saturday shopping list no. 4...

today's shopping list could be titled natural beauty... i think all of these items celebrate the beauty of nature in such lovely ways. i am choosing a few less items to focus on this week, but i am able to give a little more info about the work and why i chose it. enjoy!



1) the peaceful fruits. pear, apple, and fig plush bowl fillers, by la pomme- who wouldn't want to look at these lovely fruits all day?
2) bloom, and original fabric design, by daisy jane- a 27in x 18in, beautiful cotton linen fabric piece. this would make any project truly special.
3) green way organic wool soaker, by green way babywear- i could go on and on about the beauty of these diapers... they are truly a functional art piece! they are made from organic wool that has been spun on an antique spinning mule. if you aren't aware of the wonderful qualities of wool diapers check out her listing for more information... they are amazing!
4) a set of bears in love, by kg + ab (kgrandey)- this amazing piece is available as a reserve, usually. her shop is closed at the moment due to an illness in the family. heart her shop now and come back next month and grab these beauties!
5) linen runner, by jewelweeds- using sustainable and recycled materials, jewelweeds has simply beautiful and high quality items for the home that appear timeless.
6) shades of gray with eggplant and gold stripe multicolored striped baby woven scarf, by billy sue textiles- a beautiful hand woven scarf in cotton and cashmere. this is a special gift to give any child (and she's a finalist in the handmade kids contest, go check her out!)
7) large moss terrarium (circe), from made by mavis- these are just wonderful! i love the simple beautiful (and honestly, the low maintenance required) of these terrariums. what a great idea and lovely way to bring a little nature into your home or office.
8) ceramic terrarium desk frog, by mud puppy- here is the perfect addition to your terrarium, or anywhere for that matter! mud puppy has a really great, eclectic selection of work in the shop.
9) big tree little bird, modern baby or toddler applique quilt with organic cotton batting, made by all the numbers- this quilt is truly amazing. what a special blanket to wrap your child in and hand down to the next generation. it's stunning. (all the numbers is also a finalist in the handmade kids contest... check out her adorable dress featured there.)

be sure to go check out fancypicnic for the other wonderful saturday shopping lists!

handmade kids contest on etsy!!...

i know i said i wasn't going to be around much, but i had to share my happy news today. i was very pleased to find out i am a finalist in two categories for the "handmade kids contest" on etsy!! i was really surprised to see myself there:) my white elephant was chosen for the eco friendly category, and my wall hanging, "the secret mushroom house", was chosen for the home decor category. if you are so inclined, i'd be honored to get your vote... just click on the links. you only have to be a member of etsy (easy to do if you are not one yet), and all voters are also entered into a contest to win an etsy shopping spree! not a bad deal for you either:) to find out more check out this article. thanks!!

taking some time...

we had a very nice weekend in the country and at the fair. i'm busy working on some new animals, so i think i'm going to take some time off from other things to do that. hopefully i will be able to freshen up the shop pretty soon with a new line of items. i also plan to spend some quality time with the kids, as my son is getting ready to head back to school soon. see you soon,

xo
cary

see ya later...

we're heading to the country this weekend to hit the county fair! excitement is through the roof around here. i won't have any new posts until next week but i'm working on some new goodies for the shop. no saturday shopping list this week, but i'll be back to it next weekend. hope you all have a lovely one as well!

xoxo,
cary

bye bye kitty...

one kitty off to a good home, and another ready to go in my shop:)

i'm focusing on making some new animals, as you can see. i am working on a wool and fabric giraffe at the moment that is the hardest animal i have made yet. i'll try to snap some photo's to share as i work on him. it's slowing going, difficult work, but worth it.

green-wood cemetery...

this past weekend's "free activities in new york", included a visit to the green-wood cemetery. i'm really embarrassed to say i had never been there... even though we have lived within walking distance for 9 years now! jack henry has been there but i had no idea what i was missing. it's beautiful! so lovely and quiet. the trees, as you can see are huge (we collected  a million acorns), the views are incredible, there is amazing architecture and history. it was a really lovely experience, and we had the whole place practically to our selves... except for all the dead people of course. i also didn't realize it was home to so many brooklyn parrots. you can see their enormous nests in the first photo, and one perched in a tree and on someone's gravestone in the last two pictures. there was a huge nosy flock of them. no wonder we always get them in our yard when they live so close by. the first time i saw these beautiful birds was a week before i gave birth to jack henry... i heard their loud squawking while out walking the dog, and when i looked up i saw a huge flock of green parrots in a tree, in the middle of winter! when i ran home to tell kyle he looked at me like i was crazy! if you don't know the story about the brooklyn parrots, you should check it out. another great, totally free, weekend activity!

saturday shopping list no. 3...

for my shopping list this week i have decide to promote one of the wonderful etsy teams i am a part of... the natural kids team! i wish i could have chosen everyone, they are all so great:)



