Sunday, February 27, 2011

Clover all Over

St. Patrick's Day is coming and with a son named Seamus it is a fun holiday around here! We thought for sure he would be born on the 17th but I suppose 5 days after isn't too shabby! So let me reword: March is a big deal in our household since my little Irish imp is turning 6 this year! He loves St. Patrick's day since there is a parade with the crowning jewel the streetsweepers at the end and that everyone is wearing his favorite color. We also get a visit from the mischievous Leprechaun who turns our house upside down in the night! If you leave a treat for the ML he makes a bit less trouble ;-) I will post pictures~ I do have to give credit where credit is due and admit that I didn't come up with the idea single-handed. Greenstylemom actually told me about it a couple of years back.
I like to make Shamrock bowls for the season and here the first 2 in my series listed in my Etsy shop. These precious little ring bowls would make terrific gifts for your Irish sweetheart and I think would also make a wonderful alternative to a wedding ring pillow since everyone can use a little good luck on the big day!


Thursday, February 17, 2011

Mary Lou's Custom Nest Bowl

She answered the call when I jokingly said "You know you want one!" about my last nest bowl posted on facebook. So here is Mary Lou's very own:

I am as we speak (well not right now because I can't type and knit at the same time silly!) knitting up more nest bowls if you are looking for one yourself. I would also like to mention that I am coming up with some springy designs to celebrate what could possibly be an extremely early spring here in Colorado. If you have any ideas of things you would like to see me create, please do share!
Last of all I will once again be making some Looking Over a 4 Leaf Clover bowls like this one and this one for St. Patrick's Day and all of those fun Irish people I know. Please check in at my Etsy store to see what is new.

Things are hopping at Gretchen's Creations and I feel so honored by all the people who have purchased from my store. I love what I do and it makes my heart swell to know my creations are being enjoyed. Thank You!

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Chickadee dee dee

I love birds. My husband would say sometimes to the point of distraction although not as distracting as plants but I digress. I love birds! A week or so ago I made a treasury on Etsy called Chickadee dee dee inspired by a gorgeous day with the Chickadees and other little birds chirping and chattering away as I walked to pick my son up from school. I really want to buy everything in the treasury which I really can't right now, but I did get one little beauty that I have to share!

This Chickadee brooch from Lenkamol on Etsy:

The craftsmanship and detail that obviously goes into these little gems are amazing! I can honestly say they are as wonderful as they appear in the pictures.

Right now she is offering a special in her store:

Purchase 2 pins with coupon code SPRING to get 10% OFF
10% OFF + shipping both for the price of one.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

The Tyler Tallboy Cozy and other assorted cozies

Behold: The Cozy of all cozies! Cozies for cans and bottles are good and all, but if you are drinking a tallboy you don't necessarily want to suck that thing down to avoid a warm beer. That is where this wonderful cozy comes in. It is like a sweater to keep your beer cold and your hand warm. Not only that but it is a fashion statement as seen here in this newly completed custom Tyler Cozy. This one is not for Tyler, which I am sure I will hear about as soon as he sees it, but for his friend Jeff who I will imagine will look even cooler now that he can sport such a styleicious accessory.
I only make these cozies custom so they will be just right for the person who shall be using it. Are you interested? You should contact me!

Besides that I have 2 sweet new coffee cuffs to offer in my Etsy store and a kids size Klean Kanteen Kozy in what I just realized are the Air Force Academy Falcon colors. But when I knit it up I thought the yellow and blue went so nicely together.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Crusing right along....

It is amazing the things I can achieve when my son doesn't have a delayed start. I won't bore you with the details of my day, but today has been a mildly productive one so I will offer up a few relevant tidbits:
- I ran a fairly big felting wash today with several things I will be sharing with you in the next couple of days.
- I am getting the details of a fun custom purse lined up.
- AND I am so excited! One of my bowls has once again been featured this time on a really cool blog called diaper style memoirs.

The sun is out and it is a positively sweltering 16 degrees out~
There is a lot to smile about today.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Hiking Fun and more Valentine Goodness

Yesterday we went on a marvelous hike! There is a geocache Matt has been wanting to finish for some time that we knew took us to the base of Mt. Herman. It was a gorgeous day! Overcast with on and off flurries then progressing into snow in earnest but my favorite kind: big fluffy flakes falling gently down with little or no wind. Ahhh winter. The first leg of the hike took us into the burn area which takes me back to middle school when we sat in the western classrooms of LPMS and watched the fire rage over the mountain waiting to be picked up by our parents and hoping none of our friends that lived near there lost their homes. The picture of the burned fence shows the mountain in the background.
The second leg of the adventure took us up behind the mountain where we hiked down into snow filled meadows and aspen glades. This is also when the snow started falling seriously. But I do have to say that my new felted mittens were doing a bang-up job of keeping my hands warm and without painfully numb fingers from the Raynaud's to distract me I was euphoric over the beauty of winter and how much I love snowy hikes! The second picture is of my honey~
Please be sure and check in at our hiking blog Ode to Ormes as Matt will be posting in more detail about this hike
I also took some small bowls with me in the hopes I would find a nice natural setting to photograph them. I found the prettiest granite boulder covered in lichen and dusted in snow and I think it brings out just about every color I put up against it. Here are some new listings on Etsy some are photographed on the mountain and some are in my front garden today - the light was weak inside so I decided to brave the outdoors for good photos. Cheers~

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Thoughts Of Warmer Times of the Year

Today is the second day in a row school has been canceled not for snow but for cold. Part of me thinks "This is silly, we went to school in this weather!" or "Kids in Alaska and North Dakota and Montana would be playing outside for recess in this weather!" But then I remember that although I want to think all parents would make sure their children were properly dressed for these conditions and I would love to believe the kids would wear the gear, well who am I kidding!
Our furnace is running non-stop and our jeep won't turn over (at least it didn't earlier and I am waiting until the temp gets to our whopping high of 1 degree to try again). Matthew walked the mile and a half to work this morning when the windchill was -23. I am really glad he changed his mind a couple months back about taking his mighty beard down and secretly wishing I had one myself. My son is hanging on me like a gorilla baby on his mama literally saying "pay attention to me!" to which I said "I did that all day yesterday, now go play with your Legos!" Actually it is a bit of a miracle because he did!






I know there are a lot of parents going through this all over the country right now and this gives me a tad bit of solace.








So that is what I am up to so far. I will be needle-felting a custom order here as soon as I am done with this blog post but I have one more thing to share that I am quite excited about:

My amazing friend the oh so talented gardener Cheryl Conklin has recently launched both a website and blog to share some of the wisdom she is positively bursting with. I had the great honor of working with Cheryl for a spell last summer and I can tell you that she is magic not only with plants but also with words and that reading her blog will be a real treat. ~*~*~ Check out the section of her site that talks about winter beauty and form. She recently bought her own home with a blank slate of a yard and it is positively inspiring to watch her transform it bit by bit.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Featured

As if my week hasn't been a bolstering positive enough experience already, I have been featured on a really cool blog called Gin Factory. I honestly can't believe I haven't seen it before, but am adding it to my favorite blogs post haste. You too should go see :-) Happy February!