A new venture ~

Ever since I was little I have dreamed of having a little business making toys. When I was twelve I actually payed for my pet rabbits' food by selling little felt toy bunnies at the local farmers market. I brought a spinning wheel and my two sweet pet rabbits - Toby and Samwise Gamgee - and was able to sell every toy I had made, and had a wonderful time!
I think that was actually the first time someone told me about Etsy.
"You should sell these online," a really nice lady said. "There's a new website that hosts small business."
Of course, then I got distracted by (homeschool) high school, getting sick, and worrying about college... and, well, I have a bad case of Procrastination.
But now (drum roll please!) I am finally making the leap and opening my Etsy shop!
It's called The White Bird Studio, and I am planing on opening it on November 1st, All Saints Day ~ I need all the help I can get, and how great is it to have all the saints as patrons of my shop?
There will be an Autumn girl or two, a few little Christmas Elves, and some sweet Winter maidens. If I am able to get everything done in time, they might be joined by some other little surprises, but we'll have to wait and see!
I am so excited about finally starting my little shop, and I hope you enjoy seeing my little people in progress!

Remember September

I am, apparently, very bad at this blogging thing.

Every time I sit down at the computer I cant think of a single thing to write! 

It's like writing an essay for school all over again...

We did finally get our first bit of cooler weather this past week, which is amazingly exciting after a summer of 100+ degrees! I opened all the windows in the house the moment it got into the 70's. The cats decided that this must be winter, and began to sleep the day away curled up in the warmest bright spot on the rug. 

It's warmed back up to feel like summer again now, and I'm drinking many cups of tea, knitting woolen socks, and wishing for fall. 

Anyway, this is me, trying to begin this blog in earnest. Hopefully I can get some good pictures of what I am sewing the next time the sun comes out, and post an actual blog post sometime in the next few days.

Until then, thank you for stopping by my little corner of the internet! 

It was so lovely to meet you ~

By the sea

Nearly every summer we spend a few days by the ocean just taking a rest from the the world and breathing in the salty air. We pack up a bunch of black and white movies, at least five books per person,  a couple of knitting projects, and a bag of watercolor paints. We look forward to those beautiful calm days all year, and never want to leave once we are there. We always get home wondering what we can do to make Life more like our seaside days, and this year we are trying even harder to figure it out.  I think we have started getting the beginnings of a plan...

1. Make time for art every day, even if it's just a couple of minutes, and what ever come out of it doesn't look anything like how you wanted it to.
2. Read more actual, paper and ink, hold in you hand, page turning books. Kindles only sometimes count.
3. Watch TV and movies together, even if it's not something you particularly like. It might still make you laugh :)
4. Go outside deliberately,  not just in order to get somewhere, but simply to be outside. To look at the flowers, watch the sunrise,  and find bird tracks in the sand.
5. That tea can help every situation!

Given,  that last one isn't exactly news, but it's good to be reminded of the important things!
I hope everyone's summers are going beautifully,  and I'll see if I can learn how to write more then one blog post per season!

Little Amity

This is Miss Amity, my first real attempt at making a doll from the pattern on up. She is mostly inspired by pictures of handmade cloth dolls from the mid 1800's, but once I reached her face, I couldn't help put embroider it!  I have only found a very few pictures of cloth dolls from the 1800's who's faces are not simply painted (or very beautifully painted, but I did not want to attempt that just yet!). Most of the embroidered faces I have seen are on very sweet little African American dolls, so I may have to try making a copy of one of those next. When I realized Amity was not going to be a perfect reproduction doll, I decided to just have fun experimenting, giving her hand-spun hair with a braided bun, and hands inspired by Izannah Walker dolls.
I hadn't realized that I never got a good head-to-toe picture of her, but I'll post more pictures as soon as I have her underpinnings completed ~ for now I am having a very fun time imagining tiny petticoats and miniature leather shoes!

Back to sewing for me ~ what do you all think of my little girl?

Two little friends for a birthday girl

 

Just before Christmas a little friend of ours turned seven. Since her birthday just right around Martinmas, she asked to have a Lantern Walk party! Can you imagine anything more lovely?

And what other present could  you give a sweet little girl for  her Lantern-Walk-Birthday then two little woodland people carrying their own little lanterns?

