Hearts Full of Joy

etsy

etsy is so much more fun than i ever anticipated! we've been surprised to find ourselves shipping packages off to germany, australia, the netherlands, japan, and three to the UK. i feel back in touch with my antique quilt business in japan, which is a happy feeling. and i'm meeting the nicest, most interesting, incredibly creative and talented people.

one of them has me feeling very inspired.
she is expecting her eighth baby, has two fun etsy shops -

check out the adorable scripture bags on this one,
 
she also homeschools, and has a fabulous blog.
i feel honored that she is using my "squares & stripes forever" quilt kit

as a give-away prize on her blog.

a few more shops that i love:

drawingroom's shop

sweet nellie's shop

lexi is loving this:
DanaCastle's shop

look to right-hand column to see my featrued and most recent etsy shop listings.

finally did it!

so excited! i've done something that has sounded so fun for so long. thank you to gloria who gave me the push.
i have a shop on etsy.
etsy is a magical place if you love handmade goods. all things sold must be handmade by the seller, vintage or antique, or supplies for making handmade items. that is my niche exactly.
i only have a few items listed so far, but will be adding regularly.

a few of my etsy items will be listed on the right side bar.

all is calm, all is bright

i love this space between christmas & new years. it may be my favorite time of year. the rush and hustle are over, all is calm, all is bright. time isn't over scheduled. kids are at home and relaxed. there are new games to play and new puzzles to put together, and new books to read as a family. the warm glow of christmas lingers the newness of a new year beckons.
i learned to love this time during our life in japan when everything would shut down for a week or more before and after new years. our first year there, '95/'96, we were shocked to find that everything was closed: banks - including atm's!, grocery stores,post offices, every type of store, absolutely everything. we were shocked, and we liked it. we spent time together as a fmaily, without any outside pressures. msot of our american and foriegn friends went back home for the chrismtas season. our japanese friends went to their grandparents' inteh countryside. we were left alone in tokyo. and we learned to treasure it. the pollution subsided, because there were no delivery trucks on the roads. we could see glorious views of "mountain fuji", as tiny tashi called it, without the pollution clouding our way.

i did get to some of my sugar plum sewing, finishing two projects up after christmas, so they well be ready to be enjoyed next year.
i have wanted to make this little gingerbread guy since i first saw the pattern in American Patchwork & Quilting, dec 2004. i did make one last year, but gave it away. this one stays with us. just as with the pillows, the felted wool works up to quick and easy. the red heart was a wool skirt that someone gave me and i felted in the washer & dryer. all but one of the fabrics in the patchwork border were in the big bag of fabric that landed on my porch. i love that. the eyes are tiny antique bone buttons - i collected some of the funnest things while i was running my antique quilt business.

the quilt is a printed panel, cheater cloth. this isn't me preferred method of making quilt, but it is fast and easy. and i can assuage my conscience by remembering that cheater cloth existed even in the mid 1800s. i love that this panel focuses on christ, not santa or snowmen (or gingerbread men). i made and sold two of these last year. and cut one apart to make christmas pillows. this one stays with us, for now.

thunderstorms that shook & rattled our cupboards like an earthquake on saturday washed away all of the snow and ice, leaving green grass and clear blue skies. it is difficult to believe it is the same landscape we looked out on and photographed last week. i went for a walk today, and felt like it was early spring. but i'm not fooled... the ice and snow won't stay away for long.

cozy christmas

we are settling in for several cozy snowy, icy days at home as a family, through christmas. my perfect dream come true - snow falling outside, and nowhere we have to go. we have a few gifts to deliver, a few to wrap, some yummy baking, and lots of enjoying each other to do. and we're looking forward to it.
i'm catching up on some christmas sewing projects. i took these pillows (supplies purchased last year & left untouched) on my trip to utah and was able to whip them up by the time i returned. wool felt is so fast and easy. now i have other visions of sugar plum sewing to do, but only if it doesn't interfere with enjoying my family & feeling the spirit of christmas.

