And I'm Back...AGAIN!

Okay, okay, you all may be wondering where I've wandered off to... I'm not laying on the beach (unfortunately) and I haven't had another baby that I know of! If you'd like to see a big piece of what I've been up to, go here.

And now for some happy Christmas leaves! My family has been celebrating "handmade Christmas" for years and I'm always on the hunt for new ideas. So you can imagine my joy when I discovered this pattern for knitted leaves. I'm not sure what they're supposed to be for, maybe embellishment, but I decided to knit them up in 100% cotton on #5 double point needles. Paired with a cute soap they make great natural face scrubbies.

Hope that helps for all of you that are looking for last minute gift ideas!
Be back soon, I promise!
-HAPPY LEAVES, SPARKLY FACES-

Bigtime Drool!

So it's been a while since I shared one of my new favorite sites to drool on... Here's an oldie that I rediscovered tonight - Plasticland! I have to say that they've seriously worked on offering more thoughtfully designed items along with the fun stuff. I'm especially in love with the pink cuckoo clock, Matryoshka doll glasses and tape measure. But trust me, there are lots of other happy things to drool on!

-HAPPY COLORFUL GIFTS-

Glitter Hair Goodies

Having a little girl who loves sparkles usually means that all things involving glitter are a necessity. For example - tutus, princess dresses, thrift store old lady sweaters, fairy wings, anything with sequins (and I mean anything), glitter shoes of all sorts, and the ever popular sparkle flower hair accessories. I'm sure you must know a little one like this?!

So you can imagine the pure excitement when MG spied some "fancy" hairbands and barrettes at the store the other day. And then you can imagine the pain and agony when I told her $5.99 for a sparkle flower was too much. Ugh. I felt terrible! Then I realized we could easily make our own version for virtually nothing. A little elmers glue, dollar store flowers and hair accessories, glitter, and viola! MG had a blast gluing and sprinkling glitter and I think they look pretty great. Phew! Another cheap craft to the rescue! Ooo and a white version of this would be great for crafty wedding/bridal hair...

-HAPPY SPARKLE FLOWERS-

Longest Yard Sale Extravaganza

Oh my goodness, I fulfilled a dream of many years today... I shopped at the Route 127 Yard Sale, aka "the world's longest yard sale". My sister and I ventured bravely up Signal Mountain, Tennessee with both kids to see what we could see. It was serious insanity, lots of interesting folks and TONS of great finds! Cars were parked everywhere, bbq was smoking, bargains were being bargained, sweat was dripping and I loved every minute of it! If you're in the area or able to drive to it, the sale is well worth the adventure. Happy hunting!

- HAPPY DREAMS OF YARD SALE FINDS -

Crafty Kids - Doodle Bean Bags!

I love Summer! We've been spoiled with endless days of great weather and swimming, but every now and then we have a doozy of a storm. And when I say doozy, I mean thunder booming within inches of our roof and lightening that looks like fireworks. It's really cozy and pretty but explaining to little ones that you can't swim is a bit tricky. So what to do when it's pitch black outside at 3pm? Craft of course! So here's a crafty kids project for a rainy day...

DOODLE BEAN BAGS:
What you'll need:
- a sharpie marker
- fabric scraps (at least 5 inches square)
- double-sided fusible webbing
- beans or rice
- a little one that's bored

Ok, this is really easy and lots of fun. All you need to do is cut some white or light fabric into 5 inch squares. Iron fusible webbing onto the back. Then, if you're feeling brave or desperate, let your little one doodle on the fabric with the sharpie (be sure to tell them to leave room on the edges for sewing up the bag). Meanwhile, cut the bag fabric into 5 inch squares. Once the doodles are done, cut them out and iron them on to the bag square. Then put the 2 right sides of fabric together, sew 3 sides to join, flip right side out, have your child fill with beans and sew together the remaining side to close. To keep MG busy while I hand-stitched the last seam I had her count beans and name the doodle guys. Then we had a bean bag tossing extravaganza. So much fun and the lack of swimming was long forgotten. Hooray!

- HAPPY RAINY DAY -

Phew!

Just thought I'd share a quick pic of the new Craft Social Workshop space. So exciting!! You'll notice that MG was a tad tired after all the hard work and that she designed her own outfit. Um yeah, it was a whole lot of look! Anyway, we had our first event last Thursday night and it was a blast. Plus we made over 20 blankets for the shelter animals - that's a lot of coziness! If you're in the Chattanooga area, the next KIND event is August 12th and we'll be crafting to benefit the Salvation Army Food Bank. Hope you can join us!

