Bachelorette party & less than 3 months to Moab!

Though I feel less than prepared to go out and have lots of fun, I'm going to do it anyway! Events like these remind me of how easy it is to become a frumpy house mom. I'm there. What Not To Wear, hit me up!
Luckily the gals I'll be hanging out with are NOT frumpy house moms, so maybe I can get inspired. . . my friend's wedding dress was inspired by Lisa Ling's red and silver wedding dress, I can't wait to see it!

InStyle Magazine image

 

 

Patagonia's Margot dress

The little black dress is very similar to our bridesmaid dresses. The ones we are wearing are sold out so I don't have that exact image to show.
We'll have turquoise jewelry. Did I mention she's getting married in the dessert outside of Moab, Utah? If you haven't been there, GO! I've only been there once and it was a crazy crazy time. Got lost in a canyon after dark, camped under the stars near a Sphinx-like rock formation, and had drinks at Eddie McStiff's in town. I'll have to dig out some photos and reminisce (and share).

New jewelry & upcoming jewelry give away!

I've been working on earrings for the upcoming craft fair. Thinking spring even though the wind is howling outside and there is at least 3 inches of new snow on my deck. ugh.

When I was a little girl my favorite colors were pink and green. My older sister gave me so much crap about it. Now I regularly remind her what a huge trend pink and green has become. I was so fashion forward (15years or so) ha ha.
Now that my inventory is growing. . . if only my following would. . . I am getting ready to do some sort of jewelry give away. Trying to figure out a good way to do this. Probably through my fb page: Mellow Mine Facebook Fan Page
Stay tuned for details, actually go and "like" my page so you know when its a happenin'.

oh the pain, plus its hard to type

This is what I was working on right before I stabbed myself with my carving tool today. And I did it good this time. Right through the side of my thumb, nail and all. Needless to say I took it as a sign and stopped carving for the day. And every time I hit the space bar I am reminded of what an idiot I am for not being careful.

This could be taken as a disqualifying event for including a tutorial on my blog.
On a happy note my kids are still cute. . . see picture below!

the news

Remind me to not check the news again any time soon. Somewhere between tsunamis, radiation, shootings, stand offs, and air strikes, I've really lost my sense of calm. I am much happier in my little world making things and crooning over my super cute and funny kids.

My son, who is 3 years old, told me today that his 'poopy' was so big it had feet and arms and legs. That may be the funniest thing I've ever heard. He is also the one that was sucking on his big toe "to get the bead out" after he swallowed a plastic bead. And to top it off, he lovingly asked me the other day why I have a mustache. ahem. uh. ouch. Gotta love him. And I really did appreciate the heads up.

Was digging through my folders and found this charcoal drawing I did in school of a classmate:

Unfortunate that I don't have the actual drawing anymore. At least it hasn't surfaced since I moved. And I wish I remembered his name. . . I think it was written on the back.

play dates and permits

Play dates are great until they give your children chocolate chip cookies and chocolate milk right before you leave (and you have to hit the grocery store on the way home). I think I lucked out with only two minor meltdowns in the checkout lane. phew.
Negotiating with fruit snacks really works.

And I just filed my application for selling stuff at craft fairs in Wisconsin. Or maybe for just selling stuff in WI period. I have SO much to learn. It took about 10 minutes and I told them to bill me for the $20 fee. We'll see how that turns out in 5-7 days when my paperwork should arrive.

I set up a 10X10 duct tape square in the basement to lay out my booth. It is bigger than I thought. This whole process is bigger than I thought. Those nice booths you see at craft fairs are a crap ton of work! This is going to be a great challenge :)

A new necklace with vintage metal lantern beads. I really, really like these beads. Tarnish and shine!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Baby steps today, nothing more. i guess inching your way toward a goal is better than no forward motion at all. slept through the alarm this morning resulting in my son going to school an hour late. hasn't been a great week for punctuality.
Me and lil B ran a couple errands. got a new pair of rubber boots for the boy, you should see our yard today. i passed on playing in the mud because there is easily twice as much as yesterday. yikes.
In the mean time i have plenty to do. and plenty to list and I'm not sure what I'm waiting for.
Here are a few of my favorite finds, some listed, most not:

 This last one shows my Spanish porcelain bird that I'm still trying to find information on. Luckily it perches prettily on my hutch and there is no hurry to rid myself of it.
Time to go draw something! See you later.

a fun day in the mud

 What a good day I had. Got to sleep passed 7am (though I had to get up twice to soothe an unsettled 3 year old), had no where to be, kids colored eggs, played in the mud, OPENED the sliding door and let some FRESH AIR in!, de-cluttered and crossed a couple things off my to do list. 

 Yay spring time!

So thankful for happy distractions and fun while the crisis in Japan continues. My prayers go out to everyone in Japan and to my cousin, who is hopefully getting on a plane right now to leave Japan.
A lot of Etsy shops are donating money from sales to the Red Cross for aid to Japan.  Search 'Japan' in the Etsy search bar to find a ton of listings!

product photo day

whew. . . took over 200 pics today and I'm feeling good about it. Now if only I had someone else to do the editing! Lots of new items to list and no time to do it. I'm not going to panic though, just gonna take it one at a time and hope I don't lose momentum.

Had to dig us out this afternoon so I can get the boy to school in the morning. We didn't get half as much snow as last time but there were a few thick drifts that might've slowed us down. Looks like the county winged our mail box, AGAIN. Kinda surprised at how well it has held up. It's super super ugly now but obviously it has staying power so why mess with it?

I'm getting closer to having a rough version of my chinese proverb illustration that I spoke of long ago. "Don't curse the darkness, light a candle" or maybe "Don't curse the darkness, turn on the light" or so on. They all work and what a great point. Worth repeating, over and over (especially to certain people).

new logo and stuff

I am working on a new logo, the one at top is the rough placeholder version. I hope to have the new one complete in the next week or so.
Made some new earrings and worked on lino prints today. Got myself good in the finger with my carving tool. Was good because it reinforced me telling my 3 year old why he couldn't try it. I mean, how many times do you have to say no! I promised him when he gets older I will teach him how to use the tools and he can make his own. So then he asked later in the day and said he was older could he try it. He's so cute.
I've got a big to do list in hopes of participating in my first craft fair in April. I figure it's a good push to accomplish some things I put on the backburner. Like making my prints. And I've realized I really need looming deadlines to get more done. It always worked for me when I had an office job with a boss.
Here are a few pairs of earrings I've made lately. Going for more neutrals and I just love these vintage glass beads!

new books

Got my book order yesterday, yay! One is from Lotta Jansdotter on Scandinavian style. At first I thought maybe it wasn't a good choice but it has a lot of great stuff in it, including recipes that I can't wait to try. The other book is all about printing at home. I already do a bit of that but it has extra info on screen printing and the like and that is something I haven't done yet.
Today I got my Anthropologie catalogue in the mail. Hats off to the stagers and photographers. I love looking at these! Patterns and colors are great (prices a bit high) but that's why a catalogue is so cool.
Sometimes you just need something new and refreshing to look at. Especially (i know, i don't think that's a word-at least my high school english teacher always said it wasn't) now with snow, snow, snow. I love winter. I love snow. BUT if its too cold to go out and play then I say be done with it. Time for spring!