Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Just one of those days...

You ever have one of those days? It's still light out and this is what my day has been like so far:

-Wake up (way too early) to the sound of a very loud plow truck clearing what sounds to be slush off of the roads...yuck
-Drive to work behind a very big truck who continually splashes my windshield with slush, no matter how far back I get...and of course...snow is clogging my wiper fluid
-While driving to work, wind blows crazily resulting in white out and 0% visibility.
-Hit(as in tap, not slam) breaks so as to slow down, breaks lock and crappy tires send me diagonally into oncoming traffic...get back into lane just in time
-Arrive at work to find that Estella has removed shoes and sock and is refusing to put them back on...forcibly return socks to feet while threatening to make her walk barefoot in the snow if she continues to remove shoes and socks during every car ride
-Call in payroll...get the newest, slowest processor...and at the end realize I've forgotten to total up all hours.
-Beg child to behave, remind her that if she behaves and lets me get my work done, we will go for a play date with her favorite little friend.
-Run 8 reports in order to do week-end duties only to find printer with a message stating "toner life end"
-Make phone call and find out that play date with favorite little friend will not be taking place...never make promises to a 2 year old that you can't keep
-Drive to bank, look at car off the side of the road for one second too long
-Slam breaks (not tap...SLAM), brakes lock and crappy tires skid
-Miss rear ending a cop car, yes COP CAR, by inches and skid into oncoming traffic.
-Get sworn at by woman in car I almost hit head on
-Go to bank to make deposit, turn around to see child grab a glass ball from Christmas tree and yell "Pretty"...temper tantrum ensues after ball is placed back on it's tree
-Finally pull into driveway and get Estella, who has once again removed her shoes and sock, into the house
-While choking on much needed glass of water, open refrigerator to return Brita only to have Parmesan cheese crash to floor and explode
-Have a couple minutes of time before nap, so try to print off directions for newest craft project and find that printer jams on every other page

On a pleasant note, we did make it home safely and Estella is napping...peace!

And that's my day so far! I just had to get it all out and complain so I could get on with my day...

Now for the good stuff! New fabric...sure to brighten any crappy day!
And, a new project:
I know it's a little scary looking now, and it may be a little scary when I'm done, but I decided that Estella needs a doll. I don't have the proper supplies to make a cloth doll, but I wanted to try the technique with what I had first before I spent a bunch of money on supplies. So far, so good...considering I have no idea what I'm doing!

I will try to make my next post less complaints and more fun! Happy (and safe) New Year to you all!

-Dog just barked at nothing and woke child up after only 40 minutes of napping...may have to strangle dog if child does not stop crying and go bakc to sleep.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

back to life

Well, back to life tomorrow...I guess I have to go back to work someday. But before that, a quick recap of the holidays.


Christmas Eve it snowed and snowed and snowed. We took Estella out for her first ride in her new sled.
She was so bundled up that she could barely move, but she loved it. She even did a face plant in the snow and continued smiling. Leave it to me to produce a winter loving baby!
Christmas Day was really nice and low key. We opened presents at home with Estella and then went to visit my mom. Estella had lots of fun opening her presents and collecting bows. She definitely seemed to be more interested in the unwrapping process than the gifts, but once they were all opened, she made sure to test out all of the new goodies! She received so many nice presents, and has been enjoying them all weekend...thanks everyone! And in case you're wondering, her name book was a big hit! I've randomly caught her sitting and looking through it, playing with the parts...I'm so glad she likes it! Phew!

I'm back in the studios working...see full picture of this little ballerina here.
Everyone keep your fingers crossed that I'll still be able to sell them after February...
Well, I'm off to the Kingdom later in the week for some car repairs so if I don't post by then,
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Finito!

Well, it only took me a month, but these two girls are done! I will hopefully be putting them in the shop soon..as long as it's not illegal by then! Thanks to everyone for your responses to my last blog and the emails I'm harassing everyone with...SAVE HANDMADE!! See full pics of these two ladies here.
I have many weaknesses, but hot chocolate with LOTS of whipped cream is by far one of the hardest to withstand - especially when it's -4 degrees! I've got to stay warm somehow, right?
One little girl who definitely does not need the sugar in a hot chocolate:
This is the monster face I was treated to when I asked her to smile for a picture.
And the blur o'baby that is Estella 24/7. And this is without sugar! Can you even begin to imagine what my days would be like if she got sweets? Or soda? And you all wonder why I'm such a mean mama by not letting her eat candy!

I also wanted to let everyone know that I am the proud new owner of a pair of glasses! They are clean and unscratched and kept in their case in my bag. They (hopefully) will never feel the wrath of a two year old! So, THANK YOU to all of you who took pity on my very sad glasses situation and sent very generous birthday gifts! It is very much appreciated!

Monday, December 22, 2008

Quickie

Hi everyone!

I just wanted to quickly post and beg you all for your help...

Please go here and vote to save handmade toys! If you want to read more on the subject and what you can do, check out the resources here. This law would make handmade toys illegal in the United States! I personally don't want Estella's only toy option to be mass-produced-made-in-china crap!

Thanks!

Saturday, December 20, 2008

it's begining to look a lot like christmas

We have snow! And lots of it! It's literally been snowing for two days straight. This was the railing last night around 8:00, and it's only gotten higher. Maybe today would be a good day for me to burn some Christmas cookies or something...clearly getting out of the driveway will not be happening!
The other day was Estella's first experience with paint. She's colored with markers, crayons and pencils, just never paint...I've just never had the patience to pull it all out...the other night, I found some patience!
She started off very dainty with the paintbrushes and her fingertips, but eventually got very messy! She had lots of fun and was very impressed with her paintings hanging on the wall for the next couple of days.

