book lust

Printed by Hand by Lena Corwin and Thayer Allyson Gowdy

Stitched in Time by Alicia Paulson

French General Home Sewn by Kaari Meng

the girl scout cookies are here!

cookies 6
Originally uploaded by wackystuff

I picked up my daughter's girl scout cookies today - yummy!
Now we have to sort them and make thank you notes, and since they fill the boot of my car, we'll have to do it outside! The temperature out today is fantastic, almost 50, but it's going to rain, so we'll see how it goes!
Also, there's also the option of doing it tomorrow, making a cup of tea and opening a box of samoas!!!! Mmmmm, what to do?
Happy Friday! :D

I ♥ crochet!

I ♥ crochet!
Originally uploaded by miesmama

Oh my gosh! I have to learn how to crochet, unfortunately I've looked and there are no classes in my area, boohoo! :(
Maybe I could try learning by a book, but it's just not the same!
If you're not convinced about the merits of crochet, you only have to take a look at the blog, Attic 24, and you'll be hooked too! No pun intended!!!!

why I started my etsy shop -

The bag that started it all!

I started my Etsy shop last summer, and I was extremely nervous about it - would anyone like my work? Never mind want to buy it! I felt motivated to start selling my work after I got addicted to knitting, I kept wanting to start the next project, and although I loved them I couldn't use them all personally, so why not sell some? It was definitely as leap of faith, because it was an acknowledgement too of viewing myself as a creator, an artist! Wow!
Even though my business is small, it is a huge deal to me, life affirming indeed. Right now, it needs to be small also, since I'm juggling young children and their different school schedules, I need the time to be able to help with science fair projects; spend hours at the local library; spend a morning snowshoeing; having a snow day.
Also, I love the idea of being self-sustaining. Believe me, if I could live off the grid, and the land, I would! I have a very idyllic dream of keeping chickens, growing all our food, personal wind turbines and solar panels, but right now it's really just a pipe dream. But, Etsy can fuel a little of that dream by letting me sell my handmade products.
I love Etsy and all that it does, creating a wonderful community of talented and diverse artists in all mediums from all around the world, and the customers who love to buy handmade and original pieces direct from the artist, and support us. Thank you!

Meet Donna Pool -

.... she is this months featured Etsyblogger team member! Congrats Donna!

Aren't her black and white photos beautiful? I'm a lover of B&W pics, old vintage cameras and kitty cats, so I'm sold obviously!

Her Etsy shop is full of goodies, more photos, lots of cool badges, buttons, magnets, keychains and puzzle balls. Donna also has a cool blog here, full of interesting posts, including tutorials and you get a sneak peek at her new projects that haven't hit her shop yet, bloggy goodness indeed!

Have a happy Thursday!

sooooo excited -

Soulemama has a new book coming out, yay! It's so exciting. Hopefully, you've read her first book already, if not go here right now, because it's awesome. This one promises to be just as wonderful also, I have my copy in my amazon shopping cart as we speak, it's only for pre-order, as it's not actually out until August - oh so long! But you want to make sure that you get it the absolute soonest you can, right?
If you're a reader of her blog you'll know how crafty she is, she sews and knits, but it's her re-purposing of items that I find so inspiring, I love to recycle whenever possible, and the cutest things can be made from the simplest of origins. I'm sure you knoiw what it's like when your child's favorite dress has worn out, why not carry on it's life as an adorable doll, or at least a dress, or quilt for a favorite doll. Love it! Now for the long wait, I'll have to forget I saw it for a while to ease the pain. Hehe.

winter snowflake sweater tote -

So, what with all the doily love going on - started a while ago by Resurrection Fern and continued on by the Red Velvet Art girls - inspiration came to call! I have a local thrift store that always has a nice run on vintage lace doilies and 100% wool sweaters, put the two together - with a wee bit of altering and felting magic - and this is what you get! TaDa!
Isn't it lovely? Maybe too good to part with, we'll see - it's in my etsy shop right now, but if no-one else has my doily appreciation then maybe I'll get to keep it after all! Hehe!
Happy Fat Tuesday!

Doily love!

Dainty doily necklace from Vintage Musings

Lace Necklace from Fox and Clover

Linen wallet from Track and Field Design

Doily badge set from Inkjet

Aren't these lovelies wonderful, all made from inspiration from lace doilies! As you may know I love these kitschy little things, and it all started here, and the temps have dropped low enough to make these lovely things again unfortunately - even though they do look wonderful , I really wish it was spring already. I'm daydreaming about daffodils, crocuses, birds chirping, chipmunks running, being able to bring the table and chairs out onto the grass, sigh...... soon I hope! But for today, it's cold and the snow is constant, it started at about 7am and we have many inches already, and I believe it'll keep going until tomorrow morning, oh joy!

Needless to say, it's going to be a lazy, lazy day, maybe a Miyazaki movie or two, some knitting, and lots of cups of tea! Happy snowy Sunday to all! Enjoy!

a picture of my hometown

DSC_0026
Originally uploaded by ruby 2 shoes ~~

York, England, UK.
This is across the street from my old family home, the edge of the Knavesmire, where I used to walk my dogs - makes me all nostalgic!

how cute are these?

Pink is the color of inspiration this month for one of my online classes - A Year of Color - and a couple of ladies from Red Velvet Art are the hosts of my other online class, so this was a perfect fusion of the two - a pretty pink treasury for this sunny Tuesday! Enjoy!

Tomorrow is the last day to submit a bird count and be part of the fun! The kid's and I have been counting birds since Friday, so far we've seen -

Blue Jay

Tufted Titmouse

Black-capped chickadee

Northern Cardinal

American Crow

Ruffed grouse

Wild turkey

Dark-eyed junco

And, lots and lots of grey and red squirrles, but they are for a different kind of count! It's really a great thing to do with your children, it reminds you to take a few moments and look out of the window at the feeders to see who is visiting. It was a timely project , since I decided we'd all start nature journals for the school vacation, to continue into spring and summer, and on and on, hopefully. I also found a couple of excellent resources if you want to learn more about these -

a wonderful blog on nature journals here, and an all year round bird count here. So go look and have some free and very earth friendly fun!

today feels a little closer to Spring!

A beautiful flower from last year, a little more inspiration in pink. Can't wait for planting time!

what I made lately -

A wee felt garland for a little seasonal home decor! Find it here!

idea of the moment -

Stumbled across this sign for the London, UK shop Loop, and thought what a good idea that is!

To buy those large white 3D letters, alter them with paint, paper, fabric, etc, spell out the kid's names, or maybe just the one initial, to add to their art walls in their bedroom! Mmmmm, creative thoughts are brewing! Happy creativity found in blogland, what a great thing that is!

Happy Friday!

love of the moment - silhouettes!

Aren't they stunning? They're actually papercuts ( or prints of ), how talented can a person be? They really must be one with their xacto knife! I've been thinking about trying to make silhouettes of the children to hang on the walls, how cute would that be? But these take it to another level!

They are all done by very talented Etsy people, so go and check them out -

1. Red Riding Hood by Elsita

2. Wanting in Wheat Fields by Fables and Foxes

3. Tree Woman by Paper cuts Die Cut

february is pink all over!

february is pink all over!
Originally uploaded by miesmama

This month for "A Year Of Color", the color is pink! Yay!
What fun this will be, a whole m onth of pink girliness, I'm excited!
Got to get started on this color's inspiration book, yippee!