my favorite weekend

conference weekends are my two favorite weekends of the year. they have been since i was small. i found it magical to spend the weekend as a family, at home without outside distractions (even church), all gathered together, and doing some of my favorite things like crafts, sewing projects, and puzzles. and as we sat together, we felt the spirit and listened to the calm, strong, reassuring voices of our prophet, apostles, and leaders. i loved it. i still do. i didn't want to last session to end, because the magic would end. i still feel that way. october conference is especially cozy, with that fall feeling in the air.
this year tashi & i have worked on the above puzzle, a tradition for october conference in our house. and i have embroidered this little ditty. i don't generally like anything to do with witches, and avoid them in my halloween decorating. but i did like this. it made me laugh, and reminded me of someone.....me i think. anyway, it's a good reminder for me.
my children haven't all inherited my love for conference. so i probably haven't done as god of a job as my parents did. with a desire to do better, we have begun some new traditions to encourage positive conference feelings in recent years. one of those has been to make lots of especially yummy food to eat throughout the weekend. it seems to be helping.
and mary, we have noticed the same grumpy problems associated with conference as you.....yes, i think it is. oh, and i love your new blog makeover.

the calm, strong, reassuring voices and messages are especially appreciated this year as we have watched all of brock's clients disappear....merril, lehman, wachovia, etc, etc.

p.s. i am so excited about the 5 new temples....especially "the greater kansas city area"!

currently reading & enjoying:

Nauvoo: a Place of Peace, a People of Promise
By Glen Leonard
a very detailed account of the church in nauvoo, reasearched for 20 years. thought provoking and deep.

Emma's Nauvoo
By Ronald E. Romig
written by an RLDS (now Community of Christ) historian. it tells the story of emma smith after the exodus, through letters and recollections of others. interesting, although not extremely well put together.

The Five Love Languages
By Gary Chapman
a birthday gift from my mom, for HER birthday. she wants all of her children and their spouses to read it as a gift to her. i have long wanted to read it, and i am loving it. EXCELLENT marriage book. it is also helpful for parenting and other loving relationships. (the author has written more books focusing on children, teens, etc).

The Mother's Book
By Mrs. Child, author of "the Frugal Housewife," "Evenings in New England," etc.
1831
this was a find i made in Joseph smith's red brick store on monday. (it is a reprint, and not the original.) I am thoroughly enjoying reading the advice on mothering that was new and revolutionary in 1831. and i agree with much of it. what a treasure! i love history, especially this era, the early 1800s. and i love motherhood, so this is a delightful book for me to read.

The Workwoman's Guide:
By a Lady
1838
this was my ultimate find in the red brick store. (i was pleasantly surprised by the wonderful collection of items from the past that are for sale in the red brick store). i'm so excited! this book shows in highly detailed drawings and explanations how to make all types of clothing and household linens, baskets, bonnets, draperies, etc for a household in the early 1800s. i love it, i love it, i love it! oh, the section on baby's clothing and linens! i want to make them all - so precious. so beautiful. i want to photograph the illustrations for you, but alas, no camera lens as of yet *sigh*. i will post more about this book later. i won't be able to resist.

i suppose, or rather am quite sure, that i am odd. very few people would find many of these books, especially the last two, at all interesting, and they are my two favorite. i have always loved the past, and longed for it's simplicity. longed for a better understanding of those who lived before. i dislike the word "trendy" very much. to me it has very negative connotation. and i am continually surprised to find it used in ways that people perceive as positive. i strive to avoid trendiness. my first college major was history, my degree is in clothing and textiles, and those are two of my great loves. and hence my love of antique quilts, and most things antique. this last book is a blending of my favorite things, and makes me very happy. this week i also unpacked some beloved textile books from my university days that i haven't seen for 13 years or so (yes, we are still unpacking). they have been in storage, awaiting retrieval. one of my favorites is "history of costume". i love to turn through its pages. i would love to do some work in this area. and i'm living in a great place to do it. i just need to discover what it will be.

