Hello New Life!

Ah, It is nice to blog again. There is so much to share. I have moved! I am now back in good ole Kentucky! Farm life was fun for a short time and although I have no solid plans, I am here again in the Bluegrass State. I now live the life of an adventurer! No obligations to tie me down, no job to waste my time, its just me and Charger. We go on walks, runs, and play ball! Sometimes we sew together and watch movies. We like to stay up late and sleep in late. We are the King and Queen of our tiny one bedroom kingdom. Envious aren't you?

I am fervently searching for employment, but I might as we soak up the good times while I can, right? I am amazed at everything here, the gas prices, the dog park, and the proximity of everything to me. It unlike anything I've ever known, but that's coming from a small town farm girl. Although I have no idea what I am going to do here, besides school, I know this is the right place for me to do it!

Now, time for some PHOTOS!  

Dad saran wrapping the trailer with my things.

Ah, the joys of moving. I should say, the messes of moving.

Farmer's Market!

I hope to share much more excitement with you soon! Prayers for my job search are much appreciated!

Visiting the Horse Capital of the World, (second to my own house)

On Sunday, I packed up my car and went to my favorite state, Kentucky! In case you don't already know, I am looking into moving to Lexington and becoming a librarian. I needed to get a feel for what the area has to offer and where I could be living. I was feeling optimistic and excited to live "in town" and have good friends around me. Making new friends has been really difficult and really slow here in the Bloom. I spend a lot of my time and money visiting Kentucky and it seems like a move might be the best idea. Unfortunately the trip didn't exactly make me feel confident. I'll explain later.  But I am glad to know what my options are.  But this trip certainly did give me the opportunity to spend time with some of my favorite people in the entire world!

Brittany was on her way to Summer in the Son at KCU.




Kendra took us to the coolest place. FRO JOS! I have discovered I LOVE frozen yogurt. I liked it before and now I LOVE it! 



A blanket, some grass, YOGURT, and best friends!

Me and my yogurt creation: chocolate and strawberry yogurt, nuts, strawberries, and mint cookies!



Hello MICHIGAN! Anna Dawn :)




We went to a dog park. I had never been to one before. I almost wanted to go dog shopping! So many beautiful dogs. The Cox's took Scout. It was fun to see her run with friends. At this point I was really missing my sweet dears.



My Lexington friend, Devin invited me to Jazz in the Park! Although, when we got there I couldn't find him and so we sat with some other cool peeps! Scout came too!

Here is the story of the complications with my move. At first I made a list all the places within what I wanted to spend and I started calling. Most of the answers were, no aggressive breeds... Excuse me?! This is the most frustrating thing to hear. These are my children! They are perfect. And why is it that just because of what they look like, they are "aggressive." I am offended. Anyway, I did like the place that allowed aggressive, flesh tearing dogs. But it is just slightly out of what I wanted to spend. I hope that I can continue to trust God to open doors and show me what I should do. Its seems that I have survived 23 years doing that and maybe I'll survive several more with the same outlook.

Here is Charger the Aggressive.

And here he is with his sister, Delorean the Flesh ripper. Don't get too close!!

This was the beautiful view I had this morning from my front yard.



Although we don't have lots of trees or anys hills, central Illinois has the most sky. I think its beautiful.



Flying off the shelves!

More and more orders from my adoring fans! (And don't worry other adoring fans, I am working on your requests as well!) Ok ok, lets get serious. Relay for Life. I have been on a team before, "The Cancer Kicking College Kids!" This year two of my friends are organizing a Little Miss Relay Pageant, Rachel King of R&G Photography and Mallory Crouse a past Marion County Queen. They asked me to donate my time and reasources to helping with the pageant by making the winners sashes. I was delighted to help! Here's what I came up with.

I hope you all are able to help your local Relay for Life! Its so much fun to participate and you cannot deny the cause!

Custom Orders are so much fun!

I have had 2 requests for multiple of the Happy Little Acorn keychains from my etsy shop. I was so flattered that everyone likes them so much! I really enjoy making specific things for people that they request specially. I think it really adds to the magic of the item. That specific item was made especially for you by me. At least I think its a bit magical. :)

Here's a glimpse into the creation of the 13 Happy Little Acorns I made recently. Its amazing what you can do with some felt, buttons, and of course..... HEAT N BOND! (love that stuff!)

