Thursday, December 20, 2007

Season's Greetings

What a week. Lots of last minute running around and some last minute gift making, for Christmas, and for another brand new niece. I am such a procrastinator. I taught a recycled crafts class at the boys' school this week. Lots of fun. We made ornaments from old cards, pouches from sweaters, bowls from records, pin cushions from bottle caps, and a few others. I am tired, and my studio is trashed.

We are heading to snowy Wisconsin tomorrow, and looking forward to a long relaxing visit with friends and family, some new baby snuggling, and hopefully a White Christmas. Happy Holidays everyone. See you in 2008!

Saturday, December 15, 2007

The halls were decked

Last night we went to a round robin party with our neighbors. It was one of the most fun evenings I have ever been a part of. Each house made one thing. Especially nice when one of your neighbors owns a chocolate shop. Not much prep, not much clean up, it was great. I've said it before, we have the best neighbors. I feel so lucky.
Friday night the boys were in a play at school. Mason played Jack in a story called Fearless Jack. Mitchel was recruited to be an extra yellow jacket. It was too cute.
Earlier in the week Mason's circus class put on by higher stages ended. They put on a really fun show. I can't say enough good things about higher stages. The instructors were great--so patient, and so much fun. They are in this year's Willamette Week give guide if you want to learn more about them. I'm still checking things off the list. We are working on some teacher gifts and a couple Christmas gifts this afternoon. I better get back to it. Happy Sunday Everyone!!!!

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Here is the screen shot from a couple days ago of the Etsy front page. To see these cool items and other great things from these pacific northwest shops, check out this article.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Check

I spent the morning packing up the last of the packages that need to be sent out. The Christmas cards are done too, I feel like we have a handle on everything. Surprising considering the fall we've had around here. I still have a few more things I'm working on. Fun things.
The flowers in this picture are my new favorite- Sea Holly- they are so pretty and they dry the same color. I better get back to the making and checking things off the to do list.

Sunday, December 9, 2007



Wow-- It's been a long time. Our house was taken over by illness, and weather. We all seem to be on the mend, and the garage roof is back in place. The da vinci show went well. I was starting to think it wasn't going to be a success, but lots of shoppers came in at the last minute. I was also really excited to hear from Christine that my mirror spoon along with Trillium Artisans Johnny pillow was on the front page of Etsy. Woo hoo! I finished up the last of my Christmas shopping and I am happy to say that (excluding the kids) we bought Handmade. I bought some great gifts from some really cool artists. I'd like to show pictures, but since the recipients are readers it will have to wait. I'll be back soon with pictures. TTFN

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Catching Up.......


We had a nice long visit with the family this weekend. We all went out to the gorge for a hike and skipped the mall on Black Friday. It was so pretty, but so cold that the waterfalls were freezing on the side of the rocks. Everyone left Monday and I've been scrambling to get ready for this show this weekend and the daVinchi fair next weekend. The Trillium artisans gallery is fully stocked and has lots of spoon mirrors. I added a few new items to my Etsy shop today including a lighter garden ball that is almost the same size as a bowling ball but costs much less to ship. Redux has all three sizes of marble balls in stock, and I just got back from taking a bunch of work to Yesterday and Tomorrow. Phew-- I finally feel like I am getting caught up. Have a great weekend everybody!

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

I'm back

It went by so quickly, that it doesn't even seem like I left. Virginia was beautiful, and the baby was so sweet. I miss her already. We were able to do a little bit of sight seeing, while out there. We toured Jamestown, and visited Yorktown (my favorite), Williamsburg, and Fort Monroe. I learned so much. There was a lot more that we could have seen, maybe next time.

Checking out the Constant Susan at Jamestown Settlement

Family arrives tomorrow for a nice long weekend, so I have to get back to the cooking.......Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

I'm Leaving on a jet plane...............


Yesterday was the Holiday Sale at Trillium Artisan's. The store looked great, so festive. Everyone brought in a lot of new stuff, including me.

Here is a close up of one of my new garden (ornaments, objects, sculptures)- I don't even know what to call them- that I brought into the store.
We started a babysitting swap with our neighbors, so last night Matt and I went out without kids. It was great. We did most of our Christmas shopping. It seems early, but with his traveling and my shows it will be here before we know it. Tomorrow morning I am going to Virginia to see my friend and her kiddos for a week. This is the longest I have been away by myself in more than 8 years. I'm even looking forward to the plane ride and bringing lots of magazines and this quilt that still needs a few finishing touches. I'm sure I'll have lots of pictures to share when I get back. Until then, have a great week everyone.

