Friday Love~ Over The Moon

Well, a photographer I'm not, but today I wanted to share some exciting news with you and introduce 'Over The Moon', the first store that is going to be carrying 2 sweet things! It fits in my usual 'Friday Love' post because I am loving this store! I was thrilled when Cat Moon, the owner, contacted me about my work last week, and as soon as I set foot in her store I knew it would be a wonderful fit for my 'baby'. This morning I took in a basketful of booties, bibs, loveys, and dresses to display there. Over The Moon is located just down the road from us in Franklin, Tennessee.  She offers a fantastic selection of locally made art, jewelry and gifts as well as antique/vintage/recycled furniture and home goods. The website is great, and you can check it out here. Or if you're in the area be sure to visit them on Hillsboro Road.

Okay, so it's back to the sewing machine for me... it's nap time, and I need to keep with the goal of ten items per day.  Have a safe and happy holiday weekend~ I'm sure I'll have pics of our little monkey and dragon on Monday!

Works in Progress

Hey y'all! I've been crazy busy trying to get things made and organized for my upcoming shows, so I'm just in for a quick hello today. I made the goal of completing 10 items every day, and it's about to kill me! Am I the only one who crushes myself under the weight of my self-imposed goals?! I wanted to show you some fall things that I finished last night.

This pillowcase-style dress is a size 12-24 months and is in a blue jacks print and coordinating dark brown and white polka dot.

These skirts are something new I had in my mind for a while. I am really excited about how they came out! I used the same jacks print, brown polka dot, and added brown corduroy for texture. The blue is size 4T/5T and the pink is size 2T/3T.

I'll be back tomorrow to share something new and exciting (to me, anyway!). For now it's back to my children and my sewing machine. Do you ever feel like you could use a nanny for a day?!

Have a great Thursday!

Wednesday Wish List

Remy is at that age where everything has a bit of magic in it. Everything could be a treasure, especially tiny little things that can be tucked into a pocket or hidden inside something else to be found later. So for today's holiday wish list I found a zillion little things that he would love to discover.

I have loved this first little guy since I laid eyes on him! He's only 8 inches long and would be perfect for Rem to tuck into his pocket for going 'flashlight looking' around the house.

Spot a Hang Around Hound by fidos funk fashion

Basket full of guinea pigs by Loveable Treasures

Friendly Monster Finger Puppet Set by Wee Knit

Tiny Pet Ladybug playset by Wish With Me

Remy's also really into dinosaurs right now, so these next things would be very well received!

Felt Dinosaur Play Mat & Tote PDF by Gulf Coast Cottage

(This one's a pattern, but I would love to make this!)

Dino Fossil Soap by One Artsy Mama

And last, but not least, I've been wanting to get the little man something to keep his 'moneys' in, and this wallet is sooo cute!

My First Wallet by Frank and Me

Fabulous Feature~ Michon

Fused Argentium Silver Pendant

I'm still in my quest for creative gift ideas, and further chatting with the Fabulous Artistic Mom Team led me to a wonderful jewelry shop called Michon. Her unique pieces are wonderfully simple yet dramatic and would be an awesome gift for anyone on your list! Some of my favorite things in her shop are her stud earrings. They are so practical for moms and even says that in the descriptions. (I would like to send a huge thank you to my darling Remy for yanking out and throwing the only pair of diamond earrings I ever had... okay, sarcasm ends here.) Here's a little bit about Leah, the artist behind Michon in her own words amidst some pictures of her lovely work.

Silver Spiral Hook Earrings

~Tell me a little about yourself:
"I'm a mom to a toddler with another baby on the way. I run a jewelry making business part time out of my home, mostly during nap time or when my son goes to sleep."

~Inspiration behind your shop:
"My shop name, Michon, is actually my middle name- I've always liked it, and I thought it sounded like a designer's name, so when I started designing my own jewelry it was natural to use as my business name. I've been making jewelry since I was a teenager, but I didn't stat making things to sell until after I graduated from college, when it became too expensive to be a hobby."

Silver Circles Stud Earrings

~Favorite Gift Ideas from your shop:
"I think earrings make great gifts. I have a variety of earrings, from basic hoops and studs to classic pearl drops, to more unique artsy styles."

