two blogs in one day...what?

Yes, I know that's it's out of character to post twice in one day, but I finally caught up with some email tonight, and I found the most wonderful "present" from Angeline waiting for me!  She has been added to a very fun blog/zine at heart handmade, and included little sheep felt in her Christmas wish list.  Thanks, Miss Angeline!

A new addition to our family

It has been quite a long time since I've posted anything on this little blog.  My world has been turned up-side-down (in a good way) over the last couple of months.  My husband and I have been trying to start a family for almost 3 years, and after many trials, medications, poking and prodding, paperwork, waiting, and more waiting, we finally received our little boy in October.  We decided to use the foster care system to start our family, and we are hoping and praying that we get to adopt him some time next year.  God knew exactly what he was doing when he gave us our little guy,  and we feel ridiculously blessed to have him in our lives!

oh how sweet!

Carolina Gudanowski, of From Tiki with Love,  posted the sweetest blog about my Little Sheep Felt.  Thank you, Carolina, for your sweet words!  Check out her etsy site, where she posts THE CUTEST bird prints, paintings, and greeting cards.

the lazy river and wool roving

I love being a nurse, but my days off have become a much-needed rest from the real world.  My sweet friend, Kim, invited me to come to the pool with her, and as we floated around the lazy river, we contemplated answers to the pressing issues in our lives.  Ah.....there's nothing like the leisurely solving of life's biggest problems!  And then, I finally got my act together and posted the wool roving and beginner's felting kits on my etsy site.  Hooray!  Another step closer to crafting independence!
 

it's done!!!!

After nearly nine months of felting/refelting and writing/rewriting, my little felting book is finally finished!  HOORAY!  Check it out here.  Oh...and I cannot finish this entry without thanking my amazing husband for doing all of the layout and printing.  He is amazing!

bunting and bird's nest

Oh!  How I do love summer - trips to the beach, sprouting garden, summer craftiness, and now a little bird has built a perfect little nest in the Confederate Jasmine on my back porch.  And not only is there a little nest, but also 3 little shiny blue eggs!  What a lovely surprise!

I am so privileged to have formed a friendship with the very talented Angelina Tsao.  Her company, Cake and Milk Paperie, has become one of my favorite sources of artistic and business inspiration.  She has a new line of graphic cards that just make me so happy!  Her bunting cards are so sweet, and to celebrate her new card line, I decided to make some bunting of my own.  (((BEAUTIFUL work, Miss Angeline!)))

an end-of-week tea party

I had a very long workweek!  When I'm not being crafty, I am a nurse on a very busy medical/surgical unit, and recently my patients have kept me ridiculously more busy than usual.  Between patient and family requests, medically necessary tasks (wound care, dressing changes, assisting patients with ambulation, giving out meds....) and the insurmountable amount of paperwork, I feel like most of my day is spent chasing my tail.  So, on my day off, I decided to have a tea party.  My friend, Lizzy, came over on her lunch hour and we got to share an assortment of tea sandwiches, scones, desserts, and of course - tea!  It was a lovely break in the week to indulge in something so girly, not rushed, and not ruined by the lingering smells of body fluids, that often haunt my workweek lunches.

the beginning

I have been busy in my studio lately!  My time is consumed with writing a short instructional manual on needle felting, and trying to increase my inventory.  So far, the progress has been slow-going, but I'm inching closer to this life that I want to live (thus a blog entry - finally!!!).   I am not sure where this little venture will take me, but here I am....willing to make this first step in this journey.