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Trillium Artisan's Picks for Best gifts for a Gardener

On Thursday mornings I help work on the Trillium Artisan's Etsy shop. This morning I did my first poster sketch- picks for best holiday gift for a gardener. Every time I do something new, it seems like it takes me forever, but I am learning as I go. This was fun and I learned how to do a bunch of new things. To see it larger click here.
If you like what you see and want to see a list of the item numbers, contact me.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Pink and a Halloween Picture

Just popping out of the basement to say a quick "hello". I am getting ready to bring a few new things to the Trillium show on Saturday, and am feverishly preparing for a couple of other holiday shows. I can't believe how fast they are coming up. More details soon..........
Besides getting ready for the shows, I have been doing some serious girly crafting. A facelift of a favorite old toy for a sweet little cousin, and a quilt on which I got to use lots of PINK. I am leaving Monday for a week to visit one of our best friends. I was supposed to be arriving before her baby was born, but her daughter decided to come early. Welcome Grace, I can't wait to meet you. Well, I better get back down there. I'll post again with pictures, once the camera is charged, until then here is one from last week.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Pumpkin Seeds


We went to the gorge this weekend and chased the sun down this beautiful trail.

We successfully wore the boys out, and almost lost the dog. Whenever he gets out in the woods, he forgets that he is 11 and does things like try to climb over huge rocks and chase sticks over rapids.
Thankfully he is fine and back to his old self. Here he is thinking about getting into the seeds that we can't stop eating around here.

I learned a ton from the photography workshop last week, and if I can get it together while the sun is still out, I am hoping to add dragonflies to the Etsy shop. We'll see...............

Friday, October 26, 2007

Friday Again

We have been having amazing weather. Like the kind of perfect fall weather that reminds me why we love Oregon so much. It makes it hard to be inside when it's like this, so we are planning a little trip to the gorge for some hiking before the rain comes back. Before we go, I wanted to show a couple of pictures.

Here is Mitchel copying my excitement when I realized that one of my spoon mirrors was on the Etsy front page along with the other PDXers who are selling in NYC tonight. And here is Mason putting the finishing touches on his robot costume.

One more of Mason and the other robot at the school party tonight. They shared the costume contest prize.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Next


It's official--there are no babies or toddlers living in my house. Saturday when I was making the requested lime cupcakes, it hit me. I'll miss that stage, I already do, but I'm looking forward to lots of new big kid adventures.


I filled the shop with a few new spoon mirrors and garden spheres. Tomorrow night I am going to a photography workshop about product shots. I 'm very excited, and will hopefully have lots of new pictures to add to the shop soon. In the meantime, don't forget about the sale going on at PDX Etsy!

Saturday, October 20, 2007

A couple things

I'm still working on filling up the shop, and am hoping to have some new things in before Monday morning. But first wanted to stop in here to tell you all about a couple things.
Iliscenseplate

SALE* SALE** SALE***In order to celebrate the PDX Etsy Street Team's
appearance at the Booklyn Indie Market, and Etsy Lab trunk show, I'll be offering a special
sale... 10% off everything in the store from October 22th-October
26th
! (For a list of the other PDX sellers who are offering sales
during this time please visit: http://www.pdxetsy.com)

Here is another preview of the show, and a contest to check out. The prize is definitely worth a look. I also wanted to let everyone know about the Trillium Artisans holiday sale.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
1:00 - 6:00 pm
Trillium Artisans Gallery
9119 SE Foster RD
Meet the artisans, enjoy wine and holiday goodies, and find the perfect earth-friendly, fair trade, handmade gifts for everyone on your list.




Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Frogs, Apples, and Glass

The kids had an extra long weekend off of school, and since we had lots of time to fill, we went to Sauvie island to pick some apples. The season is practically over, but it was such a nice day we wanted to go anyway. We found a good row with a ton of perfect apples, and didn't realize how easy it is to pick 32 pounds. Needless to say we are eating a lot of apples around here.

Besides apples, we always find tons of tiny bright green tree frogs here.
Someone is having a birthday this week. I can't believe he is going to be 4! I just had to post this picture. It is so wierd. Really he doesn't have huge freaky man hands.
Here is where I spent the rest of the weekend, not a bad place to be. Especially since I cleaned. I got a couple boxes of work packed up and sent off to NY with the rest of the goodies from PDXetsy. I am looking ahead and trying hard to get as much work done now as possible. The holidays come quick. I have 2 possibly 3 holiday shows on the calendar, and I also like to make a bunch of my gifts. This year I have girls on the list. I am so excited to make girly things. I have to restrain myself a little. Besides the excitement of birthdays and upcoming holidays, the most exciting bit of news from the basement is that I finally made my first Etsy sale!! I was thrilled. I am working on filling up my shop as we speak, and will hopefully have a bunch of new things to add soon.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Treasury

I made a treasury, and here is another! Check them out, click around and help us try to get on the front page!!