~Best gift you've ever gotten:
"I have to say the support my husband and I have gotten from my parents since starting our family is the best gift."

~Where can we find you?
Shop: http://michon.etsy.com
Website: http://michondesign.com
Blog: http://michondesign.com/jewelry-blog
Facebook Fan Page: http://facebook.com/michonjewelry

~Leah is offering a great offer to 2 sweet things readers!:

"10% off (via paypal refund) all orders,  plus a free pair of silver ball studs with purchases over $50 before shipping, from now until November 15th. Be sure to mention this blog to qualify for the discount and special gift."

Turquoise Teardrops Circle Necklace

I hope you'll look around Leah's shop and take advantage of this fantastic offer. Get a jump on your Christmas shopping (and maybe pick out something for yourself!). Be sure to tell her I sent you!

Happy Tuesday!

Monday Random

Good Monday morning! We are just back from the grocery store. I am staring in slight disgust at the first item you see here. Each shopping trip I allow the littles to choose one thing as a treat (or rather, Remy chooses and Halle goes along with...), and EVERY TIME Remy chooses Lunchables. They are practically against my religion! Processed meat, cheese, crackers/bread, with some sort of candy all conveniently packaged in plastic. Heaps of plastic. I guess the reason he picks these is because it is something I wouldn't ordinarily get, and to see his reaction is like seeing a child at Disney World. So I destroy their bodies and the environment, but they are so happy. Does that make me a bad mom?

We had a good weekend. Lots of silly (as usual) around here. Here are a few shots of the 'sweet things'.

This is Halle modeling some of her new clippies from Crafty Mama Designs on etsy. They are the most adorable things! You can check out her shop here, and watch my blog because Aviva, the designer, will be hosting a giveaway here in November!

I am also excited to show you this lovely necklace for two reasons~ 1. Because I won it, and I never win anything, and 2. Because it is so pretty! Holly at Her Southern Heart was hosting a giveaway from etsy seller, VCards12, a few weeks ago, and I was thrilled to win! It is hand-stamped with Remy's and Halle's initials. I was going to take a picture of it on, but we all know how much I love having my picture taken... so I laid it on a Nordstrom box. What doesn't look good on a box from Nordstrom?!

And for the last, but certainly not least, bit of random-ness this morning I thought I would post a few pictures of a lovely custom dress I finished up this weekend. The body fabric is dark brown with white dots, and the trim is white cotton. I think it turned out so cute and was excited to mail it out this morning!

Friday Love

Yesterday was Trace's birthday, and since I didn't blog then, I thought I would today. Today I am loving the many, many blessings in my life~ especially my sweet hubs. He is wonderful with the littles and is pretty great to me too (even though I know I don't deserve it!) Here are a few pics of Trace with the little people. I suppose this could also be called 'The many hairstyles of Tracey'.

Tiny Remy

Taking abuse from Rem

The first moments with Halle~ I absolutely love this one!

Kisses for our girl

Happy Birthday!!

Have a great weekend, y'all!

Wednesday Wish List

Today in my search for the perfect holiday gifts, I will be highlighting several things I found for my mom. She isn't hard to shop for, and etsy has literally tons of things that would be great for her! Here are just a few of my favorites. Enjoy! (And mom, if you're reading this, please act surprised should any of these end up under tree...)

Sparrows Tea Book by Elite Elishi Designs

Funky Teapot Cozy by Frangipani Lane

Tea Cup Cozy by Natalya's Studio

Fabric Cottage Style Shabby Chic Notecards by Pretty Pear Designs

Whipped Vanilla Cream by Sweet Body

Greener Grass

etsy is an enormous place. I feel a lot more 'normal' most days by surrounding myself in the forums, twitter, facebook with etsians because other crafters just get it... the mess I live in because I'd rather sew than clean. The excitement I feel when my first pic was accepted to craftgawker (which it was, by the way, check out my booties here! ) The bliss over a big custom order... the list goes on and on. Now I don't mean to imply that Trace and my family are unsupportive~ They are wonderfully so! It's just different.

