Saturday, May 31, 2008

Gratitude Day 1




My wonderful and inspiring friend Nona over at Everyday Yogini has inspired me. Each day for a month she is blogging about something she is grateful for and I am going to give it a try.

Today my husband and I went on a rather strenuous hike just short of 8 miles to a maximum of 10,876 feet. I have been struggling with knee pain. I was focusing on how much it hurt and then we stopped for a breather and I started looking around and oh my goodness! Do I really live in such a gorgeous place? I am so grateful to be surrounded by such beauty and to have a partner who also shares in my desire to get out into it. I am also very grateful for his amazing patience with me on days like today where I was ready to throw in the towel after the switchbacks in the trail would not stop. So here are a few pictures. The middle one is of me thanking my lucky stars that we had finally reached our destination: Pancake Rocks! (Picture #1) Don't they make you want to bust out the giant butter pat and mega jug o' syrup an get eating?
The last picture was an amazing tree along the trail that they have left for wildlife homes etc.
The white stripes totally look like snakes to me.
Oh! my final bit of gratitude is for having a dry pair of socks for the hike down - divine!

Thursday, May 15, 2008

New!




So much is going on in the world of Gretchen's Creations! This might be the longest blog post I have written in a good long while, but I am hoping that it will help me get back into the practice of sharing what I am creating with you here.

Check it out! I bought a Sigg Water Bottle finally. I am in love with it. All my questionable plastic bottles have been shelved and probably should just go to recycling because I LOVE my new water bottle. :-) But, I am not gentle with it either. It might be pretty but I don' want to baby it! Then the light bulb went on and I realized that all I need is a felted cozy and that if I need one for my bottle then I can't be the only one. So here it is: The Felted Water Bottle Cozy .
Now available in your choice of colors and custom fit to your bottle. I also recently made a set of cozies for Klean Kanteen sippy cups so the size range is limitless.

And then there is my Etsyfast May Challenge entry. The theme is May flowers. I love Lilies and I found a gorgeous picture of a golden Daylily that I felt really complemented this felted baby alpaca bowl in deep rose pink. You can see the other entries by typing etsyfast team, maychallenge into the search bar on Etsy. You won't be disappointed! There are some wonderfully creative approaches to this month's theme.

Thanks to everyone who has dropped in during my lull in blog-productivity.

Monday, May 12, 2008

Treasuries and What I Did Last Weekend



So, On Saturday my husband and I hiked up Barr Trail to Barr Camp 1/2 way up Pikes Peak: you know THE Purple Mountain Majesty? It was an amazing 14 miles round trip! Not only that, but it was a geocaching event. Here is the link and proof that I really was there:-) Note that I am wearing my hat knit out of local alpaca:-) Best hat ever officially! Unfortunately, there wasn't much time for knitting plus my fingers were swollen so I could barely hold a pen to write.
I do want to share the two custom orders that I am sending out this morning though. The first is a "just keys" bowl in red and the second is a Dresser Bowl with Stars in a Gorgeous purple.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Checking in Again

I promise that soon I will be back and will share projects. In the meantime, I want to share the good news that my Red Key Bowl was on the front page of Etsy twice in the last few days in different but wonderful treasuries and that it has spurred 4 custom orders! Thank you!
And I have been featured in this really neat blog called Laundry. Check it out. I added it to my bloglines I think it is just that cool.
Finally I would like to mention my new favorite children's book : The Big Orange Splot by D. Manus Pinkwater. Seamus loves this book. It is another one of those messages that is great for all ages. Everyone can get something out of it.