Friday, October 12, 2007


I am very excited to be a part of this!! Some members of the PDXetsy team are headed to Brooklyn in a couple weeks. I'm sending a few pieces along with them. Click here for more info and check out this treasury.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Flurry

Pronunciation:\ˈflər-ē, ˈflə-rē\
Function:noun

1 a: a gust of wind b: a brief light snowfall
2 a
: a brief period of commotion or excitement b: a sudden occurrence of many things at once

The second definition seems to be an accurate description of our house right now. Lots going on, with lots of excitement and commotion. The kids have a short week of school this week. I've been trying to squeeze in studio time, when I can. I don't have any pictures of huge completed projects, but have been getting things done and am enjoying making new things.

The piano that I thought was a treasure turned out not to be one at all. Everyone is disappointed, but on the bright side, we learned a lot about old English parlor pianos.


Friday, October 5, 2007

After a morning of thrifting and errand running, I picked Mason up from school. We went out for the afternoon, just the two of us. We had such a good time, not really doing anything. I rarely get to spend time alone with him. He is getting so old!! We stopped at the art store and found some glaze for his bottle caps.
Self portrait taken earlier this week.

I have a lot of new projects in the works. I finally got the basement cleared out, and Mason has lots of crafty plans of his own, so it looks like crafting is on the agenda this weekend. That and maybe soup. It turned cold this week. I say cold, but feel silly saying it. In Minnesota we wore short sleeves in this weather. We've already pulled out the wool blankets, and Matt pulled out his fleece lined pants. Now I know we've acclimated.

Monday, October 1, 2007

Monday --- Monday

A couple of weeks ago Diane from DIY Alert asked me to do an interview. I was very excited to see she had posted it this morning. So go check it out!! Thanks Diane, it was fun.

On another note, I think Matt may have had his best day ever yesterday. He finally found a family friendly, non smoking PACKER bar/restaurant where he can take the boys to watch the football games. They had brats and cheese curds and felt like they were "home again". I stopped in to check the place out and took this picture. I only had my phone, so it is a little fuzzy. To everyone who has been asking, yes those are teeth finally growing in Mason's mouth. After 17 months he is very happy.


While they were having a blast watching the game. I was at the bin store. I found a possible treasure. I say possible because because it's also a possible hassle. It's a really old 85 key piano. Small enough to fit in the perfect spot. But needs a lot of work. Hopefully this project will pay off. I'll keep you posted.

Friday, September 28, 2007

Behind the Scenes

The other day, my friend called me while I was grocery shopping with the kids. She asked me how I "get so much done". I told her I don't ever get as much done as I wish I could.......If only there was one more hour in the day.

I took a couple pictures today of how things really are around here.
This is Porter trying to sit as close to me as possible while I was trying to take a picture of a spoon mirror. I took this one while I was working on my Etsy shop with a sick little boy watching Pinocchio on my lap. I'm not complaining. I love all my boys, even when Porter can't be more than a few inches from me. I'm happy that I get to wish I was getting more done.
Have a good weekend everybody.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Treasury!

I've heard from other people how addicting Etsy can be, and I'm beginning to get it. I made my first treasury. Go take a look.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Check this out

I was so excited to find this video yesterday of a great way to re-use your plastic grocery bags. I am going to try it, I hope it works.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

We got up really early this morning to walk in the Race for the Cure. It was great. The people, the energy, and the stories are inspiring.



The kids had tons of fun and want to go back next year.


Fall is definitely in the air. I had plans to get my workspace in order the first day of school. Tomorrow is the start of the third week. I am hoping this will be the week I get that done. I told myself I can't start another thing until the basement is done. We'll see how that goes.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

In case you were wondering ......


what happens when your 3 1/2 year old and his 3 1/2 year old friend sneak into the back yard for a minute. I can tell you. They empty the bottle of bubbles into the pond, and tell you they weren't doing anything. The next morning when the pond is overflowing with bubbles they confess.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

A different kind of crafting


I planned to post about all the crafty things I was getting done today. I got sidetracked for most of the afternoon looking for/at old pictures with Mitchel. So, I thought I would post one of my favorite pictures of my dad with Mason. Instead of crafting we made bread and chili, and lots of plans. We are even talking about a new puppy. It's strange to think about how different today is compared to 4 years ago. Maybe tomorrow I'll post about all the things I got done........maybe.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Pansy Fest


I set up the booth this morning for the Pansy Festival at Cornell Farm.
I didn't think it was going to happen..................
School started for both boys and a nasty cold took over our house. This is what our dining room looked like yesterday morning.




It took a couple of late nights and a (thankfully) quick recovery by Mitchel.

The show runs from this Saturday the 15th through the end of the month. Come check it out!