I’m working away girls! But I wanted to give you a sneak peek at the fall & Halloween crowns I’ve been working on. I’m signed up for Artsy Mama’s Sweet & Sinister Swap, so I’m already in the swing of things for her black & white (and a little orange) swap.
I’m excited about the fall and all the holidays. I love this time of year when the air gets crisp and leaves change colors and tiny little pirates and princesses invade our neighborhood in search of candy treasure.
I was going to try to reopen the website tomorrow, but it looks like I may have to push that back a few days. I’ll let you know. I’ve had sick kids and a lot of projects going on, but I’m almost ready. Just a few days more!
It’s been WAY too long, gals! But, I promise you won’t be disappointed. I’m working myself silly trying to get everything ready for my (petite) grand re-opening. Ha ha…. It’s just little old me doing it, so I always have bigger expectations than I have time!
Little man is doing So great at school. Thank you so much for all your kind words, thoughts, and prayers. I know you all know what I’m feeling and that’s such a great comfort. He’s my heart, ya know?
I’m working on the Doodle Packs now (I haven’t forgotten about ya, Dede!) and I’m also doing some Halloween crowns. First, I have to finish a few special orders I have (Ginny and Angelina, I’m doing yours this week…..Heather and Cerri yours are almost done). So, I’m quite the busy little bee. I’ll only be crazy like this for a week or so more, then all my hard work will pay off because I’ll have completed so many things that I think I’ll be able to work at a more leisurely pace. We’ll see!
There are many exciting things happening in my little world right now and I’ll keep you posted when I know for sure, but I may be featured in an art zine in the next couple of months. Wish me well!
OK, I’m off to take my big Little Man to school. *sigh*
I will try to post pics later tonight or tomorrow of some of the things I’ve been up to.
Hi all you wonderful gals. I’m absent right now filling orders and creating away! I’m getting ready to do an overhaul on my website. I’m shooting for a grand re-opening (which probably won’t be THAT grand, actually, since it’s just little old me!) for September 1. I’m busy busy making ballerina boxes, crowns, ballerina bon-bon/nut cup baskets, ornaments and more. First, I must finish my current orders! Here’s a ballerina box I just finished and sold. I have one that’s sold I’m working on now, and plan on having a few for sale on Sept. 1.
I’m also considering making some new Doodle Packs filled with some really gorgeous wallpapers, included some 100 year old paper, flocked paper, and more. Stuff I’ve been saving for Christmas, all kinds of good stuff. But, I know lots of people are selling wallpaper packs right now, so I want to do a little poll…… Do you still want Doodle-packs? Just trying to guage!
I personally can’t get enough vintage paper! Here are some pictures of just a sampling of my papers I’m putting together.
And there are many more. I just had these laid out tonight so thought I’d snap a picture. I have some really cool greens, creams, beiges, frenchy looking papers and even some soft lavander, blues, many more colors and patterns. So, let me know if you guys are interested in them before I go cutting them all up! If not, I’ll save them.
Some of the papers are in very limited quantities. I’m going to do two or three different packs, some of which there will only be 4 available because I have so little of the paper.
In other (way more important) news…..
The little guy did GREAT at school last week! We’re going back tomorrow for round two. He’s a little annoyed that he has to go 5 days a week. It’s just hard to go from total freedom to being required to be somewhere every day. But…come on, it’s only 3 hours! He had so much fun on Friday. I’m praying that his teacher (who CAN’T be a day over 25) will stay fresh an fun and not get too jaded or disillusioned before the year is up! This is only her second year teaching and she has such a fresh faced, wide-eyed optimism about her. I hope she keeps it for years to come.
Thank you all for your sweet words about this transitional time for my little family. I am just hangin on for the ride!
OK, back to work. I’ll try to pop in tomorrow for a quick post if I can!
One more post before I go to bed. I don’t usually “advertise” other blogs, or “feature” them or anything. I have a blog roll….right over there to the right… I add them for various reasons, old friends, good reading, fun blog, whatever. Well, I just want you all to go over to this one.
