Just a quick note to say: Look at this little quilt I made John for Valentine’s Day!

In Like a Lion

Oh, wait. Its still February.

We had a little snow, and lovely icicles last week.
The next day, John brought me some daffodils that were blooming.





And, I put L in the laundry basket while I made dinner.

Wrapping

I've been working hard to get a nice look for my etsy merchandise, and I think some of these ideas have been kind of fun. Here's a look at what I do:

I tie a ribbon around every item. I slide a tag onto the item using a tiny safety pin. Some of my tags have printed logos on them, and others are just plain cardstock with one of my homemade stamps. Then I wrap it all up in tissue paper.



Next, I sew up an envelope, from a paper grocery sack, apply a few stamps, and voila! I'm new to stamping, so I keep getting them crooked or smudgy. Who knew stamps were so tricky?



And, hey, Audrey - you can carve a stamp using lino cutters on a block of rubber, or even a good rubber eraser. You can buy a little kit that comes with all the supplies for pretty cheap at most craft stores.

Craftsy

I'm having so much fun on Etsy.

Etsy emphasizes packaging. They tell you to make your package feel like a present. John printed some stickers for me that I usually put on my packages, but I'm starting to run out. So I thought I would try something new. I almost bought a set of stamps from this great stamp shop on etsy, but then I did that thing I always do, and decided I could just make them myself (sometimes this is a bad habit, because honestly, who has time to do everything, but sometimes it turns out well).

So, here are my little stamps. I'm not very happy with the bird house, but I think the lettering turned out super! I have a big block of stamp rubber left, so I'm hoping to make more. Some little things, maybe a chicken, cat, or houseplant; some product specific things, like a baby sling; and some words, "thanks," "handmade", and "for you."

Any other ideas?


Also, I traded in my sewing machine for this new one. It has a couple of cool features, like a button holer. But most excitingly, it has the hinges on the back, so I can attach it to my mom's old sewing cabinet - which I love. I'm very excited about this.

I tried making some more flip dolls for etsy, as Annaleise and Jennifer suggested. I had a really great idea for them. BUT, I'm having trouble figuring out how to assemble them. I hand stitched the part that flips onto L's doll, and I think it should be all machine sewed for stability. I can't quite figure it out yet, so I'm going to stew on it, and move on to other things.

So, I'm working on a new project, which you can see snippets of here. I think it's going to turn out well, and may also end up on etsy. I'll share it when it's finished.

Christmas

I was a bum this Christmas, and hardly took any pictures - but here's a few to share. Merry Christmas!

Shhh! Don't tell.

Most of the things we're giving L for Christmas are not really age appropriate, since she won't really get Christmas this year. So we're giving her cool things we liked, that she'll enjoy eventually. But I decided I wanted to make her something she could play with a little now - so that's how this lovely little flip doll came about.

Either Chara or Christa had one of these when we were kids. I can't remember who. I always thought it was a cool idea. You know, they are usually two-headed dolls of story book characters, with one head hiding under the skirt of the other. You're supposed to use them to tell the story. But when Haydn was little, some one gave her one that was a hippo and a monkey, and the part that flips fit a little more snugly, so it wasn't like a skirt. I thought it was so cool, and I have been wanting to make one ever since. I put elastic around the bottom of the "skirt" so it hugs the bottom, but will still stretch around when you want to flip it.

So I put this together today. I think it turned out pretty cute. L really enjoys watching the cats right now, so we put a cat on one side, and John wanted a chicken on the other. She's really trying to make words, which is so much fun. We think the first one will either be "kitty cat" or "daddy." Hmm... perhaps I should have put daddy on the other side instead of the chicken!

What Lou and I did Yesterday

you: Hey if you're so busy, why are you blogging?
me: (adding to list "blog so I can empty the pictures off of my camera before trip")

Yesterday, I finally decided to do this plaster handprint thing. I know I should have done it four months ago. But I did it yesterday.

I thought, ah, she's falling asleep. This is a perfect time.

Something about having your hand stuck in cold mud must be stimulating.

Fall Blessings, pt. 3

I am feeling very blessed this fall.

We have a great locust tree right outside our back door. Recently most of the leaves fell off, sort of all at once. And now we have a polka-dot porch and picnic table.



And I made this yummy loaf of blue cheese bread on Saturday. There is nothing particularly fall-ish about this, except that I was trying to find a way to use the blue cheese we got for John's birthday (I used a recipe for Asiago bread, and just substituted the blue cheese - wow, it's something!).

Fall Blessings, pt. 2

I love my tiny, hot, gas-powered kitchen. With the cold weather, the windows get all fogged up when I cook. It reminds me of Nanny's dish closet with frosted glass windows, all white and glowy.

When I was a little girl mom would make us wash the pots and pans by hand in the sink. I used to always say, "When I have my own kitchen I'm going to put the pots in the dishwasher!" And now that I'm all grown-up, I do. Except John's good omelet pan. And the really big soup pot.

Fall Blessings

The seasons are changing again, and I am excited about the fall. I was thinking about how much has changed since we first moved into this house.

The walls have changed color a few times, and the furniture has been moved around a lot. We've acquired some new art, a new rug, and a dining table. Then, we had to rearrange the whole house to get the baby's things to fit in neatly. We've lost 2 hens and 2 dogs, and gained 1 cat and 3 chicks. Several appliance have been replaced, and some old things have been fixed.

The first year we lived in this house, I was a baby about the cold. We don't have much storage space, and, to be honest, I was a little afraid of the gas stove.

But today, I brought in some of our plants from the porch for the cooler months, and I was admiring all of the greenery in the house. I suddenly realized what a cozy place this is, and what a fine home it has become. We have learned in the house to adapt to the weather, to take care of our lawn and garden, to weigh what things are really necessary, and to enjoy many of life's simpler pleasures. I feel really blessed by the years our family gets to spend here.