1) merino booties, by brendaml
2) woodland girl needle felted three piece playset- waldorf inspired, lily-rose, by winsome hollow
3) mouse and cheese, by woodmouse
4) mrs. rabbit (needle felted wool), bylittle elfs toyshop
5) silly acorns, by dayanra (pin pon)
6) waldorf cherry wood watercolor or acrylic paint jar holders, by birch leaf designs
7) wood violet hand painted wool roving, by chimera
8) gnome synchronized swim team, by haddy2dogs
9) waldorf inspired doll- autumn acorn, by aunt boos babies
10) lambkins for the people, by freedom rainbow
11) aminita muscaria and aminita baby, by bella winter
12) dark blue playdough 4 oz. tin, by do si dough

once again, check out fancypicnic for more great shopping lists!
(psst... i saw that i am lucky enough to be featured on someone else's list this week. thanks brighton early! and thanks to cathy cullis for featauring me last week, i'm sorry i forgot to include it:)

black cat...

a new wool animal, made from felted wool sweater. i'm really happy about how this little kitty came out, in my shop now.

speaking of peacocks...

i purchased this beautiful cut paper art from fog and thistle by rachel weber. i have had my eye on it for quite some time and happily snapped it up when it went on sale recently (she has quite a few items for sale right now!). i'm trying to collect some beautiful art to decorate my living room wall, which is so bare. etsy really has so many amazing artists!

(p)lush life...

i mentioned stephanie congdon barnes earlier, here are two other artisans who make beautiful little creatures. this is the kind of work i find so inspiring and workmanship i aspire to. thanks to cog & pearl for these great finds.


a beautiful peacock from tamar mogendorff:



lovely dear from jennifer muskopf:

new treasuries...

here is a treasury i made and several more i am in, just click on them to go visit. thanks!

cards...

remember when snail mail was just called mail? i miss the days of getting cards in the mail. whether mailed or not, cards are a lovely way to share a special sentiment with someone. i collect cards all the time, keeping them on hand to enjoy and have ready for any occasion that might pop up. i'm going to do a small series of cards, just to try out for fun. i'm feeling a little unmotivated creatively, these days, and thought i would try some new things. i also just received a wonderful vintage pattern book, and when i get some time i'm going to try out some new wool animals! i'm excited about that. busy summer days give me little free time though.

treasuries...

i'm fortunate to be featured in 4 treasuries right now, thanks to the members of the {new new} etsy street team, and natural kids etsy street team! (thanks katy for pointing out i missed one! i added it to the top. i apologize for cutting of the artists at the bottom, i'm on my laptop right now. click on it to go see the full treasury!)

something special...

stephanie congdon barnes is one of my favorite artists. her work is beautiful and inspiring. she makes the most beautiful little animals, but is also an amazing photographer. she lives in portland (oregon), and has a good friend, maria alexandra vettese, in portland (maine). they had a wonderful idea to share a bit of their lives through photographs, each day. the project started with 3191, a year of mornings, which is soon to be made into a book. they are currently working on 3191, a year of evenings. it's a really lovely project... not only are the photographs beautiful, but they really capture the pleasure that comes from the simplest moments. the photographs also often speak to each other in incredible ways! very inspiring indeed.

free shipping!!!....

i'm offering free shipping starting today and continuing until august 18th! it's to celebrate getting over 1500 views here on my blog and over 200 hearts in my shop. thanks everyone!

saturday shopping list no. 2....

feeling gray? here's the second edition of my saturday shop list, and i guess it reflects my mood this week. i'm not melancholy, just feeling a need for a sense of calm and quiet:)



1) frith bail bowl, by mad and noisy
2) lace cuff pair/ a pair of floozies, from grandma was a floozy (i love that name, and she is offering free domestic shipping and $2 international shipping on all orders through august 15th!)
3) 5x7 photograph, portsmouth island home, by magic island
4) equestrian high wasted brown skirt, from un elephant rose (she's offering a discount! mention this feature when you purchase any thing in her shop and she will send you an invoice reflecting 10% off the entire order. very nice.)
5) birds of paradise chairs (pair), by spruce home
6) the four seasons wall plates, by bailey doesn't bark
7) long thread mixed media brooch- she remembered the poem, made by cathy cullis
8) platypus placemats (set of two), from kraken
9) quiet egg- blue, by mamaroots
10) ruffle dress for the perfect date, by shezzy
11) adult couture stylish dress book- japanese craft book, from pamadour24
12) handmade wool whale, made by cats miaow

check out fancypicnic for more shopping lists!

pillow cover...

i made this fun little pillow cover (well, if fun involves one child climbing on your back and the other running up to slam his foot down on top of yours on the pedal to make the sewing go faster). it's made from a felted casmere sweater and a couple cotton prints i got at purl soho. the flowers are hand embroidered. not perfect, but nice for a first attempt.

