Christmas Trees and Such

So I'm home today with my sweet wee-one who's fighting a bad cold (it's almost always bad when she gets one since she suffers from asthma). But she's doing fine, busily playing with her Little People farm.

Anyway, thought I'd take the opportunity to post some photos!

Last weekend we got a tree and decorated it. I tried to take some pictures, but as you can see, Alice didn't think there should be any that didn't include her:

She's such an adorable (and wheezy) little goofball!

Our other little goofball lost a tooth last night! But she was at her dad's so I haven't had a chance to take any pictures (or even see it for myself) yet. Speaking of the artsy one (who wants a sewing machine for Christmas so she can make stuffed animals!), here's what she and Cynthia made before we got our real tree:

Very Seussian, don't you think?

And as for what I've been making, I finished a very special custom order this week. It was commissioned by an old friend (one whom I've never actually met in person, but we've been friends through the magic of the internet for over 8 years now!) as a gift for her mother, who, as my friend put it, "kicked cancer's ass" :

Amazonite and sterling (each component sawed by hand). It was such an honor to be a part of the creation of this piece.

I was hoping to add at least a few more lower-priced items to the shop before the Christmas shipping deadlines pass but I have a final paper due AND a final exam on Monday, plus a couple of other custom pieces in the works, so I'm not sure how much else I'll get done. But you never know!

Okay, gotta run, apparently Alice needs someone to make cow noises.

xo

note: It totally looks like I photoshopped Alice into that photo with the tree!! But I didn't, it just looks funny because the camera was focused on the tree and then she popped in just as I was snapping the image.

Friends, old and new...

Well, I was planning a big blog post for today but I seem to have misplaced my camera! (and honestly, I can't even remember what pictures I had on there that I wanted to use but I'm 90% sure there were some!)

I did, however, want to say thank you to two friends who featured me and my shop on their blogs this weekend:

Aimee, of artsyville included me in her annual handmade holiday doodletour. Do stop by and take the tour. I am honored to be included among such an amazing group of artists! Aimee and I met through our daughters, who've gone to school together for 3 years now. But we only realized last year (because I stumbled across her blog) that we were both blogging artists!

And Lara, of Bazant, has written a beautiful and flattering post on her blog about our childhood friendship and how we found each other again many years later (beware, there are pictures there of me with very big 80's hair!). Thank you, Lara, for your sweet words and  lasting friendship! xo

It was a busy week with Foxy gone last week and I didn't manage to get back into my studio until last night! I'm working on some custom orders and then hope to add a few more things to the shop before Christmas shipping deadlines pass (December 20th for orders within the US and December 9th for most international destinations).

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas in our house! Here's Lilah last night enjoying the holiday glow from Aidan's bed (taken with my iPhone since, as you know, I can't find my camera):