new shipping envelopes - the tutorial

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people have been emailing, asking about the envelopes i talked about recently. since i needed to make a few yesterday, i thought i'd photograph the process for you. it's an official kats in the belfry tutorial, or kitbt!

*prepare the bag: carefully remove the handles, & toss them into your recycling bin. next you'll need to cut the bag open; do this by cutting down one corner seam, then around the base. now your bag should lie flat.


* place your item on the bag, & measure 2 inches around. you can either cut out 2 of of this size, or fold your bag over, then cut once. i did the latter here. definitely fold if your item is bulky.




*with your machine set to zig zag, stitch around three sides. leave a bit of a seam allowance, & don't forget to back stitch.

*slip your item in. make sure you ease it to the bottom of your envelope, so you don't accidentally sew through it. for a bit of padding you can first wrap your item in some of the tissue you saved from your birthday prezzies.

*sew the fourth side closed, back stitching once more to avoid ravelling.

*if your bag has a fancy design, as does mine, add a label for the address.

*a reminder to recycle your envelope would be a lovely addition. perhaps i should have gone with a color not in the bag's design.

*make more! my bag made 1 small, & 1 large envelope.

these are fun to make, & take very little time. happy envelop-making!

~peace.

& then there were four

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hey, i finally found the bag of nakie giant mushrooms. my gosh, i think i lost them over a year ago! & no, they were not where they were supposed to be. because, you know, um that would mean that in all this time it hadn't occurred to me to look there. so, no. let's move on; shall we?

i'll be adding sets of four mushrooms to theshop later this week, & i'm contemplating sets of mushrooms in each size. though, i'm not sure how i'll work that. now is not the time for mushroomy (real word) contemplation. now is the time for ice cream.

have a lovely day, do.
~peace.

i, braggart

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allow me to brag a moment. what you see above is a sweet/spicy veg & tofu stir-fry, on a bed of sticky white rice. doesn't it look amazingly delicious? i'm told it was - too many allergens for me. i can tell you though, that it smelled soooo darn good.

so why am i boasting about my stir-fry, you ask? well i am not. you see, this meal was made by thehobbit, with no help from anyone. no recipe either. he said he remembered what i put in mine, & just made it. ah-ha! so he does have the ability to pay attention. preteens (she wrote with an eye-roll); sorry, digressing.

anyway, thanks for letting me boast about my little chef. i am one proud mama to be sure.

~peace.

drawing of a blog-a-thon-y kind

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i loved reading what your favorite springtime foods are. the comment that had me all a-giggle was atypical girl's cadbury cream eggs. to that i have to say, bock-meow bock-meow!

my 2 favorite veg were amongst those listed; asparagus & leeks. i love them best fresh off the grill. & to those who said ice cream, that is not a springtime food - that is an every day food. except today, for i haven't any! i know!!!

thanks to all of you for playing, i enjoyed it immensely. now on to the drawing! no hobbity top hat this time, i'm a week into dealing with a family-wide pestilence. instead we'll rely on the random number thingamajig.

Domestic Diva said...
Asparagus is my favorite springtime food too. Yum! It's especially good with fresh eggs.

congrats domestic diva! send your address to , & i'll send your prezzie! this is just too much fun.

next on the fun calendar, is the earth day fabulousness of the utmost kind!


okey doke, as much as i'd love to stay & babble at you all day, i've got snotty noses to wipe. blah.

peace.

thursday things - pestilence

this week's edition of thursday things has been called on account of pestilence.

~peace.

earth day promotion

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i've been hard at work with, my fellow natties, getting ready for earth day fabulousness of the utmost kind. ok, that isn't the official title of the promotion, but i really do think it ought to be.

the details of the group-wide fabulousness can be found on our blog (don't go there just yet!). there you'll find links to all of the shops participating, the dates, & what specials each are offering.

if that isn't enough fabulousness for you, we'll be holding a fun find the gnomie game. with a prezzie! that too is explained on the nk blog.

so what is to be my contribution to earth day fabulousness of the utmost kind? with each purchase of $20 or more, you'll get your very own eco gnome to adopt. i love prezzies.

ok, you may now go check out the blog for all the fabulousness info & such.