This sweet young mother, Rosalyn-Sue is practically a newlywed, married in the summer of 2005. Her husband is on another deployment overseas and she is home with the sweetest little 8 month old baby boy. Her little guy has some serious and scarey health issues, but Rosalyn-Sue knows God can do anything. Please pray for little baby Coe and his Dad overseas fighting for our country, so galantly. Also for his mom, Rosalyn-Sue, who is so amazing. She’s started a charity called Operation Stars & Stripes, which supplies all kinds of comforting things to our troops. Pop on over to Rosalyn’s blog for more info. I know they need all the help they can get. I think there is even a request for hand-made cards and other hand crafted items.
I would go into more detail, but my little guy is crying now. I knew I should have snuck off to bed when I had the chance! Go over to her blog, The Little Bluebird Diaries, or visit Operation Stars & Stripes to help.
I’m off to bed so I can actually be alert while taking my little man to his first day of school tomorrow. Well, actually later today! I’m still sad about it. But, I know that I am blessed. Many parents would give anything to see their children grow and be happy and healthy. Instead of focusing on what I was viewing as a negative, I am going to try to rethink my position and remember that this is a positive thing. That my child, who is happy and healthy and strong, who is snuggled in a warm, comfy bed, under a safe, stable roof…. who is fed when he’s hungry and sleeps when he’s tired, and plays with careless abandon… My child, who is not battling cancer or fighting in a war, or in any way endangered, my child is going to start school tomorrow. I am blessed. And I am grateful. I am thankful that my child is growing and changing because it’s the progression of a good and happy life.
But, I’m still gonna cry. Just a little. Maybe a lot. I’ll be crying grateful, bittersweet tears. Thank you God, for the blessings of my children.
That’s french for The Tiny Tiara. Or, at least that’s what a translation website says is French for “the tiny tiara”. I’ll have to take their word for it!
Isn’t this cute? A sweet friend and customer ordered a custom tiara for a teddy bear! Oh, MY GOSH. How darling an idea. I made it adjustable, it can be adjusted to be much smaller by tightening the ribbon, or larger by loosening it. I think I may add these to my line, but maybe add an inch or two more length, and sell them for children! I tried it on my son earlier (much to his horror and dismay) and it fit! So, maybe an inch or two more and I’ve got something. But, it will have to wait, I have orders yet to fill!
Here is a shot of it next to my regular sized crowns, so you can get an idea of scale.
Isn’t it fun?
the big boy
Today was the “Meet the Teacher” day at my son’s school. Wow. I just can’t believe I have a school aged child. What? It was just yesterday we were driving him home from the hospital, feeling like we had driven off with a treasure, undetected! I remember thinking “they’re just going to let us take him home? No nurse follow-ups, no one coming with us?” It was so weird to be in the back seat, worrying about every little bump in the road. My husband was driving around desperately trying to find a pharmacy still open, and I was in the back seat just staring at this tiny little guy who seemed so small and fragile in his car seat. He was wearing the same outfit that my Mother-In-Law brought my husband home in. He was and is so beautiful. I still feel like we drove off with a treasure that day. He is such a gift. Thank you, God for my beautiful sons.
Anyway, the little guy has been really excited about starting school, until today. This evening he said “mama, I think I’m a little nervous” and I wanted to say “me too”, but I didn’t. I told him that it was OK to be nervous, and that school was going to be such a fun adventure. We talked about recess and the centers he’ll be playing and learning in, the circle time, all the stuff that will be fun about school. And he said “yeah, but I’m still a little bit nervous. And a little bit sad”. And I thought “Me too”. He said “will you miss me?” and my heart screamed “YES YES! I will miss you and worry about you and wonder if you’re OK. Let’s just skip school and try again next year. Stay home with me one more year, K?” But, I refrained from actually saying out loud. Instead I said “yes, I will miss you, sweetheart, but you’re only going to be there for about as long as a movie, then recess. You won’t miss me at all because you’ll be playing and running around on the playground and hanging out with your friends.” and I went on and on and he said “yeah.” But, I’m not sure he (or I) was convinced. I hope he doesn’t cry and get scared. I hope I don’t cry and get scared. I pray that he feels happy and secure there, and that he BE happy and secure there and everywhere he ever goes in his sweet life.
