MommyCoddle

I've Never Felt This Way Before

...about a piece of fabric. Kristen  and I swapped one my pendants for some of her handprinted fabric. I've admired her work through her blog and shop, but I've never actually seen it up close or held it in my hands. When I opened the package I was thrilled and overcome in that "Ah! I LOVE this!" sort of way. I know it sounds a little odd, but I've never owned a piece of fabric that I completely and whole-heartedly loved and thought was so my taste and style. Kristen designs the fabric herself and then has it printed. Take a look for yourself....

Tomorrow I hope to post some of my leftovers from the "Holy Cow Festival" I participated in this weekend at this beautiful church--pendants (some new) and some tissue holders.

And before I forget, several people have asked me for updates on Dolly and Sunshine. We kept Dolly for a few more days. It is so much work taking care of a newborn kitten. She wasn't eating much and I was getting worried about the state of her health. So we took her to the shelter and the main caretaker took her home to continue her care. It's good to know someone with a little more know-how will be caring for her.

And Sunshine is thriving. She is getting a little tamer every day and loves to run and skip and jump behind the girls. We let her out every evening after her bedtime feeding. The girls run up and down the hill to the barn and she chases them, until finally she gets too tired and wanders back into her stall.

What a Reward!

This world of crafty bloggers is amazing. The people I have met, friends made, inspiration found, encouragement received....it's unique and cherished.
In particular I've made a wisefriend in the last few months...we share so much in common, conincidences and little ironies that we were starting to believe we might have been separated at birth.
Yesterday she sent me this:

A perfectly timed little "reward" for my computer-free day...the spring'06 craft mix CD and a lovely pin. First of all I have to say I'm very picky about my music, but I love this one. I'm definitely thinking that no. 8 has just the perfect beat for cutting, at least for me, but I'm a pretty slow chopper...and the pin. I love it. In fact I wore it yesterday. It was a bit of a rough day and each time, I looked down at it, it was a little breath of fresh air, a little bright spot.
Thank you, thank you, Blair.
and will there be a summer '06 edition? :)

Brown Paper Packages...

I've got mail on the brain. First of all this wonderful little parcel arrived in the mail today from Jackie.

I admired her children's PJ pants (Jackie, I tried to go back and find the original picture on your blog, but couldn't...hmmm..) and told her I had been wanting to make some for my girls, so she sent me the pattern she used. Not only that, she sent along some adorable buttons (enlarge the picture, it's worth seeing them up close!), some beautiful vintage fabric and look at the card she made! I'm just going to keep it at my desk to admire. Is it from one of your linocuts, Jackie? It is all beautiful and I love it. I can't wait to pull out some of those patterns. Emma has already asked me to make her the little cross over swing dress...but I'm thinking I just HAVE to start with the pants and that little jumper top with pockets! Jackie and I have both shared our grumbles about dragging children to the post office, so I know the sacrifice it took to ship this little package!

I've also got my miniswap package on the brain as well.

I know that I need to get it out by the end of this week, so I've been doing a little knitting and sewing and picking up a few things here and there for my Canadian partner Mary-Sue and her two children....(who ironically are almost the IDENTICAL ages as Emma and Mary.)

Well, I had one other little crafty endeavor to share today. Something completely random that I whipped (wrapped would actually be a better word for it) last night. But Dan is out of town and I haven't gotten his crafty opinion of it yet, so I'll wait to share it...

He'll be back in time for dinner this evening and I'm ready to collapse into his arms. Mary has been very sick while he's been away...

...enough so that we've been to the walk-in clinic and had chest xrays. Let's just say my sweet little Mary is still suffering from some major doctor's office fears after her Christmas eve incident.

She screamed bloody murder from the moment the nurse tried to take her temp in her ear, all the way through the chest xray (it was horrible, and of course I shed a few tears, again!), to being approached by the pharmacist in a white coat at the drug store. She's traumatized. But better (now that Dan's coming home, of course!) She's still coughing so much that she has to run to me and cling to my leg until the coughing passes before she can return to whatever she's doing. It's been a rough three days....Thank goodness for a little sunshine and balmy 37 degree weather ( I live in Wisconsin, remember!?) I even saw a kid in shorts today. It's not THAT warm...

Still Thankful...

A few weeks ago, Cassi at BellaDia posted some pictures of these adorable sock kitties that she  made.  Of course, I had to comment on them, because my children are obsessed with all things CAT (of the stuffed variety). A few days later I got an email from Cassi saying that she wanted to send one to Emma! 
Yesterday, this package of joy arrived at my door. Not only did Cassi send a sock kitty, she sent one for each of the girls, in their own drawsting pouch. She sent each of the girls a little stack of sticker books, paints and candy, and she sent me some beautiful fabric, buttons, chocolate and vintage knitting patterns! How absolutely wonderful and kind and thoughtful and generous!

I could barely keep the kitties away from the girls to take the pictures...in fact, only the grey one is in these pictures, because the white one was in bed with Emma.

See the little hand in the corner, pulling the kitty off the table, while I'm trying to snap a quick picture?

I love the button details on the edge of the bags:

A wonderful stash of fabric for me...the brown polka-dot fabric is the same as the curtains I sewed for Emma's room:

Thank you so much Cassi. It was a wonderful surprise in the mail. You are so talented and generous, like so many of the ladies I've met in the blogging community. Thank you!