Hiatus...over!

Well, my self-imposed hiatus is over! Baby Nora is here and I think I have a handle on mommy-ing two little ones...I think. Nora was born March 17 and has finally reached "happy baby" status. She was a rough one in the beginning! Colic was her first, middle, and last name. Big sister Miriam is pretty cool with it all we think. She has her moments like we all do. For example, my mom came to take care of them this past weekend while we went to a wedding and Miriam decided she would hit her sister. Well, she fessed up to it after my mom asked why Nora was crying..."I hit her." Lovely. 

The etsy shop is officially open again! Check it out! And hey, while you're at it become a fan on facebook! There will be more products to come...

meme meme!

saw this one word meme on allsorts; one of my favorite crafty blogs

Where is your mobile phone? purse
Where is your significant other? floor
Your hair colour? brown
Your mother? missed
Your father? dear
Your favourite thing? mommy-ing
Your dream last night? forgotten
Your dream goal? published
The room you're in? cozy
Your hobby? creating
Your fear? embarrassment
Where do you want to be in 6 years? solvent
Where were you last night? here
What you're not? boring
One of your wish-list items? iphone
Where you grew up? Georgia
The last thing you did? eat
What are you wearing? clothes
Your TV? on
Your pets? small
Your computer? mac
Your mood? unsure
Missing someone? Mom
Your car? small
Something you're not wearing? socks
Favourite shop? target
Your summer? ordinary
Love someone? absolutely
Your favourite colour? green
When is the last time you laughed? afternoon
When is the last time you cried? yesterday

join in if you like!

Handmade Holiday!

I made it into the Richmond Craft Mafia's Handmade Holiday show!  They had twice as many applicants as they had space YEAH! So, mark your calendars for December 13 from 10-5! It will be at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond.  OK, so now I need to crank out the goods!!!! Lots of work to do!

too much?

so i haven't blogged in awhile! too busy i guess. don't have anything to write? no. too much to write. 

i really dislike mondays. the weekend is an excuse to nap, read, relax, etc. since you worked so hard all week. but monday, that's another story. its the beginning. everything you need to do looms in front of you. it feel like you have to do everything right now. 

my house is a disaster. the laundry pile is massive, the dishes need doing, miriam's room is a mess from unpacking after going out of town, we need milk and diapers, i need to wash/iron the curtains for our bedroom since we painted it 2 weeks ago, i have things to make for customers and for the farmer's market in september (more news about that later), unfinished projects. some marketing for another little job i have, and on top of all of that i have a job that pays actual money that i have to do during miriam's naps! 

when i didn't have a child somehow this list would have been a piece of cake, and even then i had a full time job out of the house. why is it that even though i stay at home i feel like i have no time!? i say yes too much, i commit myself to too much. but it always seems that there is a really good reason why i should commit myself to it. money seems to be the big reason. always is i guess. 

ok, no more complaining. today's schedule is: clean kitchen and do laundry while miriam naps this morn and then go to target for milk and diapers and other errands (oh, and i need gas) then home for lunch and nap. during her afternoon nap i have a bunch of work for my little job. more laundry and cleaning. then my respite is dinner with a good friend at 7! 

i think i should fill my day with music, it really motivates me. my new favorite is ADELE! 

win this quilt!

check this out! go enter to win this quilt...although i want to WIN! this would be PERECT on miriam's eventual "big girl bed" I WANT I WANT!!

they just find me...

I don't know what is going on but I just keep finding these awesome vintage sewing machines! This is #3 in the last 3 months the first one was found in a ditch, the second one a woman gave to me, and this one we saved from going to goodwill. We were in Augusta, Ga last week and my husband and his sister were on their way to Starbucks, so on the way out of his mom's neighborhood he saw a man carrying this cool machine to his car. Mike, knowing I would love it, stopped and asked him what he was planning on doing with it. The man said he was taking it to Goodwill but he would be willing to sell it to us for $15 and it worked great (he wanted the tax credit). So Mike drove back to the house, picked me up and when I showed up I was in love! Plus, the woman who lived at this house used to teach at the same school with me. So she was super happy for me to have it! I just have the best luck...

for more pictures click here

rare bird finds feature!

thank you so much amanda for the rare bird finds mention!!

an hour well well worth your time!