Now, I have to tell you, I am still not happy with their faces. The little brother's eyes seems a bit... But I was cutting it a bit close, and barely got their smiles drawn before we had to head out to the party, wrapping them up in purple tissue ribbons on the car ride.
I've been working on drawing and painting better faces all winter, and am getting much more confident ~

I hope everyone is doing well, and having a lovely winter!

a change in season

We thought it was warm, and then August came.

the northern part of our family is telling us about nights in the 50's and morning cool enough for sweaters. I was driving around with the air conditioner on high and a thermometer that reads 106.

In some ways it's nicer when it gets that hot ~ the air dries out.

But we were all dreaming of cool breezes,

chilled dark mornings and warm autumn lanterns

It was enough to make you shake your fist at the weather,

and start getting out ingredients for nutmeg and cinnamon and honey Apple Crisp.

Then you'd realize how hot and tired you are, 

 and the honey and spices go back in the cupboard.

And then September came, and the light suddenly changed.

and some days would stay below ninety,

and I stopped having the urge to pour every pot of tea over ice.

But, of course, the turn in the weather came with a sneeze and a tower of tissue boxes, pots of hot tea and mugs of honey and lemon,

and a few weeks curled up and wrapped up in a blanket on the couch.

And our southern version of an Indian summer came, almost as hot as true summer, and air so thick and humid you'd rather just stay indoors and turn the air conditioning as cold as it should be outside.

But finally - finally! -  the first days of winter brought in the feeling of fall!
Yesterday came Martinmas, dark and windy.
Today the sun shines gently and there is a true cool snap in the air.

Happy Martinmas!

Vanishing Spring

The spring went by so quickly this year - though, it could just seem that way to me because I was sick for most of it…

I missed all my spring planting, though one third-generation heirloom tomato came up by itself - and only gave one tomato (but it was a really good tomato!). The lemon balm and mint have overwhelmed the lettuce bed, the squash we bought months ago still languishes in its little black pot, and the entire right side of the yard has gone insanely wild from the near daily rain showers. 

And it's hot. 

We may be used to temperatures in the mid 90s, and 60% humidity, but that doesn't mean we like it!  

Thank God for air conditioning. 

I miss the cool spring breezes, and all the bright new green leaves and pretty flowers, but it's fun having all the family home for the summer. And when we can brave the heat (and the swarms of Mosquitoes…), we are taming the garden bit by bit. 

Hopefully we can get in a fall crop of tomatoes, and make up for the missed spring :) 

The Year of Mortality

 It has been a hard year so far. Not bad, just hard. And filled with lots of changes. I have been, rather morbidly, calling it the Year of Mortality.

More funerals and emergency room visits, hospital waiting rooms and doctors appointments then we usually have in a year, all squeezed into a few months.

There seems to be a shadow of melancholy over our world, even though in some ways there is more happiness and contentment in my family - everything seems to be falling into place.

And life is actually quite peaceful right now.

I'm remembering that a few simple happinesses make any day beautiful.

I am carrying a drop spindle in my purse again, finding new old folksongs and singing all day long. I am reading because I enjoy it, and walking barefoot in the garden to count the monarch caterpillars and bring the turtles strawberry tops.

It's almost as if all the bad has shocked us into realizing all the good.

And right now?
Life's good.

Quite Day

Today was dark and cloudy, always just on the verge of raining. The perfect day for reading with a cup
of tea, though not the type of day that makes you want to do anything else.
It was just cool enough to leave the door open, so I brought my mess of crafting supplies that had exploded all over my bedroom out to the living room and put on Bach's Saint Matthew's Passion. I felt like I did not get much done, but when I was putting everything away, suddenly my room looked much better! No, I don't have before and after pictures. You'll just have to take my word for it that it was a true explosion that I'd be embarrassed to show anyone anyway :)

We are hearing so much about the snow up north, but that type of cold is such an alien concept down here. The little oak in the front is already budding out, and we are carefully guarding our potted lemon tree from any hint of cold or wind. It is covered in bosoms, and must have thirty little green lemons already formed! Last year some unexpected weather caused the poor little tree to drop all it's flowers, and all but three little lemons. We are crossing our fingers for this year…