Our tree is up and decorated. Estella is completely in awe of the lights and decorations and can't seem to control herself when she gets near it...she just has to touch. Earlier, I caught her trying to balance on her cart to get at some of the higher ornaments. I figure it's only a matter of time before she tries to climb it!
We've gone disco this year! A little disco-Christmas never hurt anyone...
I had to do something to the stairs, and we were all out of lights. We now also have some presents stacked on the stairs as an alternative to under the tree. It's slowly starting to look like Christmas...and just in time!


I'm not sure what our plans are for Christmas, but if it keeps snowing like this, we'll be stuck in the house, in which case I'll probably post again before Christmas. Just in case I don't,
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Sorry for my blogging absence, I've been away. My Grandpa passed away two weeks ago and I went out of town to be with my family. I wanted to share this photo with everyone. Not only is it a great photo of him, but I feel it really represents him...he was a very cool guy!

I have too many great memories of him to even try to share any, but for those of us who knew him, I know we'll all greatly miss him.

I made the trip (down) alone with Estella, our first big trip on our own...she was monstrous and refused to nap. I finally broke down about an hour from our destination and got her some french fries from McDonald's...a rarity in this house! We'll call it a temporary lapse of reason.
I worked briefly from home today, something I'm hoping to do more of soon, and had lots of time to settle in and get back to life. I think I'm going to try to cut back on the time I spend out at work, and substitute it with work from home. Estella and I will both be happier and more at ease because of it, and I suppose Walter will also benefit from our improved moods.

I was able to get back to work on the two girls I've been working on...a sneak peek:
I've also managed to get dinner prepped for tonight...I was rather inspired by the red cabbage I was cutting...it's one of those very cool patterns which nature produces...like wood grain(and many others):
Well, I hope that catches everyone up! I'll try to go back to my (fairly) consistent blogging, but with the holidays fast approaching, don't hold me to it!

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Dear Santa

I've been getting a bunch of Christmas issues of my favorite magazines and so many of them have staff or famous people write up their Christmas wish lists. So, for lack of better blogging material...
Dear Santa,

I've been (fairly) good this year, and I feel as though I deserve a little something for all the effort...

I would really love this, just because I think it's cute.


I also tend to get really cold, so if you could bring me this, I'll try to keep the heat turned down to where Walter wants me to keep it...burrr! Another way that I could keep warm is by baking, in which case I'll need this (in pistachio green). And just so it's not sitting unused in the summer, I'll need this to go along with it.


I also would love it if you could bring me this. Yeah, I know it seems expensive for what it is, but my current one is a cheapo, and it smells like an electrical fire...also, I have a two year old and one with a cord just won't cut it.


I would also love one of these. It would be so nice to have fresh cilantro and basil all year long...I'll try really hard not to kill it.


And, just to prove I'm still (sort of) a kid at heart...please bring me this or this. Yes, I'm serious, and I don't know why, I just kind of want them.


And finally, if it's not too much trouble and you can find the room in your sleigh, this would make me a believer!


Thanks for your time, Stacey


Okay, so that's my wish list (and no, I'm not actually expecting anyone to buy me these things, I was just wasting time on the Internet, and thought I'd give you all something to look at!).


This was the face (paired with a demonic laugh) that Walter and I were given the other night at dinner when we yelled at Estella not to tease the dog:
We would say, "Don't tease the dog." And she would crack up and yell "tee-tee." which we can only assume meant "tease", then we would say it again and she would crack up again and so on. She found it quite hilarious that we actually expect her to not tease the dog. Poor Peanut...she may never stop shaking!

Monday, December 1, 2008

check, check and check

I'm feeling very accomplished today...four items checked off of my to do list.

Check...Estella's book is done! See full images here. I'm very pleased with it, but if I ever have to do another one, it will be much less involved...
Check... A custom Fritter order is off to the UK. Check her out here.
Check... I also finally broke down and ordered boxes (and tissue) to ship Fritters in. I now have more boxes than I may ever need, but at least they'll be shipped in style.

Check...I have all of our Christmas cards (except the one's awaiting new addresses) addressed and stamped and ready to go.
I'm also almost entirely done with my Christmas shopping...a couple more little things to get, but otherwise done (be nice...I can hear you all groaning at how disgusting my organizational obsession is). I wanted to be done and wrapped and shipped early enough this year so I could actually enjoy the holidays, and not have to spend them fighting for a parking space, or waiting for an hour at the post office to pay ridiculous amounts to get presents to people on time.

So, all in all, a rather successful couple of days...gaining ground on what was feeling like an insurmountable list of tasks!!

I've also started a couple of new ladies and I'm feeling very excited about them...hopefully I'll have some pics to share soon.

And in Estella news, (cuz I know that's what most of you want to hear about) she's now very into colors. "Green" seems to be the word of the week...oh, that and "crap" which she so charmingly repeated after yours truly. I know, I know...I need to watch my language but let's be honest, it could have been way worse!

She also wants to watch Rudolph a thousand times a day. She refers to Rudolph as a deer, but calls him "NeeNee". I guess I can see how he sort of resembles Peanut, it's gotta be the ginormous ears. I bought Santa Claus is Coming to Town today, just to switch it up...no need to burn out on Christmas movies a month before Christmas...we'll see if it's as big a hit!