starting may 14 you will be able to watch "A Walk to Beautiful" online at PBS. i invite you i implore you to watch this amazing film about Ethiopian women with fistulas. a quick explanation of a fistula is a hole between the bladder and vagina and/or rectum made during a long labor. it causes constant incontinence and these women are completely ostracized and made to live alone in a hut outside of their village. no hospital will treat them. there is one hospital that is dedicated to fistulas only and the treatments are completely free. its amazing and heartbreaking and enlightening and completely uplifting. spend 50 minutes and watch this film online here and get involved. i am already planning a showing of the film to my friends and my goal is to raise $450 which is the amount it costs for one woman's complete treatment. 

watch here

50th purchase! who will it be??

i am up to 49 purchases so far at my etsy shop. so i figured that the 50th customer should get a prize! so here's the deal...free shipping! just kidding, that would be super lame if that's all you got. no, the 50th customer will get a free item from the shop (equal or lesser value, please) and free shipping (i will refund this after your purchase)! so buy that 50th item and in the comments section tell me what other item you would like! nothing like free stuff, right!? so shop away, shop shop away.... 

just for kicks...this is a photo of my grandmother from when my grandparents were dating. i think she is about 18 or 19 in this pic. isn't it awesome! (on the texas a&m campus)

the wren's pet bed!

hey check it out! the wren made a suitcase pet bed! how cool is she! check it out

she makes the coolest handbags, and i think its super neat that she lives in cape town, south africa. my idea is traveling the world...

100 things about me

i have some friends who have listed 100 things about them...so i figured i'd join in! sounds like fun to come up with 100 things to write down.  maybe we will all learn something about me (including myself)

1. i was born in new england (new hampshire to be exact) but i was raised in the south

2. i have one brother

3. growing up i had had a rabbit, a couple of hamsters, a fish or two, a cat, and a dog as pets. now i have a cat and a dog

4. the cat was killed by the neighbors dogs, he was only 6 months old

5. the dog lived to be 16 years old

6. my parents have been married for almost 35 years

7. i am kinda a geek

8. i enjoy reading theology and social science books

9. i gravitate to non-fiction more than fiction

10. i usually write in all lower case letters, i don't know why, lazy i guess

11. my first boyfriend was named mike and my last boyfriend now my husband is named mike

12. i had mono my senior year of high school, apparently it was the worst case my dr. had ever seen.

13. princess diana and mother teresa died while i was sick in bed with mono, i watched every single bit of tv coverage including diana's funeral in the middle of the night

14. i love going on vacation but i find it hard to spend the money to go

15. there was a giant flood on my 11th birthday in my town and they shut down school, it was awesome

16. i was a "water girl" for my middle school football team in 7th and 8th grade

17. i never played sports growing up

18. i was in girl scouts for 6 years

19. i played the flute for 6 years

20. played the flute and the piccolo in the marching band

21. i drove from augusta to toronto two times in one month

22. i've known my husband since 9th grade

23. he once dated my best friend

24. i have lived in portsmouth, new hampshire

25. new orleans

26. olympia, washington

27. augusta, ga

28. milledgeville, ga

29, new york city

30. richmond, va

31. i went to georgia college and state university 

32. i have a ba in art from there

33. i went to the fashion institute of technology in nyc

34. i have an associates in accessory design from there

35. i got the associates after i got my bachelors

36. i taught art to homeschoolers

37. i taught art to 6-12 graders

38. i worked at old navy

39. also worked at the gap

40. i was a nanny one summer

41. i designed a tag for a tie/belt that amici accessories sold to wet seal, i did this while i lived in nyc and then found the tag i drew in a wet seal in augusta, ga. i squealed when i saw it.

42. i stole the tag!

