how have i missed this shop?

i am so in love with these bears right now. i've done needle felting, and it's painful, and tricky to get such clean results... i'm so impressed and i want them all! they're by ememem, check out her shop!

haiti

oh, haiti, it's so awful watching events there unfold. i wish there were more that i could do, but for now i'm donating money to the Red Cross. we've already donated what we could, but i will also be donating 25% of sales this week (maybe longer) to the Red Cross International
Response Fund. if you can give, give, or if you'd like to shop, i'll give for you. some of my local friends are giving as well:

10% of sales this week will go to the Red Cross International
Response Fund- yummyandcompany

10% of each sale for one week to Doctors Without Borders/
Médecins Sans Frontières- AtelierAdornments

$5 from each sale this week will go to the Red Cross International Response Fund- thebrokenplate

10% of sales now through 1/20 to American Red
Cross- sweetpepita

10% of sales now through 1/20 to American Red Cross- galla15

10% of all sales until the end of January will be donated to the
American Red Cross to support relief efforts in Haiti- lolamiren

10% of sales now through 1/20 to American Red Cross- dandelionblu

$5 from every sale through the end of January to Doctors Without Borders- tarabu

$5 of every sale till the end of January to Wyclef Jean's Yele Haiti Foundation- jennyjen42

10% of sales now through 1/20 to American Red Cross- Namoo

you can also give directly to the Red Cross on their website here or donate $10 to haiti relief by texting “haiti” to 90999. thank you!

so inspired by this

amazing papercuts by Jen Stark.

unfinished business... and a new start

this wreath, which the bean and i started last year, was finished on december 23rd of this year. two new stockings were completed at 11:35 on christmas eve, just in time for santa to fill them up. as with many things, my blog included, there just isn't enough time during the busy holiday season. for most people, this is true. with parties to attend, gifts to buy, places to see, the holidays can be crazy stressful and not so much fun. but when your business is based around this already busy time, things can get infinitely more... well, insane.

i have spent the last months thinking about my blog and how i wanted to use it. i'm certainly not the most important blog out there, i know. but it is important to me to give an accurate representation of how my life really plays out. i'd love for this to be a happy-martha-fun-perfect-stylish blog, but that's not my reality. my house is cool, but messy, my studio is worse, i don't always bake the prettiest cookies, and i even forgot to put the advent calendar up until much later than i care to admit.

since i've had my kids, i've often found support in blogs out there, ideas, encouragement, a kind of community. but somehow in the 'branding' of these blogs, the reality of imperfection can be lost. i feel the need to be honest, although i will not show you a picture of my living room at just this moment, thanks. what i will do, for myself and for other moms out there, is be more honest. and i'll start here: sometimes i think this career path is the most insane choice i've ever made. i'm not the only one... i was so happy to see this new york times article which really voiced the reality of this life much more eloquently than i ever could.

the nice thing about having a business based around the holidays is that there is a natural and necessary break from the insanity, and along with the new year creates the perfect time to reflect and plan. 2009 was my first year as a full-time artist, and i've learned a lot. it's been a tremendous and tumultuous time - i mean, i'm not sure what i was thinking trying to pull this off with a newborn! but i made it! and i had fun, and i'm feeling excited and hopeful about the new year.

i am so, so, so grateful to my husband, who supports me through this craziness, and my mom, who helps me out so much whether she's pricing work, distracting the kids or sending over a home-cooked meal. i am thankful for my amazing etsy customers, the wonderful people who come to shows and tell me how happy my work makes them. and i couldn't make it without my friends, the ones who visit or help at shows, and the girls of BEST, who keep me going when i think i can't.

i thank you all, this wonderful community, i love this crazy life. i hope you have an amazing 2010, i can't wait to see what it holds in store for me.