Under Review!

A while ago, the owner of the review blog, Seven Dogs and a Baby, emailed me and asked if she could review my plush dinosaurs. I sent over a dino and a messenger owl, and waited. When I saw the finished review, I was more than thrilled! It is entitled:

Messanger Owls, Monkeys, Dinosaurs Oh mY!

She is really a talented writer, I was totally grinning my face off while I read her kind words.
I wasn't sure what kind of traffic this would bring to my etsy store, or if any sales would come of it, since this was the first time I have really been featured anywhere. I have sold 4 things since then, and had some custom order requests, and a possible wholesale order. For me, that's pretty good!!

I since have decided to make my messenger owls customizable, so people can choose their own colors!

That is the only option for messenger owls up in my shop right now, but I am working on more fun color combos. And possible, some additional designs. I was doodling owls the other day, and thought it might be fun to have some different looks! What do you think?

Now that I think about it, I think one of the owls is something I have already seen somewhere. My brain might have pulled it up from the depths of my memory. It just seems familiar. So far, top row #2 and bottom row #2, #3, and #4 are my favorites. Maybe I'll make an owl community. Some larger ones might be fun for holding books, journals, cards, and stuff like that. Or, tiny ones with a metal keychain on the ribbon. I'm making a giant one for a friend's son that is big enough to hug and cuddle or use as a pillow, and can keep his little lovey blanket in the pocket. Supposedly owls are not the "in" thing anymore, but they have always been one of my favorite creatures, and I will always be making them.

Tomorrow (or later this week) I will share a couple pictures from our recent vacation. Ever been "yurting"? *So* much fun!

20th post!!

Today, I'm posting my 20th post since I started my blog, over a month ago! I'd love it if you left me a comment today, and let me know that you stopped by!!

First, I just have to show you my newest addition: Pink Dino, the sister of Green Dino! Now little girls can have their prehistoric leaf eaters and their favorite color at the same time :)


Today feels like the "real" first day of spring here - almost 75 degrees, blue sky, shorts! We went to the park right next to my house and walked along the river. Kade blew bubbles, we washed the car, got iced coffee, and rode bikes. What a great day!
A couple of not-so-great things happened, including a really bad accident that we passed, and driving one hour to get a huge box of packing peanuts from freecycle that ended up not being there after all. However, I'm not going to let that get me down! It's too warm and sunny to be upset.

Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures today, but I took some a few days ago of a project I made for Kade. I had been wanting to make one of these crayon rolls for a long time, and I found some scraps of froggy fabric that were the perfect size.


I used this tutorial: On a Roll - Skip to My Lou

The picture doesn't show it, but I left a pocket on the end wide enough for a small notebook.


I didn't have any ricrac to sew around the edge, so I did a blanket stitch (my first time) - holy cow, it took forever. By the way, futuregirl did a great tutorial showing everything you will ever need to know about the blanket stitch! It is really easy to understand, and has great pictures.


Kade used it for intended purpose for about 5 minutes (he does not take after me - he doesn't like to paint, color, draw, anything...). Now, he likes to pretend that it is a burrito, and he unwraps it, fills it full of imaginary lettuce and cheese, rolls it back up, and tries to stuff it in my mouth. At least he's got a great imagination! :)

Need some color?

This guy makes me think of Popsicles and sunshine!

One of my favorite things: Cherry blossoms

Custom sock monkey! It makes me happy to think that a little baby will be cuddling this guy soon!

BusyFingers BabyBuddies newest member, the bluebird!

Rainbow Twizzlers make everything better, especially icky medicine!

All aboard!

First week of SPRING!

Well, it's been almost 10 days since I last posted. That is entirely too long! Here are some little tidbits on my life:

• My husband is now the proud owner of a Wii! I wasn't too excited about getting it, but I have to admit... the first night we had it, I stayed up 'til 3am playing Lego Star Wars. Making all the Miis was a lot of fun, and even K was excited to play. He is really good at the boxing (which is almost like working out!), and he giggles the whole time. I can tell I'm going to have to set a daily time limit on this or he'll want to play it all the time! I am really, REALLY good at bowling... which is odd, since my average score at *real life* bowling is about 60. Oh well, I'll take it! :) I haven't played Nintendo for a billion years. I used to LOVE it... all the good old games like Zelda, Turbo Challenge, Mario Kart, and Donkey Kong. I think some of these games are downloadable on the Wii. Just what we need, something else to keep us indoors! Don't worry, I set limits that many children and husbands would claim were unfair. And, the Wii is on my side. It suggests quite often to take a 15 minute break and head outdoors. They do care!

• It is Spring already, even tho the weather might not be cooperating. The days are getting longer, the chance of snow is still there but I can see a glimmer of hope that one day it will be warm enough to go outside in shorts and a t-shirt again! Fall is my favorite season, but Spring comes in a close second. It is just so nice to get out of the dreariness of Winter. Here are some pictures of some beautiful flowers from my sister: Coincidentally, today is National Chocolate Covered Raisins Day!!! Those are one of my very favorite indulgences, so I think I will have to celebrate.
  

• I have been working on some wallets (both girly and guy types), business card organizers and holders, needles and pins keepers, and some other fun things. Once I get my designs down, I will start listing some on Etsy! I also just finished a new design for my BusyFingers BabyBuddies. He is the green dino, and he is so cute: It is so incredibly exciting for me to see my little business start to grow! My things are being featured in more treasuries, and one of my sock monkeys is even on the first page of the Children's Gift Guide!! I also got my first potential wholesale order! All of this makes me so happy, because being with my son and crafting are two things that are very important to me! It is great to see that it might be possible to stay at home and earn a little bit of money at the same time.
  

I'm off to do more fun "at home" stuff, like laundry, dishes, vacuuming, and such! TTFN! :)

BusyFingers BabyBuddies

I have introduced a new item into the shop! They are infant toys made of fleece, with ribbon tags. My mom came up with the name BusyFingers BabyBuddies. I think it is a cute name, plus it describes what the toy is! I have 6 more designs coming soon, and some ideas not drawn out yet. These are the three designs available right now:

*Lavender Flower*

*Blue Whale*

*Red Bird*

There is a local boutique that might have these in their store on consignment, along with my sock monkeys, little girl purses, and plush owls! They have already been selling the bottle cap magnets for quite a while, which do well there. I am going to take some items down there this week for the owner to see. I've got to get working so I have enough stuff to take in. Fun stuff!

Something else fun in my life lately is a little tradition that my sister and I are starting. Once a month she comes over to our house and we cook an international meal together! I love international food, but cooking intimidates me! Everything has turned out really great so far. Here is what we have tried, along with the recipes:
India - Palak Paneer
Greece - Spanakopita
Thailand - Peanut Sauce on Sukhothai Pad Thai
(minus sauce, plus chicken & mushrooms)
Tonight we are doing Italy - Spinach and Sausage Lasagna with White Sauce
(seemed fitting since Valentine's Day is this week)

Cooking internationally (as opposed to restaurants and take out, which we do quite often with Indian and Greek food especially) has been great for me - I find that I can actually cook these wonderful meals, it is not any more expensive than cooking "normal" food, it makes K want to try more things (He loves Gyros, and the spicy feta dipping sauce), and.... it is just yummy! It makes cooking enjoyable for me, and I know J appreciates that I am cooking more!

I'll add on more recipes each month as we try them out! I think next month will be Ireland, since St. Patty's day is coming up!

Today I'll be making some Valentine's Day cards with K to send out to his Grandparents and some other special people. I'll post the results later!