Cottage Industry for the 21st Century

Even More Friends in the Forest

July 24th, 2008 10:48 am by Naomi in Day to Day at Glitter | No Comments »

I just finished up a special order for a bunch of gnome ornaments and realized that Mr. Glitter Gnome had never made his way onto a keychain!

So, not wanting to neglect him, here he is!

I also added another storybook pin pack to the shop.

I have tons of different stories, so remember if you are ever interested in anything I don’t have listed to just contact me and chances are we can find it!

Henri has a few new things too. Well, the first one isn’t new, but new to him. Jerome’s grandmother’s made this quilt when he was a baby and it is in perfect condition. Of course, I’m scared to death to use it though!

The quilt work and embroidery is absolutely beautiful. There is even a squirrel!! Learning to embroider is on my list of things I would like to be better at. I know a bit of the basics, but it’s hard since I am sooo impatient.

My aunt and uncle also sent this exquisite sweater for him, along with one of the softest blankets and matching teddies I have ever seen.

I love baby sweaters with the zippers in the back! Darby and Zoe had a bunch of them and I wish I would have held on to them. Maybe knitting baby sweaters can be added to my project list?? Well, that would require some definate knitting classes!

Oh, and I can’t forget to show today’s bounty. I have a feeling we are going to get really really sick of cucumbers and zucchini before the summer is over. I think I will make bread today and slice up some cucumbers with vinegar and sugar to have with dinner. What else can you do with them???

I just realized Darby is still asleep! Perhaps I need to go slip a pea under the little princesses mattress…

Today

July 23rd, 2008 3:00 pm by Naomi in Day to Day at Glitter | No Comments »

Today we went to see WALL-E, out to lunch, and swimming.

WALL-E was completely wonderful and I think everyone should be required to see it.

For some reason my sleepy birds decided to get up at 7 a.m today, which makes for a long day for mama. I have lots I am trying to catch up on, including an appointment with one of my wholesale boutiques next week (which means production) as well as stocking up more consignment.

My niece is over now too and amazingly (knock on wood!!) they are all getting along really well. We are having a left-over, clean out the fridge dinner so I don’t even have to cook tonight. Everyone else in my family, except myself, has no problem with leftovers and since I really don’t want to eat anything I figure we might as well use up some food! The girls have been helping plan menus so we have tons of lasagna and stew left over. They don’t seem like very summery dinners, but that’s what they like! I also have about a zillion zucchini and cucumbers so maybe I will figure out something light to do with some of those.

Time to put up my feet and watch the little fish in the pool for awhile, then back to work for a bit. Went to the doc yesterday and basically was just instructed to ‘take it easy, and hang in there’. Wow, is there a different option??? I guess not, so I’ll just hang in there.

What’s in Bloom

July 22nd, 2008 8:11 am by Naomi in Day to Day at Glitter | 2 Comments »

Now where did those pretty flowers come from?? Why, my yard of course! Since I don’t have much to update on the craft (or baby) front, I thought I would share a few more peeks into my world. Oh, and side note to my MOTHER…. I sacrificed about half the blood in my body to get these pics! You know the mosquitoes are bad when you walk into the grocery store and there is a sign on the front door that says ‘bug spray, aisle 5′. She usually comes in the early spring or late fall when everything is done blooming and always asks for me to take pics of what’s blooming. She did send a ton of ‘hippy mosquito products’ as Jerome calls them (if it was up to him, he would fog the whole yard…). I have to tell you though, Mom, the girls love the glow in the dark mosquito braclets! They said they worked great at the cottage…

Here’s some of the flowers in bloom.

The hummingbirds live in that last one. It is right outside my back door and visible through the living room window. I love to sit (with my feet elevated, of course) and watch the hummingbirds.

Does anyone know what this next one is? It’s really tall, probably about 5ft high and fuzzy!

And, we can’t neglect the fruits and veggies, can we?

Hiding inside of that crazy overgrown bed are these.

And also these.

More veggies.

Last but not least, the fruit. While something (bird, bunnies, neighbor kid…) has been munching on the strawberries, we do have about a zillion peaches that are ripening.

As well as a few more raspberries hanging on for dear life.

Phew! That was a lot of pics. I would like to tell you that our yard is just a haven of beauty, but in actuality right now it is an overgrown jungle. Personally, I like it that way. I do wish I had the energy to get out and thin things and weed (not to mention identify half of what we have! I actually know very little about plants…), but between the beach ball resting in my pelvis, the heat and the FREAKIN MOSQUITOES, it will be an overgrown jungle for now. At least it is our little jungle….

