Coupon!

I'll be participating in the Arts in the Park juried craft show and festival on Sunday from 10-5. It will be held at High School Park {corner of Montgomery Avenue and High School Road in Elkins Park}. There will be lots of artisans, activities for children, food and live music all day. It's a fun show in a lovely park, and is always well-attended. Present the coupon above for $5 off your purchase of $30 or more!

Hope to see you Sunday!

Great weekend

{Huh? What? Where? I don't see any bunny.}

We had a wonderful, sunny, barbecue-filled Memorial Day weekend. I did lots of gardening and spent most of the weekend outside. See some photos here.

I'll be busy this week getting ready for the Arts in the Park on Sunday. If you're in the area, stop by!

Confidence

Malayna and I went to the bookstore yesterday, and when we were leaving the bathroom there we passed a big mirror. She watched herself walk by and said {with a big smile on her face}, "Look at my pretty self."

How cute is that? Don't you wish you had that kind of confidence again? After thinking about how stinkin' cute that comment was, the next thought that came to mind was, "How much longer will she feel that way about herself?" Honestly, how many of the women you know are completely happy with the way they look?

Here's an interesting article about young girls and body image.

I need sunshine and art

I've been feeling grumpy, annoyed and bored lately. Then yesterday I figured out why: it's been raining and COLD around these parts this past week or so {temperatures in the 50s and 60s - this is MAY!}. Plus, I haven't been in my studio in weeks. Yes, weeks. I've been up there for a small project or two, but haven't spent more than an hour in there since April. I need to change that. I can't change the weather, but I can get my butt upstairs to do some creating.

Jimmy and I work out after Malayna goes to bed, but last night I only did half of the workout so I could spend time with my art. It was so worth it. The minute I walk in the studio door the ideas start flying. I lose track of time and wish that I could add a few more hours to the night.

I don't normally schedule my creative time, but maybe I should. Instead of ignoring my need for creativity every day, I should just walk upstairs and make something. Or just sit in the studio - sometimes that does it for me. Just being around my stuff {paper, beads, color, mess} makes me feel more relaxed and less edgy.

For all you other creative souls out there, do you schedule your art-making time? Or do you just let it happen?

Thrifty

One of my favorite things to do with Malayna these days is to go thrift shopping. Being the pack rat that she is, searching through other people's junk is right up her alley. {I take full blame for passing on the collector gene.}

Yesterday Aidan and Wendy came along to our favorite thrift shop. Wendy really liked it and scored a few great finds, including a big ceramic bowl for about $2. Malayna and I came home with the following things {for a mere $15!}:

{The game "Ants in Your Pants". Played with no pants on, of course.}

{Chutes and Ladders and Spirograph. Remember Spirograph?!
That one's for me.}

{Lots of books.}

{Two large wooden bowls. I'll use these for snacks when we have parties.
We use plastic ones from the Dollar Store now -
I can't wait to get rid of them!}

{Small pitcher for cream.}

Meowers

We've had a little cat hanging around our house lately that Malayna has named Meowers. Jimmy is allergic to cats, so there's no way we can bring her in the house. She {we don't know if it's a female or not, but Malayna says it's a girl} comes in the yard, meows very loudly and walks around looking very cute. Of course, Malayna loves her and the feeling seems to be mutual. Last night I went out on the porch and there she was - curled up on the rocking chair. I felt so badly coming in the house and leaving her out there. I feel like I should feed her some cat food since she's on our porch every day anyway.

What else can I do? Other than putting her in the truck and driving her to the SPCA? Even that isn't really an option I like - they probably have too many cats already and she may just be put to sleep.

What would you do?

Inside and outside 264

{One of the new squares I'll have at the show tonight.}

Don't forget about the Home Show tonight! Stop by 419 Johnson Road in Horsham, PA anytime after 7pm. A portion of the proceeds from tonight's event will go to the American Cancer Society. Questions? Email me at milkshakecrafts at comcast.net.

Yesterday was a gorgeous day. We met mom-mom at a gardening center, where I got some lettuce plants, a huge pot of basil and a few perennials. The basil is for pesto - one of my favorite things to make and eat in the summer. Malayna will have her own little area in the garden this year, so she chose a few pretty flowers to plant. She knew exactly what she wanted, color-wise. All her flowers are "magenta" and blue.

{Malayna's flowers.}

{Helping me weed.}

{See the worm?}

A letter to my girl

Dear Malayna,

Good morning! It's wonderful that you love the new alphabet print daddy and I hung in your room the other day. You really like reciting the alphabet over and over while pointing to the letters. You sound so excited! You've known your alphabet for a long time now, so I hardly take notice when you sing the alphabet song these days.

But, hey! Way to get my attention this morning! At 5:30 am. Reading the alphabet. In your loudest voice. Over and over. And over.

Are you too young to learn how to tell time? Since I make clocks it seems to make sense that you should be able to read them. Lesson one: Do not speak above a whisper before the big hand is on the twelve and the little hand is on the seven. That's 7:00. No, that's not unreasonable. Do you know that before you came along daddy and I would sleep until 10:00 sometimes?

It's now 8:30, which means we've been up for 3 hours already. Would taking an actual NAP today {including closing your eyes and not talking} be too much to ask?

Love,
Mommy

PS: Daddy and I were married 13 years ago today. Our ceremony started at 6:30 PM because WE'RE NOT MORNING PEOPLE.

Happy Mother's Day

{three generations}

I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day! More photos here.

Inside and outside 264

{painting}

{Looking at a tiny caterpillar.}

{Don't you love the outfits four-year-olds choose?}

The weather was beautiful this week. We spent a lot of time in the yard and had our first {then second} barbecue of the season. Today is rainy and windy, but the weather is supposed to clear up for Mother's Day {at least the afternoon}. What are your Mother's Day plans?

Scoutie Girl giveaway

Head on over to Scoutie Girl and enter to win a collection of fabulous goodies worth $547! Jan explains the details here: Indie Goodness.

Good luck!

Home and Garden Festival

Yesterday's Home and Garden Festival was great and the weather was beautiful. I made lots of new wall squares, magnets and cards, all of which were well-received. One woman, who purchased three wall squares, told me my work was "happy." What a great compliment!

It was a long day - I left my house around 6:15 am and didn't get home until 7:00 pm. I didn't get to bed until after midnight the night before, so I was running on very little sleep. Luckily, I was busy enough at the show that I didn't even think about how tired I was.

I applied to this show at the last minute, but I'm happy I did. I will definitely do it again next year.

Thanks to everyone who came by to say hello! {And thank you, Rose, for helping me again. I hope you're not too exhausted today!}

Busy

{new magnet}

Hi all! I'm still here, just busy getting ready for my show on Sunday. This show is huge, so I'm getting a little nervous. Jimmy, Malayna and I went to this event last year, and it was super busy. My {very kind} friend Rose will be helping me with my booth - from setting up to selling to breaking down at the end of the day. It's a looooong day {set up starts at 6:30 am} and we'll be on our feet most of the time. We'll be busy selling out, right?!

If you live in the area, please stop by and say hello. It's a good event for kids - they have a pooch parade, moon bounces, sand art, and lots of other activities. Of course, there are lots of booths with stuff for your home and garden. Plants, too!

My booth will be on the 8300 block of Germantown Avenue, in front of Jenks School. Hope to see you there!

{PS: The raindate is May 18th. You can call the Business Association on Sunday morning to find out if the event is rescheduled. Their number is 215-247-6696.}