Thank you!

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I went to my mailbox today and what did I find? A padded envelope overflowing with natures perfect little hats - acorn caps. They were very generously sent to me by Tammy. Wow, I am so very grateful for such a kind gesture.

In gratitude.

Craigslist............

Do you know about Craigslist? Have you experienced the wonder that is Craigslist? Have you ever received from the bounty that is Craigslist?

What is Craigslist? Craigslist is an amazing forum to sell things (cars to toasters), look for a job, rent a house/apartment, adopt animals, find friends, look for events/garage sales and EVERYTHING in between. I know that it is bigger in some areas more than anothers but from the list of cities it services from San Francisco to Singapore, to Edinburgh, to Sydney there’s a pretty good chance that you could use it in your area. I know that it is free to list items to sell, I think that they charge to list job openings.

I discovered Craigslist here in the SF Bay Area about six or seven years ago. When we were getting ready for a move I had all of this great baby equipment in excellent condition and I was not sure what to do with it. We did not have any friends with kids so it could not be passed on that way and we knew that more babies would not be entering our fold so holding onto it was not an option. Well, I sold it all on Craigslist. ALL of it within two days and had cash in hand! What you think is junk may very well be a treasure for someone else J

When we decided that our old SUV was no longer what we needed I insisted that we sell it on CL – my husband though that I was crazy and that it would never sell for what I was asking. Wonder of wonders I sold it in less than 24hrs for asking in cash. Yippee!

Have anything to sell? Got a garage full of stuff? Have an extra crockpot from your granny, a giant untouched box of legos? Maybe sell it on CL?

I trawl Craigslist almost once a day – you never know what you’ll find. I am looking to buy a Sizzix machine so right now that’s my new search item. I frequently check the FREE area where people list stuff for FREE. Two of my kitchen chairs were FREE on CL, I think that they were originally from Pottery Barn. I have also bought a brand new trampoline, furniture, antiques this list goes on. Below is my most recent SUPER DUPER find!

13 yards of Amy Butler Midwest Modern fabric bought for only $3 a yard! These are some of my favourite patterns and colours so I am thrilled. I even have some projects in mind for them.

Not only am I finding great deals but I love the idea of recycling things. I get a great deal and the seller gets some cash, easy peasy! I could tell you a million wonderful things acout CL but you just have to see for yourself. So, take a look at Craigslist (after clicking the link look for your city, or one near you on the right hand side) and see what you can find!

New Project.................

I've not been in the mood to blog this week and this is why:

This past Monday a fellow school mom and I hosted our second craft morning. I sent out an email to all families and announced it at last weeks parent meeting. 1 MOM ATTENDED, again. Yes, just 1, again. My initial feeling was disappointment, then I was ticked off, then I was frustrated, then I was confused. As I explained to families, the purpose for these circles would be to get to know one another, make crafts for the program to sell at a future craft sale and also to talk about our program for next year. Both the other mom and I are on the Administrative Council so we know a lot about admin and finance at our school.

I know just as well as anyone that we all have busy schedules - heck I work on Monday and asked my boss if it was ok that I came in late so that I could attend the circle. It's just hard when I KNOW that there are mom's who could come but choose not to. Do we give up? Do we keep scheduling these? Ack, I am just so frustrated. Our Waldorf crafts are very popular in our community, help to promote our program and raise LOTS of money for us - which in this economy with all of the cutbacks is crucial. I know that I need to get over this, I am SUPER dedicated to Max's school, I attend probably 5-8 meetings a month, and I need to realize that to many people it's just not that important and that's ok. It's not ok, but it is :)

Well, the three of us forged ahead. We taught mom #3 how to make the Waldorf Doll head and we are now in the process of making lavender gnomes & babies. Right now they are all just heads and bodies, once I put them together I'll put up a pic. I have a subject in mind for tomorrow, just have to plan it out in my head.

HOPE & PATIENCE are my words for the week. Lately I've been wearing a necklace that says Patience one side, the other side says "Patience is a tree with bitter roots that bears sweet fruits" - my new mantra.

News, News, News........

Recently I have suffered from writer's block. I've done tons of projects but have not been able to put pen to paper. Let's see if I can get past it!

Home: Things have been plugging along at home. Max has had a great week with two after school playdates and a visit with MoMo (grandma, my mom). My sister is an accomplished rower with Marin Rowing Club (next year she'll be a rower at Stanford), she has a race this weekend in Oakland that I think we'll go to. The weather will be beautiful, it should be a great day. No matter what we have to go, my sister is Max''s most favourite person on the planet and he'd hate to miss it. During a playdate I showed Max and his friend how to make people using pipecleaners, now he is figuring out how to dress them. It has been a great project for him and a good lesson in trial/error and patience.