etsy finds...

i've been busy... shopping:) i actually haven't bought very much this summer. i have found a lot that i love and wish i could buy them all. here are a few treats i did end up getting this week.

a lovely bird print from Geninne  

check out her bird series on etsy, and also her truly amazing blog (really go do it, i don't mind you leaving for a bit)

i purchased this oatmeal milk and honey goatmilk shea butter soap from true vine herbs, among some other things from her. we are really enjoying them all!

finally, this wonderful little treasure is sitting on my desk and watching me type. he's a great vintage find from thrifty goodness! 

i still have to put together by shopping list for saturday too... i may be in trouble:)

august weekend...

my weekends are often very busy, as most people's are, i guess, but i thought i'd give a little sample of what mine is like.

friday: new additions to the family

these are the new additions to our family. they moved in on friday and reside in a box on our counter. for now i will just call them froggy number 1 and 2, because their names have been changed about every five minutes on average since they got here. they have had just about every name, random and obvious (including froggy several times now), that you could imagine. usually my son thinks of a name and then his sister names hers the same thing. i thought he might get upset about this, and also pointed out it might get confusing, but he took it in stride and said it was okay... "because they are twins". they are actually impossible to tell apart, except one likes to swim around and one likes to hide. the water is already a little cloudy in these pictures because my daughter managed to dump a bunch of their food in when i wasn't looking, and my son also tried to rearrange everything inside as well. we will see how long they actually make it in this family (or in this world, i guess). sorry in adavance number 1 and 2, i feel for you guys.

saturday: brooklyn summer harvest

saturday was spent enjoying the bounty of our little brooklyn garden. okay, i realize it's not much to brag about but we are thankful for our little patio, which actually isn't that little by new york standards. we are able to grow lot's of beautiful flowers, a few trees, herbs, and these beautiful strawberries! they are small, but quite tasty and producing very quickly. we are able to enjoy fresh ripe strawberries every few days. i think next year we will try tomatoes. we have had some lovely cardinals enjoying our sunflowers as well. my daughter loves to help with the plants, watering and picking off dead leaves. she especially enjoys using the hose (mostly on herself). so, we spent a lot of saturday morning enjoying the patio- where we ate pancakes and strawberries for breakfast. we went out for a little while in the afternoon to run some errands around the neighborhood (including my kids weekly visit to the comic book store), and then came back and ate dinner outside as well. All and all, a nice day.

sunday: 101 free things to do in ny this summer

we have been really enjoying going out and doing a lot of things on the weekend that we haven't done before, or done since before they the kids were born. it kind of makes you feel like tourists in your own city... but in a good way. new york can be a very expensive place, but luckily in the summer there are lot's of free events... movies, concerts, plays, and so on. today we took the kids to see the david byrne art installation called playing the building. it was really quite amazing. i'm kicking myself that i forgot my camera, because the kids were so cute waiting to play the organ. the building it was in was absolutely beautiful. it is an old ferry terminal that hasn't been used in years and years and isn't usually open to the public. check out the link above, because i can't accurately describe it. the sounds that are made are really very haunting. it's what i would imagine an old haunted ferry terminal would sound like. if you are in the area go check it out before it is gone on the 24th.

after the organ, we walked over to south street seaport. too crowded with tourists to really do anything, but jack henry was really in love with all the model ships that were there. the older men who make them (representing various model ship clubs in the area) were very proud of their work. it was really touching. 

then we took the free ikea ferry shuttle back over to brooklyn, so the kids could actually take a little boat ride. they were thrilled (thank you ikea)... and after it was all done, we had only spent money on the subway ride there!

pretty good weekend.

saturday shopping list...

i got a nice email from charlotte at fancypicnic to tell me that she is kindly featuring one of my pieces on her blog. she had a great idea to start a saturday shopping list, featuring picks each week from favorite etsy sellers. she has a nice list of everyone participating on her blog. i enjoyed picking out some of my favorites in an ealier blog of mine, and had been meaning to start doing it regularly... so i'm really excited about this idea! if you are interested in doing one as well, just contact charlotte for more details!

here are my pics for the weeks. if you see something you like, all the information is below!



listed in order, from left to right:

1)carolyn baby quilt, from hush baby quilts
2)little modern birds, from chakra penny whistle
3)print- the trapeze twins, from roadside
4)jardens botaniques no 6, from lily moon
5)white peace crane mobile, from peace lily
6)rolf, from astulabee
7)pears, from element clay studio
8)night-night mushrooms, from flying star toys
9)woodland girl needle felted three piece playset, from winsome hollow
10)creamer and sugar set, from whitney smith
11)thank you tiny text bowl, from paloma's nest
12)anywhere dress, from hinde