Merry Holidays!!!

...just stopping by this poor neglected blog to wish you all a very merry holiday season. I wish you a holiday filled with peace, health and happiness. May the season be bright with moments you'll always treasure & the New Year shine upon you!!





As my daughter would exhuberantly proclaim: Ho, Ho, Ho - Merry Kissmus!!

Warmly,
~Stacy

P.S. This photo was taken after my daughter slapped this hat on me, and my husband just happened to have the camera in hand. It's not every day that this whim results in anything decent!! (a good photo = an early Christmas present to me!!)

Quilts for the Kims

The tragedy faced by the Kim family was especially touching on so many levels. The loss of life, a father, a friend, a husband. He was so young. Bad things aren't supposed to happen to good people that are that young. Or, at least I liked to think that they didn't. My husband and I have been fond of driving our little family into unknown depths just for the sake of private camping. Through snow and mud, & sometimes alone. The dangers seemed benign at the time, but the passing of James Kim has given that a different perspective for me. Suddenly, I realized more profoundly that although we are young, we are not immune to simple life altering mistakes and even tragedy.

I know that I was -only one- of the millions who envisioned themselves doing what James Kim did. Not only did he lose his life so that his family might live...but he did bring so many in the world a tiny bit closer. I imagine that through this family's suffering... we were all drawn a bit closer to our spouses. I imagine we all hugged our children especially snug. I imagine there are more, than just I, who felt something in common with the Kim family. Those few days after Thanksgiving are ones that still weigh heavily on my mind. I cannot begin to imagine the magnitude of loss, as it is faced in totality by the Kim family.

There is an auction of handmade artisan goods being conducted to benefit the family. I was still pondering what I could make, when it was announced that the auction was full!! I noticed this quilt effort building some time ago and I have decided to join it - in the event the finished memento might bring some solace to the family.



22 people have been assigned to create one, 12x12 inch, quilt block that coordinates with a border/backing fabric.
• 2 crib size quilts will be created. I've been assigned to building a block for Sabine's quilt.
• The Quilt blocks are due by January 19th.
• We're also to send a short note along with the block to place in a little album which will be sent along with the quilts.

Feeling flattered...

It's no secret around here that I enjoy creating things. Generally, my creative productions have no real purpose other than satisfying my "need" to be creative. Those of you who've been visiting my blog know that I've tried to sell some items on Ebay, which flopped. Then, I tried Etsy, which has had underwhelming success as well (but, to give Etsy it's credit, I have sold a couple things).

I was quite flattered to be referred to a cute little boutique in my city, that sells really hip & trendy children's clothing. I'm in the process of "auditioning" for them, but need to put some ideas into finished form and then meet with the store owners. I'm to do that after the chaos of the holiday season, and will be moving forward with that after the New Year (yep, a bit of a resolution for me...!).

When considering things that I'd like to make for sale - my original idea was for the tutus that I've made as gifts, etc. I just love the whimsy of them...and having a little princess of my own, escalated the passion I have for them. My daughter just loves creative dresses and tutus and anything girlie and frilly. I can't help but inhale her enthusiasm.

I'm really excited to have been recently contacted by the owner of the online shop: My Princess Shop. After discussions, she has already started making my tutu's for sale there. The online shop is another neat collection of fabulously whimsical children's products. And the owner is so kind and so kindred-spirit-sounding over the phone...

I'm horribly flattered and excited to finally have a venue for my creative energies. I can't wait to see what might happen with the boutique in my city as well...but My Princess Shop feels like an exhilarating start!!

A Wist List

Our Advent activities are going along swimmingly, although I am not so good at keeping up on the busy weekend days. As result, my crafty-kenzie-nap times have been eaten up with recording the events, loading pictures, etc. Sheesh..blogging is a time-consuming hobby! With all the shopping for the Christmas season, etc. I haven't made squat! And, the choas of the Christmas season seems to have squelched my creativity anyway. So there...

But, I have been using this tool quite a lot. First, it was just a narcissistic means of tracking all the stuff that I stumple across and desperately love. Lately, it's been useful for conveying kiddo wishlist stuff (to gift givers), since the girl seems to already have every plaything on the planet. But, this Wist List feature is pretty cool as it allows you to track items all over the internet (even Etsy!!). I've ditched my old Amazon wishlist, because well...Amazon doesn't seem to meet my comphrehensive wishlist needs.

Check it out and make your own:

my wists | clone this

I had the Tord Boontje plates on there this year and was lucky enough to get them last night from my generous mother-in-law!! Now, I can use them for my early Christmas celebration (with my family) this weekend!! I've loved Tord for years - he's always been a link on my sidebar...but the new Target trend of carrying his designs only amplifies how cool his stuff is! I'm so excited to have gotten the dishes!

I've added a Wist List to my links on the right, which will make public all of my "ooh's and aaaah's!" of favorite objects found on the web.

**The only glitch with this...is that it doesn't remove the item from the wishlist when it's been satisfied or purchased. It also does not track when the sizes you originally selected are sold out. I got an XL sweater as a gift for my birthday, when I'd originally added the size Medium to my wishlist. So be wary of this...as gift givers may be confused, and your wanted items might be long...long...gone by the time someone looks into buying them on your behalf. I've seen folks use these as a means of tracking creative ideas as well. You can add virtually anything to this wish list!

And this concludes my shameless plug of my most favorite internet shopping tool.... :)

La Belle

I've posted our first Advent activity photos on Kenzie's doodles ..if anyone is interested. We did create our paper chain yesterday with an activity named per link. I took pictures, but not fabulous ones. I mean, how fabulous can you get when you are making a paper-chain with a 2.5 year old? I made it as simple as possible (so that she could help), utilizing some of my fabulous paperscraps, and...a stapler. Kenzie manned the stapler, and thankfully, I report: there were no injuries. :) We have a pretty {simple} little Advent chain as result. Next year we'll do something more fabulous as we hope this will build into a tradition for us.

___

Yesterday was a snow-filled day. My mailbox was actually frozen solid and I couldn't get it open. Today, when the key-hole thawed, I was surprised by this package!



Gina of La Belle shared a wonderful sheet-music find with me (and several other folks, I believe). I'm not musical, at all, but I love the appearance of sheet music. She sent me many books of vintage music. All unique and gorgeous and perfect for collage projects, etc. It was wrapped all charming & pretty and she included this glitzy ornament which is now hanging on my Christmas tree.



Thanks Gina!!! (and I'll be sending a "thank you" package to her soon..)