~peace.

walking in perfection

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thehobbit came in from checking for ladybugs on our porch, to proclaim it a perfect morning for a walk.

i quickly dressed, found my camera & elfling's sunhat, & headed outside with my boys.

he was right! the air smelled of newly mowed grass, the only sound to be heard was that of birds singing, & the sun warmed our skin - perfect.



we walked, looked at flowers, searched for butterflies, & took photos of nature's beautiful creations.



as well as photos of my beautiful creation.


the warm air soon turned hot, & we were forced back indoors. i don't do well when the mercury is anywhere near hits 80. our walk was lovely while it lasted. perfect, in fact.


i hope your day is perfectly lovely.
~peace.

give-aways galore!

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unrelated photo of the privet budding!

i've lots of give-aways happening right now, & by lots i mean three! oooh. aaaah. ok, so 3 isn't exactly a large number, but my swiss cheese brain can only handle so much in any given moment, so there.

*there is my spring blog-a-thon give-away with the natural kids: all you need do for a chance to win spring is leave a comment about your favorite springtime food. click here to enter. i'll draw the winner on march 26th.

*next we have my quest to have 100 fans on facebook: a chance to win a mini birthday bunting is easy; fan me here. (note :: i have hit the 100 mark, so the drawing is a go!) the drawing will be this sunday.

*& finally my quest to have 150 fans on facebook: the same as above, fan me here! that drawing is also scheduled for sunday - assuming we hit the magic number by then.

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a friend announced her easter give-away today: polarbear creations - i want to win this bunny.

for more, please look through my posts since the blog-a-thon began! i've listed a few blogs at the bottom of each post. most of them have drawings going on.

good luck to all of you!

~peace.

blue is not just for boys

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click here to sign up for my give-away!

judging from the amount of blue blankets & clothing we were given when elfling was born, i think it fair to say that people think blue is for boys. why is that, do you think? why is it blue for boys, & pink for girls?

the thing is, when i think about all the friends, aunties, & grammies who gifted us with blueness, i am hard-pressed to picture any of them wearing pink. i know i rarely do wear it, & other than blue jeans, manlyman rarely wears blue.

how i see it: as soon as we are born, we're either pink for girls, or blue for boys. our clothing, our toys, our bedrooms - all pink or all blue. as we grow up we shed those restrictions, & begin surrounding ourselves with colors we actually like. by adulthood the majority of us rarely are drawn to the gender appropriate colors. this is especially true for women, though when was the last time you saw men off to work in baby blue suits?

you'd think that would be the end of the pink & blue ridiculousness; but it's not. you see, the same adults who discarded their colors, turn around & foist it upon the next generations of innocent babes. mamas, daddies, grandparents, etc - they are the designers & gifters of more pink & blue! why?! seriously people; i want to know why!

of course there are some brave souls who do not give in to this. some of us dress our children in brown, taupe, gray, white, & black even. i say we start a revolution! we say no more pink just for girls! no more blue just for boys! who is with me?!

of course i would go one step further, & say no more pink or blue!, but then i would have to explain the blue in the above photo. & speaking of the above photo, (how is that for a segue?) do you like my mini birthday bunting? if so, i have 2 for sale in theshop! perfect for your birthday boy or girl. heck, perfect for any old thing you're celebrating. or be like me - put it up for xmas & forget to take it down. yes, ours are still up. let's just pretend they are up purposely, shall we?

ok you're off to buy my bunting (that sounded a tad naughty), & i'm off to join the gigglefest happening in the other room.

~peace.

thursday things - on a saturday

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sign up for the blog-a-thon give-away here!

property of thesassysparrow

i'm sorry for the delay; we had family in town, & then i had a day-long migraine. ha! that read as though i thought the migraine was the result of the familial visit. well now that you mention it... (only joking, it was lovely.) let's get right to things, shall we?

this week's thursday things was to be about my love of vintage utilitarian objects. i say was, because, as usual, i got distracted by all the gorgeousness on etsy, & before i knew what was happening, i was looking at shoes.