a "negative" situation

my camera lens has yet to be returned. it is awaiting parts (for 4 weeks!) lexi's camera isn't working either, and we've missed many many photo ops - my sister & her family of eight's visit, first day of school, noah's first time riding the bus, etc.

but if i did have my lens, i wouldn't be able to do much with my photos. two days ago our computer screen decided to act as a photographic negative - black is white, red is green, etc. we thought perhaps gracie has changed a setting when she was at the computer, but we've tried all settings, to no avail. is our screen going out? any ideas? when we shut down and restart, the screen comes back normal for a few moments, but then returns to its negative state.

most of my posts are inspired by photos. so i am challenging myself to post without photos, and use my words to paint the photos i would take if i could. (it's a challenge, not a promise)

photo #1: noah boarding the school bus on his first day of school.
    although i don't have this photo, i will never forget how my little man looked that day - new haircut,     new red striped polo shirt with denim shorts, a blue too big backpack, bright & shiny dark eyes, and     a look of joyful anticipation & excitement. i'm not sure who's more excited that he gets to ride the     bus, him or me. even if it didn't save me two trips to the school each day, it would be worth it to see     how excited he gets about it. i love his preK teacher, and the fact that he only has 6 kids in his class!     each day this week i've asked what his favorite part of school was. it was the snack. every time.         that's my noah.

photo #2: leaves turning red.
    it has felt like autumn for weeks, and the leaves has been turning for about that long too. i love         autumn and colored leaves - it's my favorite, but this is a little ominous. the farmer's almanac is         predicting a colder winter than usual, with more snow. the national weather bureau is predicting a     winter that is warmer than usual, but admits that they can only predict one week in advance. i'm         with the farmer's almanac.

photo #3: smokey blue living room walls.
    this afternoon's painting job was made possible in part by nauvoo-colusa elementary & gracie's             naptime. brock & i hammered it out during the window of opportunity they provided, and love the         results! this is the 3rd room we've painted, but the first time that we are thrilled with the color             choice. i'm learning as i go that i like rich, intense, slightly muted colors. after painting with two         colors that were lighter and brighter than i had hoped, i took gloria's advice and took the living room     paint back and talked the paint guy, who gave me lessons on mathematic formulas and colors, into     deepening my original color choice. the new color is called "nostalgia". it was risky, as he carefully     explained, but i LOVE the results! now my entryway is waiting for the new can of deeper, more             yellow, more muted green i bought to cover the softer green that was my first choice. we have paint     for three more rooms, and plans for at least two more.

photo #4: robin's egg blue desk & dresser.
    brock painted his baby dresser and my childhood desk a bright robin's egg blue for mia & gracie's         room. his mother gave me the baby dresser as a gift when i was pregnant with lexi. i painted over         the original light blue with white and stenciled hearts and ribbons in rose & country blue (it was         1991). my mom had painted my desk white and had painted strawberries by hand, without a pattern     on the top drawer and chair back when i was 10 or 11 - it was amazing. it was hard to paint over         that. but they are both absolutely adorable with brock's painting job and new ceramic pulls. and they     look like they were meant to be a set.

note: the formatting looks great on my "compose" screen, but obviously has problems in reality.

1800s charm

i love all things old, antique, and particularly 1800s. in the spirit of my passion, yesterday i was able to try something i have been wanting to do for years. i attended a rug hooking class. it is only offered once or twice a year at this particular quilt shop, and i missed the last one. it look a little effort to get there - over an hour away, but very worth it. and it was even sweeter, because my sister joined me. she helped me work on my first project, which i appreciated, because i had gracie with me, and because she was better at it than i was. you may be cringing as you think back to the latch hook rugs of the 60's & 70's, but this is a centuries old art form, using strips of hand dyed wool, and it is truly beautiful. jill & i started on the pineapple leaves. eventually the entire rug will be filled with loops of wool. i love it, even more than i thought i would - very simple and relaxing. jill already has her first project planned - a very traditional-looking round rug, with rings of variating colors.