Here are the acorn tops. Lots and lots of buttons! I'll need to replenish my brown button supply! Donations are welcome!

Here are the finished Happy Little Acorns! You can see how they are indeed happy and little. You are smiling right now at how cute they are.

Yee Ha!

 This Memorial Day weekend was full of adventures! Amanda's wedding was on Saturday and it turned into a high school reunion! I got to go swimming for the first time of the season at Rachel King's parent's gigantic pool. And we celebrated my little sister Brooke's 9th birthday! She had a cowgirl themed party complete with a horse cake and everything!

I love this! Cowgirl Granny and Cowgirl Grandma ready to lasso up some CAKE!

 

 

 

 

 Even though I've never had my own, I really enjoy going to weddings. Its been quite the experience graduating college and now going through the motions of nearly everyone I know getting married. I liked going to weddings before but now that I actually know the couples, its really special. 

Amanda had just changed to get ready to leave for Disney World! I'm jealous!

Congrats to Amanda and Kyle!

Kindle cover: easy as felt!

I love having an etsy shop but it seems that I do my best work when people ask me personally for something they want, or when I'm making a gift. I work better with a looming deadline and at the last minute. Therefore making up extra items to sell in a shop is extremely difficult for me. They aren't necessarily going to be "flying off the rack." So then I have all these lovelies sitting in my studio longing for a home. Besides aren't things better made fresh to order? That's what I thought!

Here's a sneak peek into a project I'm working on for a lovely friend. She told me she wanted a kindle cover. I'd never made one before but I was so anxious to figure it out, I started experimenting right away. She hasn't seen it yet, so Lela if you like it, Hooray! If not, I can do a different design. It was fun and easy, so no sweat!

It's the "Book Tree." In a perfect world, books... grow on trees, I guess.

Kinda fuzzy, but here is a tiny felt book growing on the Book Tree. If you can read the words and tell me what book it is, I'll give you a prize!

This tiny brown book actually opens!

 It was really fun and easy to make the Kindle cover. You can pretty much do anything with some felt and a dash of creativity! Oh and heat n bond! I LOVE heat n bond! Also buttons..... and embroidery floss. Love it.



Look at these sweethearts! I peeked outside while I was crafting and saw Toothless, the kitty and Charger, the pup snoozing together. Sweetest thing ever!

The Pink Elephant

 Most of you would agree that an intriguing antique store is a worth a visit, right? Well there is this one antique store in particular that is incredibly intriguing! Its called the Pink Elephant and it is in Livingston, IL right off of Interstate 55.  I first saw it on a journey to St. Louis last summer and I promised myself I would stop one day. This past Monday was that day!  What really caught my attention were the HUGE lawn decorations in front of their store. There is a giant space ship, tricycle, man, elephant, and ice cream cone. This place was practically screaming my name! When I went in I realized it was an old school and nearly everything was set up in the gym with booths.

Space ship!

Giant sized tricycle and a giant sized man beckoning to passersby, namely ME!

Hooray for a Twistee Treat!

I walked through aisles of hats and toys and dishes and PURSES.

I loved this bag! This wasn't the one I bought, but isn't it lovely?

Now, I love purses. And I'm not about to spend over $20 on one. I never have and I never will. Why? Because I don't have to. Think about it, you go to Macy's and you find a bag you love and you pay $52 for it. BIG DEAL. Where's the fun in that?! Hooray, you went to a store, found a bag hanging next to a million other bags, and you paid enough money for a weeks worth of groceries. Congratulations. BUT, when you open up your mind to the thrill of the hunt you have something to be proud of... Whats that, you like my bag? Yeah I went to an OLD ABANDON SCHOOL and sifted through DEAD PEOPLE'S MEMORIES and found this purse. Its a Valerie Stevens, real leather, made in 1983. I paid $12. Macy's can eat it. ZING!

Good times, old friends in St. Louis

I'll have to say, this past weekend was the most fun I have had in a long time! My friend, Amanda, is getting married next weekend and so it was time for a girl party, bachelorette style! After some yummy Cheesecake Factory, it was time to shake a tail feather! We rocked and rolled for many hours. I felt those cheesecake calories melt away. As the only completely unattached bachelorette, I was dancing with all the dudes. (Okay not all the dudes, probably about 3 of them.)  It was so weird, because that never happens. I even got a free drink out of the deal. Winning!



