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 -