lines have been developed in my notebooks!  The notebooks are nothing fancy but each kind of reflects what kind of mood I was in when I bought them. Sometimes sassy or polka dotty, sometimes feeling extra powerful — like my favorite Wonder Woman notebook! Sometimes the basic 10 cent notebooks were the way I went and they are all FULL of my notes and lists!  Archaic? Yes!  Unorganized?  Sort of. But, I can usually find what I am looking for — I know that I wrote it in my notebook!  Does it work for me?  ABSOLUTELY!

As a rule, I strive to maintain a work/life balance. I make it a point to only check my email twice a day — usually once in the morning and once more after dinner. And as a household rule, no one ever has their phone at the dining table. Not ever.

via Red Letter WordsMy words of advice for moms who are business owners or want to start your own business is to remember that everything has it’s season. It’s tempting to want to do everything, but I have learned that if I am trying to do everything then a lot of those things are not being done well.

And mom’s of babies — ENJOY YOUR BABIES! Take naps when they do! I know you hear it all the time but really truly cherish this time when you are their whole world and all they want to do is cuddle with you!

+ + +GIVEAWAY// Red Letter Words is giving away ANY gallery wrap canvas print, up to 20″ x 20″ size {custom prints excluded}

To enter, visit the Red Letter Words shop and leave a comment below sharing a link to your favorite item {I will  be checking links — wink!}. For additional entries, pin via Pinterest up to 3 items from the RLW shop, leaving a separate comment below for each item you pin {up to three additional entries}.

Want to buy now? Dee’s entire holiday collection is 20% off during the month of November!

*Open to US residents only. Giveaway open through Tuesday, November 6th at 11:59pm PST. The winner will be announced the following day + shared at the top of this post. Good luck!