So, please pray for me and my babies. I’m already having trouble. When they go off to college, I may need medical help. Really. Not kidding.
I’m off to finish a few things (or start some!) then it’s time for bed. I think first, I need to go spend some time stroking my big little guy’s hair as he sleeps snuggled up in his blue race car bed.
Oh yeah. Get a load of my rockin new blog/website banner! Is this fantastic, or what? Heather made this for me, and I L-O-V-E LOVE it. Heather is an amazing paper and digital artist and her business is booming right now with orders for blog, website, ebay and etsy banners. She did an etsy for me too and I’m also getting business cards from her. She was fantastic to work with, easy going, funny and smart. I love meeting women like that!
Heather also produces the fantastic Portals Zine, adding “publisher” to her long resume which includes “wife, mother, artist, retailer, graphic designer” among other titles, I’m sure. I don’t know how she does it, but I’m sure glad she does.
Hop on over to Heather’s blog, Bluhm Studios and getcha one too!
Whew. I’m still here, gals! I’ve been blessed lately to have several orders, but boy, it really puts a dent in my blog time, let me tell ya! ha ha ha Here are a few pictures of the things I’ve been up to. First of all, my WONDERFUL friend Rosanna placed a custom order with me for several things. You’ve already seen the ballerina box and snow crown. Here are a few glimpses of other things I’ve been working away on for her. It’s always a pleasure to work with Rosanna. She’s a treasure. It’s fitting she ordered a sweets-themed crown, because truly she is the Queen of Sweetness, in every sense.
Sweets Themed Crown for Rosanna:
Bits & Pieces Collage for Rosanna: This was a spin-off of the swap Jenny hosted. Rosanna ordered several collages from participants. How fun!
Christmas Crown for Rosanna:
Marie Antoinette for the queen of sweets:
There were several other things I’ve been working on for her, but you get the idea! Lots of goodness is goin overseas!
I’ve also had several other orders, so I’m just a glue-gunning-away! I’m thrilled and tired at the same time. It’s a good tired, though! I will NEVER complain about being TOO blessed. How ridiculous! In fact, let me just PRAISE THE LORD for my blessings RIGHT NOW. Thank you LORD!
In other SWEET news, My SWEET husband, who actually is more the Spock from Star-Trek type than the lovey-dovey type, WEEDED MY ENTIRE FLOWER BED for me today! Are you kidding me? Give me a weed-free, freshly mulched flower bed over diamonds any day (not that I actually HAD that choice, but if I did, I’m pretty sure I’d choose the flower bed. yeah. pretty sure). I’m not kidding, this was awesome. Also, yesterday there were a bunch of kids and a girlfriend of mine over when he got home from work. I was doing a banner for her daughter for a parade she’s going to be in in our little small town here today. So the house was total chaos when he got home. What do you think he did? Instead of pouting that dinner was going to be WAY late, he went into the bedroom, closed the door, and FOLDED FOUR LOADS OF LAUNDRY. I’m telling you, I am in heaven. I hate laundry. Really. Hate. It. He knows this, so every once in a while, possibly out of desperation to find some clean underwear, he’ll fold it all for me out of the blue. And, he’s not angry and ugly about it. He doesn’t rub my face in it for weeks afterwards. He just does it. No words, just work. That’s my husband! He’s not generous with words. No flowery compliments, not a lot of back-patting. But, he can send me to the moon with a weeded flower bed.
This brings to mind the book “The Five Love Languages”. If you haven’t read it, go get it this weekend and read it! It’s fantastic and enlightening. It just identifies the five major ways in which people tend to give and receive expressions of love, therefore helping you to identify when someone else is expressing love to you, even when they’re not speakin your language! My husband is an “acts of service” kinda guy!
OK, I’m off to bed at a decent hour tonight. More goodness to come soon.
