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!