here are close ups of the 1840s quilt top that gloria & i found. look at those colors! i didn't do any enhancing of the photos. surprisingly, the earlier you go into the 1800s, the brighter & more beautiful the fabrics were. this top is such a treasure - look at the poison green, the prussian blues, the cheddar yellows, the chocolate browns, and the double pinks - unfaded and brilliant.

the block is a flying geese variation.

january

this is my first january in 16 years that has affected me this way.......after 12 years in tokyo, where there are still flowers and green and sunshine in january, although it is very cold, and 4 years in phoenix, where january is just pleasantly cool, this january is really impacting me. i LOVE the snow and the cozy winter feeling, but the lack of green and abundance of cold, and gray, and brown has me feeling a little....i don't know.....blah? not like myself? here's what's helping:

1. cozy winter crafts - i started these wool felt stars over a year ago for last christmas (they would look great on the tree), envisioning a decoration that would last through the winter. i finished them last week, as a january pick-me-up.

2. cuddling with adorable kids & laughing along with their silliness.

3.long phones calls to and visits with great friends, especially if a road trip to a warmer climate is involved (scroll down to see "good friends & sunshine").

our friend mana, from japan, stayed with us for a few days between arriving in the u.s., and starting college here. such a treat!

4. blogging & journaling - always picks me up and helps me understand myself better.

5. scrapbooking - enjoying the photos of noah's fuzzy shaved two-year old head (shaved because he cut his hair to the scalp 6 times in one week) napping on the couch, hot august days at tokyo disney sea, and lexi, tashi, and mia in their yukata (summer kimonos) brought joy to my heart and summer sunshine to my life.

6. reading good books - i'll be posting some book reviews soon.

7. getting back to eating right and losing the rest of my weight. between thanksgiving and christmas (ok, halloween too) i got very off-track. we're not talking about gracie weight here. i weighed 10 pounds less after gracie was born than i had before i got pregnant. she's been a blessing in so many ways :). this is the weight i gained while breastfeeding noah, (can adopting a baby make you gain weight? apparantly, yes!) and have never lost. time to get that done. it will feel so good!

8. planning the easter dresses i want to make for my girls.

so long, no post

i think that five family parties over the holidays, all at least two hours away (four hours round trip) may have been too much for us. we loved it, really loved it, but it was probably too much. we have all been sick for two weeks, gracie starting it off with a nasty cold, and finishing it up (we can certainly hope) with stomach flu. she hasn't let us sleep much, poor miserable sweetie, and that slows our recovery. add to that: blue screen on our computer a week ago, and i haven't had much time to blog. i have spent any computer time i could snatch backing everything up, between many many blue screen episodes, and finally finished before the computer gives it's final gasp of breath. now we are waiting for our new mac to arrive. that will be a big switch and adjustment. we were mac people at the beginning of our marriage, and loved it, but made the switch to windows to get all the software options. now we are going back to mac. the day after christmas we got much faster internet, so once we have a new computer, things should fly.

i feel very out of touch with friends and family and anything outside of this house. but we were invited to a fun dinner last night with four other couples and their kids last night, and that was a breath of fresh air.

now that i've given you our recent low-lights, here are some highlights....

last minute christmas crafting: i made this for my sweet 6 year old who is struggling to come to terms and a peaceful understanding of her adoption. she and i have had several hour long talks in the wee hours of the mornings recently on this topic.

a stocking for gracie....so fun to make! the center block is a reproduction of an antique christmas card. "here's santa in disguise to give you a surprise" the appliqued patch on the top left says "gracie" and is from a judie rothermel  "aunt grace" fabric line. i have lots of that fabric in both pink and blue and plan to use a ltitle bit of it in most things i make for my gracie. the fabrics are moda's "roman holiday" line.

our christmas eve nativity

christmas morning...the stripey jammies are a seven year tradition for us. we all wear them for christmas.

we FINALLY finished the remodel of our 1940s home, and got a great renterupstairs! lexi models the kitchen on christmas eve. love those cabinets that great grandpa built!

not sure why this is sideways....try to fix it later.

and finally, tashi's photography in the snow:

(mia in the background)