Mr. Reliable

I'm back from a wonderful holiday break with some new artwork:

He's called 'A Reliable Friend' and comes in blue, pink, green, and orange.

These mix and match critters were some of the very first things I sold on etsy and I still love making them all these years later. I love seeing what color and animal combinations customers come up with. Even when I think something is not going to look good together, I get it printed out and more often than not I'm surprised at how much I like the grouping. I think these big guys are going to be a nice addition for the mix and match.

What do you think!?

Flickr Favorites - Time of Year

1. Doily wall art, 2. New Year's Eve, 3. Untitled, 4. rust 30s british

It's that time of year again.

The holidays are upon us! It's time for baking, packing, and traveling to be with family and friends. And it's the first year I get to celebrate the holidays with my sweet son!

He has a thanksgiving outfit, and a Christmas outfit that I wish he could wear now. We don't do fancy outfits with him crawling and exploring every second of the day. For Thanksgiving he has a simple onesie which reads 'thankful for daddy' and matching brown and white striped cotton pants. Christmas will consist of a PJ set in gray with santa, trees, and reindeer all over them. And a matching Santa bib of course!

For now I must take care of the baking and packing part and wait another day for the traveling to see friends and family.

ps. Dear Artmind. I don't really like baking, but every year I find I enjoy it just a little more than the year before. This year I am going to attempt making a peppermint bark with toasted almonds. Wish me luck! :)

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Gift Wrap Alternative

A bunch of new bags were recently added to Pine Hill Forest, and I am in love!

I love the different combinations of fabrics combined with the unique felted brooches and zipper pulls.

It got me thinking about the various uses for the bags. There is the obvious pencil case, makeup bag, purse organizer, etc. But what about using them as an alternative to gift wrap? I would love to see one of these bags peeking out the top of a stocking with a pair of pretty socks inside, or a new set of markers for a child who loves to draw. The possibilities really are endless, and instead of throwing paper away afterwards you'd have a beautiful bag to keep using!

Here are some of the recent additions which I love:

Poodle Bag

Fresh Poppies Bag

Bubble Blast Bag

Swimming Sisters Bag

Poppy Bouquet Bag

West Hills Horses Bag

Lindy Leaf Bag

You can check out these bags and more here.

Do you have a favorite?

Mine is definitely the Fresh Poppies Bag. I love the color combination, and the beautiful handmade felt zipper pull.

Flickr Favorites - Me Time

1. It's not you, it's..., 2. Bunny birthday cake 2, 3. secret garden, 4. Rococo Knit Shawl - 100% Organic Fairtrade Cotton

This past week I made some space for 'me time.' Not much mind you. There is a not-so-little 9 month old boy who keeps me on my toes at all times. But still, I did something I haven't done since that little boy entered my life.

Knit.

And not only knit, but knit for ME.

I'm working on a shawl. It's simple, but beautiful.

And when it's completed I'm going to tackle the gorgeous Rococo Shawl (picture four). I recently discovered that the pattern is available on Etsy through AtelierTPK. I can't wait to start it! It's getting a little cold in the year to be using just a wrap, but I hope to have it done for spring time use.

Boy it feels good to knit again!

ps.

The bunny picture is for my son.

He is obsessed with rabbits and was laughing when I brought the picture up on my computer.

I think I found a first birthday cake idea :)

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I'm so excited to show off my newest alphabet print!

I made the original individual animal alphabet prints a few years ago, and have been adding to them ever since. I have seven letters that have more than one animal, and always wished I could use them in other projects.

So I decided to do another poster/print with the animal prints, but utilizing some of the animals that are not in the original animal alphabet print. I love how it turned out! I decided to go with a horizontal orientation as well, just to change it up some.

Here they are with the 123's print:

What do you think!?

Flickr Favorites - Food

1. valentine's day to my baby, 2. Homemade Baby Food - Carrots, 3. Baby food, 4. Baby Food

The first Tuesday of every month is always a theme for our flickr favorites.

This month that theme was food! Great theme, right!?

I could have talked about my favorite foods, least favorite foods, or how in the last few years I've actually gotten somewhat decent at preparing food. The possibilities were endless!

But when you ask me about food these days it's usually in reference to what the little man is consuming. I never knew people were so passionate about how, and when, you should feed your child! I got a LOT of flack for choosing to formula feed our son, a choice that was made in the best interest of him and myself. It was a personal choice and one that to this day irritates the heck out of me that people try to 'scold' me for doing.

Fast forward to four months when I decided, along with his doctor, that we would start foods. Oh the horror! I had mom's from all over telling me how they waited until 6months, 9months even, and would never consider feeding their baby any food at 4months! I listened to these women, who have all raised healthy, happy children. And went on giving my little boy sweet potatoes, carrots, green beans, etc.

And all was well until those carrots. By the third day of carrots we had a full body rash on our hands. In the back of my mind were all those nagging mom's telling me what I was doing was wrong. We took him back to the doctors and discovered that it's not an allergy so much as a food that flares his eczema. We were told to stop carrots, and retry them down the road.

And on we went. One new food after another. 19 Fruits, 12 Veggies, 3 meats, and a host of various wheats later our only other hiccup was pineapple. About a week ago (just shy of 9 months of age) we tried carrots again and had no problem!

We only recently, as in 3 days ago, introduced him to the little baby puffs to help him learn about solid foods and self feeding. While many people do this sooner, we did it when we felt it was time.

So to summarize:

1) Baby food does not taste as gross as I thought it would.

2) If you were expecting a post about my favorite foods it would be: eggplant, anything spicy, and italian food

3) Least favorites? Anything that can get mushy (think bread with condiments on it), sandwiches made on sliced bread in general, and peanut butter.

4) I've learned to take in advice from other parents, but at the end of the day I should trust myself. I've raised a happy, healthy little boy just like the other moms, and I am proud of that.

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