Thinking Toward Spring

So I have slowed down with the hat making lately, mostly with my eye focused on warmer weather. I am trying to work on items that I can stock in warmer weather since demand for hats is low in the summer. One of my favorite new iems is this messenger bag. I picked it up at Goodwill in Athens and I had plans for it immediately. I had picked up several bags of vintage lace and other trims from a wonderful shop on etsy called . I hand-sewed several rows of the lace to the front of the bag and added a signature neon poppy. I had all of that neon chiffon leftover from the girls' holiday outfits so I've been cranking out these poppies. They make the prettiest hair clips and pins.

I've posted a couple new pictures of the girls. The close-up of Lucy is once of my faves.

My car is still out of commission. Until we get our tax refund and get the new transmission, I will be driving Miss Vicky. Her power steering is iffy so I've been really limited my trips to the Y or the library.

I've been spending a lot of time on Facebook. Its been really fun to reconnect with folks from the past, even folks I didn't really connect with at all from high school.

Cheap Fun

 
 
 
 

Saturday was so warm and we had to get out of the house. We headed down to Buford to the Fish Hatchery to feed the fish, do a little hiking and fish the family pond. The hatchery guy was really nice and gave the girls a bucket of feed to feed the trout. We then hiked over to the family pond and didn't catch a thing. Still, it was nice to get out of the house.

Flower Power

 
 
I recently donated a hat to a silent auction benefitting a local pre-school. Fern models it for me before I send it off.

Sadly, I am having to part with my beloved lunchbox collection. They are just taking up too much room and I haven't actively collected them in a while. I will be listing them at http://electricbluebird.etsy.com and my vintage/supply shop at http://allskate.etsy.com.

We doing a good bit of spring cleaning in order to get Della Fern her own room. Since we don't have a basement or a garage, storage is a big problem. We just have to get rid of a lot of things. I am fine with it because we have way too much 'stuff' as it is.

This past weekend, we visited the Gold Museum in Dahlonega, Georgia. It was quite interesting. I look forward to doing more local site seeing once it warms up. We are actively planning our first camping trip as a family and I am sooooo excited!

My Husband the Artist

Scott will tell you he doesn't have an artistic bone in his body but that just isn't true. I woke up this morning and found this...

Bottle of Canadian Mist: $12
Sharpie: $2
Spaghetti Squash: $4
Your husband's artwork: Priceless

Happy new year and all that! I am looking forward to an exciting 2009. I am excited about so many things this year. I am excited about camping! My parents gave us a huge family tent for Christmas and I am so excited about us finally all going to a state park for a few days. We are lucky to live near several really great parks (Unicoi, Vogel) and I think the girls will really enjoy it. Lulu in particular loves the outdoors. She just finished reading a book about the 50 state flowers, and managed to identify a (faux) magnolia in the doctor's office.

I am also excited about my etsy shop. I am painting more and I really enjoy it. I am looking into doing some prints, maybe t-shirts with my artwork. I also plan to do more sewing like pillows and the vintage slips.

And I am excited about hitting the gym again. Its been spotty the last couple of months - either I was sick or Fern was sick and unable to be in the childcare. Now that I have discovered the guilty pleasures of the Real Housewives of the OC, its all good. I can do an hour on the treadmill with no problem. But I also want to get into yoga. I just wish the Y had regular yoga and I didn't have to suffer through the Christ-centered stuff. So not my bag. No offense, but this Buddhist-leaning non-Christian wishes it was the plain old yoga without the bible lesson.

Cheers for 2009!