- HAPPY COZY ANIMALS -

Craft Social Workshop

Hi everyone,
Sorry for being gone, but SO much has happened! If you'd like to check some of it out, please visit Craft Social Workshop here. It's my new exciting adventure and I can't wait to share more about it with you.
LOVE & HAPPINESS TO ALL!

Sneak Peak

Happy Easter everyone! Thought I'd give you a teeny sneak peak at my late night creating ... guess what? Finished product coming up as soon as McB stops teething. It makes him scream like a banshee going to war in the wee hours. Eek. Good thing I have MG's jellybeans to keep me going!

- HAPPY RESURRECTION DAY-

Crafty Kids - Mini Terrarium

Spring is in the air and the trees are covered with lime green leaves - hooray!! With that in mind, poor little MG made a major request a couple of days ago... she wants us to buy a "house with some dirt". Agreed, I miss my garden desperately! I can't wait to find a house that has lots of digging to be done. So in an effort to play in some dirt, I thought it would be fun to make a mini terrarium out of a baby food jar. It was fun, easy, for all ages and free. Major bonus!

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
• Baby food jar or small glass container
• moss (we found ours in the woods)
• some small rocks (pea-sized)
• a little bit of dirt
** You can add a small plastic trinket for decoration as well

This is about as easy as it gets folks, so no excuses about not being crafty! MG and I went hunting in the woods for some moss at the base of a tree, a bit of soil in the pathway and some rocks near a stream. Once we had all our supplies, we poured rocks in the bottom of the jar, then layered in the soil and finally some moss on top. After our mini garden was planted, we watered it with a teaspoon and sealed the jar. That's it. Seriously. It's sitting in the kitchen window happily growing... and it doesn't need any care or watering again. Happy Spring!

-HAPPY TINY GARDEN-

Behance

It's going to be a quickie post today - lots of exciting design work in the pressure cooker this week. I can't wait to share it with you, but it's top secret for now. If I told you, I'd have to pinch you ("kill" sounds way too harsh for brand identities!).

Anyway, I thought I'd touch on a topic that's super important for designers, illustrators and creative types alike... the dreaded self-promotion. Blahhh! Not so fun, but definitely necessary. Many of you, I'm sure, have a portfolio on Coroflot (which is great) but I'm a much bigger fan of Behance. It has a really clean and simple format (always my fav design-wise) and it's a great platform for showcasing your work and gaining exposure. Plus has some amazing job listings, always fun! If you have a minute, check out my brother's insane portfolio here.

And for those of you non-creatives, who are big fans of out-of-the-box thinkers, check it out. You will find some amazing work and it may even be a great resource for your business!

-SELF-PROMOTION CAN BE HAPPY (& PRETTY)-

90 days later...

I can't believe it's been 3 months since my last post! So much has happened and it's finally time to share the goods. Where to start? I guess the best place is the beginning, it's not pretty but there's a happy ending...

Dec 12th - Ouch! I was in agony with degenerative disc disease in my lower back. Two nerves were crushed, the vertebrae was disintegrated and twisted, and a bone spur was wreaking havoc. Needless to say, happy things were few and far between.

Jan 12th - GO SPINAL FUSION! Thanks to a great surgeon, I was able to have an amazing spinal fusion (4 screws & 2 plates). Against all my rules and even though it's pretty embarrassing, I've included a pic of myself and the screws. I figure a picture is worth a thousand words and my bionic-ness is pretty cool.

Feb 28th - First Evensong church service in Chattanooga! It was great with lots of amazing folks. Plus I'm creating an arts-based Sunday school program for the kids - yay! I'll try to post the projects as we go...

March 14th - And here we are. MG is, as she would say "stronger and longer" and loving school. She's graduated to "squiggly braids" and is quite proud of them. McB is 9 months, crawling (actually almost walking), has his first tooth and is talking a bunch. So fun! I'm in physical therapy and trying to take it easy inbetween kids and work. Which is easier said than done. I'm also trying to get back to real life - friends, fun, designing, etsy, creating and house shopping. My brain is on overload with new children's pattern ideas and I can't wait to get back to everything!
Check back if you have a moment, you never know what you'll find... love and happiness to all!

- HAPPY RECOVERY, HAPPY BACK, HAPPY LIFE -