My Little Corner

July 21st, 2008 11:26 am by Naomi in Day to Day at Glitter | 2 Comments »

Nothing much new to show you today, so I will give you a glimpse into my work space. Well, if you can call it that!

Now that my ’studio’ has become Henri’s room, we had to find a space for all of my stuff. So, I have my own tiny little nook in the basment. It’s ok though because I pretty much do all my work in the kitchen.

Here is my wall. I also have my work computer, scanner and printer and shelves in there.

I hope to get the rest of my corner decorated soon, but it’s a start.

This weekend was very long and not quite how we had hoped to spend it. On Friday night, by the time Jerome got home from work my feet were sooooo swollen. Beyond just normal pregnancy edema, we decided. So, after a very long restless night, I called the on-call doctor and OF COURSE they want you to go in, so we spent ALL DAY Saturday at St. Mary’s labor and delivery triage. Not of course, that I thought I was in labor, nor did I think I was near delivery, yet there is where we spent the day. Basically I had a fever and high blood pressure, although not too high, and some minor contractions (normal) so they strapped me up to the monitors and we got to listen to little man thumping away all day. He is totally fine and after hours of blood work, exams etc. I was told that basically I may have a virus or that it is just really exaggerated pregnancy symptoms. Great, thanks. It is nice to be reassured that he is just happy as can be in there and that I’m the only miserable one. Well, Jerome is probably getting there too! At least the hospital has a decent cafe so I could nibble a bit of food. I’m pretty much out of room for food too and the only things that taste good are fresh fruit and ice cream!

So, nothing personal little guy, but after almost 37 weeks of letting you take up residence in my belly, I’m pretty much ready for you to move into your own room. Your dad and I even went yesterday to pick up the rest of the stuff I need (fine, wanted) for the hospital!

Anyway, now I am basically confined to about 1-2 hours of actual productive time a day. Today it will be spent going to the post office to ship orders and some consignment packages and maybe stop and look for a few more blank frames since I need to start restocking eventually!

Time to run while I have a little oomph. Wish me luck!

More Etsy Finds

July 18th, 2008 9:31 am by Naomi in Day to Day at Glitter | 2 Comments »

I have been going Etsy crazy lately. Here are a few more goodies I could simply not resist!

The first is the Edsel takes a nap print from Elegant Snobbery

She has sooo many adorable prints. It was hard to choose just one but since I’m not really working…. well, I narrowed it down.

The next is purely for their comical appeal. Although I may find them handier than I think!

They are wee wee tee pee’s from NikiMadeIt

The girls and I keep joking about who is going to get peed on first, but I really have no idea about boy things.. it will be a learning experience, for sure!

Next is a blanket that I could not resist since it matches the diaper bag and sling I already have. It is from SmallWish, which is where I also ordered the sling.

The last goodie I have coming besides organic nursing pads, which I don’t really think I need to post a pic of, is this adorable owl decal from Elephannie.

Again, there were sooo many I wanted, but narrowed it down to one. I hope it works on our textured walls, but they included instructions that should help.

We were at Anthology last night restocking some goods and I noticed they are carrying some super duper adorable decals as well. They have a really cute forest set that I was eyeing. But by that point in the day I was having a pretty hard time getting around, so lucky for Jerome I was ready for dinner and not shopping, or they probably would have had to come home too!!

Now if I could just get back to working, I would feel a bit better about all the loot I am purchasing. I have lost almost complete feeling in both of my hands but can work small bits at a time.

The girls and I did complete a huge task yesterday though. We did ALL the back to school shopping! I know it seems really early, but I printed off their supply list, which trust me, is a bit insane considering they are only in 4th and 5th grade, and headed off to Target (I know, I know, but there are no locallly made, orangic goods stores carrying binders and pencil boxes around, OK??). About two hours later, and more money and bags than I care to mention, we dragged ourselves back home. They each got to pick out one outfit and they are turning into quite the little punk rockers. I let them pick whatever they wanted for the outfit though with only minor eye rolls from mom. There are a few things I will be ordering from Hanna Andersson, but remember that whole, ‘I’m not really working much’ thing?? Yeah. Only a couple organic Swedish outfits. I knew within another couple weeks I will NOT want to be running around school shopping though and then they leave for Florida for Disney World with their dad and grandparents. By the time they get back, Mr. Man will be due in five days, and six days after that is registration already! I was worried the summer would really drag, and trust me, the next month certainly may, but it is going insanely fast at this point!

Time to drag them downstairs for some breakfast. Anyone care to join us for Hello Kitty Waffles?

Remember to leave your gnome contest comments too! Mr. Gnome feels a bit neglected!