summer begins-

School is almost out! (thank goodness, because I really want to sleep in) Which means lazy days on the beach with best friends and chilly nights by the fire.

This year went by so fast, I can not for the life of me wrap my head around the fact that my BABY will be in 1st grade next year!!! I can remember my first day of 1st grade like it was yesterday. I pretty sure that at least 2 kids puked on the playground that morning. The jitters of going from warm fuzzy Mrs. Brown in pre-school to Sr. Suzanne in Kindergarten and then finally the very strict 1st grade teacher Sr. Jean-Marie was too much for some. Things have changed, thankfully, with how easy schools make the transition into 1st grade for kids now. Alice will seamlessly transition and I will be left thinking on the first day of school in September, "Where did all this time go?" I am pretty sure just last week I was 6 and playing double dutch at recess!!!

Sewing comes in very sporadic spurts for me now. I have received a lot of custom orders for Super Hero capes from this one very wonderful family in Maryland. They started out as Christmas presents for the grand kids, now the friends of grand kids want them and now capes have been ongoing birthday presents for friends. It makes me so happy that children are taking a very simple cape and enjoying hours of imaginative play. It make the hours of sewing and creating well worth it!

until next time.....

Juicy Bits

Apparently I am the dumbest kid on the block. I have been on the search for curtains for my house for 3 years. I want something light and bright but also fun and cute. The reason why I am a block head is....I SEW!! I COULD HAVE MADE MY OWN CURTAINS!! Gosh! I came to that realization this morning and immediately went on Etsy to begin my search for the perfect fabric.

Can I just say that I am a block head one more time. Thanks.

Anyway, a few pages into my search I came across this lovely fabric and by coincidence the designer's name is Jessica. (First clue that it's meant to be.)
So, I Googled her. I found her blog, and her fabrics are sold at my favorite fabric store of all time, Tumbleweeds. Did I mention she grew up on Cape Cod? (Second clue that's it meant to be.). This is the fabric I have been looking for for 3 years!!!! I think a trip to Tumbleweeds is in order! And while I am in Hyannis I will stop at Trader Joe's and pick up a few things....or a hundred. It will be a good day, I can feel it in my bones.

Leap Year

I wanted to introduce a new Blog by my good friend Holly. She is an accomplished artist and has debuted a new series of drawings. She drew 1 picture for every day on The Leap Year 2008.

This is what Holly has to say about her project. Better to take it straight from her than for me to butcher the explanation. Visit her blog and follow her. You will be insanely glad you did!

"I am going to sell the leap year project:

I plan to release an email with a link to the blog weekly on Wednesdays.

Starting on the first Wednesday of January.

I will include a short writing about the week, and the titles of the images.

I will sell them for eight dollars, which will include packaging and shipping.

They are not framed.

They are each originals.

If you are interested I ask you to send me an email.

I will send the image at the same time you send the eight dollars. On the date we decide.

In with the money/check please tell me why you picked the one you did.

In with the art I will tell you something about the one I am sending you.

This will allow me to practice telling people stories about my art.

And will make it so you know more about the things I make."

Let's see. It's been a long time since I posted anything on this blog. Life gets busy. I guess that's my excuse!

Last Spring was really depressing. My beloved dog of 12 years had to be put down and the month of June here in New England only saw 3 sunny days. Needless to say when it finally did get sunny in July, Alice and I were soaking up some serious Vitamin D.

Summer turned into Fall and Alice started Kindergarten. Life gets really hectic when you have all the things that go along with school stuff. Just the daily routine makes me want to run for the hills. When is it going to be summer again? I am literally counting down the days. About 160.

Spring Fling Give Away Part 2: April 15-30

The first basket has been raffled off and the winner is.......mirthstudio's !! Congratulations! Thanks to all who commented on the Mothering blog and supported like minded moms through purchases made from our shops.

Now on to basket number 2. This basket is for moms with new babies. There is a plethora of natural and relaxing items for mom and simple, imagination inspiring toys for baby.

The goodies up for grabs in this give-away include: a small needle-felted ball from Sun Anthem, a white stone nursing and healing necklace from Stones of Healing, a set of Boogie Buddies (eco-friendly, reusable hankies) from Little Peanut Shop, a Jingle Belly Ball (soft knit ball for baby) from Sugar Kane Creations, a jumbo 44"x44" blue playsilk from Lyneya's Toys, a set of hand-crafted nursing pads from Lil Bees, a beautiful large diaper bag from Michael Grace Designs, a bike screen-print patch and organic seeds for your garden from Beans Rice Revolt, a stack of breast-feeding advocacy bumper-stickers (to share!) and other natural decals from Elemental Handcrafts, a small Guatemalan sling from MayaMade, and last, but definitely not least, set of soothing foot soaks to pamper yourself with from Circle Natural Goods.

The rules are the same as last time. Check out the blog for more details.

Spring Fling Give Away April 1-14

The Spring Fling Give Away is underway at Etsy's Mothering Street Team blog. We all decided that we would jump into spring feet first and bring some traffic to our blog and our shops. We all pitched in and bought a banner ad on the main forum page on mothering.com 's natural parenting discussion forums. We are having a good old fashioned raffle and giving away a whole bunch of goodies for moms and kids from the talented moms from out street team. Of course there is no purchase necessary, but if you do buy from the shops that are participating you can earn 1 entry for every dollar you spend. Whoopie! More chances to win! To search for participating stores, visit Etsy and follow this link. For a complete list of rules and other good stuff visit our blog.

First we have a basket for the kiddos: A wooden helicopter from Imagination Kids, a silk ring twirl toy and a rainbow wood bead necklace from Sun Anthem, a set of six small cars from Small Town Toys, a felt Totoro applique from Spunky Gal, pirate sandwich wrappers from Creations by Hippie Fairy Lover, a child's healing necklace (picture pending) from Stones of Healing, and a set of play-dough from MayaMade.
Next we have a collection of items for all you hard working mom's out there: bath bombs from Circle Natural Goods, beautiful bead bracelet from Little Queen Sheba, a stack of breastfeeding awareness bumper-stickers (to share!) and additional natural decals from Elemental Handcrafts, a Little Ones Sweet Dreams aromatherapy set with Need to Sleep Mist and customizable bed-time poem, and an herbal cloth trivet, both from MayaMade.

Spring has sprung........almost.

We went from two 60 degree days in a row to another snowy icy mess yesterday. This winter has been the worst in my recent recollection. Snow storm after snow storm, shoveling and then more shoveling and just when you though you had enough we get yet another storm. I think once spring is officially here I will not be taking her for granted. Before you know it we will be heading for the humid and mosquito filled days of summer, the threat of Lyme disease and we will yet again be forced to retreat back indoors. To renewal and the birth of everything green.... I love you lady spring.