My creative space aka "Treehouse" is moving along nicely - I still have to re-home my husbands sport stuff. With the new set up I have been able to move my sewing machine in. It's been great to not have the machine in the kitchen and have to run up and down the stairs to sew. Now I can just turn from my cutting table to the sewing machine!

Crafts: After the sewing machine move, I did a big run of machine sewing. I ended up making about eight stuffies, some of which are pictured below. I really enjoyed making the skirts for the bunnies, cats and monkeys. I found the pattern for the monkey here and then adapted it for a cat and bunny. When we visited friends last weekend I took one as a gift :)

I borrowed a copy of Wee Felt Folk from a friend. I made this woman but she looks mad. I have tried several faces but they all look ticked off! Considering the amount of wooden beads that I have already put mad faces on, it looks like I'll have a lot of witches to make. I need to work on drawing more gentle expressions :) PS. I can't find an acorn cap big enough for her yet, so I just placed her hair on her head, I didn't want her to be bald in the pic - how embarrassing!

I also made this horse...........

and this kitty

There are a few new projects in the works. Once the schedule is set, I plan on signing up for a beginners quilting class at Sunflower Fine Fabrics. My hope is that a friend or two will do the class with me. My other project is getting some baby stuff made for friends. I found some great bib and burp cloth tutorials here and here. If I feel very brave, I may even tackle a blanket or some shoes. I highly recommend that you take a look a The Long Thread, she has a ton of great tutorials listed for all skill levels - a great resource.

Swaps: Check out the Easter Bunny Swap that we just signed up for. Max is excited to find out who our partner is and get crafting for this swap.

Fun Finds: This week I did take a trip to a few of my usual haunts. In addition to a stash of double sided binding (my new must have) I found:

This amazing large vintage heavy cotton tablecloth. Yes, it is covered in mushrooms of all shapes and sizes. I really love it and can't imagine cutting it up - if I found the right project though ....................

Four yards of this great vintage cotton ribbon/tape embroidered with "dutch" people and a heart/bird/flower motif. I am always looking for trims like this and finally found a stash. They had a lot more in other styles, hopefully the next time I return they'll still have some left.

Good Night.......

The light has faded from the sun

And He who blessed your work and play

Will bless your sleep until the day;

So shut your eyes and fold your hands

And journey into starry lands

The love that binds us warm and deep

Will bind us closer while we sleep.

The earth is dark, but there the light

Eternal shines on us. Good night.

yours in reverence and gratitude,

A

Swaps........

Wow, my mailbox has been busy lately. I recently participated in two fat quarter swaps and a book swap.

This amazing package arrived today from Jennifer, you can find her blog here. I was so excited to find this in my mailbox, I had to open it when I got to my car! Inside I found three amazing fat quarters, (one is pirate themed, perfect for Max) a great little notecard (I think that it's of the Chicago skyline) and a resin tree pendant. Thank you, thank you Jennifer, you made my day! PS. Jennifer was my partner for the "Wishing it was Spring" fat quarter swap.

I also received these little lovelies in the Sew Mama Sew fat quarter swap. Thank you to my swap partners Alicia, Alice and Adrienne (love your name) for these great fabrics, I hope that you like what I sent to you!

Max and I were excited to receive a copy of Shel Silversteins' book of poems "Where the Sidewalk Ends" from my swap partner Kipi and her daughters. I remember having this book as a child but I'm not sure where my copy went so it was great to receive a new one. So far his favourite poem is Boa Constrictor. Thank you Kipi and family for the wonderful pick, we will enjoy reading and laughing through the poems together. This swap was organized through Reading to Know.

Last Minute Adventure..................

On Friday we planned a last minute adventure in Tahoe with friends. How lucky we are that the snow is just a few hours drive away! My husbands best friend and his family recently moved back to Tahoe after living in SoCal. Now that we moved south and they moved north hopefully our paths will cross more often. It was a big day for Max, his dad took him on his first snowboarding lesson, he ice skated and did some sledding.

Max and "Charlie the Monkey" on our drive to Tahoe. Charlie is one of my most recent projects.

Sledding and playing in the snow.

Our trip was last minute but very welcome. It was great to re-connect with friends. We were finally able to meet their little girl and Max loved playing with their son. :) What a great day!