The only 'catch', so to speak, is that by surrounding myself with so many amazing artisans is that I am thereby exposed to so many amazing artisans. And doubt creeps in. They are better than me. Have more sales than me. Have a bigger blog following than me. Make a better product than I do. I call this 'etsy envy', and I don't believe it's something God wants in my life. Jealousy is a strange thing, because it grows and grows but only really hurts the one feeling it. In fact, jealousy is among the things Paul lists in the New Testament as 'acts of the sinful life' and tells us to rid our lives of them (Galatians 5:19-20).

*So here's where the background music of Julie Andrews singing 'I've Got Confidence In Me' begins to play...*

I love the things I make. And I know that online, especially on etsy, is a vast sea of beautiful, quality children's products. I am privileged to be among them! I hope today you find ways to celebrate all the beautiful made things around you... And to find time to make some yourself!

Galatians 5:22-26

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature, with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep instep with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Long Weekend

Sorry it has been a few days! We spent a long weekend in Indiana celebrating the wedding of my brother-in-law, Casey. The wedding was lovely, and Remy was stoked to get to be the ring bearer. When we first told Remy that about the wedding and his job, he looked at us in horror. We didn't think about it, but 'bearer' sounds strangely like 'bear'. From then on we said bear-ER when we talked about the wedding, and he was much more at ease. We spent the last several months practicing, with Rem walking up and down the hallway in our apartment holding his caterpillar pillow. When it came time for him to walk at the rehearsal he looked at the pillow they gave him and asked 'Can't I carry Slurmy?'. We were also able to spend a few days at my mom's house. I love being able to see everyone but feel really behind when I get back home and see all the lists I've made for my upcoming shows. Yikes!

We barely made it out of the parking lot and Halle was asleep~ love that!

'Curly Girly' playing mom's piano. I have a picture of Remy at this same age playing too.

The little prodigies... A little Great Balls of Fire, maybe?

The ring bearer in his outfit, all dolled up and ready to walk. He did get a little nervous at the last minute and said, 'I need Pawpaw'. So he and Grandpa Frank walked down the aisle together. I think that was probably the sweetest thing!

That's all for now, I think, but I have a few more things rolling around in my head. I'll be back later! Happy Tuesday!

Wednesday Wish List

The hardest person on my list is the one for which I'd most like to buy the perfect thing. My husband. My polar-opposite, so we rarely choose the same things, from movies to clothes to music. So these are my choices for Trace, though I'm not sure he would approve. that's the wonderful thing about gifts, right?! He doesn't get to choose!

Here are a few of my favorite etsy finds for him:

Recycled Banner Macbook Sleeve by Notty Pooch

Mens Sterling Silver Custom Dog Tags by Becoming Jewelry

Power Slim Wallet by Quiet Doing

'Deeper' Zip Front Hoodie by morphic

Happy Wednesday!

Fabulous Feature~ Jewelry & Crochet by Momma J

I recently joined a team on etsy called the 'Fabulous Artistic Moms', and as I'm getting to know this great group of moms, I thought I would feature several of them here. The first artist I'm going to show off is Marianne Jackson, also know around etsy as 'MommaJ'. She's usually the first email I see in my inbox every morning, as she starts our promotion threads (check out Temptation Tuesday!).

Marianne has two shops on etsy, one for her jewelry, http://jewelrybymommaj.etsy.com , and one for her crocheted things, http://crochetbymommaj.etsy.com . She's an army wife and lives pretty close to my neck of the woods here in Tennessee. She's been married for almost 16 years and has three daughters (14, 8, and 4). Her daughters are the inspiration behind most of the things in her crochet shop, and her love of nature is evident in her jewelry pieces.

In light of the upcoming holiday season, I asked her to pick a few of her favorite gift ideas from her shops to show off.

Trapped Ocean pendant

Butterfly Dreams Crochet Baby Blanket

And just because I can ask anything I want, I also asked Marianne about the best and worst gifts she's ever received. Her worst was a breadmaker from her husband for an anniversary. A fantastic gift, but I think we all understand why it wouldn't be the best anniversary present. =) Her best was a ring of her mother's that she had always admired.

She'll start adding Christmas items to her shop soon, so I hope you'll check it out. You can also find her at her blog.

Have a happy Tuesday!