The Crafting Bug.

Sorry, long time no post! Its been crazy round here, or rather I've been sick on and off for about, oh, 5 weeks now. But I thought I'd share something I've been working on.


For those of you who know me I'm very creative, but for about 6 years now I haven't done too much with it. I used to focus all my creativity into painting and illustration, but I had a lot of setbacks right after I graduated and that on top of having two kids it just kinda fell by the wayside.


Right after SCAD, I had four book deals for illustration, three of which fell through because the small publishing company lost funding for the project I was working on. That right, three of them. I also spent about $1500 dollars on mailer to companies looking for illustration work and when I heard back at all it was to tell me they weren't looking to hire anyone because they didn't have the funding, but I was more than welcome to submit my art for free for "experience". Which any art school will tell you is wrong. And if you do this, you just make it harder for other artists to make a living. 


Needless to say, I was discouraged....


But, now that I have a smidgen of free time and thanks to the wonderful world of blogging I have discovered by love for crafting! 


It actually started as a solution to my front door dilemma. I wanted a beautiful wreath for the front door for Christmas, but when I started shopping around for one they were either super tacky or over $40 dollars!  After some online browsing I found a tutorial for making yarn wreaths and out Christmas one turned out beautifully.  So when Valentines day came around the corner I tried again and this was the result:

So this weekend I moved onto a new project that I have wanted to do for a long time...wooden nursery letters! Ever since I knew Eden existed I wanted them, but most online sites to order these charge $80 dollars!. I thought I would just get some large wooden letter and paint them, but its never quite gotten there. But, with the power of ModgePodge and some really pretty scrapbooking paper I give you Eden's letters:

You know I had to choose Bunnies and Strawberries, right :P

Happy Fourth Birthday, Eden Bean!

Here we are...Eden is hours away from being four years old. I cannot believe it! It is a lot harder to believe than her turning three. I guess because four is such a round number, if I started college on the day she was born I would have another degree now!  Also five years ago motherhood seemed like a distant future, but now not only do I have a child, but she is a little person.







 Eden has so much personality, as many of you know. She loves to draw, color, sing, dance. She is very sweet and very DRAMATIC. She has a wonderful relationship with both Aaron and I. But, those relationships are very different . She loves her brother very much, although we are getting to the point where he is old enough to fight back.


I wake up EVERY day grateful for this little person, she really is my sunshine. I can never stay mad at her for too long because of those big brown eyes. I follow several blogs about other families, some of them are very sad and involve child loss. Aaron says I torture myself by reading about children and heartbreak, but it reminds me that children are a gift to be treasured. If anything, it just makes me hug my children more.




   I am also so grateful for the additional love my children get from their family. I have never seen two luckier kids when it comes to family. No matter which branch of the family is it, there is such an outpouring of love for my children that it brings tears to my eyes. I did not grow up with a large extended family, but my children have love from their relatives around every corner. Birthdays are the times we celebrate our children, but what I truly celebrate is the life my child has. Think about when she is an adult, what wonderful memories and feelings she will have of all of you! I am getting very sentimental, but having spent most of the day with Eden, I am fully aware of what an amazing little girl she is! My little family unit is everything I dreamed of as a child when I thought of my family. Happy Birthday, Eden Beanie!

Ahhhh, Christmas.

We have really been getting into the Christmas Spirit this year. I even made a Yarn/felt wreath for the front door. Did you know having a wreath on your front door is supposedly good luck? Eden helped me make cookies, and by help I mean she checked on me every few hours and I slaved over 15 dozen cookies, but I digress...


We leave for Indy in two days! SO excited...and lots of pictures to come.. That is my goal this year...to take pictures. The last three years I completely spaced on taking pictures and I would get home and be like " why don't I have any pictures???


Anywys..Merry Christmas!

Yay, its almost Christmas (... kinda)

So it's November 15th and for some reason I am really excited about Christmas this year. I am not sure if is the fact that I finally did what I have been saying for years and I have actually already bought some Christmas presents ( which in itself is a Christmas miracle) or if its the three almost four year old who is VERY excited about Christmas.  Eden wants to do it all, she wants to make cookies, wrap presents, put up the tree. Eden's favorite thing so far is buying a present for one of her cousins. She tells me that as soon as it snows it will be time to go to Inny-anda (Indiana) for Christmas. On a side note, we saw Santa at Starbucks tonight. He has been the Santa at our mall for some 15 years now, but tonight he was "off-duty". Well, Its official...I've broken out the Christmas music....

A Little Behind...

So life has been a little crazy and I forgot to post in a while....


First of all we had a great time trick-or-treating this Halloween! Eden was Snow White and Liam was a Lion (of course). Eden liked carrying around her little pumpkin lantern and holding Liam's hand. Halfway through the night Eden went up to two little girls and they became pals ( she even went up to the houses all by herself...with her friends). Three houses told me that Liam got the award for "cutest trick-or-treater". Eden loved to tell them " he's not a real lion!"

We also traveled up to Indy to go to Great Gordon's Funeral. It was a beautiful service and a beautiful day. I generally don't care for funerals, but I was very touched to see so much love and it is hard to be too sad when the person had such a wonderful life and family.  Eden was very sad to come home from Indiana, she cried a long time on the road and she can not wait for Christmas because she wants to see all of her family again.

Unfortunately we blew a (inevitable) tire about 30 minutes into out trip. It delayed us a couple hours, but it happened close to Franklin and a cop stopped to help us change the tire. The best news...the steering wheel doesn't shake anymore..thanks Russ!!

Also She drew a pirate!

Ears Tubes..take two (and minus two Adenoids)

So Liam did okay during his surgery, he went into the OR at 730 am and we were on our way home at 930am. This times we got held up because his procedure was longer and he had an IV (eek). After the surgery they think the tracheal tube irritated his bronchi and he was very congested and coughing so they gave him a breathing treatment before we could go. Poor, sleep deprived mommy forgot diapers and a sippy cup. If your child ever has tubes DO NOT FORGET THE SIPPY!  Your child will hate you the whole ride home... But, now he is awake from a nap and in a great mood, so all is well!

Ah Pumpkins!

I absolutely love fall and today we did one of my favorite fall activities...pumpkin carving! I think I am a little overzealous regarding Fall and Halloween as I was not allowed to celebrate it as a child. I bought my first pumpkin in college. Now, as soon as Starbucks brings out the pumpkin spice latte ( and yes I do consider Starbucks as a herald of the seasons), I am breaking out my cinnamon apple candles and pumpkin bread. And of course I loved Fall enough to marry someone kinda wonderful during it! But, I digress.... This year we found a great pumpkin at Cagle's family farm. It makes me think of our carving last year and how much time has past and how big the kids are getting.


Look at the difference....

Fall 2010

Fall 2011

We also got a little more bold on the pumpkin design this year!

Happy Fall everyone!