Holy smokes, she will be a beautiful bride! I'm so happy for her and Kyle. (Also, I made the veil and sash she's wearing!)



Party Girls!

 We got back to our hotel and had some serious girl talk. I've missed girl talk! We went to see the movie Bridesmaids the next day. I liked it, but there were some parts... I closed my eyes, I plugged my ears. Go see it, you'll understand. Yeesh.

Okay and then I visited KEVIN! Kevin has been one of my best friends since my sophomore year of high school when I tutored him in Chemistry. We made homemade pizza, I met some of his new city friends, and we laughed a lot. I really enjoyed our stroll through Forest Park. We came to the conclusion that Kevin needs a dog and found the exact one he needs, Sheldon the dachshund. These are some of my favorite pics we took!

Kevin got me this owl ring and my nail polish is "Gunmetal Grey" from Avon.

*Bachelorette pics are Amanda's*

14 Inches!

I've actually had this hair cut for months now, but I'm just now sharing. I've been growing my hair out for nearly two years. Let me tell you, it was long! But with my unfortunate hard rust well water that turns the sinks yellow and looks like pond water that I shower in, my hair was mildly unhealthy and wildly unruly. My decision to chop it off was spur of the moment and I knew once I had thought it, I wouldn't rest until it was off. And because it was so long, I wanted to donate it to Locks of Love. On my way home from my Great Smoky Mountain Trip I called my sister and she made me an appointment at her salon. (I have a trust issue with hairstylists and my sister's new cut looked good.) So I prepared to make a leap of faith and trust Main Street Hair Salon in Clinton, IL. Katrina, the roommate, and I got home around 5:30p.m. and my appointment was at 6:30p.m. No time would be wasted!

Look at those long locks!

I didn't have to wait at all at the hair place, right into the chair I went, as the lady asked me, "Are you sure about this?" Was I sure? I thought, Don't ask me that! I'm here aren't I? Just chop it and don't ask questions! She brushed it out, put it in a pony tail and cut. She cut off about 14 inches. 14 inches of me that felt more like saying goodbye to college and an old boyfriend than just losing hair. Immediately afterward, I started to panic. I had to fight back tears even! But my stylist was really reassuring and as we chatted I found out she knows my uncle and her son works where we buy our horse feed. Small world, right?

I'm trying to look calm.

Finally she was finished and I loved it! Never thought I would, but I did. And as I was about to pay, she told me it was free! I thought maybe it was because I had donated it. But nonetheless, it was a nice surprise.
*After photos to come!*

The Great Smoky Mountains!

I have a lovely friend who hails from a lovely part of the country. Meet Brittany from the Great Smoky Mountains! (Now she lives Ohio, but I won't hold that against her.)

Brittany had this brilliant idea to plan a spring break trip to her Smoky Mountains. I thought, now that is some good thinking! And we planned and planned for a darn wonderful trip. What do you suspect? IT WAS DARN WONDERFUL!

We met in Lexington where we got to visit with newlyweds, Ryan and Kendra! And we grabbed Keven and of course Katrina was along for the ride! We packed up and headed for The Great Smoky Mountains!  We were staying in a cabin in Pigeon Forge owned by some family friends of Brittany's. (with a hot tub!) We planned to hike up a Great Smoky Mountain, slide down a Great Smoky Mountain, and soak in the general brilliance of the Great Smoky Mountains! Here are some on the fun moments of our trip!

Keven, "The Newlyweds", and Katrina making ready to start our hike up The Great Smoky Mountains!

Brittany and I. We would not be so enthusiastic on the way down the mountain. YEESH!

This is Ryan's foot print. He was wearing those crazy toe shoe hiking things. Too bad they weren't waterproof. Snow on the trail, say whaaat?!

Climbing to the summit was really tough, not to mention terrifying. But look Kendra, we made it!

Ah, Mountains!

Celebrating Brittany's 21st in Gatlinburg!

Etsy Shop of the Week: FeltLLang

I was scoping around Etsy one day when I came across the sweetest things made with felt. Now I'm a "felter" myself and I cannot help but appreciate how lovely these things are!
Please take a look at FeltLLang!

Checkbook cover!

Cell Phone Case!

Card Wallet!