43. i was a visual specialist at macy's 

44. i dressed mannequins

45. i was not as fun and glamorous as it looks

46. i learned to sew when i was 12, my mom taught me

47. i used to paint anything that didn't move

48. i have painted bricks, hammer handles, floors, random boxes, tons of chairs

49. i have only flown 1st class once and it was because i was flying standby

50. i have been to two foreign countries...canada and thailand

51. i have been to the seoul, south korea airport

52. my husband and i have stayed at the same hotel and ate at the same restaurants in chiang mai, thailand two years apart. we were with groups of people and we were not in charge of where we went or what we did, so it was a huge coincidence

53. i have never had surgery

54. the only time i have stayed at a hospital was when i had miriam

55. i read all 7 of the chronicles of narnia at least 12 times 

56. i love history

57. i used to want to be an archeologist

58. until i realized that meant crawling around in dark holes with snakes and spiders

59. my favorite colors have always been blue and green

60. i dress my daughter in non-pink colors as often as i can

61. i hate buying clothes that aren't on sale

62. i have never spent money on a cell phone

63. i have never mowed grass, i would but have just never had to

64. i have never been on a cruise

65. i graduated in radio city music hall

66. my key note speaker was anna wintour

67. calvin klein received his honorary doctorate

68. i was once a hair model

69. my hair was dyed ronald mcdonald red against my will

70. i worked at my girlfriend's kitchen for a couple months

71. most of my furniture and furnishings were free (gifts or found)

72. i have a one year old daughter

73. i never exercised until i joined stroller strides (yoga doesn't count)

74. i find the story of amelia earhart fascinating, i wrote a paper on her when i was little and airplane bore me, go figure

75. i hate writing

76. i go through crafty phases

78. it started with ceramics then to weaving, then fabric design, then accessories namely purses, then painting, then bookmaking, then sewing

79. i've been in my sewing phase for a good 3 years or so

80. i got married outside

81. i wore ballet shoes in my wedding (i only took ballet in kindergarten, so i was no ballerina, they were just comfy)

82. i saw my husband in my dress before we got married, we took all our pictures before the ceremony, i loved it that way, highly recommend it!

83. i have been married 4 wonderful years

84. i used to hate running, now its not so bad.

85. i actually ran the entire 6.2 miles of a 10k

86. i had a horrendous time, but hey i ran the whole way...in the rain

87. my brother and i went to the same place for our respective honeymoons

88. it was the same place that the truman show was filmed

89. my favorite food is chef boyardee ravioli 

90. my favorite drink is diet coke

91. i never look at a menu at a mexican restaurant

92. i always order cheese dip and 1, 2, or 3 beef enchiladas (depends how hungry i am)

93. mexican is my favorite type of restaurant

94. i ate mexican the night before i was induced

95. i taught my husband to drive a stick shift

96. i still drive a stick shift

97. i put my child to sleep on her stomach at about 2 weeks

98. i am addicted to buying fabric

99. it has taken me 45 minutes to write 100 thing about me

100. i am a Christian and i love Jesus 

wow, that was harder than i thought. yet now i am thinking of more stuff! 

watercolor minus the water

overspray

Rombutan See-Chompoo

from my hotel breakfast buffet in Chiang Mai, Thailand. it was like a crunchy grape inside, we just called them hairy strawberries! they weren't so good, but really fun to look at.

wire

just peanuts

better late than never!

i am late joining the 30 day macro challenge, but here i am!

disclaimer: some of these were taken by my former art students from 2 years ago. i can't remember who took what. but i think this was taken by sara curtis.

check this out!

huh! they mentioned me on this video! cooool!

tea towel

just thought i would show the tea towel i embroidered with elsa mora's little doodle. elsa is so neat, you should keep us with her blog, she's amazing. i wish i had just an ounce of her creativity and craftsmanship. and she has fun stories about meeting celebrities! 

You will NOT believe this!

I am the queen of finding stuff! I was driving to go get Miriam some Zyrtex (her father passed on his allergies, yeah.) and saw a sewing cabinet chunked in the ditch. I didn't think much of it since the cabinet looked trashed. So on the way back I got a different angle of it and could see sewing machine inside. It was seafoam green and I just about slammed on the brakes! I pulled over as quick as I could and then ran across traffic and checked it out. Well it looked AWESOME! I couldn't get it out of the cabinet without some tools and luckily it was only 2 blocks from the house. So I ran home and ran in the front door yelling for my husband (freaked him out!). We grabbed some tools and ran back and put the whole nasty cabinet in the trunk. We threw the cabinet away it was in horrible shape, disgusting. But here it is...

The tension knob is gone and it would be way too much work and money to get it working again but I just want to display it. I cleaned it up already and its SO pretty! I need to take a cleaned up picture but its in the shed still waiting for the bottom to be cleaned better. Ooooh it was like Christmas finding that thing!!!