Change and chance

I have always disliked New Year's Eve. I just can't take the pressure of expectation, the full, round hope that it will be the best night of the year, that great things will happen, that all of the promise and potential of the coming year will be foretold on that night. In my experience this has led to nothing but disappointment and usually a bad hangover.

Of course, this was all much more acute when I was younger. I know now that it's all a bunch of hype and even if I didn't have kids as my excuse to stay home I would gladly curl up on the couch with a book or a movie, all too happy go to bed before the magic hour (which I rarely do on regular days). I know now that this night is more about putting the past year to rest and waking up refreshed and inspired (instead of exhausted and sick), ready to face a new year.

Some years I take it as a challenge, others I accept it as a welcome reprieve from a difficult time that has passed. But always the coming of a new year reminds me of the inevitability of change, and the chances that come with it. I'm reminded that it's up to me to use those chances to improve my life.

"Mom" by Tigerlily

In this new year I've been taking some time to really hone in on the changes I want to see in my life. To be healthier, happier. To do better in my roles as mother, partner, friend. To grow creatively and to make my business truly sustainable. To share more of myself, my knowledge, skills and ideas. To remember my love for writing and cultivate it.

My plan is to really begin to use this blog as an avenue for these goals. I'm not exactly sure what that means just yet but at the very least I want to make this space more valuable to others and will be working on incorporating tutorials and other types of skillsharing. I want to see where I can go with it.

will 2010 be the year of the scissors tattoo?

I hope you'll come along for the ride.

my kids in floss

During the recent local Craftstravaganza events I was lucky enough to befriend the very talented young artist Corinne Loperfido (who doesn't have a website or Etsy shop but should!). She was working on an embroidered portrait of a friend of hers and I was completely blown away. I hired her to do a portrait of my kids and I just got it from her over the weekend. I couldn't be more thrilled, it's awesome!

Here's the photo I gave her:

And here's what she came up with (knowing that my favorite color is orange):

:I can't wait to frame it and hang it up!

Corinne also made these lovely little braided "rugs"--they'll be great as a little placemat or table decoration. I couldn't resist:

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As part of our neighborhood chicken collective our family is responsible for the needs of the hens on Sundays. Here's what the gals gave us as thanks, fresh from the coop:

Always so good!

moi? mais, oui!

Every now and again I google myself. Admit it, so do you (and if not, you should!). Well, today I found Ex Libris featured on a pretty cool French pregnancy/parenting blog, Noeuf, which of course is in French! Amazingly, my 4 years of high school French allowed me to understand the post, including the part that says something like "these cloth books are just a pleasure for the eyes because, sadly, they aren't sold in France." I do, in fact, ship to France (my only international sale aside from Canada was in France) so I thought I should post a comment saying so, which, because I'm a dork, I did in French! All over France pregnant women and new mothers are chuckling over my ridiculous grammar and incorrect conjugation.

I was also featured on the blog Sunny Tuesday. Thanks, Jessica!

In other news, I updated my shop yesterday. I desperately needed to offer several different custom book options at different price points instead of lumping it all together and charging far too little for much of my work (loving what I do only goes so far...). So now there are several options that I hope will appeal to and work for everyone, and of course I'm always game to try something completely different! I will be working on some new ready made book options and a few more vintage fabric blankets and alphabet quilts, too. All of the ideas in my head are starting to hurt, I really need to get to work!

Because I have no relevant picture to post (I wish I knew how to do those screen-shot images--so much to learn...) I'll leave you with this:

Just an awesome drawing of our neighborhood that Tigerlily did about a year ago.