i started looking at old train cases, of which etsy has many. the one in the above picture caught my eye for it's simplicity. now to me, vintage means older than my parents. that case i would classify as retro-on-the-fringe-of-vintage. then i stumbled upon this:

property of saffroncoloredpony

oooh, indeed. still simple, but now we're back a bit in time. this case is what i would call vintage, with one toe in antique-ville. i'd also call it mine, but i doubt the seller would agree.


here is where i got distracted. something else in that shop lured me away, & 20 minutes later i found this:

property of timeechovintage

it's a man's coat, but i could see me wearing it anyway. i could see me wearing it to a garden party on the arm of johnny depp, but that's an altogether different distraction.


i wasn't in the clothing section long, before i came across the most perfect pair of shoes ever. as in: ever ever ever! they are gorgeous. they are my size. they - well, they are many things, none of them being mine. i just havent the funds right now. stupid hobbity teeth in need of orthodontia.

property of possumgully

a well, a girl can dream. which is just what i am off to do - about it all. wink, wink.

today's fabulous natural kids blog-a-thoners: harvest moon by hand & vit á la kim

~peace.

time flew when i was having fun

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enter my blog-a-thon give-away here!

i came across this photo, & my heart began to ache. would you just look at how dinky thehobbit was! the stamp says this was taken in aught 3, so that would have made him 5 years old. wow, five. how time did fly.



when i look at thehobbit now, at 12 years, i can barely see that adorably dinky boy. instead i stand eye-to-eye with a lanky, hormonal guy. he's a guy now, a dude.



the thing is, when i close my eyes i see him still as that dinky boy, eyes shut in wait of a dog's kiss. a boy who slept with 2 teddy bears, & 7 stuffed dogs each night. a boy who always had rocks in his pockets, who insisted we draw harry potter's scar on his forehead daily, a boy who had a smile that shone brightly from his huge, dark eyes.



i'd like to keep my eyes closed some days. life with a pubescent guy is rough on a mama's heart. long gone are the stuffed animals, an mp3 player replaced the rocks, there is a blemish on that forehead, & that smile? well, we don't see much of it these days. not a smile that reaches his eyes, at any rate. because, you know, dudes are too cool for that. or something.



occasionally thehobbit does give me a glimpse of the boy; right now he's cleaning the borrowers' house, in hope of luring them back. he hadn't so much as touched the house in the last 6 months! i dare not even acknowledge what he's doing, for fear i spook him. apparently dudes are like beasts in the wild. make too much noise, & the dude abandons the toy, & slinks off to find his headphones.



i'll just sit here, quietly, with my eyes closed.

~peace.



today's fabulous natural kids blogs: inside sqrl & bee studio & the sitting tree & muddy feet & more

it's nearly autumn, down under

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enter my blog-a-thon give-away here!

this little guy is autumn. i was going to release one pagan people leading up to the corresponding season, or holiday. yesterday it occurred to me that not everyone is getting ready for spring to, well, spring. i hurriedly designed autumn, so you upside-downers would feel represented.

his hair is the color of an autumn leaf, & covered in sparkles. autumn wasn't dry when i took these photos, nor was he yet dressed - hence the close up shots only.

to be honest, i hadn't planned on males in this line of dolls, but my menfolk wouldn't have any of that. ah well, the goddess needs her manlyman too, i suppose ;)

i'll get him in theshop tomorrow - take a peek today though, because there are other new things to be found.

today's fabulous natural kids blogs: pin pon & woolies & birchleaf designs!

~peace.

shakespeare people of color

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enter my blog-a-thon give-away here!!!

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í've temporarily abandoned the pouch metamorphose due to frustration. i knew that once my thoughts went from tossing pouches at the wall, to tossing sewlie, it was time to focus elsewhere.

here is what i did last night instead of sewing: the latest batch of shakespeare people. you may recognise the one on the right. sunee has been around from the beginning; though this is her first time with the new head. next to her is my first blond, tuck.

the remainder are my newest people of color. i've done black dolls in the past, but they all sold before i had a chance to put them in the shop.

what do you think pippa is whispering? probably complaining that the new head makes her look fat.

please visit todays fabulous blog-a-thon-ers: banana bottoms & german dolls & curly monkey

~peace.

pencil pouch metamorphose

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enter to win the blog-a-thon give-away here!

