Happy Christmas!

It's Christmas and we have received so many holiday messages from friends and family - long epistles about health and joy, short wishes hoping that the holiday is "quick and painless", lots of editorializing about whether to say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays. Goodness. Here is wishing you pure goodness this winter season. And joy. And health.

If you are feeling overwhelmed this morning, I hope that you will just remember one of my favorite quotes (or Hallmark sentiments...I honestly don't know or care, I just love it) - how do kids/friends/people spell love? T-I-M-E. In these coming days, I hope that you are giving yourself the gift of time with the people who you care about the most.

From our family to yours - happy day. xo

Velociraptor Book Journals

Well, I have a story. I have been selling my ephemera journals on etsy for a few years now and honestly, they just don't get that many views. When I can show my books in person, people connect with them and it is so fun to see. But online - hmmmm - not so much. So I was telling my family how I needed to rename my collage books with all the surprise papers and I may as well name them something crazy because I won't get fewer views with a fun and crazy name.

 And Joey suggested that I re-name them Velociraptor Journals. And then we had a very animated discussion of what this would look like and how I would market them. And Joey (should I remind you that he is 13?) got totally excited and all my kids were on board. So what else could I do?

Viola. Velociraptor Journals - same great quality writing paper and same diverse, fun selection of surprise papers inside all with a different name. And a different label designed by this one:

I have a few left from my Black Friday sale - in my etsy shop! xo

Flowers to the People!

Just a little note that my Upcycled Book Journals are now for sale at Flowers to the People on Cherokee. Flowers to the People is a sustainable flower shop owned by Bridget Weible - her work is great and her shop is filled with gift items all made by local artists. Cherokee Street is so fun at this time of year - a perfect place to buy local, have a great meal and spend time with friends!

Flowers to the People

2317 Cherokee Street

St. Louis

Black Friday Sale!!!

Black Friday Sale - November 29th

My Home

3070 Hawthorne Blvd.

St. Louis 63104

Hope you'll join us!

So much to share...

Lots going on over here and my little blog has been neglected to say the least. I didn't post about Faith's 15th birthday, so I'll put her first. Let's call this photo, "Predriving Teen with Huge Potato"?

We dug our sweet potatoes yesterday and had our biggest harvest yet. The soil just keeps getting better and better.

We had so many that David and I loaded them into a wagon and walked our block giving them away. We still have plenty to get us through most of the winter. And talking to neighbors was a great way to ring in these shorter days - the "rhythm" of which I do not always embrace.

It's November and I'm now getting ready for my Black Friday sale. I'll post the invite to that tomorrow. If you live in St. Louis, and like to shop on Black Friday, I hope you'll pop in.

Life is very good, but busy in ways we have not been prepared for. Having a kid in elementary, middle and high school is challenging (the schedules alone - oh my!) in many ways and we are missing some quiet family days over here.

My business has about three directions in which it can grow, and I'm still discerning all the possibilities. And did I mention that all of my kids have Celiac Disease? This means that our kitchen life has changed significantly - again, all manageable, but still feels quite big.

And finally, I think I went through a little creative crisis this year - spending more time quantifying my work and where is compares, what is is worth, rather than just enjoying it. My blog life just disappeared and this is probably the biggest factor in this.

So after the new year, I am planning to re-vamp this space completely. I want to post about my creative process without worrying about the product. I want to bring back Studio Tour Thursdays - I know my friends are missing it and I love doing it. And I want to bring a food component to this blog since our family has converted to being gluten free - I won't be posting as an expert or a "foodie" - I'll be posting as a student and a person who is "in it" in real time as we learn and make changes and grow. Thanks for checking in. xo

Shop Update

 

 

Just a quick note to let you know I am updating my shop all week! Finally getting ready for our Black Friday sale (details coming soon). Happy Fall! xo

Goodbye summer...

It went by way too quickly. It always does, but especially this year it seems. My absence here has surprised even me, but the Fall will bring a renewal in many ways....I'm sure of it. Hope you'll check back the first week of September. xo

Around here lately

 We've been camping with friends...

