A new beginning...

I just read this great article in The Storque: Etsy's Guide to Blogging.
I'm really bad about keeping up on this thing! So i've decided to just start adding a bunch of stuff I like :).
Todays theme is Holiday Cards. I've been on the look out for some awesome cards that are unique and of course handmade. I seem to always have good intentions of making my own but never quite get to it...
Here's some of my favorites...

I love this Mod Christmas Stationery Set.
The color is great and that tree is super sweet.
by Snew set of 5 cards and envelopes $4.75

As a lover of midcentury modern furniture, these cards are perfect! Getting close to the time to pull out the vintage aluminum pom-pom tree and the swirly lights....

Mod Furniture Holiday Cards set of 3
by byvikINK $14

I'm fascinated by the process of letterpressing. I'm not exactly sure what it is but the outcome of the process is so interesting. These Joy Cards are a perfect example. They have this very organic handmade quality I love...plus its my middle name so I'm a bit biased

Red Joy Letterpress Cards set of 8
by Yee Haw $12

I heart EcoEtsy

I'm a member of the most amazing street team on Etsy. Eco Etsy is a group of like minded people who are coming together to spread the word about reducing, reusing and recycling. They are a very active group that spend a ton of time working for the cause and supporting each other. I am so honored to be a member.

I just found out my Springtime Bird Coin Purse was picked to in the weekly theme posting on the Eco Etsy Blog. The theme was "little birds" and Fisheye was so sweet as to nominate me...Thanks!


Search keyword TeamEcoEtsy to see work by some of these eco-conscious artists.

We also have a website www. Ecoetsy.com

Fall is here!

Holy cow I have so much to think about lately! My kids started school with my littlest going all day now. Its the first time in 10 years or so I've had the whole day to just make stuff! So what to do...

I spent today doing sketches for a new clothing line, updating my "About" page bio on the website (please look), laundry and then the day was gone...

Oh this is cool...I did check out Co-Op America, an amazing organization dedicated to good ol' eco-action!

Then I was just reading this Etsy Storque article on getting ready for the holiday season. Time is just flying. Kirsten (aka La Femme Monkita) and I got into the Detroit Urban Craft Fair. An awesome opportunity to share our hand-craftiness with some fellow Michiganders. I have confidence I'll get it together at some point though.

I do have sketches and all :)....

Vacation Crazy

Jason and I took our first vacation in 6 years to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary. We left the kiddos with my folks and we were off...

So in order to save money I booked us a flight leaving at 5:30am out of Flint which is about a 45 minute drive. Being the procrastinators we are, we didn't finish packing until 12:30 am, passed out for 2 hours then got up, hopped in the car and drove to the airport. We landed in Atlanta at 7 am and had a ridiculous 3 hour layover most of which I slept on the benches. From Atlanta we flew to Denver.

My good friend from high school was getting married the next day (saturday).

Ok so from the airport we rented a supposedly compact car I reserved but it really ended up being an SUV so that was funny. Drove to my friends house, said Hi for like an hour then drove 3 1/2 hours north to Glenwood Spring Colorado. Totally the most beautiful drive I've ever been on! Overwhelming a bit on my 2 hours of sleep but beautiful. We arrive in town to meet the suppliers of my hemp fabric.

Hanging out with them was so amazing and informational I can't even explain. There's nothing I love more than knowing my fabric comes from good people doing good work. We ate dinner at the Hotel Colorado nestled in lush gardens with mountains towering everywhere! I crashed early cause I thought I was gonna die if I didnt.

The next day, Jason and I explored the town, took pictures and ate breakfast at a tiny little diner. We went back to the hemp compound for some more awesome conversation with our host and then hopped back inthe truck to go to a wedding!

We had exactly enough time to get to our hotel, check in, change and get back into the car for wedding. We arrive just as they are saying the last of the vows. Everyone cheers then we hit the reception (it was literally that fast). Do all the fun reception things like drink and dance, then get back to the hotel and crash.

6 hours later...we hop back in the truck, get to the airport for the second leg of our journey...

We land in Seattle at 9am where my cousin and her hubby pick us up. We explore Pike Place market for a few then head north to Anacordes, Washington. There we hopped a ferry to San Juan Island. My cousins hubby's family has a condo on the island. There we just lounged, ate too much, explored the island, ate more and drank wine.... for 4 days. Just the perfect way to ease out the insanity of the first half of our vacation. We even saw a whale fin!

We had so much fun. I forget how fun exploring is! You can see pics from the trip at www.holidazy.blogspot.com

They are camera phone shots so the movies are a little low res. If you go to the oldest posts first, its in chronological order.

All of you who support us through my business and otherwise made this vacation getaway even possible...So a huge thanks to you all!

Wedding Bliss

I had the joy and pleasure of making my first wedding dress. My best friend Carmen asked if I'd do a dress for her reception and I agreed, albeit a little nervously. Normally brides scare the crap out of me. They are all tense and angry and generally scary. Carmen on the other hand was none of those things. She wanted only a dress created by me for her most special day. We talked about design, bouncing ideas back and forth till we came up with a great general outline. From there it was up to me...

Carmen loves shiny so I chose hemp/ silk charmeuse...absolutely amazing fabric. Soft shine on one side and raw silk looking on the back side. I wanted to try dip dyeing for this dress in the worst way. The trick was (A) I had only enough fabric to make the dress once, (B) it had to be finished before I dyed it so there was no weird lines, and (C) me being the big chicken procrastinator I am, waited till it was 3 days before she was showing up for a fitting :).

All went amazingly perfect. This dress was made for her, fit perfect and was flattering. Best of all I got to put all the love for my best friend into it....







I also made the little flower girl dress that Ari is wearing. There were 2 of those sweet little girls walking down the aisle. They made sure to get every last rose petal out of that basket.

The bride and groom took care of their guests with lots of good food and great music. But best of all, they took care of each other. They wrote vows that brought everyone to tears. Peter (the groom) had all of Carmen's friends records love songs for her on her wedding day. Each guest got a cd to take home. And my little Ari, who is extremely shy, got up on the dance floor and sang a song she made up on the spot in front of 100 people! Truly the perfect wedding....

My Peaceful Warrior

I put my kids in Taekwondo for some good old fashioned discipline as well as some exercise. They LOVE it. If we did calculating right and Kiran keeps it up he'll be an 11 year old first degree blackbelt and Ari will be around 8 when she gets her black belt. This is Kiran competing in the school's form competion. He won first place.

Next I'll have to show you Ari's work with the Bow Staff, I won't mess with her when she's got that thing!

More Anniversary Goodness

Kirsten summed it up perfectly...plus she got some amazing pictures...
check it out...
10 years

Thank you once again...thank you cards are going out shortly I promise!