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last year i noticed that a lot of thehobbit's things had broken zippers. he's always been easy on his toys & clothes, so i wondered how long zippered items last with more rambunctious kids. this led me to start doodling new pencil pouches, sans zippers. i must be more persnickety than i thought, because it's taken me nearly a year to come up with a design i like. & no it isn't the one pictured here.



this is basically the idea; a large pouch that folds nearly in half; but with a few changes. i want it shorter by nearly 2 inches, the opening needs a bit of tweaking, & i've ordered wooden buttons. i love reusing buttons, but it's getting hard to find bigger buttons on things.

i tried a few different loops; ribbon, fabric, yarn, twine; but in the end i went with elastic. it's not as pretty, but i can create a smaller loop (to ensure the pouch will stay closed), & still have it be easy for little fingers to work.

as this pouch wasn't destined for theshop, i switched to a button from my 'for me' stash. i'll be using it in my diaper bag, in lieu of a purse.

the upside to the nearly year-long pouch make-over? it led me to finally coming up with a design for my inhaler pouch!!! stay tuned for those.

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today's fabulous blogs for the natural kids blog-a-thon: tribal times & polarbear creations & fair trade family. you really have to visit these blogs, & not merely because i said so. ;)

~peace.

thursday things - blog-a-thon-ing with natural kids

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when i first heard about this i thought um, no thanks. unless it's to a thrift shop, i don't run. it didn't take me long to realize that this -athon had nothing to do with running a marathon. blogging on purpose? with others? now that's something i can do!



the naturalkids team began in 2007, by woodmouse. a small group whose members shared one mission; to create natural products for children. an early post read:



We are a diverse bunch from all over the globe who have at least one thing in common: we all work with natural materials in our products for children. Oh yeah, and we're all pretty darn crafty & talented too! Wool, wood, cotton...just simple materials direct from the Earth.

So who are we?
Some of us are mothers of small children.
Some of us are mothers of grown children.
Some of us make dolls, some of us make hats, some of us make toys.
Some of us have been selling our wares for many years.
Some of us are just starting to discover our talents and start selling.
Some of us work with natural materials for environmental reasons.
Some of us work with natural materials as part of the Waldorf educational philosophy.
Some of us work with natural materials because we believe they are healthier and safer.
Some of us just like working with natural materials.
Some of us sell our wares for a living.
Some of us sell our wares as a hobby.



since then the group has grown by leaps & bounds. added to the above?



some of us are dads.
some of us are amazed they have the energy to create, now that they have a teeny elfling, & a hobbit in puberty.



back to the blog-a-thon: for the next month i'll be chatting about what i, & other blog-a-thoners are creating for spring. there shall be links to fabulous blogs (to which you are expected to visit - yes, i am bossing you around, but we both know you like when i do.), some with give-aways even!



here are today's blogs: the reluctant city dweller & the fairies' nest & sewn natural studio.



my official springtime-blog-a-thony-give-away is that little lady pictured above. spring is the first in a line of pagan people. she would love to get snuck into an easter basket, put on an ostara alter, or be the envy of the dollhouse. of course, if you're like me, you'd keep her for yourself, & give your wee one an extra egg.

to have her for your very own, leave a comment in this post, telling me your favorite springtime food.
to earn more chances to win you can share my give-away on your blog, tweet the link, & facebook the link. i'm not sure that sentence was grammatically correct, but not much here is.
thehobbit shall draw the winner from his top hat on march 26th. oh! don't forget to come back to let me know about the linking, tweeting, & such.

the contest is officially closed!

good luck! now go read today's blogs, & enter their give-aways. (more blogs tomorrow)
~peace.


** you can also purchase spring here. **

an eco gnome sojourn

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i am in danger of tossing out everything in theshop, & making only eco gnomes. they are such fun to create, & their dinky cuteness has me constantly on the verge of giggling.

this trio shall be heading out tomorrow. once at their destination, they'll wait with other lovely creations until their final leg of the journey on earth day. i cannot say any more than that just yet, though i promise to tell you all in just a few more days.

look at the fun outfits they found for themselves in an old magazine! time for me to pop off & find an outfit for myself. cannot stay in my jams all the live long day.

~peace.