 

Humor abounds! (If only you could travel to the Ministry of Magic through the floor by the toilets - pee pee problems would be solved on an international level...sigh...). Joey is especially thrilled by this sticker that Faith found on etsy.

It took several false starts, but I finally have a family hooked on Rummikub - do you know this game? I have so many memories of playing it with my grandma and cousins...and then with friends on the beach when I was in grad school...and then with David when we were dating. This is my third summer of pulling it out sheepishly and saying, "Let's try one more time?" and viola - this summer it stuck!

And it doesn't look like much, but I'm painting. Those might be two of my favorite words "I'm painting!"

Feels great! Wishing you an amazing weekend! xo

This week in our garden...

We're joining Amanda on Thursdays to report on our garden's progress (or lack thereof).

I have tomatoes planted in four places throughout our yard. So far we have harvested zero tomatoes which is very sad. St. Louis has had the most bizarre, cool summer and I just assumed the heat would catch up with us and stay until November or so...but that does not seem to be the case. Time will tell if we get a harvest.

 My peppers look healthy, but they are stunted and again, almost no fruit.

Our carrots are growing like crazy - they should be fun for the kids to pick.

 

This was our chamomile...

This is our chamomile. It's a perennial, so I'm not quite sure what to do with it. It's so pretty when it's blooming. I'll be googling about about pruning and care later today.

 My sweet potatoes seem to be doing well - that's great news!

 And I have about 30 figs growing! Hooray! Although animals ate every single one of our apples this year (at least 50 apples) so we'll see who gets to these first.

Here's a detailed photo of a fig leaf - I think they are breathtaking.

In other sad garden news - our peach tree died and our raspberries have yielded perhaps 15 berries. The weeds in my berry garden are overwhelming...I need to do some research on this too. But it's still gardening - still tons of fun. Hope your gardens are thriving! xo

This week in our garden...

I'm joining Amanda today to report on my garden. This year, I would describe my garden's growth as "slow and straggly" (not steady). It still is great fun, but our harvesting has been almost non-existent and we are half way to August!

Our grapes are beautiful, but alas, I didn't net them again this year. We are thinking about cutting them all off 1. to give the vine a break, and 2. to avoid "bird poop season" on our porch which is so gross and lasts a solid two weeks. Ew.

Faith has already made her famous pickles!

Swiss chard is new to our garden. So gorgeous, but we can't keep up with it!

I transplanted carrots and it worked - more on this soon because it was awesome!

Hard to see, but we had our first garlic harvest this year. The wood you see in the first photo is for our next raised bed which will be for garlic and onions only so we can dry them out a bit easier when the time comes. LOVE growing garlic - so fun to know something's thriving in your garden all winter long.

 Soybeans are new too - we're growing them in a container. So far, so good.

This is a new bed for red and yellow potatoes. I know they're not that healthy, but we love 'em, so we figured we should at least try to grow our own. Now that we are gluten free, I'm feeling cautious about using hay (dried wheat grasses?) to cover the potatoes. Need to make some calls, because so far, this is about $82 in dirt to keep them covered (exaggerating, but only a little).

Hope you're enjoying your Summer! xo

Blogging, Blogging - I miss you so...

It's Summer here for our family - our kids finished their school years yesterday. I am missing blogging so very much. Need to get back here, but don't exactly see it happening immediately. Hopefully soon though. In the meantime, I joined the Index Card a Day Challenge today - participants are decorating one 3x5 index card everyday - no pressure, no overthinking...you (I) just do it. More soon! xo

Abundance

 

 

  

We ate our first strawberry today. And by "we" I mean, "I". And it was delicious! Today is Mother's Day. And it's May. A month when our kids' schedules are crazy - even according to them. I'm feeling spread a little thin and like I'd like my world to be a little smaller. And our family is in the season where our children's worlds are only getting bigger - and that is exactly right. So I am wishing for the blessing of a little balance and giving thanks always for the abundance in our days. Happy May! xo