Hi sweet friends. I’m back from my little mini-vacation. We were so blessed to stay for a long weekend with my wonderful friend Kasse and her beautiful family. I had the pleasure of meeting Kasse’s sister in law Cara, Cara’s sister Kelly and her amazing seamstress mom Nancy. This is one fun fam. Nancy and Cara have the BEST line of baby clothes and blankets, called Vintage Baby. Nancy’s going to have an etsy shop soon, I’ll keep ya posted. You should see the quilts this gal does. Amazing.
Kasse, as I’m sure you know, is the proprietor of the fun and fabulous Miss Duffy’s. I was priviledged to get a sneak peek at her amazing Christmas and Holiday offerings this year. WOW is all I can say! Talk about a glittery wonderland! Oh, you should see the amazing bottle-brush wreaths and trees, vintage paper-board inspired snowy, glittery houses and churches, fantastic glass glitter and mica snow everywhere, gorgeous ornaments, the list goes on. Here are a few things I bought. This is NOTHING compared to what she is selling. I plan to get more, but I have to pace myself! This stuff was SOOO well priced, too.
Look at this sweet Christmas Wreath!! It’s the sweetest red and white striped bottlebrush. Can you believe this is around $18.00?!! The HUGE bottlebrush snowflake hangers, which I’m planning to hang on a door and in front of my windows, are only about $9.00! The sweet little glittery, snowy house has a spot for a christmas twinkle light to pop in. You are not going to believe, it was only about $16.00. She, of course, has the wonderful higher end Cody Foster huge church’s, etc, too. I didn’t get any of those, but they were so so pretty.
I’m only telling you the prices because I don’t think she has them listed on her site yet, but thought you would want to know how much they are in case you want to shoot her an email and get one (or TEN!) for yourself. She has a lot of things not on her site, but she’ll sell them anyway. Her beautiful store is growing a lot so she’s trying to revamp everything right now. She’s even going to have an ad in Mary Engelbreit. I’m so happy for Kasse, she’s such a kind and generous person and I am thrilled that she’s becoming so successful. She’s a good egg.
OK, now on to some sneak peaks of my Christmas offerings! My website is going through a big revamp also. My PLAN is that late NEXT week (not this week coming up, but next week) I will be able to have my grand re-opening. I’ll be listing some new and fantastic Doodle-Packs, some ballerina tutu nut cups, some glittery houses, ornaments, crowns, maybe even some jewelry, but this is the thing I’m most in love with…today, anyway…. My sugar-plum fairy!!!! Check her out!
Isn’t she SO fun? Some of my little fairy ballerinas will have candy in their hands, some will have star wands. Some will be made in to ornaments by mounting them onto a star on their backs, similar to what I did here, but of course not on a collage, they’ll have a little loop to hang in a tree:
As usual, I have more ideas than I have time, so don’t look for everything to be added all at once! I’ll do them as quickly as I can.
I’ve read on Jenny’s blog about how she’s already looking towards Christmas, and I’m right with her on that. I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s the license to “glitter without limits” that the holidays bring. Maybe it’s the sparkly wide-eyed, childlike wonder we all seem to have that time of year. I don’t know, but I love it. Don’t you?
Meanwhile, back at the ranch……. My oldest son is starting school this year. I am so sad! I am happy for him, that he’ll have fun and learn new things and make new friends. But I’m so sad that his “little-hood” is almost over. From now on, he’ll spend more and more time away from me…..that’s just the natural progression of a good and happy life. I know I didn’t make the best use of the time I’ve had with him, so that makes me even sadder. I know I did other meaningless things when I should have been playing with him or talking with him. Time is just so…. well, it’s so cliche, but true. It’s so fleeting. My baby is going to school. I just can’t believe it. I also am scared that some of the other kids might hurt his little heart. I wish I could protect him from bullies and meanies and teachers who might not understand his little personality. I wish I could keep him safe from peer pressure and all the other dangers that children face. So, this week, I’ll be on my knees by his bedside a lot. Praying for him…and for me. If you’re so inclined, I’d sure appreciate your prayers too!
