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 -

Happy 6 Months!

My little man is 6 months old today - I can hardly believe it!! So thought I'd share a few recent photos of him. You'll see he's convinced that he can stand and would LOVE to walk. Unfortunately for him (and thankfully for me) his little legs aren't quite ready yet! He's also nicknamed "Sir Grabby Pants" because he has an uncanny way of getting hold of everything. AKA - plant leaves, paper-towels, lips, etc. Good luck to you if it's attached (see photo of him with MG's hair) ... Maybe he'll be a football player some day or one of those people that hold the Macy's Day Parade balloons? Now that would be cool!

- HAPPY WEEKEND -

Mega News...

We accepted an offer on our house!! We feel SO lucky and thankful to have buyers in this market. And for those of you still waiting on an offer, hold out hope. Our buyers were the first people to look at the house when we listed it. You just never know! It's a bit sad and it'll be very hard to pack everything up, but it's also exciting to be able to move on. Now we can start dreaming about the next house... and I can't wait to unpack all of my art and sewing supplies!

Let's see, what else has happened? Oo, big news - I've been designing tons for The Mission Chattanooga and The CAMP House. I'm really excited about a new product that I was able to use for the CAMP House sign. It's vinyl that's printed and then basically shrink wrapped to brick. The result is a sign that looks freshly painted without ruining old buildings. So cool!! Photos of the amazing interior to come...

We also had snow just in time for our first event at the CAMP House. It was a Christmas concert for the Main x24 Festival. The 1000 Hills Coffee Company was there (excellent espresso) and MG danced the night away.

A little nutty, but not a bad way to start out the Christmas season. Hope all is happy with you!
PS - Briar's new teddy "Jackson" makes him thoroughly happy and seems to make a great sleeping mask. McB passed out yesterday clinging to him ;-)

Thanks!

I've decided to keep it short and sweet today... so happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope your day is filled with friends, family, food and fun. Oh and in case you're wondering, the pics are from MG's "Thankful Party" at school. It was very cute and I was most thankful that McB didn't succeed in pulling the entire tablecloth along with all the pretty decorations off the table! Phew!
Lots of love & happiness, Michelle

Handmade Christmas!

Christmas is huge for me. I'm not kidding, I get giddy just thinking about it! So anyway, many jingle bells ago, my family decided to do handmade-only Christmases every other year. It was so much fun that nowadays most gifts are handmade regardless of which year it is. So, I've decided to run a short series featuring projects that can be given as gifts. Some will be easy like this one and others will be a tad more advanced (ex: scissors or hot ovens required). I hope you enjoy creating some of them and I'm sure they'll make happy gifts!

HC Project One - SOLO Bead Necklace

This little project is fast, fun and easy for a little one to create. It would be the perfect gift for a mom, grandma, sister, aunt, etc. Just customize with a bead that best suits the person. If you're feeling brave in the craft store, get your kiddie involved in picking one.

Ok, so how to? All you need is a single bead and a "necklace with open crimp end" kit. I found mine at here, but I'm sure you can find one at Michael's or JoAnn's. Open the kit, have the kiddie thread the bead onto the necklace, thread the raw end of the chain through the crimp, trim to desired length (I prefer 16 inches) and crimp closed. TA-DA, a pretty chic and very wearable gift - unlike a macaroni necklace! Though they are fun!

- HAPPY HANDMADE NECKLACE -